It now requires sale to top bidder - even if it's slaughterhouse
By Associated Press
November 28, 2003
FORT COLLINS - A state law requires Colorado State University to auction horses it uses for research and education when they are no longer useful, even if the highest bidder is a slaughterhouse, CSU officials said.
Rep. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, said he plans to push for a change in the law.
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Under state law, all state government agencies must auction assets they no longer need, said Lance Perryman, dean of the college.
"We cannot favor or discriminate against any potential bidders. Anyone is eligible to bid," Perryman said. "Our desire is to place our horses in a high-quality-care environment in which they will continue to live useful, productive lives."
He said a committee of veterinarians, breeders, owners and CSU animal ethicist Bernard Rollin organize the sale to try to put horses in good homes, and the auction is heavily advertised in publications that cater to ranch and equestrian communities.
Third-party equine experts also are brought in to vouch for the suitability of the horses.
But bidders say that of 81 horses sold off at a Nov. 14 auction on CSU's campus, 25 went to two people known for selling horses to slaughterhouses.
Perryman said CSU does not know the background of the buyers.
The auctioneer for the event, WW Auctions & Real Estate in Fort Collins, did not return phone calls.
Of the 81 horses sold, 12 were originally donated to the university, CSU officials said. They did not know how many of those horses were sold to a slaughterhouse buyer.
Wiens said he finds the bidding troublesome and wants to change the law that requires auctions.
"Here in the West, we have a special relationship with horses. I want to find what is the real economic impact for CSU. What is the revenue they get for selling the horses at auction?" he asked.
CSU made about $53,000 from the Nov. 14 event - an average of $653 a horse, ranging in price from $300 to $1,625. The university auctions horses about every two years, Perryman said.
Bill Stiffler, founder of Friends of Horses Rescue & Adoption in Greenwood Village, said he is concerned about horses that end up in slaughterhouses to meet demand for horse meat in overseas markets.
Stiffler said slaughterhouses knock horses unconscious, hang them by their feet and cut their throats. He said it is illegal to use injections to euthanize horses slaughtered for human consumption.
"The state and CSU need to be held accountable for the way they disburse what they call state assets. I think the law needs to be re-examined," Stiffler said.
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