COK Undercover Investigation
The Auction Block: An Inside Look at Farmed Animal Sales

A calf struggles to stand while getting bid on in the auction ring.

In the last issue of The Abolitionist (Spring/Summer 2001, issue #11), we brought you news of COK's first undercover investigation. Since exposing the misery that egg-laying hens endure while "living" in battery cages, thousands of people have seen Hope for the Hopeless, COK's documentary about the investigation.

However, while the abuses on factory farms and in slaughterhouses are gradually coming to the public's attention, the treatment of animals at livestock auctions remains relatively concealed. With the use of hidden cameras, COK's latest undercover investigation is a glimpse into what is an often-overlooked stage in a farmed animal's life. Yet, it speaks volumes of their misery as well as our own humanity.

A worker electrocutes a cow who is immobilized in a chute. Notice his protruding tongue.

Background

From October through December of 2001, COK conducted an investigation throughout the state of Maryland, documenting the conditions for animals at three livestock auctions: Westminster Livestock Auction, Four State's Livestock Sales, and Frederick Livestock Auction, all of which are owned by B&J Auctions.*

The main finding of COK's investigation is deeply troubling: Violence and intimidation toward animals are the norm at livestock auctions.

What Are Auctions?

A screaming piglet is carried upside down.

Farmed animals are brought to livestock auctions to be sold to the highest bidder, from small farmers to factory farms to slaughter companies. To the sellers and buyers, the only worth of these animals lies in the economic value of their flesh, milk, wool, and other marketable qualities.

At auctions, animals have no control over their fate. Confused and terrified, they are kicked, prodded, beaten, tormented, electrically shocked, dragged, choked, separated from their companions, forced into the auction ring, bid on, and then trucked off to their fate, now the property of a new owner.

A worker uses an electric prod to force this cow through a chute into the auction ring.

The Animals

Calves at livestock auctions are often under one week old. They have been torn from their mothers, most of whom are still on dairy farms, hooked up to milking machines that steal the very milk intended for these calves. Barely able to walk—and some still with their umbilical cords hanging from their bodies—these calves are welcomed into the world by rough handlers who prod them—as well as "spent" dairy cows, pigs, goats, bulls, sheep, and other farmed animals—through the auction. The next 16 weeks of these calves' lives will be spent in a crate too tight for them to turn around. Then, they will be hung upside down and have their throats slit.

Animals on transport trucks are crammed so tightly that they must lie on top of each other.

Indifference to animal suffering at auctions is the norm. COK investigators documented several cases of workers slamming gates on animals as they pass through them. Even worse, as most of the animals at auctions are unable to understand the new and foreign environment, they routinely become immobilized in the chutes. Some are able to free themselves. For those who cannot, workers shock them with electric prods and beat them.

Workers at auctions commonly use violence to exert power over the animals. Whether it be slapping them, kicking them, beating them, or electrocuting them, workers find every way to demonstrate their authority over the powerless. When overt violence doesn't convince an animal to either submit—in the case of resisting animals—or get up—in the case of animals unable to walk—they are dragged by their ears, tails, and even upside down by their legs.

This "spent" dairy cow clearly suffers from a problem which makes walking—and even standing—uncomfortable.

Loading animals onto the trucks which will take them to their fate is particularly confusing and sometimes traumatic. Rather than showing concern and mercy to animals who are unable to walk, workers beat them and even drag them onto the trucks. Even animals who are able to walk are often beaten to encourage them to load more quickly.

After being auctioned off, the vast majority of animals are forced onto trucks, where they are crammed so tightly that they must lay on top of each other, unable to move. The animals have no food or water for the duration of the trip, which can last for days, nor do they have protection from extreme heat or cold.

Even More Hidden Abuse

COK investigators also found the corpses of animals who had presumably died at the auction.

COK investigators also found entire pens filled with injured animals who presumably weren't purchased. Most of these animals had little or no access to food and water at the time COK's investigators saw them. As such, COK investigators provided aid, in the form of fresh water, to some of these animals, making their last moments on earth a little more bearable.

In addition to lame animals, COK investigators also found the corpses of animals who had presumably died at the auction. Most of the time, these corpses were laying in what seemed to be manure pits immediately outside of the auction. However, on one occasion, a dead sheep and goat were found laying in a pen in close proximity to pens with live animals.

The Root of the Problem

The abuse COK uncovered at livestock auctions is horrible. However, these abuses don't occur in a vacuum.

Throughout their lives, farmed animals are subjected to immeasurable suffering and degradation. Shortly after birth, they are ripped from their mothers, if they even ever knew them. And then, without anesthesia, they are castrated, branded, and even have their teeth, horns, beaks, ears, and tails mutilated. After these injuries, they suffer through months—and sometimes years—of intense confinement, only to be followed by unimaginable slaughter. They are considered mere property; worthy of little—if any—moral consideration.

The abuses forced upon animals every day at livestock auctions, on factory farms, and in slaughterhouses exist only because we allow them to through our purchases of meat, eggs, and dairy products.

Despite our routine exploitation of farmed animals, they are individuals with distinct personalities. Like us, they experience both pain and pleasure. Like us, they desire to live and to be free from misery.

Despite our routine exploitation of farmed animals, they are individuals with distinct personalities.

While animals may not be able to liberate themselves, each one of us can take a powerful stand against the cruelty and abuse they suffer. Throughout history, those with power have ruthlessly exploited those at their mercy. But, there has always been resistance to this might-makes-right attitude. By becoming vegan, we can become a part of that resistance and can begin to establish a relationship between humans and other animals that is not based on violence and tyranny, but rather, is based on compassion and respect.

Please, speak out for the voiceless.
Stand up for the oppressed.
Please, go vegan.

Please visit www.TryVegan.com for your free vegan starter pack!

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." —Anne Frank

	Order The Auction Block
Essential for the animal rights activist's video library, The Auction Block: An Inside Look at Farmed Animal Sales is a powerful 19-minute exposé of the livestock auction industry. Showing this crucial video to friends and family is a great way to build opposition to animal exploitation and promote veganism. To order your copy of The Auction Block, please visit COK's Marketplace.

Previous Page | Index | Next Page