Subject: [againstslaughter] New to group & Auction
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Hi all I am new to the group. Amanda led me this way. Amanda
and I found each other on a list and noticed that we lived within 15 minutes of
one another. We met at the Brownwood, TX auction and had a wonderful time buying
tack and she taught me all about how auctions work. The horses had fresh hay and
water. The auction hands were taking care of the animals and helping folks
find their way around. The horses were led into the ring and never once
mistreated. It was a good all round experience for me.
We decided to go to another nearby auction together at Stephenville, Texas on
November 7, 2003. Amanda had told me to be prepared because it was
different but I never expected what I saw.
I took my children with me since we had so much fun at Brownwood. We got
there early so we could watch the horses being unloaded because I planned on
bringing a few home since I heard that they have a lot every month. Being
an ex police officer I will try to write this
without any opinions and only facts and what I witnessed.
The first thing I noticed was the big double decker slaughter truck filled with
horses because my daughter asked me what they were doing. The men couldn't get
the horses to get out of the truck so they were shocking the horses through the
holes to make them run down into a
small chute where they would smack down into the gate so the man could take
blood for Coggins tests. We were saddened to say the least.
Next we started walking around the pens to take a look at some potential new
pets. We saw that all the pens had no food or water. We thought maybe those were
just temporary pens to hold them till they got put in a numbered one. We
kept walking the rows and I never once saw any water or food bins. This
auction wasn't quick either. We got there at around 2pm and didn't leave
until the auction was over around 3am. That is a long time to go without
water or food. There is no telling how long these horses traveled before getting
there too.
I saw four horses that had fresh open flesh wounds that were dripping blood that
no one was attending to. We walked by one horse that had a bad bloody hoof
and was holding it up while it was dripping. An auction hand walked by us and
just made the comment "That ain't good." Then left.
We watched them unload some donkeys too because we wanted to see the baby
donkeys. They opened the back of the trailer and just grabbed the tails of the
donkeys and dragged them out backwards. The donkeys came out with their legs
shaking and terrified.
We then went in to the ring area to wait for the bidding to begin. When
the horses wouldn't come out the auction hands would hit on them sometimes
getting them stuck sideways in the chute and making them fall. After they
got in the ring there was a man that had a long yellow stick approximately 3.5
to 4 foot long. Almost every horse that came into the ring he would hit it
in the face to make it go to the other side of the ring. One auction hand rode a
rideable horse into the ring and I guess out of habit the man with the stick
whacked the horse he was riding in the face. The auction hand then told
the man not to hit the horse while he was riding or he would come down there and
hit him with it. We saw a horse that had a large open gash above his eye that
was pouring blood to where he couldn't see. The man hit him with the stick too.
One horse he hit directly in the eye and the bidding crowd let out a "eww"
sound.
It was horrible to say the least. One of the horses that I brought home had a
cut on her face that was gotten at the auction.
Both of my horses are doing well now but the one that got the face injury is
scared of anything to do with a hand and her face.