USA | Kalona - Iowa | Horse auction | Horsemeat import

When we arrive at the horse auction in Kalona at 9:00, kill buyers Scott Kurtenbach and Keith Tongen are already present among others. In the outdoor pens we detect numerous horses with overgrown or cracked hooves. Several horses are lame and some have severe injuries to their legs. A white horse has a bleeding wound on its forehead, likely sustained during transport. We observe an excessive amount of biting and kicking between the horses due to crowded conditions.

In the late afternoon, whips and sticks are used to move the horses from the outside pens to an area closer to the auction ring. When the loose horse sale begins, the panicked horses are shuffled through a narrow chute with a heavy hydraulic gate that blocks the entrance of the auction ring. Driven by fear and confusion, many horses crash into the gate as they try to follow another horse into the ring. Some horses even get stuck in the gate.

The horse sale ends just after 19:00. About 90 horses are moved back to the outside pens to await their fate. Kill buyers Kurtenbach and Tongen load up their acquisitions and leave pretty quickly. Other horses are left here overnight.

Our partner organisation Animals’ Angels will urge enforcement agencies to take action and demand that the auction put a stop to the use of the hydraulic gate and that the auction management provides proper training to their employees on the humane handling of animals.