Evidence Breakdown
SEED has documented 17 auctions in 10 states, finding rampant abuse and animals in conditions that can easily spread zoonotic diseases.
We have uncovered consistent animal cruelty, as well as poultry flocks mixed together in the midst of a bird flu outbreak. We found young, healthy cattle collapse and even die from exhaustion, old and injured animals (including a baby calf with a broken leg) sold despite their inability to walk, downed animals beaten and dragged, animals shocked on their rectums and vaginas with cattle prods to make them move, and sadistic cruelty outside any norms. Cruelty was committed by workers and customers alike. Victims include animals brought from farmers who waved goodbye to animals they raised, and animals packed together onto semi-trailers for slaughter. The case proves that auctions, used to move animals from the smallest of family farms to the largest of corporate slaughterhouses, abuse all animals regardless.
Birds have been sold at four auctions SEED has attended, with two having birds as the primary animal sold. Birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys, quail, and pigeons were brought from various small farmers and kept in cages next to or on top of each other, their manure mixing on the ground. Nearby were other animals, including rabbits, goats, a pig, and even puppies. Such conditions are commonly referred to as “wet markets,” and a study by Harvard and NYU in 2023 specifically notes livestock auctions to be vectors for zoonotic diseases. Even the transportation of farm animals can spread disease, as well.
A 2024 study conducted by Harvard Law School and New York University focuses on zoonotic disease risks from animal markets. It notes, “Animal markets have long been considered hot spots for the spillover and spread of zoonotic pathogens and have been linked to the emergence of several of the most deadly viruses of the last 30 years. Animal markets and the supply chains that support them facilitate the types of intimate interactions that allow for disease transmission.” In addition, it notes that the more species present at a market, the more chances pathogens have for zoonotic transfer to humans.
Fifteen of the auctions investigated had hoofstock. This is important to note because hoofstock are walked through the auction, as opposed to carried in cages like chickens and rabbits. Therefore, downed hoofstock can be observed. Also, because of the nature of moving animals, violence is more likely to occur. Of those fifteen, seven had animals downed at auction, arrived downed, or were given to customers downed. In addition, there was sadistic abuse at five auctions. Acts of sadistic abuse were different from numerous other accounts of cruelty because they were completely unnecessary, involved more effort on the part of workers to achieve a goal or did nothing to achieve any goal, and to a greater degree than other violence were done to sate anger or create enjoyment for the workers.
Most auctions had sick and injured animals sold at them, with problems ranging from open wounds to broken legs.
Cattle
Sheep, goats, and hogs
Poultry
TEXAS
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TEXAS ~
Buffalo Livestock Marketing, Athens Commission Co, Emory Livestock Auction, Muleshoe Livestock Auction
Downed animals
Sadistic abuse
Calf sold with a broken leg
Animals collapsing and even dying from stress and heat
Animals dragged and thrown
A worker kicks a donkey pinned with a gate
A downed cow dragged with a chain around her neck
At four auctions in Texas, SEED found downed animals to be a consistent problem. This was true even of healthy beef calves, who collapsed and even died from stress and heat exhaustion. Downed cows were lifted with forklifts or dragged with chains around their necks. Small animals such as goats and sheep collapsed as well and were dragged or thrown to move them when they couldn’t walk. A customer at one auction kissed her goat on the head, who wore a collar, before handing her to us. The goat didn’t move away from me to go into a pen, but rather followed me into one. After going through the auction ring, though, the goat ran from anyone who approached her.
A worker drags a downed goat to a pen
Other notable evidence includes a young calf with a broken leg who was unable to walk but was still purchased at auction. A worker carried the calf to the customer’s trailer, and in front of the customer, dumped the animal inside amidst full grown cows. The customer laughed and said, “He can’t get no more fucked up than he is.” In another incident, a worker was trying to draw blood from a donkey’s neck when the donkey was pinned between a gate and fence. Though the donkey was standing still and there was no clear reason the worker couldn’t just draw blood with the animal standing as he was, the worker repeatedly kicked the animal while screaming at him. Eventually, he drew the donkey’s blood with the donkey having moved very little from his original position.
A calf dead from heat exhaustion
KANSAS
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KANSAS ~
Central Livestock, Colby Livestock Auction
Downed animals
Sadistic abuse
Dogs used to attack animals
Animals dragged and thrown
A worker kicks a goat’s scrotum and yells, “You like that!”
Dogs attack a terrified and confused lamb
Violent abuse was prevalent at two auctions SEED’s investigator worked at in Kansas. Workers and customers alike threw small animals. Sheep and goats were dragged by legs and ears as they screamed, and lifted by their necks to be thrown from one pen to another. Two workers used dogs to move lambs, but the dogs often just attacked the animals, who at times ran in random directions. A worker at one auction said that he dealt with billy goats trying to mount other animals by kicking them in their scrotums, and he demonstrated by doing just that as he yelled, “You like that!” to his victims. This worker, about 65 years old, said that he is an auctioneer at several auctions, and that he has worked at auctions his entire life. At the same facility, a downed ewe was sold without even going through the auction ring.
A worker throws a goat by the neck over a pen wall
A customer throws a goat he purchased onto a trailer
OKLAHOMA
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OKLAHOMA ~
Pawnee OK Sale Barn, Leach Consignment and Poultry
Wet market-like environment
Animals dragged and thrown
A puppy waiting to be sold amongst chickens
Rabbits in a filthy cage
At one auction in Oklahoma, workers dragged and threw sheep and goats, even in front of customers. Even baby goats were dumped over a six-foot fence to move them from one pen to another. SEED’s investigator attended a poultry auction as well, where numerous customers brought in chickens, ducks, quail, rabbits, and even puppies for sale. All of the animals were caged next to each other, feces and urine mixing together on the ground around them in an environment that resembled a wet market. It was exactly the kind of place in which bird flu can spread, or any number of zoonotic diseases can take hold.
A lamb thrown out of a truck
A worker throws a young goat into a pen
IOWA
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IOWA ~
Waverly Sales Co
Sadistic abuse
A worker kicks a goat’s head into a wall
A worker throws a young goat into a pen
SEED has only reported one auction to law enforcement, and the outcome helps explain why other auctions were not reported. SEED’s investigator worked at Waverly Sales Barn in Waverly, IA, where two workers punished sheep and goats that wouldn’t move in the manner they wanted. They twisted the animals’ heads to inflict pain, an act which a younger worker emulated. One of the workers held a small goat by a leg and kicked the animal’s head into a wall, pinned another goat’s head between a gate and wall as the animal screamed, and threw a goat several feet by the scrotum. These three acts of the worst abuse were clearly documented and given to law enforcement. Of all of them, only the act of throwing a goat by the scrotum amounted to a criminal charge. To determine that, a detective consulted experts to conclude that was the act the prosecution felt they were most likely to get a conviction on. This incident helps explain how difficult it is to prosecute animal cruelty, and how little protection from abuse animals have, even with cruelty statutes.
A worker pins a goat’s head against the wall
NEW MEXICO
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NEW MEXICO ~
Dexter Livestock Commission, Roswell Livestock Auction Sales
Downed animals
Cattle shocked on their anuses and vaginas
A downed cow screams as she is shocked
A trampled calf in an overcrowded trailer
SEED’s investigator worked at two cattle auctions in New Mexico. At one, he saw several dairy cows collapse from exhaustion, as well as a downed beef cow who scrambled out of a trailer but could not stand. The beef cow was killed, but the dairy cows were shocked with cattle prods until they stood. At the other auction, the most common abuse seen was a worker aiming a cattle prod directly at animals’ anuses and vaginas.
A downed cow crawls out of a trailer
A worker shocks a calf in the vagina
PENNSYLVANIA
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PENNSYLVANIA ~
Graystone Small Animal Sale
Wet market-like environment
Broiler chickens awaiting auction
Rows of poultry cages in a wet market-like environment
Thousands of birds in stacked cages were at an auction in Pennsylvania. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, quail, and other species were all kept next to each other, with animals from different flocks in contact with each other. Stacked cages of rabbits were amongst them, and some goats and a pig were amongst them as well. The environment is exactly the kind of place that helps spread zoonotic diseases such as bird flu.
NEW YORK
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NEW YORK ~
Empire Livestock Marketing
Downed animals
Baby calves shocked in their faces
A downed cow thrashes and screams as she’s shocked
A dead cow in a downer pen
Empire Livestock Marketing in Vernon, NY primarily handles dairy cattle. Numerous cows were downed, who were repeatedly shocked with cattle prods and beaten with wooden canes. A downed cow was unloaded and beaten at the facility, in front of signs prohibiting unloading downers and stating that abuse must be reported to management. In the incident, the worker who dragged the cow with a chain around her neck was a manager. Baby calves were not spared abuse, and were shocked in their faces to make them move.
The auction’s largest buyers of the cattle included JBS and Cargill.
LOUISIANA
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LOUISIANA ~
Kinder Livestock Auction
Downed animals
Sadistic abuse
Animals dragged and thrown
A young boy kicks a sheep in front of workers
A mother cow and calf reach for each other
In Louisiana, SEED’s investigator worked at an auction where he observed a downed cow moved by a forklift and another left overnight at the facility. One worker moved slow and weak lambs and goats out of auction by lifting them by their necks and then hurling them down onto the pavement outside. The head of one such lamb hit the concrete with an audible cracking sound.
FLORIDA
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FLORIDA ~
Arcadia Small Animal Auction, Arcadia Stockyard
Wet market-like environment
A child kicked animals to move them out of auction
Sadistic abuse
Animals dragged and thrown
A sheep with scabbed skin, foaming at the mouth
A worker hits a calf in the eye with a stick
A young boy kicks a sheep in front of workers
A young boy points to a dead quail in a cage
In Florida, two very different auctions were documented. One sold small animals such as hogs, sheep and goats, alongside thousands of chickens, turkeys, quail, ducks, and guineas, as well as rabbits, guinea pigs, and raw eggs left unrefrigerated for hours. Animals’ pens and cages were filthy, with a layer of wet manure covering every inch of the area animals were kept in and where not only workers, but the public moved through. A young boy of about six years of age ran after sheep and goats as they were moved out of auction, kicking them in their hindquarters as he did so. His actions emulated other workers who kicked or whipped animals to move them.
At a cattle auction, a young man beat a bull calf in the face with the handle end of a flag stick. Twice he hit the calf in the eye. The incident started when the animal lunged at the man, but the abuse began once the man was safely on a fence. He beat the calf and then left the area, with the abuse serving no purpose other than to sate his anger.
CALIFORNIA
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CALIFORNIA ~
Escalon Livestock Market
Downed animals
Baby animals abused
Newborn calf left without food or water for over a day
Puppies abandoned at the auction
A newborn calf left without food or water for a day
A dead goat that didn’t survive the ride to auction
At Escalon Livestock Market, SEED’s investigator saw animals dead at auction or that arrived dead on trailers, sheep and goats dragged by ears, tails, and legs, and abused cattle. A downed Holstein cow was repeatedly shocked as she screamed before she was dragged out of an alley and bolted. A worker moved newborn calves by jamming his truck key into their stomachs to try to cause as much pain as possible to make them move. And a Jersey calf was born at auction but immediately separated from her mother, given no colostrum, and not fed or given water for a day before being sold. Also, two puppies were abandoned at the auction and left by the auction ring. Every customer at the auction left without taking them, and no employees were going to take them, either. The investigator rescued them, and they turned out to be infected with parvovirus. One of the puppies survived and is now in a forever home.
A worker jabs a key into a calf’s stomach
A downed cow is dragged out of an alley
CAN’T THE CATTLE INDUSTRY SET UP STANDARDS TO STOP ABUSE?
They already do. It’s all lies.
Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) is a program funded by Beef Checkoff, which takes money from all US cattle sales to promote beef sales. BQA has guidelines for animal handling, such as not hitting animals with objects that could cause pain, not kicking or prodding downed cows, not using solid objects to move cattle, and avoiding using cattle prods in sensitive areas. SEED has documented such abuse throughout the auction industry. While not all auctions actively promote BQA, 85% of the beef supply comes from BQA-certified farmers. This allows the beef industry to have a veil of humane animal handling over the abusive reality of auctions.
One of SEED’s targets, Empire Livestock in NY, has hosted BQA events at Cornell University. In addition, PAACO (Professional Animal Auditor Certification Program) includes members such as JBS and Cargill, which buy from Empire Livestock. PAACO is listed as a resource under USDA’s Animal Handling and Welfare page and claims to be “the authority on animal welfare auditing, providing high-quality training and certification credentials for auditors and audits.” At Empire Livestock, SEED documented workers kicking, shocking, and beating downed cows with heavy canes.
Another target, Waverly Sales Co, only accepts BQA-certified fat cattle. They also sell sheep and goats. While BQA does not govern sheep and goats, BQA’s standards give the illusion of humaneness to Waverly Sales Co, at which SEED documented workers twisting the heads of screaming goats and sheep to punish them for not moving as the workers wanted. One worker trapped a goat’s head between a wooden gate and a wall and pressed it as the animal screamed and the worker smiled. He also lifted a small, young goat by the scrotum and threw the animal several feet.
The truth is that auctions are so abusive because of their very nature. Animals are already stressed from transport and are then moved at a furious pace by exhausted, young, and drunk workers who rely on violence to keep up the pace of their jobs. No policy written by any independent agency or third-party audit will prohibit this behavior. Livestock auctions are synonymous with abuse.