Investigation Report: TS Whites Horse Auction (Diamond, Missouri)

Location: 1863 Highway 59, Diamond, MO 64840

Business: TS Whites LLC (Whites Feed & Tack / Horse & Tack Auction)

Auction Schedule: Second Tuesday of each month, 6:00 PM

Owner: Tim White (and father Cecil White)

Overview

Animals’ Angels has been monitoring the TS Whites Horse Auction in Diamond, Missouri, a monthly sale that consistently draws kill buyers and low-end horse traders supplying the slaughter pipeline. Tim White and his father, Cecil White, are long-time kill buyers with documented histories of shipping horses to Mexico through the Presidio export pens. The business openly advertises in local papers that it purchases horses of “all sizes and shapes,” a phrase commonly used by slaughter buyers to attract unwanted, injured, elderly, or neglected animals.

In addition to operating the auction, the Whites family owns and runs a feed and tack store on the same property.

Our investigators conducted multiple on-site visits in late 2025 and early 2026. Each visit documented serious welfare concerns, including emaciated and injured animals, lack of food and water, rough handling by staff, and the repeated presence of known slaughter buyers.

Key Findings at a Glance

• Sick, injured, and severely emaciated horses were present at every visit. Most animals had no access to food or water while confined in holding pens.
• Auction employees handled horses aggressively, striking them with sticks and flags and slamming gates on them.
• Multiple known kill buyers were present repeatedly, including Buyer #10-X and Buyer #2768, with confirmed connections to large-scale slaughter operations.
• Horses and donkeys in the worst condition were often kept out of the auction ring, lacked sales tags, and appeared to be held for direct shipment to slaughter.

Investigation Observations

November 11, 2025

Our first visit revealed a sale already steeped in neglect. Horses and donkeys stood crowded into dirty pens, many visibly starving, injured, or in obvious distress. Despite long holding times, most animals were provided with no food and no water. The scene was chaotic, loud, and aggressive with approximately 60 horses and 10 donkeys present.

• #7250 – Stallion, former racehorse: His left hind leg was grotesquely swollen. He repeatedly lifted it off the ground — showing difficulty bearing weight. He was sold for $60/CWT to Buyer #2768.
• #7251 – Mare: Completely blind in one eye, with deep halter imprints carved into her face from prolonged restraint. She was sold for $50/CWT to Buyer 10-X.
• #7237 – Mare: Skin and bones, severely emaciated and neglected. Sold for $12.50/CWT to Buyer #2768.
• #7255 – Belgian draft mare: Large cracked front hoof, limping. Sold for $55/CWT to Buyer CW-2.
• #7256 – Belgian draft gelding: Emaciated and weak. Sold for $45/CWT to Buyer 10-X.
• #7242 – Donkey: Front legs bent inward, struggling to walk.
• #0562 – Grey riding mare: Extremely thin; a saddle had been placed on her body in an apparent attempt to disguise her condition from buyers.

Only eight horses in the back pens had access to food and water. All others — including riding horses — were left without either.

Handling by staff was openly violent. Horses were struck repeatedly with sticks and flags, and gates were slammed on them as they were forced through the pens.

Buyers #10-X and #2768 purchased the majority of the lowest-quality animals, consistent with slaughter selection patterns. Average prices for mares and geldings ranged from $40–50/CWT. Donkeys sold for approximately $1,000–1,500 each.

Sale time: 7:40 PM – 9:40 PM

December 9, 2025

Conditions showed no improvement during our second visit. Horses stood packed into pens with manure-soaked ground, tangled burrs in their manes and tails, ribs protruding through skin, and open wounds left untreated. Again, most animals had no food or water while awaiting sale.

Approximately 60 horses and 3 donkeys were present. Examples documented include:

• #7283 – Paint gelding (red tag): Severely emaciated, legs cut and bleeding, trembling as he stood without food or water. Sold for $400 to Buyer CX-1.
• #7264 – Mare (white tag): Possibly pregnant, with a visible back-leg injury causing her to limp. Sold for $600 to Buyer #2768.
• #7278 – Mare (red tag): Possibly pregnant, thin and exhausted. Sold for $55.50/CWT to Buyer #2768.
• White stallion (no tag): Did not go through the auction ring. He had a deep gash on his front left foot.

An estimated 15–20 additional horses were observed in extremely poor condition, with burr-matted coats, sunken flanks, and no access to feed or water.

Buyer 10-X and Buyer #2768 again purchased multiple horses. Riding horses were largely ignored; buyers targeted the weakest and cheapest animals first.

Handling remained aggressive and chaotic, with repeated striking using flags and sticks and gates slammed shut on frightened horses.

Sale time: 7:30 PM – 9:15 PM

January 13, 2026

Our third visit confirmed a pattern of neglect and violence. The same employees were present, using the same rough methods, and the same class of buyers returned to select disposable animals for slaughter.

Approximately 60 horses were present. Among the most disturbing findings:

• Three donkeys in the back pens had no tags and were never brought through the auction ring. All were in poor condition. One had deep gashes across both shoulders. Another had dried blood covering his face and multiple open cuts.
• Several mustangs with freeze brands were confined in holding pens.
• Horses were repeatedly struck with sticks and flags while being moved. Gates were slammed against their bodies as workers rushed them into overcrowded pens.

Buyer 10-X returned again, purchasing approximately 15 low-quality horses — mostly geldings and fillies — for an average of $400 each. This buyer is suspected to be purchasing for Baker Farms’ kill pen in Stroud, Oklahoma.

The pattern was unmistakable: weak, injured, or unwanted animals funneled quickly to known slaughter buyers, while healthier riding horses were bypassed.

Kill Buyer Network and Slaughter Pipeline

The Whites are not isolated operators. The TS Whites auction appears to function as a regional collecting point for slaughter horses, facilitating transactions for known high-volume kill buyers. Large-scale buyers repeatedly documented at or connected to this sale include:

• Baker Farms (Stroud, Oklahoma) — Related investigation
• Dennis Chavez (New Mexico) — Related investigation
• Jeff Smith (Kansas) — Related investigation

Large-scale kill buyers operating in the Midwest, including those documented at this auction, are known to move horses across long distances and between states. Public records and prior Animals’ Angels investigations show that some of these operators have trafficked wild horses originating from tribal land roundups in other regions of the country.

Animals in the worst condition are frequently excluded from the public auction ring, kept in back pens without tags, and suspected to be shipped directly to slaughter buyers without public bidding.

Why Missouri Has Become a Slaughter Hub

Missouri has quietly become one of the primary transit and trading hubs for slaughter horses in the Midwest.

Contributing factors include:

• One of the weakest animal welfare legal frameworks in the country (ranked near the bottom nationally).
• A notoriously strict agricultural “Ag-Gag” law limiting transparency.
• Statutes that restrict public access to records and limit Freedom of Information Act requests.
• A high concentration of livestock auctions and permissive oversight.

Together, these conditions create an environment where kill buyers can operate with minimal scrutiny and little accountability.

Conclusion and Next Steps

At every visit, Animals’ Angels documented systemic neglect, physical abuse, and the routine funneling of compromised animals into the slaughter pipeline at the TS Whites Horse Auction.

The evidence strongly suggests that this sale functions as a staging and collection point for kill buyers supplying domestic holding pens and international slaughter export routes.

Animals’ Angels will continue to monitor this auction, document conditions, identify perpetrators, and expose the networks profiting from the suffering of horses and donkeys.

This investigation is part of our broader effort to dismantle the kill-buyer industry operating throughout Missouri and the greater Midwest — and to hold individuals and businesses accountable for their role in this cruelty.