For Rapid Launch:
October 5, 2023
Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382
Mount Hope, Ohio – A just-released PETA exposé into the Mid Ohio Different Animal and Hen Sale—operated by the Mt. Hope Public sale—uncovered quite a few obvious violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act (AWA) on the September occasion, together with a number of animals affected by extreme and apparent accidents and sicknesses. These included animals with damaged legs, open wounds, respiratory an infection signs, eye and nostril discharge, free stool, hair and feather loss, and overgrown coats and hooves in addition to animals who had been emaciated, had been torpid, and exhibited irregular repetitive conduct, together with pacing frantically and biting their cages.
A number of animals had been confined with out water and had been saved in crowded pens and cages, some so small that they couldn’t stand upright or flip round. In response, PETA submitted a proper criticism to the U.S. Division of Agriculture (USDA) right now demanding an investigation into the public sale, which has been cited for violations of the AWA 36 instances—together with 19 repeat citations—since final September.
This pink fox on the public sale had a damaged leg. Picture: PETA
“The Mt. Hope Public sale is a nightmare for the hundreds of animals who’re offered like items of previous furnishings to individuals who possible don’t have the sources, data, or need to take care of them correctly,” says PETA Basis Director of Captive Animal Welfare Debbie Metzler. “PETA is asking on the USDA to research this public sale, which is a breeding floor for struggling and abuse, and urges households by no means to purchase a ticket to merciless roadside zoos.”
The eyewitnesses additionally noticed Ashley Kokas of Ohio-based Kokas Exotics apparently promoting animals illegally on the public sale, together with a child kangaroo. The USDA revoked Kokas Exotics’ federal license in August after the enterprise racked up an alleged 113 violations of the AWA in simply over a 12 months. The Mt. Hope Public sale has been cited repeatedly for knowingly promoting animals from people who didn’t have the legally required licenses.
Additionally among the many sellers was Henry Hampton, who has been investigated by the USDA for years and hit with a whole bunch of citations for violating federal regulation at his two roadside zoos—The Farm at Walnut Creek in Ohio and Lazy 5 Ranch in North Carolina. He was seen promoting a number of kangaroos, who had been roughly dealt with, dragged round by their tails, and relegated to tiny, barren pens once they weren’t on the public sale ground.
PETA—whose motto reads, partially, that “animals should not ours to abuse in any manner”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For extra info on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please go to PETA.org, hearken to The PETA Podcast, or comply with the group on X (previously Twitter), Fb, or Instagram.
