# Sale Barn Vent!!!



## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

I just got back from the sale barn in Beebe, AR and I am so disgusted with the way the animals are treated!!!! I took my niece and nephew with me and we saw a bunch of sick looking goats and some nice looking goats in the same pens...there was one that looked like it had sore mouth and one that had lots of mucus/snot coming out of its nose...not just a runny nose but it was a long string and it was thick and was just hanging from its nose :veryangry: How can they treat these poor animals like that???? They had 4 tiny pygmy and nigie kids there and I felt so sorry for them..one was moonspotted and just so gorgeous...it was a doeling...i was tempted to climb over the fence and take them out of there...this just sickens me to no end and i think it should be illegal!!!


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

i couldn't handle that :hug:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

That is very sad...  and so inhumane..... I too ...agree it should be illegal.... and it is sad.... the children had to witness it ..as well...  :hug:


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

:veryangry: I could not handle seeing that. I know they don't care about the animals because they just see it as food...but who the heck wants to eat that????????? Poor goaties..... actually.... I feel bad for all of the animals at auction. Because even the well cared for animals that go to auction are all exposed to the sorry cases brought there by people who don't deserve to HAVE animals.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Been there, done that and I can say that IF I ever had to get rid of my goats and could not find a buyer...I'd put them in a hole before I would take them to an auction house.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

thats the reason i used to take my wethers to the butcher man... that way i know they didn't suffer in some filthy place


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## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

I know my niece was asking me why they were kicking the goats and I told her that its because the animals arent theirs and they dont care about them  I'm not sure they knew what the sick ones looked like but either way it was a horrible experience! I have sent animals to that same sale barn but after seeing how they were handled, NEVER again will I do that!!! I would much rather butcher mine or give them away as pets before sending them to that place!!!!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

anyway you look at it.......it's bad....and very sad...  :hug:


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## Myakkagoater (Apr 10, 2010)

I went to one down the road from us back in the summer. I saw mostly goats that looked rather healthy. None of them were coughing. No mucus from the nose and no sore mouth that I could see. I saw 2 beautiful little doelings about 9-11 months old that were a boer/kiko mix. I told myself that I was not going to buy anything but after watching them for a while before the auction I thought I would give them a chance if the price were right. I purchased both of them and took them home. I quarintined them from the rest of the flock that evening and alfalfa and grained them with nice fresh water. The next morning the alfalfa was gone and they were both eager to check out there new surroundings. I immediately gave each one a very thorough antibacterial bath including cloroxing there feet, scrub and trim, vaccinations and worming. After both were cleaned up they had there own kennel that I hooked a rope to with a riding lawnmower and pulled them around the yard like a chicken tractor. Letting them graze down the grass, eat leaves and such. After about 3 weeks of that I introduced them to the herd. They were definetely the low does on the totem pole but they follow behind very well. I will never go to a auction house again. It was inhumane the way some were treated. I consider myself lucky with the two I acquired. I won't be pressing my luck anymore in the near future.

Tom


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## FunnyRiverFarm (Sep 13, 2008)

I know exactly what you're talking about. We buy hay at our local auction occassionally and I refuse to even go into the barns where they keep the auction animals because I'll get upset. I know some of the people there are kind to their animals and are just looking for a good deal...but there are plenty of the other kind that believe animals don't deserve to be treated with dignity and respect because, after all, they are "just animals". 

The last time I was there I watched someone drag a goat kid through the parking lot and sling it into the back of their truck by it's neck--I almost lost it!


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## mistyblue (Nov 13, 2008)

Thankfully our local sale barn shut down. But I went once to watch the goat sales as I was thinking of taking a few wethers, I will never go to another sale. They were kicking and hitting the goats, or even using a cattle prod on them. We now put any excess wethers in the freezer. 

To me it is more humane for them to live a good short life with me with a quick death then what I saw at the sale barn.


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## bheila (Jan 10, 2009)

Exactly why I won't go to one. I have a customer that goes and he says the last animals they show are the cows. He said it's so sad to see them sick and scared. I will NEVER go to an auction nor will I put any of my animals through the HELL that happens there. I'd rather eat them myself.


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

I have bought a few from the auctions. I always end up taking the sick and thin home. They are such wonderful, fat, sassy suckers now. They always seem to know what could have been and will show how grateful they are every chance they get. Just ask, Murray, Romeo, Hershey,Moose and Ben. :laugh: 

The meat man always ticks me off. I have had words with him before on how he handles them. (kicking, grabbing and throwing) I told him I understand they are going for meat but he needs to understand they pay his bills and give their lives for someone to eat. That deserves respect and kindness in what little time they have left. Kind treatment, food, water and a quick as pain free ending as possible. I told him he would be judged one day on how he treated lesser animals and if he showed mercy. If you can't show mercy, don't expect it when your time comes.

Horse auctions aren't any better. You can get a horse in the next few months for anywhere from $5 and up. They need food, worming and trimming. You will see the worst cases as the winter gets colder and people run out of hay and money.
We are going to one the weekend after Thanksgiving. I hope to get one as company for Danny Boy. (also from an auction)


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Here at the sales, all the animals are treated really well. They are all checked out by the vet before they get put in a pen. I have seen some horses that were pretty thin, and that alone was so hard.


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## Dreamchaser (Oct 30, 2008)

Yikes. I basically rescued 2 papered goats that were destined to go to auction. I wish I could have saved more. They were perfectly fine goats, but the person just got in way over his head and got too many at once. Then when times got bad, he just sold them all at auction. I felt terrible, kindof like Shindler's List. But there was no way my husband would have let me buy any more, but I still feel like I could have done more. I feel like I could have found the other homes. At some time you have to stop, or you will drive yourself crazy.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I've been to a local sale a couple of times. They try to keep it clean. I've seen some pens of awful animals, and healthy animals. They are seperated by seller, so your goats aren't crammed in with other peoples goats.
First time I went I didn't know any better and that's when I bought a 'rescue' and she was in bad shape... I have this forum to thank for getting me through that! 
Some of the goats in 2 pens that trip were sickly looking, underweight, just horrible 

The 2nd time I went they looked so much better. There was a couple there that had brought their entire herd of boers because they were losing their house and couldn't feed the goats anymore. They looked okay, nannies were underweight by they still had kids on them up until the sale. All the kids were herded into another pen, and sold, I'm thinking they were about 2 months old. 
It was so sad.... and I honestly think if I had known they were selling the doelings seperate from the bucklings...I might have brought them home, quarantined them and found them good homes. I think a 'kill buyer' bought the pen of kids 

Don't want to do the sale thing again....but I tell you what if my husband doesn't do something with this whether he bought for meat.... :angry: He's trying to tear my fence down, disrupting my herd!!! :veryangry: Okay...moving on...


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## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

thanks for sharing all of your experiences!


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## Oat Bucket Farm (Dec 14, 2009)

I haven't ever been to a livestock auction of any kind and I know shouldn't ever go. I get teary eyed just going into the pound. All of those animals just wanting a home and a family. I would never be able to leave without an animal and I know I would end up leaving with the skinnest most awful looking goat in the place. Best I just stay away.


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## dtincoelemari (Nov 16, 2010)

I went to a livestock auction in Iowa about 7 years ago and it was REALLY nice. It was owned by a ranching family that really took pride in keeping the animals as healthy as possible and ooh my, the prices could get steep lol. They would only take in animals that had vet health cert's and they had a rule of if your animal wasn't in good enough condition that they would consider buying it for themselves they wouldn't take it in. They were incredibly nice people and they kept the place spotless. 
Because of that place I figured .. ooh, so I can just buy livestock from auction house's but then I started reading up on it and WOW :shocked: I'm scared to go to one now because I would be so mad I would probably yell at them and want to take all the animals home :hair: 

Something else that makes me nuts and most people don't want to listen to or tell me im lieing is from when I did an internship at a Humane Society when I was 19. It was so heart braking.... I will never go into one again. I would see really healthy happy animals come in and then I would watch them get depressed, then sick and nobody want's to take home a sick pet so most of the time they would end up being put to sleep  And plenty of sick ones came in too :sigh: it was just awful  I also learned a horrible fact by talking to a few of the people who were in charge of the disposal of the "put to sleep" animals.. :veryangry: From what they said it was pretty common to find live animals that was just paralyzed because it wasn't given enough drugs to kill it. They were always just instructed to put it in the rest to be burned... After learning that I will never take any animal I have to be put to sleep.. I would rather just do it myself so I know they are gone and not suffering :tears: 
This is depressing  Now I have to go find something to cheer me up!!
But I really understand how you guys feel :hug:


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

That happens at our animal pound too. My cousin worked for them for a whole week before he walked out.

We have one that is called "a no-kill" but they do put animals to sleep as well. If it is sick or hurting they will put them down. I have seen people take unwanted, sick animals in thinking they would be doctored up and live happily ever after but the truth is they just don't have the money to sink into each one. If the animal is "healthy" it has a chance. But if it stays too long it runs the risk of getting depressed and sick then put down.

I am a sucker for the "lost" causes.  Just ask Murray, Moose, Romeo, Hershey,( the skinny sick goats at auction) Thor and Oopie. They were the throwaway cats no one wanted. They repay me every day with love and gratitude. I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. :stars: They have taught me forgiveness and trust.

Gina


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## Paige (Oct 14, 2010)

I would have been SOO STEAMED! :veryangry: I always feel so bad for the goats that have to go to an auction. I would love to go and buy every little, thin, scared goat in the whole place, and some day I swear I will. It would be so cool to watch them get big, fat, and heaithy again. almost every goat at any plce just needs the love that we can give them.


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