In a rare move, the U.S. Department of Agriculture slapped Colton Morris, the organizer of the Shelby Alternative Livestock Auction, with an official warning for illegally selling animals at the October 2021 event without a license. This enforcement action came after a request from PETA to prohibit Morris from ever holding an exotic-animal auction again due to his history of flouting the law to conduct unlicensed animal sales. At the event organized by Morris, PETA found that workers kicked animals, hit them with poles, dragged them by their horns, and held frantic, flailing animals upside down by their tails. Animals were jammed into crowded pens and improvised cages so small that they couldn’t fully stand or turn around. We’re calling on the veterinarians who own the stockyard where the event was held to permanently ban the sale of exotic animals there.
