Animal Writings

July 25, 2005, 3:30 pm — Pennsylvania: At the rear entrance of the auction house, several drivers were unloading animals—mostly sheep, calves, dairy cows, and pigs. Several dairy cows appeared to have enlarged udders from possible mastitis while at least one was limping on a rear leg as she was unloaded off the truck. Inside another truck, I saw an injured cow with cuts and scrapes on her back; she was breathing heavily and was unable to get up. She was left on the truck for nearly two hours—also on the truck was a dead cow, directly in front of her the entire time.

While I watched this injured cow on the truck, another trailer pulled up with additional dairy cows—two of whom were also unable to get up. I witnessed the driver and several workers wrap a chain around the back leg of each cow and, one at a time using a "bobcat" tractor, drag these downed cows, who were still very much alive and fully conscious, off the truck, onto the pavement. After about an hour, these two injured cows were still sitting in the same spots on the pavement where they had been dragged and several workers tried to force one of them to stand up. As they were pushing her, another worker approached and poked her with an electric prod, which caused her to scream. She still could not get up.

About ten minutes after their failed attempts to force this cow to stand up, a man with a 22-caliber rifle fired a single bullet into the heads of each of the three downed cows (the two cows on the pavement and the one cow in the truck mentioned above). The man with the gun watched as one of the cows on the pavement continued moving her head, body and tail for several minutes after she was shot. He appeared to contemplate shooting her again but refrained.

I spoke with one of the men who said that their driver usually has a better rate but that it was a really hot day and one of the cows may have been injured due to an accident on the road that stranded the truck for about an hour. While we were talking, another trailer pulled up—a dead goat was dragged off the truck and left beside a dumpster...

July 30, 2005, 7:25 pm — Elm Creek, Nebraska: I spent most of the day at the Bosselman Travel Center watching livestock trucks—some full, some empty—come and go, and I spoke with a few drivers about their experiences. One driver I talked with was hauling a truck filled with 283 pigs. He explained that he picked these pigs up about 50 [miles] east of Kansas City, Missouri, around 11:00 a.m. this morning and that he had not given the animals any water prior to loading. In addition the driver asserted that the animals would not be fed or rested throughout their journey—which would last at least 35 hours and end in Modesto, California—nor would they have access to water aside from what was sprayed on them for cooling purposes. The temperature today in this area of Nebraska reached 95^o F.

The driver told me that pigs are transported from the same farm via this route to California once a week. When I asked him if any pigs die in transit, he pointed out one pig who had already died and made reference to another dead pig in a different part of the truck. He said these dead pigs would be left in the truck with live pigs for the rest of the journey. I later noticed one of the pigs nudging the face of a dead pig.

Of the surviving pigs, many appeared to have several injuries including scratches, bruises, abrasions, and lacerations on their bodies, legs, and ears, some of which were bleeding. I observed one pig with what appeared to be a swollen area on his underbelly and another whose skin on his hindquarters appeared abnormally red.

Although the truck was so tightly packed with animals that several pigs were forced to lean against and sit on each other, including one of the dead pigs, the driver stated that he could have fit many more than 283 pigs into this truck. Near the truck the smell of ammonia was strong, and the temperature inside the truck felt noticeably higher than outside. Many pigs were panting or open-mouthed breathing; some were frothing at the mouth, and one was coughing incessantly. Some of the pigs seemed to be fighting as one was forced to walk on top of the others to move about the trailer. I also saw pigs chewing on each others' ears. The driver explained that, at times, pigs fight each other while on the truck.

As we talked, the driver sprayed the pigs with water for approximately 45 minutes. He explained that this was intended to cool them down. As he sprayed the animals, he repeatedly and forcibly yanked the nozzle from the mouths of pigs trying to drink from the hose. After being sprayed, some pigs appeared to lick the water off the skin of other pigs while others attempted to catch water dripping from the deck above.

After spraying the pigs, the driver went inside the truck stop to shower, and later, at 11:25 p.m., drove the truck at least 40 miles north to pick up his wife. After about two hours, the driver returned to the truck stop. At 1:45 a.m., he departed the truck stop again, this time heading to Modesto, California. At this point, these animals had already been confined for over 14 hours, yet had only traveled 400 miles of the more than 1,800-mile journey from Kansas City to Modesto. During this approximate six-hour layover at the Bosselman truck stop, the driver did not release the animals off the truck to rest, nor did he provide them with food or water to drink. Furthermore, the driver acknowledged that for the rest of the journey to California, these pigs would not be offered any food, water for drinking, or rest off the truck.

(Photo: Compassion Over Killing)