Investigators arrived at the auction facility at 11:00 am. Investigators did not observe any food or water provided to the animals, and the animals did not have any shelter from the sun. Workers used moving paddles and sticks to move the cattle and hands to move the calves. Handling appeared to be calm and satisfactory. The sale began at 12:00 pm and started with the calves. Next approximately 350 – 400 head of cattle were sold. In general the cows appeared to be in satisfactory condition with two exceptions. One Holstein appeared to have an old leg injury with the leg pointed outward at the knee. The animal had difficulty moving and the employees in the ring kept moving her back and forth.
A second Holstein, had a large swelling or growth (about the size of a baseball) on the left side of her jaw. It was impossible to tell if the swelling was due to an infection, growth or some other injury. The auction ended at 5:30pm. As investigators left, they spotted a dead cow on the auction’s dead pile. It could not be determined what caused the animal’s death. This animal was not there when the investigators arrived. An attempt to view the dead pile was stopped by an auction vehicle.