AA investigators returned to the monthly horse sale at the Middleburg livestock auction. The tack sale started at 8:30am and Work Horses, Driving Horses, Riding Horses, Ponies and Mules sold afterwards.
It appeared to be a slow sale day, there were approx. 40 horses and a few donkeys, ponies and minis in the pen area. The loose horse pens were again in the darkest area of the barn and it was almost impossible to check their condition. Several of them were quite thin and two bay mares were severely emaciated with ribs and spine clearly showing. The handling by the Amish workers was very rough, one worker was observed climbing the pen fence and kicking one horse in the side with full force. It was a poor attempt to make the mare move to fit an additional horse into an already crowded pen, despite the fact that numerous other pens were empty and readily available. While many of the riding and work horses had access to hay, the loose horses didn't get anything.
The horse sale started at 11:44am. Kill buyer Bruce Rotz and a buyer for kill buyer Brian Moore were in attendance. Rotz brought his tractor/trailer to the sale and was bidding aggressively to obtain enough horses to fill a load, sometimes paying as much as $635 for a horse.
The buyer for Moore did his best to get his share of horses, buying a four year old stud as well as several very thin horses.
When the sale was almost over, a severely limping horse was quickly moved through the ring (#362). Both kill buyers did not place any bids and the horse sold for $25 to an unknown individual.
When the sale was over, the single deck trailer of Bruce Rotz was already backed up to the loading ramp. Animals’ Angels will continue to monitor this sale.