Police, vet check horses' health at New Holland sale

LANCASTER NEW ERA 7-8-98

In response to complaints, Lancaster state police troopers spent Monday at the New Holland Sales Stables, checking conditions of the horses that are sold at the weekly auction.

Troopers and a local veterinarian checked the horses as they were led out of the hauling trucks and also reviewed conditions of the horses at the auction.

"There was nothing that was really glaring at this particular sale." said Cpl.. Raymond Guth.

One hauler was cited for not having health certificates for 12 of the 14 horses he had brought from Kentucky, police said. Another hauler was given a warning for not shipping a horse separately because of its health, Guth said.

The New Holland horse auction is one of the busiest on the East Coast. State police have received "a lot of complaints about the way horse are being transported to slaughter, the condition of the horses, and the vehicles being used," Guth said.

Police said they have received reports that the horses are hauled, sometimes for days, with no rest and no water, in double-deck trailers designed for cattle and hogs.

''There was a problem with loading horses on double-deck trailers but that has been discontinued ,"

New Holland Sales Stable president Norman KoIb said today. He said the two tiered trailers were used because some haulers wanted to transport over 20 horses at a time. Although most horses come from local sellers some can come from as far as 100 miles away towards western Pennsylvania or Maryland.

"Feed and water is in front of them 90 percent of the time once they get here," Kolb said.

"We have no control over the trucks, but anybody that is going to buy a horse would not want a horse that was hauled a long way without feed or water,"he said.

He said animals not fit to be sold are sent back to the sellers, but those cases are rare. A veterinarian is on call around the clock at the stable and determines an animal has been abused after stable workers point out the sick animal.

About 250 horses are sold at the stable every Monday, including riding, draft and driving horses. A cruelty to animals group is always watching out for animals at the stables, Kolb said.

If the use of double deck trailers has been discontinued, then why have the New York State Police arrested a New York killer buyer on August 24, 1998 and December 7, 1998 using a double deck trailer with horses on that were purchased and shipped from the auction barn in New Holland?

If the use of double deck trailers has been discontinued, then why was a NY Shipper arrested by the PA State Police in Manheim, PA in June 2000 using a double deck trailer with horses on that were purchased and shipped from the auction barn in New Holland?

The shipper was convicted in August 2000 of cruelty to horses under Section 5511(e) by District Justice David Miller.

And why, was the PA SPCA able to arrest and later convict the New Holland Sales Stables under the PA Horse Transport Law, signed into law on June 25, 2001, for causing 31 horses to be loaded onto a double deck trailer?

The driver for Sugarcreek Livestock Trucking testified that David Kolb told him it was OK to bring the double in...

Sugarcreek Livestock Trucking was also convicted under PA's Horse Transport Law.