The Sale Barn
On tuesday night, Roger, Becky and I (and two others) went to the Sale Barn, where they have animal auctions. They sell fruit and vegetables there too, and supplies like saddles, leads, tractors, whatever. Roger wanted me to experience this weekly event (kinda like how he wanted Joey to experience running cows :P). They have them in every city surrounding ours, on different days.
I didn't tell this to Roger, because I didn't want to upset him, but it was the worse experience I've had since moving here... it was horrible.
I was all excited to be there, and went to look at the section with horses and donkeys. They sometimes have llama and alpaca and the occasional zebra. So I wanted to check it out. Well, I was bombarded by a lot of sick, old, injured or emaciated horses (or a combination). I made the mistake of bonding with one of the horses and he let me stroke his face for a while. He was so sad. I was never so up-close to a horse before and I was surprised how expressive he was...which had me running out of the place in tears, out into the rain. Basically, I had a meltdown. I swear if I had a pen put up already I would have rescued one of those horses...
Before I go further, I have to add that there *were* some people who actually gave a shit about their animals, but because of the bad drought, weren't able to afford them anymore, and this was their last option. I don't think they were any happier than I was to be there. Horses just aren't selling here right now, and the cost of hay has tripled. One registered purebred gelding, about 3 years old, with medical history including shot records, went for a suprisingly low $185. That must have really hurt ...
Anyhow, when I composed myself (I think sufficiently masked by being rained on), I went back inside and hung out with Becky, who said that she felt the same way the first time she ever went to a sale barn. It wasn't any better, but the auction activity was distracting anyways.
The guys running the auction were bastards. They were very rough on the animals. They grabbed fowl by their legs, their wings, their necks. They piled cages on top of cages, so that birds were covered in feces from the cage above them. They injured the birds' feet by dragging the cages across the ground. It smelled horrible. Though I was fascinated by the fact that roosters went for like $18 each O.O;; Most of them were table birds. Some guy bought up all the pretty birds... Rabbits were grabbed by their ears, by their legs, and even grabbed and dangled by one leg.
The goats were mostly older, which I expected. A few were pretty emaciated, some coughing and snotty. There was one nanny with two little babies too. For the most part, aside from the billies, they were pretty clean and in relatively good condition. However, again, the guys running it were horrible. I can understand them dragging goats in by their horns (sometimes you can't get them any other way), but they grabbed them with both hands around their necks, by the tail, by the ear, by fist-fulls of skin...they were a bunch of asses. This couple that was standing next to us was waiting for the goats to get a notch in (along with Becky and me), so that we could all applaud in favor of the goats ¬.¬;; What was worse was that there was a (so-called) man in the ring, slapping the goats with a lasso, and chasing them around, tripping them with the lasso. He lassoed a pregnant nanny, and near whethered (gelded) a buck with that damned lasso...He was SUCH a jerk, and teaching a little boy of about 4 to do the same. Ignorance breeds ignorance I guess. Then there was an older guy standing near the exit of the pen...so that he could kick each and every goat as they ran out after being sold. The tip of the iceberg was when they literally threw a buckling into the pen by the scruff of his neck, which made him sumersault over, land on his head and fall on his back. He was about 4-5 months old. It was sickening.
Becky and I were there that long because we were interested in the nanny with two babies. But as they were brought out into the ring, the buckling was coughing and snotty, so we didn't bid on them afterall, and left after that.
Oh yeah, Becky bought a gorgeous white rabbit buck for $2...
Roger and Becky tried to console me by saying that even though the people who run the place are jerk offs, and some of the sellers are jerk-offs, that a lot of these animals find good homes, and for the majority of them, it's their last hope to find homes....And some of the older horses get bounced from sale barn to sale barn. I never want to go to a sale barn again, unless I rescue a horse...
Anyway, they said the one in our hometown is worse: There's a guy there who uses a cattle-prod on everything they sell, whether they "need it" or not. I won't be visiting that one anytime soon ...
I didn't tell this to Roger, because I didn't want to upset him, but it was the worse experience I've had since moving here... it was horrible.
I was all excited to be there, and went to look at the section with horses and donkeys. They sometimes have llama and alpaca and the occasional zebra. So I wanted to check it out. Well, I was bombarded by a lot of sick, old, injured or emaciated horses (or a combination). I made the mistake of bonding with one of the horses and he let me stroke his face for a while. He was so sad. I was never so up-close to a horse before and I was surprised how expressive he was...which had me running out of the place in tears, out into the rain. Basically, I had a meltdown. I swear if I had a pen put up already I would have rescued one of those horses...
Before I go further, I have to add that there *were* some people who actually gave a shit about their animals, but because of the bad drought, weren't able to afford them anymore, and this was their last option. I don't think they were any happier than I was to be there. Horses just aren't selling here right now, and the cost of hay has tripled. One registered purebred gelding, about 3 years old, with medical history including shot records, went for a suprisingly low $185. That must have really hurt ...
Anyhow, when I composed myself (I think sufficiently masked by being rained on), I went back inside and hung out with Becky, who said that she felt the same way the first time she ever went to a sale barn. It wasn't any better, but the auction activity was distracting anyways.
The guys running the auction were bastards. They were very rough on the animals. They grabbed fowl by their legs, their wings, their necks. They piled cages on top of cages, so that birds were covered in feces from the cage above them. They injured the birds' feet by dragging the cages across the ground. It smelled horrible. Though I was fascinated by the fact that roosters went for like $18 each O.O;; Most of them were table birds. Some guy bought up all the pretty birds... Rabbits were grabbed by their ears, by their legs, and even grabbed and dangled by one leg.
The goats were mostly older, which I expected. A few were pretty emaciated, some coughing and snotty. There was one nanny with two little babies too. For the most part, aside from the billies, they were pretty clean and in relatively good condition. However, again, the guys running it were horrible. I can understand them dragging goats in by their horns (sometimes you can't get them any other way), but they grabbed them with both hands around their necks, by the tail, by the ear, by fist-fulls of skin...they were a bunch of asses. This couple that was standing next to us was waiting for the goats to get a notch in (along with Becky and me), so that we could all applaud in favor of the goats ¬.¬;; What was worse was that there was a (so-called) man in the ring, slapping the goats with a lasso, and chasing them around, tripping them with the lasso. He lassoed a pregnant nanny, and near whethered (gelded) a buck with that damned lasso...He was SUCH a jerk, and teaching a little boy of about 4 to do the same. Ignorance breeds ignorance I guess. Then there was an older guy standing near the exit of the pen...so that he could kick each and every goat as they ran out after being sold. The tip of the iceberg was when they literally threw a buckling into the pen by the scruff of his neck, which made him sumersault over, land on his head and fall on his back. He was about 4-5 months old. It was sickening.
Becky and I were there that long because we were interested in the nanny with two babies. But as they were brought out into the ring, the buckling was coughing and snotty, so we didn't bid on them afterall, and left after that.
Oh yeah, Becky bought a gorgeous white rabbit buck for $2...
Roger and Becky tried to console me by saying that even though the people who run the place are jerk offs, and some of the sellers are jerk-offs, that a lot of these animals find good homes, and for the majority of them, it's their last hope to find homes....And some of the older horses get bounced from sale barn to sale barn. I never want to go to a sale barn again, unless I rescue a horse...
Anyway, they said the one in our hometown is worse: There's a guy there who uses a cattle-prod on everything they sell, whether they "need it" or not. I won't be visiting that one anytime soon ...
