For the first time, Animals‘ Angels visits Mortlake cattle saleyard. Today is the third animal sale since the newly built yard has been recently completed. The infrastructure is very modern: the roof offers air circulation and noise reduction. Nearly all pens are equipped with water troughs and soft flooring material, except for the individual pens for bulls.
In our opinion, these pens strongly impair the bull’s well-being: they can barely move (let alone turn around), and the bigger animals can either hardly or not at all lie down to rest. The floor is hard despite the rubber mats. This means an additional strain for the animals while having to stand still. Especially for the heavier animals.
The market personnel have some horses available and the cattle are mainly driven through the saleyard on horseback. This seems to reduce the animals’ stress level. All in all, handling is quiet.
The 30 million dollar investment in this saleyard makes clear how much the business with the animals prospers.
