Should I turn them in? (Animal cruelty?)

[NewHopePoultry]

I didnt do it anonymous. I left my name, number and address.
An Animal control officer came by today and said I was the 5th person that week to call/email in about the place.
They've only been open for a few weeks.
They went and checked it out this morning before the place opened to see how the animals were before kids,etc got there.
Everything I said was still wrong and even more.
They found several dead chickens in the pen and one of the pigs was down and not moving.

I tried to talk to workers when I was there, but they were busy and the owner wasnt around, so I did what I felt like I had to do.

The place is open from 9 am to 6 pm 7 days a week.


Theres several other pumpkin patches and farms in the area and we werent the only school/group there, so they have no idea who it was.

I can understand 1 pen having lack of water, etc but not all of them. With it being open to school kids, etc, you would think they will work hard to keep the animals happy & healthy.
Pigs can smell, I know this, but the size fo the pen was way too small for 2 of them.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Sounds like you did the right thing then!! And you dont have to "talk" to the owners first... thats absurd. What if they're nut balls or something? You dont know how they are..
Bottom line is, the animals shouldnt have been neglected, then there would be no problems...

 

[Beekissed]

what ever happened to just being polite

I wonder. It went the way of "common sense" which is, sadly, not so common any more so I just call it sense. That too is a scarcity.

I agree with the post about animals in petting zoos coming from sitautions where they were rehomed or rescued, maybe were crippled before they arrive and is why they are there, and about these animals may not be actually living in those particular pens.

Maybe the employees that are supposed to be caring for these animals are not doing a good job and the owner doesn't know it.

Any number of reasons could be present but you will never know unless you be honorable and approach the owners about any concerns. Give them a chance to prevent or correct these problems before trying to ruin someone's reputation in the community by anonymous calls to the authorities....such a sneak attack on an unsuspecting person.

I know many would say, "If these were my animals you wouldn't find them in this situation", but I've read many, many posts on this forum where I felt the birds were being treated cruelly in the name of "love" and "giving them a chance to make it" or "I know I have too many chickens but it's just chicken math and they are all my friends, how could I get rid of any?". Some of the posts are so horrible that I just stop reading and go elsewhere, but if it were next door I would clearly state my opinions about the poor animal husbandry and may feel the urge to call the authorities.

I say "may" because it is all relative to what I/you feel is animal cruelty, isn't it?​

 

[WooingWyandotte]

Quote:
Good thing you called! It is unacceptable for there to be no water and dead animals in pens.

 

[maple]

Quote:
Thank you for the voice of reason. Any one who turns someone in, should have the decency to include their name and address. If one is going to be judge and jury, one should not get to be anonymous. A lot of innocent people get hurt by these drive- by animal abuse accusations, without the accuser ever knowing the full story and remaining blissfully ignorant of the true damage they have done and the lives that will be destroyed by this "perceived act of kindness". Hey, maybe everyone on the farm, is soon to be unemployed and bankrupt. If so, those chickens that were being saved are now on the chopping block. Why didn't you just get some water and let the owner know you had issues instead of stabbing him in the back from the safety of your living room? You didn't even give them a chance to explain or rectify the situation. People who sit on high pedestals should look down once in awhile and see how far they have to fall.

I disagree with this statement. I witnessed over a decade ago a man physically abuse his dogs day in and day out with a large wooden stick and a black leather belt. I called from the saftey of my living room, you bet. And there's no way in he!! that I would go tell that man upfront nor let the man know it was me who reported him. I'm sure he may have had an idea since I seemed to be the one walking my dog down the alley just because that's what I did and that's the way I became aware of his abuse that and I could see it from my bedroom window. If I'm a couple doors down, do you think I want this man to know? No way.

As Red hen suggested...some people aren't right in the head. Case in point, I called the cops on my neighbors x-girlfriend because she was at his house after he kicked her out and she was trying to take stuff that wasn't hers. What did she do? She called and reported me to the humane society for keeping my dog on a tie out for long periods without shelter or water. The agent came and saw that my dog was in the house at the time, had a dog igloo under a huge shaded maple, with 2 dog bowls of water, and a kiddy pool full of water. He was mad because it was a waste of his time and I told him I had a feeling who it was because of what happened the day before. It's the only logical explanation for someone wanting to cause me trouble. She's a friggon nut ball....do I wish I could have done all of this annonymously? yes. But it's kind of hard when the cops show up, the neighbor guy shows up during all of this, and the cops need my statement and she's there with a friend and a truck and trailer getting all huffy.

The law is there to protect people. Does it get abused. Of course it does. These things were set in place to serve and protect and I for one want to be protected.

 

[mulewagon]

NewHopePoultry, were the person who saw the situation, you knew whether it looked dangerous or neglectful, and you called in the proper authorities to make their evaluation. Good for you!

And as it turned out, both the authorities and other visitors agreed with your assessment, so you've helped to get those animals better treatment.

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

Quote:
x2! You couldn't have said it better!

 

[peafowlmom]

As a matter of fact I was at a pumpkin patch yesterday, also with a group of parents and children. Now the owners were not "customer friendly". On the hayride, before the tractor driver took off she gave us a rundown. She said there are two cows out there that have an eye infection, that the two day old calf might not make it, and another sick cow had escaped last night from it's separate pen. Oh and I almost forgot she said " Yes there are flies on the cows, if you never took a bath in your whole life don't you think you'd have flies on you too?" towards the end of her speech she sounded almost angry. I was thinking "ok". Then she said "If you don't like us, tell us. Don't go to Facebook or Twitter."" She was very straight forward about it. Then I was thinking what in the world? So I was looking for what might have caused her to say this.

1. The cows were as described

2. It wasn't a pretty pasture, it was a BIG farm


When we were done we fed the other animals.
Goats with 4 horns, one of them had a horn starting to grow into it's face, but you could see where they either just treated it or it was almost time to cut more of the horn.
Pigs and lots of them! Yep they stunk, there were flies, and it was hot.
Rabbits in rabbit pens. Regular, farm rabbit pens. Not painted or anything special about them.
Chickens in those Big moveable pens. Some of the chickens were pecked bare in places (normal pecking order, nothing not normal ) and if that was the only space they ever had, there were too many. (I didn't know about moveable pens until this spring, all the people I knew, their chickens were free range.)
Some of the animals were active, others were laying about looking dead or half dead. (obviously just sleeping off all the food they sold in bags for $2.00 to $5.00 a bag!) Yes, I bought a bag.

I am guessing, the people who posted on Facebook and Twitter, were from the city and hadn't seen much farm life. Yes, I know (hah, I am trying to think I know!) so I am not gonna list it all.

Bottom line - there was plenty of food, water and medical attention. It wasn't all prettied up. (Too bad b/c I like pretty things.)

This was our second year going there. The place looked the same. The same expensive pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. This was a regular farm and it sounds like they were blasted by some people, who thought it should look like a zoo!?

I don't know. I guess I am trying to say,"Yes, please talk to the owners, it could put a whole new spin on things."

 

[zengrrl]

Yes, if more people stood up and made that phone call the world would be a better place. Your gut tells you its wrong, its worth sending in someone else to check it out when that is their job. Then yours is done.

 

[NewHopePoultry]

Quote:
Thanks

I dont feel so bad now about calling them.


I know its not a zoo and I didnt expect it to be pretty, etc. Ive had pigs, sheep, ducks, chickens, etc so I know how they are and what the pens look like. But I did expect them to be taking care of properly and I didnt feel like they were. If there had been food, water, medical care, then I wouldnt think any thing of it.

I know they make money off the pumpkins and not the animals, but if your going to have animals, then you need to take care of them.