We arrive at the New Holland Sales Stables in the early morning. We immediately note that there are several horses with multiple cuts on their faces in the loose horse pens, injuries likely sustained in transport. A Paint horse is especially affected with a bleeding forehead injury as well as another serious cut above his left eye. In another pen,…

The Middleburg horse auction is frequented by a lot of members of the Mennonite and Amish communities who dump their worn-out work or buggy horses at the sale. Today, as usual, the slaughter horse pens are severely overcrowded, with horses packed in like sardines. There are five to seven horses tied next to each other, unable to move. The pens have…

Our team arrives at the weekly horse auction in Shipshewana at 10:30. We have monitored this sale since 2009 and have reported the auction for its abusive handling of animals on many occasions. This visit is to determine if there has been any improvement in the auction’s treatment of the animals in their care.

Today it is a hot, sunny day. There…

Randy Beasley actively buys and sells horses for the horse slaughter industry. He frequents several auctions in surrounding states, among them the Shipshewana horse auction in Indiana.

When we arrive at Beasley’s horse collecting station in Allen, Michigan, we see several holding pens behind the barn as well as extensive pastures. Despite the…

The horse sale starts shortly after 10:00. The auction is extremely busy this day with over 120 horses offered for sale, including many Thoroughbreds, some of which are pregnant mares. About half of the horses are sold to the kill buyers present. Bruce Rotz ends up with 13 horses, one of whom is “Open Zipper”, a pregnant Thoroughbred mare with…

We arrive at the weekly New Holland Sales Barn auction at 8:40. When we enter the stable, we immediately note that a weak mare is down, lying flat on her side. However, she is tied to the feed trough and her head is being held up by the short rope. She is extremely emaciated with hip bones and spine clearly visible. A group of people have gathered…

When we arrive at the Hoover Sale Barn in New Holland at 9:30, the auction is already extremely busy. With approximately 450 horses for sale, the small stable is filled practically past its limit and many pens are overcrowded. The more valuable horses are tethered to overhead beams from both sides of their halter, presumably in an attempt to…

When our investigators arrive at the Hoover Horse Sale in New Holland at 8:50, the parking lot is already crowded with many Amish and Mennonite buggies. Despite the cold temperature of - 4° C, people are rigorously test-driving the horses at the track.
This auction has several areas where they keep animals prior to their being run through the sale…