Weanlings through killer auctions?

Heidilady · Postby **Heidilady** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:47 pm

I was just wondering how young you generally see horses go through the auctions where killer buyers are likely lurking. Also do you ever see demonstrably pregnant mares there? Or heard of a mare that turned out pregnant but they were going to buy for slaughter if they could've gotten her cheaply? I was just curious what the general breakdown of horse demographics we got goin on at these things.

sstacy19 · Postby **sstacy19** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:57 pm

I have seen both infoal mares and weanlings on many ocassions at the auctions here that were known for "kill horses". I tried to buy a weanling out of the kill pen once but he refused to sell him kept telling me that he was already paid for. I don't know what breed he or she was but I really wanted him. :cry:

wilf · Postby **wilf** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:00 pm

I just wish there was an auction where we could run killer buyers through the auction. Then I could beat them ACROSS THE ASS and herd them into pens with other dysfunctionals so that they could feel the wrath of 400lb guys who are on death row. Then we could throw a few wimps in there and there would be a free for all on the long uncomfortable trip to the plant with no bathroom stops or cups of coffee on the way. Man!!! they would be crying like babies for their Momma!

Heidilady · Postby **Heidilady** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:01 pm

sstacy19 wrote:I have seen both infoal mares and weanlings on many ocassions at the auctions here that were known for "kill horses". I tried to buy a weanling out of the kill pen once but he refused to sell him kept telling me that he was already paid for. I don't know what breed he or she was but I really wanted him.

I'm going to try to cross my fingers that maybe some other wonderful soul was going to save the weanling and got to it before you but had to go get things set up to take him/her. Otherwise I'd tear up. :cry:

Laurierace · Postby **Laurierace** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 5:35 pm

It has been my experience that young foals, ponies and minis are generally "safe" from the killer buyers. There isn't enough money to be made to take up the trailer space. Pregnant mares are fair game unfortunately unless they are close to full term. If not super far along the foal gets cut out with the rest of the insides and throw on the pile. Sorry for the visual, but its true.....

Jorge · Postby **Jorge** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:29 pm

HOW SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

:cry:

Heidilady · Postby **Heidilady** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:59 pm

This is horrible.

Ok so do they let you know they're pregnant? They do right? I mean if they go through the ring does the guy go 'and here's a pregnant mare...'

cuz I'd totally be all over buying them and trying to figure out the sire. I mean it's a two for one save you got goin' on. What are the odds that you'll know the covering sire at some place like New Holland?

magic code · Postby **magic code** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:56 pm

Most of the mares waiting to ship to slaughter in Canada recently from Yakima, WA, have been pregnant. Three unhandled mares come to mind most dramatically - Laramie, Cheyenne, and Wyoming. A little pony mare they named Pumpkin just foaled after being rescued in late '05 and the baby is the CUTEST - they named her Pi.

www.columbiabasinequinerescue.org

valerie · Postby **valerie** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:35 pm

At the sales I have been to the weanlings, ponies, minis, donkeys are usually bought by the render buyer, they don't pay the same price, they will also take a few of the drafts and pregger mares. The killer buyers that I have seen tend to always want a certain type of horse, will not take any grey or whites. There is a man about 20 miles from me that has a contract to supply a company with ponies and such and he buys them up and they call him and send a truck after 20-40 at a time. No wonder you can't find a decent pony anymore. He said that they are used for soap, shampoos, laundry detergent, tires and a little of everything, same knacker is a nationwide hauler of dead animals. Can't imagine having such a demand that they buy them live on the hoof (which is why is makes me mad to pay them 100 to haul off my dead horses). The bad part is that they are not killed as quickly as the ones that go through the slaughter plant. On the other hand I know a breeder in the Colorado area that will take his cull weanlings "down over the hill" as he choses to put it rather than to raise a sub standard horse.

summerhorse · Postby **summerhorse** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:57 pm

Does that mean he shoots them over the hill or sends them to the dealer over the hill? The first isn't as bad (better than an uncertain future or shall we say a certain death at slaugher?) but the second... Maybe he should rethink the horses he is breeding!

All ages, sizes, breeds, colors, what have you go to slaughter, yes, donkeys and mules too. PMU foals (YOUNG foals, often way earlier than most people wean) are often sold in lots of 40-60 (which pretty much knocks the average joe out of the bidding) where they go either to the feedlot for fattening and growing or to slaughter. (They will take the small ones if it is a truckload. They can cram more in and they don't waste so much weight on legs).

BJ · Postby BJ » Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:29 pm

wilf wrote:I just wish there was an auction where we could run killer buyers through the auction. Then I could beat them ACROSS THE ASS and herd them into pens with other dysfunctionals so that they could feel the wrath of 400lb guys who are on death row. Then we could throw a few wimps in there and there would be a free for all on the long uncomfortable trip to the plant with no bathroom stops or cups of coffee on the way. Man!!! they would be crying like babies for their Momma!

Someone should do a "take off" on that concept a' la Twilight Zone and the "To Serve Man" episode, where it turned out the Aliens came here to get humans for the diminishing food supply on their planet. "To Serve Man" was not a motto to engender friendship as was falsely implied or misunderstood by the "dumb" humans. It was the title of a cookbook!

What I still cannot stomach is the BS romanticism and royalty of racehorses Kentucky tries to portray in all their marketing of breeding and racing. Split screen...Classic contender Birdstone and his 1/2 brother Civano (sp) in the kill pen. Romantic and royal? I think not! The silence is deafening in Kentucky on this subject.

nferro9925 · Postby **nferro9925** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:16 pm

On cnn.com today there was a story about a cow that escaped from a slaughter plant in Great Falls Montana. :lol:

She gave quite a chase before they finally caught her - AND the plant said
they would give her a reprieve. A telephone poll will determine if she
gets to stay and live on pastureland at the plant (??) or be sent to
Seattle to an animal preserve.

Go Molly!! :lol:

Our Mims · Postby **Our Mims** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:19 am

Heidilady wrote:I was just wondering how young you generally see horses go through the auctions where killer buyers are likely lurking. Also do you ever see demonstrably pregnant mares there? Or heard of a mare that turned out pregnant but they were going to buy for slaughter if they could've gotten her cheaply? I was just curious what the general breakdown of horse demographics we got goin on at these things.

There are killers at every auction. They don't lurk, they are as bold as you and I. Unfortunately for the horses and for those of us who love them, they don't feel they are doing anything wrong; they feel they are simply making a living and are removing the "unwanted waste" from the world.
I have a friend who watched three weanlings get purchased by a known meat buyer. He kept hoping someone would outbid the guy but when the hammer fell... He followed the buyer and tried to talk him out of sending the foals to a bad place. Finally, he bought the foals. The guy charged him $500 more than he just paid for them.
The key issue is the price of the horse. Yes, pregnant mares are bought by killers, too. Health of the mare and projected worth of the foal, determines what happens. If the foal might be worth more than the $ per pound they would get for it, the mare will live long enough to foal, then go on to the slaughter house.

Then there's the old ones...don't even get me going....

valerie · Postby **valerie** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 5:33 am

summerhorse wrote:Does that mean he shoots them over the hill or sends them to the dealer over the hill? The first isn't as bad (better than an uncertain future or shall we say a certain death at slaugher?) but the second... Maybe he should rethink the horses he is breeding!

He takes them over the hill and shoots them. He is very much into linebreeding and when one doesn't work the disposes of them in this manner and he thinks that all breeders should do the same. He claims that the problem is the almight dollar. Well his are top dollar horses in fairly good demand and that may be part of the reason why.

The farm about 20 miles from me must have a couple hundred horses in fields that are fed out like feeder cattle. The ponies and donkeys are all kept in a long shed in back of the barn. The man told me that most of the horses he has are accquired every year at the end of camp season and he runs them through the sales as the prices go up. He gets them as fat as he can first. Kind of sad really.

Marli · Postby **Marli** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 7:01 am

Yes, weanlings do go to slaughter, as do ponies and the like.

I do know that the meatman here in NY does NOT buy weanlings. He'll only take them if they're around 18-24 mths. of age.

Pregnant mares are not safe, they're purchased just the same as any other horse and sent to slaughter. I have seen 2 mares birth at the killpen, both were spared going to slaughter until AFTER the foals were weaned. Meatman found homes for the youngsters.

Last summer, I had a conversation w/the meatman. It was on a Tuesday, the day after a New Holland sale. While sitting there conversing, I saw he had a new chestnut colt, a yearling. Fella was nice enough, needed a good worming and some decent nutrition, but otherwise, correct and sound. I inquired w/the meatman, where'd he come from? He proceeded to tell me about the day prior at New Holland. Said there were upwards of 35+ weanlings/yearlings (QH & Paints) that had been offered at the sale. All of them having been 'dumped' by their breeders for one reason or another. While shaking his head during telling me this story, he also commented and said he just doesn't understand why people produce so many animals only to cull out the unwanteds (Paints without color, QH's that just didn't sell privately for some reason) and tote them off to the local sales with total disregard to who might buy them from there. His thoughts were that breeders should just produce foals that they KNOW will be spoken for/bought upon birth - making sure there is a REASON for the foal coming in the first place. He saw the chestnut yearling colt and brought him home (for himself) to get in shape and later, find a home for him (which he did).

It is insane, the beautiful animals I have seen go through the killpen - many of them sound, in good condition, just unwanted...

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Weanlings through killer auctions?

Weanlings through killer auctions?

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