Sixteen Horses and a Mule Are Up for Auction

Sixteen horses and one mule seized in animal cruelty and neglect cases will be offered for sale at the University of Connecticut’s Annual Spring Horse Auction in Storrs on Saturday.

 “The department staff at our ‘Second Chance’ barn has worked hard to rehabilitate these animals,” State Department of Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky said in a press release.  “They have come a long way since their rescue and they are healthy and ready to find new homes.”

Money raised at the auction goes back into the rehabilitation program, he said in a press release.

The sale preview begins at 11 a.m. and the auction starts at 1 p.m.

The annual Horse Auction and Tack and Equipment Sale, held by the University of Connecticut College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, benefits the equine science program in the department of animal science. Students work the sale and care for horses leading up to the auction to prepare them for the sale.

The tack and equipment sale held on auction day features vendors selling everything from used boots and breeches to horse trinkets and saddles.

All but three of the rescued and rehabilitated animals that the Department of Agriculture is consigning to the UConn auction have been cared for at the department’s rescue barn located at the Gates Correctional Facility in Niantic.

Built in 2003, the rescue barn is a cooperative effort of the departments of agriculture and correction. The animals, all of which have been seized as a result of evidence of animal cruelty and neglect, are cared for daily by Department of Agriculture staff and inmates at the Gates Correctional facility.  More than 180 horses, mules and donkeys have been rehabilitated at this facility since its opening. 

The Connecticut Military Department has also helped the Department of Agriculture with its large-animal rescue program.  Three horses that will be in the sale have been cared for as part of a working agreement between the two agencies.

The animals to be sold are completely rehabilitated, the press release says.  The horses and the mule have current vaccinations, health certificates, negative Coggins tests and each has a microchip for identification purposes. 

All records will be available to prospective buyers. Although all of the animals are healthy, some are not sound and these will be shown to the viewing attendees as horses for adoption in need of good homes.

For more information regarding the Department of Agriculture animals contact the Department at (860) 713-2506 or visit the website.

 “For those individuals looking for a nice horse, the UConn auction is the place to be on Saturday,” Reviczky said.  “Buyers would also be helping out UConn’s Equine Science students who have organized the sale.”