Trent Ward Slaughter Horse Collecting Station, Kaufman, TX 7/13/14

Date: 
Sunday, July 13, 2014 - 10:15
Investigation Category: 

Trent Ward is a kill buyer who has been in the horse slaughter business for a very long time.  When the horse slaughter plants in Texas were still open, Ward supplied horses to the Kaufman plant.  Ward used to run T & M Horse Company with large scale kill buyer Mike McBarron and is still shipping horses to slaughter for McBarron today.

No stranger to violations, Trent Ward was fined $21,450 by the USDA for shipping injured horses and non-segregated stallions.  However, Ward has not allowed these fines to slow him down.  From past research and investigations, we know that Ward frequents Texas sales such as Cleburne & Stephenville to obtain horses for shipments to the Jerez plant in Mexico.

Our investigators arrived at Ward’s property on July 13, 2014 at 11:30 a.m. The property has a rancher style private residence and a small pen area which is partially sheltered as well as a large, overgrown pasture.

Upon arrival, our investigators noted one flatbed trailer parked out front loaded with bales of hay.  There were several pick-up trucks and one SUV parked on the premises. One of the pick-up trucks was equipped with a large, canvas-top stock trailer and had two horses inside, apparently delivering them to Ward.

There was a pony in the backyard which was evidently used to maintain the grass level and keep it low.  Investigators observed 6 to 7 horses in the back pen, 1 horse in a pole building located on the property, and 3 horses with 1 burro in the overgrown pasture.

There was nothing untoward observed and no activity.  Due to the lack of activity, the location of this property and the fact that it has a private residence, investigators chose not to draw attention to themselves on this particular visit and left at 11:55 a.m.