Animals\' Angels - wir sind bei den Tieren | we are there with the animals

Animals' Angels investigators observed there was no food or water available to the animals in the overcrowded pens during the auction. The morning after Animals' Angels discovered one dead cow and one "downer" cow still alive on the premises. Over the next few hours the condition of the animal worsened. After many hours of suffering the cow finally was shot twice. Animals' Angels has filed a complaint and will inform the Dept. of Agriculture about this appalling incident.

Animals' Angels investigators observed several horses were hit with a bullwhip into the face during the sale. 40 horses purchased by Baker were loaded into a Double Deck Truck. The loading was extremely brutal. Horses were hit in the face and poked with sticks. Animals' Angels followed the truck for nine hours to Baker's Stables in Stroud, OK. The taller horses were unable to stand normally during the journey because of insufficient head space. Animals' Angels will continue to monitor.

Sombrero Ranches, Inc. is the largest outfitter in Colorado consisting of eight locations. The Estes Park stables, provides guided horseback rides on a private 1,000 acre cattle ranch and into the Rocky Mountain National Park. They also rent horses for a variety of activities, including renting horses to other riding stables for the season. According to their marketing they have a herd of over 1,800 horses. Animals’ Angels investigators were told that 70 horses are at the location during the summer to handle trail rides. These horses for the most part are ridden every day with no day off. This is the time of year when Sombrero Ranches begin culling their no longer wanted horses. Investigators have observed Sombrero Ranches’ horses at auctions being sold to kill buyer Charles Carter. However, per Sombrero Ranches, all of their horses are retired to one of their many ranches throughout Colorado.

Animals’ Angels investigators arrived at the auction premises at 1200. Investigators noticed one goat that was lame on a rear left leg which it appeared occurred in the pen because it was extremely overcrowded. There were several calves with running noses, however, the auction veterinarian refused to check on them because they were slaughter calves. In the horse pen, investigators observed several thin horses and a mare with her rear fetlocks very dropped. Two TB mares were brought in from Nebraska by persons who were not the owners and they refused to sign the Health Certificates. Kill Buyer C. Carter purchased all of them. On this day 1,200 sheep, 800 goats, 120 pigs, 16 calves, 38 dairy cows and 27 horses were sold.

Upon the investigators arrival, they observed a young goat that was down but alive. At 1000, the investigators brought the goat’s condition to the attention of two auction employees. One employee admitted that she was very weak when it arrived earlier in the morning. However, the employees informed the investigators that the goat would still go through the sale at 1430, four and half hours later. The investigators offered to purchase the goat immediately in order to get her medical attention; however, the employees reiterated that the goat would go through the sale. The young goat died in the arms of one of the investigators at 1152. In one of the back pens investigators found a dead cow. Another cow was put in the same pen, she was down and had a bleeding injury to her rear leg. It was obvious no medical attention had been provided. She appeared unable to stand and was licking the ground in need of water. Investigators spoke with several employees, but no one was willing to discuss the cows. Late that afternoon, the cow was still alive; however, no one from the auction had paid any attention to her. Animals' Angels has reported this incident.

At 11:30 a young bull calf arrived at the auction. The calf was very weak. At 13:00 the calf was down in the pen and appeared very dehydrated. Investigators were able to help the calf drink some water and then notified the auction vet about the situation. The vet briefly looked at the calf from outside the pen and said the calf “was just about gone.” The vet did not provide any veterinary care, he only notified the owner that the calf could not go through the sale and had to be removed from the pen. The owner moved the calf to the back of his Chevy S-10 pickup. Several bystanders told the man that the calf had pneumonia and needed medication immediately to have a chance of survival. After putting the calf in his truck, the man returned to the auction ring for the goat sale. At 15:15 the owner returned and placed a billie goat weighing approximately 140lbs into the back of the pickup. The calf was down. All attempts to reason with the owner failed. At 16:15, the calf was barely breathing and it was apparent that the owner had no intention of doing anything other than letting the calf die. At 16:40, the owner left the auction without ever checking on the calf. It is unacceptable that the auction vet did nothing other than make the owner move the calf from the pen. Animals’ Angels has documented the license plate and reported this incident to local authorities.

At 0645, 10-3-2010, investigators began trailing a LW Miller company truck with pigs loaded on three levels in the trailer. The truck was driven by a solo driver. At a gas station, the investigators were able to film the condition of the animals inside the trailer. They appeared very crowded and several had fresh bite marks and scratches on them. Very little bedding was used. The trailer had no water system installed. At 0245, 10-4-10, the truck pulled into the unloading area inside the locked gates at the Farmer Johns slaughter plant. Total travel time was 20 hours and covered 1,176 miles. The driver almost doubled his legally allowed driving time of 11 hours, despite a $20,000 fine the company received last year. Animals’ Angels will file a complaint with the Department of Transportation regarding the violation of the 11 hour rule.

Animals’ Angels Investigators arrived at 0830 and found approximately 80 horses in the pens. Many of the horses were mares with foals and most of the mares appeared to be pregnant. One of the mares had an enlarged knee, about the size of a cantaloupe; she was pregnant and still had a three month old foal by her side. Kill Buyer Bud Shirley and Dennis Chinn were in attendance at the auction. During the loose horse sale, 56 horses ran through in 15 minutes. Investigators discovered that all the mares and foals were from a dispersal sale of the Garcia Ranch, which is located in the San Juan valley of Colorado. The mare with the enlarged knee was the last of the Garcia horses and was purchased by a kill buyer. Investigators called the Garcia Ranch to inform them that many of their horses including the pregnant mares were bought for slaughter. The reply from them was “we are fine with that.” This is a prime example of irresponsible breeding. At 1910, Carter began loading. Carter’s driver was using an electric prod on the horses and was moving the horses quickly as it was getting dark. A total of 168 horses were run through the sale. Carter’s representative purchased 77 horses, and Shirley purchased 39 horses.

At the Delta horse sale, investigators observed two mares fighting in a small pen. After repeated requests by the investigators, auction employees finally separated the two mares. In another pen containing four mares, two of them were fighting. The auction refused to separate the mares and it was observed that one of the mares was lame when she was run through the auction ring. The ride-in and lead-in horses started running through the sale at 12:30 PM. One nervous horse was ridden in and when spurred by the rider, became frightened, lost his footing and fell with the rider. After the rider left in an ambulance, no one bid on this horse and Carter purchased the horse for $205.00. The “loose” horse sale began at 2:10 and ended at 2:45 PM. In the kill pens, investigators observed injured horses with nicks and cuts. Carter purchased 19 horses and Jason Fabrizius purchased ten horses. After loading they left the auction together and headed west. At 5:30 PM, Carter blew a tire on the back axle of his trailer. Fortunately, no one and no horses were injured; however, at the speed he was travelling this could have been a major accident.

It was another busy day at the auction. 50 cattle, 2,100 goats, sheep and pigs, 21 horses went through the auction. Included with the horses was a BLM horse. Three horses were thin and two mares had infected brands. Known “kill buyer”, Charles Carter, was present and purchased 10 horses, which included the BLM mustang. Overall handling of the animals was satisfactory with the exception of the goat and sheep handling. The workers moved these animals by pulling on their horns and legs.