# Horse Auction Cruelty



## Horselover90981 (Aug 17, 2009)

Okay so I went to the first all breed horse aution I have ever been too and I have never been so appauled in my entire life!!! I live in ALBERTA and I know (along with everyone else) there is very little thought given to how horses feel by the people involved in over breeding, raising and selling to auctions that clearly know their horses will be sold for meat but even so I am shocked! As I walked through corrals with pens about 12 x 20 feet (maybe smaller) with 6 - 12 horses packed in each including new born foals I thought to myself okay I dont like this one bit! I passed by horses well broke, well groomed, and well bred and then their they were an entire pen of foals and yearlings with sickening and what looked like extremely painful injuries that were covered in crusty blood, dirt, and flies the injuries I could see included a foal with a 5 in x 5 in piece of flesh missing from the inside of his/her leg, another foal with a deep wound on his/her leg swollen to the size of a baseball, other yearlings and foals had various deep wounds, and all of these horses were clearly untreated!, These young horses were clearly SUFFERING. I was so tempted to take pictures but when I saw them I literally almost passed out. So as I watched the parade of horses being hauled, shoved and forced into the auction ring scared and forced to walk and trot around some two at a time meaning after the bidding on one was finished he/she would be let out of the ring but the other unsuspecting horse would be slammed into by a huge wooden door as it tried to leave with the horse being let out it became clear to me how blind everyone there was to what was going on. So when I got home I decided to do some research into the laws and protection of these animals who were very obiously going to be processed for meat and came across this section on the Alberta farm animal care horse welfare report which states 

_Alberta’s revised (2006) _
​​​*Animal Protection Act (APA) *_and regulations now include duties of_​
_care and the _​​

​_Transportation of Animals Regulations. The APA states:_

*No person shall cause or permit an animal of which the person is the owner or the person in*
*charge to be or to continue to be in distress. For the purposes of this Act, an animal is in*
*distress if it is*
*(a) deprived of adequate shelter, ventilation, space, food, water or veterinary care or*
*reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold,*
*(b) injured, sick, in pain or suffering, or*
*(c) abused or subjected to undue hardship, privation or neglect.*
_*The APA animal care duties state:*_​

_*A person who owns or is in charge of an animal*_

_*(b) must provide the animal with adequate care when the animal is wounded or ill,*_
_*(c) must provide the animal with reasonable protection from injurious heat or cold,*_
_*(d) must provide the animal with adequate shelter, ventilation and space.*_​_*Other key features of the APA include:*_
*− The definition of livestock includes horses and unlike many US state animal protection*​​​

*laws, livestock are not exempt;− The regulations can reference external sources for standards of care (e.g., persons using*

_*animals in research must adhere to the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines). This*_
_*has the potential to give industry guidelines quasi-judicial status;*_
*− Humane transportation sections are consistent with federal legislation;*
*− The ability to issue specified penalties as an enforcement tool;*​

*− Fines can be as high as $20,000 and can include prohibition of ownership of animals*
Here is the link to the report:
*http://albertaequestrian.com/images/stories/files/horse_health_welfare/2008_Horse_Welfare_Report.pdf*​ 
After reading this and realizing that there is probably thousands of horses in this condition im wondering how these people can get away with this kind of cruelty? I would like to know who if anybody is actually making sure this doesnt happen to these animals and who can I contact when I witness this kind of cruelty? Is there anybody out there who actally enforces these protection laws? If so why arent they at the many horse auctions in alberta every month? 
Im begining to think that these laws for the protection of animals are only written not enforced!
But I assure you I will be taking dozens of pictures at the next auction and contacting someone about this kind of disgusting cruelty!​ 
Please post your thoughts or comments on this matter.​
P.S. I also urge anyone looking to purchase a horse of any age go to one of these auctions, you would be amazed at the quality of these horses!​


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Good morning and welcome to the forum! Sad that your first post has to be a rant over the cruelty inflicted on horses at some auctions. I attend several auctions from time to time and sometimes what I see is disgraceful. I often wonder the fate of these animals after they leave. How many end up comfortable, how many end up being continuously mistreated, and how many end up going to slaughter. 

I think some people become immune to it - I don't.


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## RiddlesDarkAngel5 (Jun 2, 2009)

if there's going to continue to be horse slaughter, there needs to be regulations about how horses are treated on their way there. and that includes the auctions they are bought at. Every animal, regardless of where it ends up eventually, deserves a good quality of life while being sold. it doesn't cost that much to build a few more pens and provide at least decent medical care (ie clean up wounds and/or dirt). but sadly, the legislation that is in place to protect these horses is rarely enforced

btw, welcome to the boards =)


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## Hobbes (Aug 23, 2009)

I've gotten so many bad horses at sales and auctions that I stopped going. I feel so bad for them I wanna take them all home, when I just can't. All of my horse books say not to buy horses at sales anyway... 

I don't see how those people who owned the horses could look at them, negleted as they are, and be happy with what they saw. Personally, I would never leave a wound untreated. Often I put my horse's health in front of my own.


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