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 “jineteada” is a traditional type of rodeo that is practised in Uruguay and some other South American countries. The rider has to stay for 6 to 15 seconds on the back of a bucking horse that is feral or untrained. First, the horse is tied to a wooden post and the eyes are blindfolded. When the rider is ready, the cover is taken off and 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…

We arrive at the Bouvry slaughter plant at 7:45. The pens contain 70 to 100 horses each. Only one pen with shelter is visible in the entire area. Some pens hold large groups of mares and foals of all ages. Some foals have severe nasal discharge, others are coughing continuously. One foal appears to be very sick, either from advanced strangles…

At 8:15 we arrive at Bouvry’s small feedlot on Range Road 264, where it is evident that the holding conditions have not improved since our last visit two years ago. The grounds are covered in manure and muddy. There is still no shelter from the elements and only a limited quantity of straw is visible inside the pen area, by far not enough to…

The horse auction in San Antonio is organised by horse dealer Richard Prego, who is one of Clay’s largest suppliers of slaughter horses. The sale starts at 15:00. Theauctioneer announces through loudspeakers that 400 horses are offered for sale. Both riding and loose horses are chased through the auction ring for about two minutes. The handling by…