Sick Cattle at the Sale Barn

[dcara]

Saw a steer go through last week that obviously had a respiratory problem (open mouth, cough, tongue out). I was wondering what rules at your local barns were on selling sick cattle. This one may have no longer been sick but may have had lung damage from a previous bout. Then there is the question if he had been given antibiotics to help him get through the sale but was still within the withdrawal period.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I've gone to the barn to pick up grafts, seen that and left. Figured whatever there was likely exposed. Better to pick up some elsewhere.

 

[Beckett]

I have a couple sale barns locally that i go to. I have seen the same at both of them. If you can get the cattle off the trailor, they will run them through. Ive also seen alot of dead ones out behind. The ones that didnt make it all they way through the sale. Ethics? HMM
Makes a guy like me scratch my head sometimes, and i dont have much hair left.

Beckett

 

[bigbull338]

the sale barns have no rules against selling sick cattle.as long as the cattle can get on the truck at the end of the day.ive bought 1 or 2 lungers myself.an they wasnt caughing or hanging their toungue out in the ring.so you live an learn.

 

[dun]

One sale barn near here has a sign that says "Don;t unload sick cattle". Have no idea if that's enforced or not.

 

[bigbull338]

ours used to have that same sign.but they dont enforce it.if they did they wouldnt take cripple weak sick or cancer eyed cattle.

 

[alacattleman]

probably a resell calf that went from one barn to the next, some shipping fever along the way...the seller a trader most likely they'll take his crap without question

 

[longtimelurker]

I have a couple sale barns locally that i go to. I have seen the same at both of them. If you can get the cattle off the trailor, they will run them through. Ive also seen alot of dead ones out behind. The ones that didnt make it all they way through the sale. Ethics? HMM
Makes a guy like me scratch my head sometimes, and i dont have much hair left.

Beckett

What do you find so unethical about someone taking a injured or sick about dead animal to a sale barn?

 

[Beckett]

I have a couple sale barns locally that i go to. I have seen the same at both of them. If you can get the cattle off the trailor, they will run them through. Ive also seen alot of dead ones out behind. The ones that didnt make it all they way through the sale. Ethics? HMM
Makes a guy like me scratch my head sometimes, and i dont have much hair left.

Beckett

What do you find so unethical about someone taking a injured or sick about dead animal to a sale barn?

I guess maybe unethical wouldn't be the right word im looking for, but i have personaly put the animal down rather than pass it along. Beleive me i have made some really bad buys at one time or another, and ended up with the short end of the stick from time to time. Nobodies fault but my own. I knew it when i bought it. Some were freebies.

I guess if a person doesnt have the knowledge, finances, or amibition to treat the problem then maybe the sale barn is the best place for it. Im my honest opinion, If i cant fix it.. my vet cant fix it (and i like my vet, "She" is a cutie), and i can't get help here. Then the sultion isnt the sale barn, its lead poisioning. Am i thinking wrong? Is this more of a person simply not wanting to invest more into a cow?

 

[angie1]

I find it very irresponsible to bring sick cattle to the sale barn. Here there are signs that say not to unload sick cattle. I have been to plenty of sales and I can tell you that from my observation, it is strictly enforced. I don't know if its state wide, but it has been consistently enforced in our area barns.

 

[dcara]

The more I thought about this the more it bothered me. Partly because of something a presenter at a Cow/Calf clinc a couple weeks ago said when he was giving his presentation on what HSUS and PETA were up to. One of the things he said is that we have to stop giving them the bats to beat us with. Specifically with regard to displaying sick animals. Sick animals are something that comes with this job if you do enough of it, and leaving them in a pasture visible from the road or taking them to the sale barn for everyone to see is not what you would call good advertising for the industry. Nobody will remember the 10,000 healthy cattle in the pastures, or that went through the sale just fine, but you can bet a video of one sick animal will show up on their website decrying how irresponsible we in the industry are. To try and keep this circumstance from happening to me, and potentially contributing to the poor advertising problem, and to minimize the financial loss, I called the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos to see if they would be interested in a donation if I ever had a animal that needed to be disposed of. They thought it was an interesting concept but would have to investigate it further. They did however give me the contact info for some Big Cat and predator refuges which are interested in talking to me more about this. I'll let you know how my discussions go. But you may want to see if there are similar organizations in your area. A tax write off for a donation may only be slightly better than the cost of a bullet, but it probably beats parading at least some of the sick ones around.

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

At one of our local sale barns - the manager runs a tight ship and we like it! If he thinks the animal even looks feverish to him or sick... the animal is unloaded, marched down the alley into the "tank"

Instead of getting a check... that consignor gets the bill for properly disposing of the animal from the sale barn.

 

[Hippie Rancher]

To try and keep this circumstance from happening to me, and potentially contributing to the poor advertising problem, and to minimize the financial loss, I called the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos to see if they would be interested in a donation if I ever had a animal that needed to be disposed of. They thought it was an interesting concept but would have to investigate it further. They did however give me the contact info for some Big Cat and predator refuges which are interested in talking to me more about this. I'll let you know how my discussions go. But you may want to see if there are similar organizations in your area. A tax write off for a donation may only be slightly better than the cost of a bullet, but it probably beats parading at least some of the sick ones around.

This is a GREAT idea! :clap: :clap: :clap:

 

[3waycross]

The more I thought about this the more it bothered me. Partly because of something a presenter at a Cow/Calf clinc a couple weeks ago said when he was giving his presentation on what HSUS and PETA were up to. One of the things he said is that we have to stop giving them the bats to beat us with. Specifically with regard to displaying sick animals. Sick animals are something that comes with this job if you do enough of it, and leaving them in a pasture visible from the road or taking them to the sale barn for everyone to see is not what you would call good advertising for the industry. Nobody will remember the 10,000 healthy cattle in the pastures, or that went through the sale just fine, but you can bet a video of one sick animal will show up on their website decrying how irresponsible we in the industry are. To try and keep this circumstance from happening to me, and potentially contributing to the poor advertising problem, and to minimize the financial loss, I called the Dallas and Fort Worth Zoos to see if they would be interested in a donation if I ever had a animal that needed to be disposed of. They thought it was an interesting concept but would have to investigate it further. They did however give me the contact info for some Big Cat and predator refuges which are interested in talking to me more about this. I'll let you know how my discussions go. But you may want to see if there are similar organizations in your area. A tax write off for a donation may only be slightly better than the cost of a bullet, but it probably beats parading at least some of the sick ones around.

If you try to feed an animal to those predators that has had any antibiotics of antiinflamatories you might find that they won't eat it. We have hauled some to the dead pile that even the birds wouldn't eat for a looooong time weeks in a couple of cases.

 

[regolith]

Okay, I've just left a forum where I was having a discussion with some vegetarian/vegans and I come here to see *this*!!!

What dcara wrote.

About the zoo donation - in the dairying regions of NZ here we can call up a local petfood company. They will come to the farm, shoot your animal and put her on their truck to take back to their factory.
They will not take animals that have been treated with a variety of drugs - I can't remember what the rules are, but I think all that may be permitted is calcium/magnesium for down cows. I called up about a cow with black mastitis (gangrenous) this spring and because it was a systemic disease they said they weren't allowed to take her (she died that night anyway).
The drug rules used to be a lot laxer, but then they had some zoo animals inadvertently fed livestock that had been euthanased. Worked on the lions too...

To be realistic, sometimes a 'sick' animal can look much worse than they actually are, giving a bad impression that isn't necessarily true. But our laws prevent transport of very lame or sick animals purely on the basis that the experience of trucking for that animal is too painful/stressful.
This is what I try to explain to vegans who have believed all the lies PETA publishes.
But the videos they find on-line of sick or stressed animals on farms, in saleyards, animals being slapped or pushed... these are more convincing than anything I, who works 24/7 with the animals they are so concerned about, can tell them.

 

[alacattleman]

sale barns aint a good place for mary poppins to hang around.... with real life circumstances :cowboy: