Fairbury, Nebraska Auction Report

Please be aware that some of the descriptions are graphic. 

We went to the Fairbury horse auction after reading on your website how they had a lot of slaughter horses and what we witnessed was horrible. I have never in my life seen animals so tortured and abused  and I could not believe how the kill buyers pretty much ran the show throughout the auction. We took pics of the horses that the kill buyers were holding there in the sale barns pens and we did not realize these horses were just being housed there so during the auction the kill buyer could add his other horses he acquired throughout the sale to these and then load them on double decker trailers and take them to wherever. There were 3 or 4 men working together and they would bring stock trailers in and horses were on the stock trailers and they unloaded them into a big dirt pen in the very back alley way. We know about horse slaughter from the internet and have watched the videos and seen neglected horses before and even rescued 4 of the 7 we have right now. However seeing these horses in real life tore at your heart especially when they were in the conditions they were in and they would push each other away to have you pet them and rub on them and give them attention. There were two of the horses who had eyes that had been poked out or ruptured, one horse had a shoulder wound that looked like a bone was sticking out of its flesh, one horse a stud was tied in a seperate pen on a halter with maybe a foot or so too move around in the sunlight, no water, no shade, and breathing heavily.He would lay his head on the fence when he got tired of holding it in the same spot because he could barely move. I told my husband to go and tell the sale barn manager to move him because we could not bid on him if he was dead. The manager proceeded to tell us that they were not for sale and had been dropped off sometime Friday by their owners and would be back for the sale. We really did not need to worry about them and they could not do anything about it. We watched the kill buyers bring their horses in through the alley way to put them all together in the back and laugh and hit the horses with the hard cattle prods and whips on the faces and all over the horses bodies to move them. The manager did tell the skinny creepy kill buyer that he could not just leave them in the open for everyone to see and that is why they moved them in the back. We were not the only ones who I think were upset because one lady let the old stud off his halter to try and get into some shade which there wasnt any. These horses had no water although their tank was in the pen it was empty and they did not have food either which I am sure was the least of their problems.What we saw in Fairbury was a rude awakening of what horse slaughter really is and the horrible conditions of the horses is beyond inhumane it is down right sadistic and those men and women(kill buyers) at that auction were the pure definition of evil. I truly believe that if Americans could see what we saw that day in Fairbury, horse slaughter would end tomorrow. I remember watching videos of the concentration camp victims in middle school and the emaciated bodies,unimaginable wounds and the suffering and pain from those wounds, no food, no water, hollow eyes and their heads hanging low as if they were giving up there was no hope it was sickening. We just walked by them unable to help those horses because are laws obviously protect the animal abusers and not the innocent victims. My 14 and 9 year old daughters started crying because of the helplessness they felt for those horses. My husband and sons were angry and they could not understand how those horses could be treated that way. We have watched the videos and they do not compare to that day at the Fairbury auction and I am sure that day will never be forgotten. My daughter wanted to go to make a video on slaughter horses and the way they are treated, hauled, and the kind of men and women who would choose to pursue a career in slaughtering horses. We took pics of the horses and videod the horses on the cattle wagon(double decker trailer) and the men laughing as they talked about having a BBQ as they were hitting the horses to get them on the trailer. My daughter and I want to put the stuff we have on You tube and tell as many people and show them what the faces of the horses look like that are going to slaughter. They were not all bad some were in good health and they had preg mares and a yearling filly who were fat and healthy. I thank you for posting to the public these auctions and I hope that more people will go and make a difference for the horses who are thrown away and then sent to such a horrible death. I think your website is very informative and we have referred several people to it after they heard about the sale barn at Fairbury.Thanks again Michelle and Christina!