USDA Halts Mt. Hope Auction
Following Years of AA Investigations, US Attorney General Finally Files Complaint Against Ohio’s Largest Exotic Animal Auction
Since 2010, Animals’ Angels has consistently documented and reported on the appalling conditions at the notorious Mt. Hope Auction, which normally holds their “Mid-Ohio Alternative Animal and Bird Sale” three times per year.
Operated by the Mullet family out of their Millersburg facility, the Mt. Hope Auction has long been the largest exotic animal auction in Ohio, offering over 200 different species of domestic and exotic animals at a quarterly sale that has regularly drawn in thousands of attendees from all over the country, despite the poor conditions for the animals on display.
AA investigators have witnessed and documented countless violations of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) during numerous visits to the auction, and now, after years of conducting undercover investigations and reporting on our disturbing findings, we are thrilled to announce that the USDA has finally taken action!
The US Attorney General recently filed a civil action with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio alleging that the Mt. Hope Auction has committed 69 violations of the Animal Welfare Act over the last two years.
In response to the USDA’s complaint, a temporary restraining order was issued, effectively halting operations at the auction.
Just days before the September exotic animal sale was scheduled to take place, Mt. Hope Auction management released a statement announcing that the September sale was canceled.
Investigating Abuse at the Mt. Hope Auction
After so many years of investigations, it’s hard to express the relief felt by the Animals’ Angels team - which was already on site in Ohio - when they heard the multi-day auction had been canceled.
There would be no need to go to Mt. Hope to document the many violations of the AWA and the suffering of scared animals in inadequate enclosures, without proper food, water, or veterinary care.
Too often we have seen amazing exotic creatures, including peacocks, hedgehogs, tortoises, and birds of all kinds, stuffed in cramped cages, cardboard boxes, or plastic containers without ventilation or room to move or lie down.
Animals’ Angels investigators have witnessed appalling conditions at the auction, which routinely attracts buyers from commercial operations all across the country, including zoos, animal farms for tourists, hunting preserves, and even those who buy tame animals to act as “wild” targets for so-called “canned hunts.”
During just one visit to the Mt. Hope Auction back in 2016, we witnessed:
- Beautiful peacocks confined in very narrow broken cages, unable to turn around or even move, their long tails protruding from a small hole in the back.
- An African gazelle with a cut on one of her ears who was continuously shaking her head in pain.
- A gorgeous arctic fox who was extremely scared and trying to hide from the crowd of visitors staring at him.
- Hedgehogs in small plastic tubs with tiny, inadequate air holes in the sides.
- Scared wildebeests, camels, and zebras pinned up and forced to endure a large crowd of spectators trying to pet them.
And while our investigators did note an effort to improve conditions at the auction during a subsequent visit in 2018, the limited improvements were short-lived and the poor conditions soon resumed.
Eventually, the USDA could no longer ignore the repeated violations. Finally, they decided to take action.
The USDA Finally Acts
September, the USDA launched a civil action against Mt. Hope Auction in federal court, laying out the auction’s actions and failures in a 49-page document that details the same types of violations Animals’ Angels has witnessed, documented, and reported on over the years.
The USDA stated that Mt. Hope Auction has “accrued a shockingly high quantity of violations in a two-year period” and asserted that the auction has been “cited for the same type of violations again and again.”
The complaint goes on to argue that Mt. Hope Auction was given every chance to comply with AWA regulations, receiving written inspection reports, oral interviews, and even an official warning, but failed to comply while “showing a disregard for the applicable laws, the well-being of the animals that come to the Auctions, and the safety of the public.”
Within the complaint, the USDA outlines the auction’s main failures and violations. The complaint asserts that Mt. Hope Auction:
- Did not provide veterinary care to approximately 39 different animals showing signs of injury or illness, including animals who had openly bleeding wounds, were unable to stand, were severely emaciated, had nasal discharge, were experiencing hair or feather loss, or who had diarrhea or other signs of illness.
- Did not provide proper housing or enclosures for dozens of animals, including at least ten rabbits, two of whom escaped during the auction. Various enclosures were not adequately cleaned, containing excessive excreta. Others exhibited broken boards, excessive wear, holes in the walls, and damaged metal fencing pipes.
- Allowed members of the public to handle and touch bison, coyotes, foxes, zebras, monkeys, and other animals without supervision by auction employees.
- Handled animals in a manner that inflicted trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, and unnecessary discomfort, including swinging a kangaroo around forcefully by its tail.
- Did not make or maintain accurate, complete records of consignments and sales.
- Bought numerous animals, including ring-tailed lemurs, kinkajous, capybaras, zebras, foxes, racoons, opossums, coyotes, camels, bobcats, skunks, and flying squirrels, from individuals who did not have a USDA license allowing them to sell the animals.
Based on the auction’s repeated violations and failure to correct its actions, as well as a more recent inspection that revealed unsafe and unsanitary conditions, the USDA determined that the Mt. Hope Auction was likely to continue putting the animals’ health at risk if they were allowed to continue holding their exotic animal sales.
The USDA was certain that without an immediate injunction, the animals brought to the next Alternative Animal Auction, which was scheduled to take place September 19-21, 2024, would be put in “serious danger.”
Luckily, the overwhelming amount of documented evidence in the complaint resulted in the issuance of a temporary restraining order. It will be up to the Mt. Hope Auction to prove to the court and to USDA inspectors that they are capable and willing to follow all AWA regulations, including those that ensure the animals are treated in a manner that will not cause trauma, behavioral stress, physical harm, or unnecessary discomfort.
We’re hopeful that the USDA complaint and resulting consequences for the Mt. Hope Auction will result in improved conditions for the animals at their exotic animal sale and any other sales they may have, including those for horses, farm animals, and dogs.