Markets of Misery
A new Mercy For Animals undercover investigation conducted at multiple livestock auctions in Mississippi has revealed an ongoing culture of cruelty and severe neglect.
An MFA investigator working at Southeast Mississippi Livestock, Pontotoc Stockyard, and the Livestock Producers Association in Mississippi documented:
- Workers violently kicking, punching, beating, and shocking animals
- Goats, sheep and pigs being callously picked up by their ears and necks
- Workers pulling tails and carelessly dragging animals by their hair
- Animals routinely denied food, water, and proper veterinary care
After reviewing the hidden-camera video footage, world-renowned animal welfare expert Dr. Temple Grandin wrote: “The handling was very rough and kicking animals is not acceptable. If this auction had been a federally inspected meat packing plant, they would have suspended inspection and shut them down.”
Following the undercover investigation, MFA immediately alerted law enforcement authorities to violations of Mississippi’s anti-cruelty laws at all three auctions and presented them with a detailed legal complaint and meticulously compiled evidence of such violations. The evidence demonstrated an ongoing pattern of cruelty, neglect, and needless suffering.
Sadly, these types of abuses are commonplace at auction houses nationwide. An MFA investigation at Ontario Livestock Sales, a major livestock auction in California, exposed workers throwing, beating, stomping on, and kicking animals. "Downed" animals—those too sick or injured to walk—were sold, transported, and left to slowly suffer and die. After MFA brought these abuses to light, law enforcement charged the owner and seven employees with a total of 21 counts of animal cruelty.
As MFA continues to expose the unconscionable cruelties inherent in animal agriculture, and to diligently pursue justice by aiding prosecutions of animal abusers, consumers still hold the greatest power of all to end the needless suffering and death of farmed animals by adopting a compassionate, vegan diet.
