The Amish Sell Exotic Animals, Are Even More Badass Than You Thought

[xchrom]

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/10/the_amish_sell.php

Alligators! Elk! Kangaroos and kinkajous! Parrots! Poison-arrow frogs! And an "irate African aardvark"! It sounds like an exotic bazaar in some faraway land but it's actually an auction in Amish country, explored in this delightful piece in The Daily. Here at Runnin' Scared we stay up on Amish news, and this is particularly interesting: thrice yearly, the Mid Ohio Alternative Animal and Bird Sale takes place in Mount Hope, Ohio, in an area that apparently has the highest Amish concentration in the country. We would give our right arm to go to this.

"Camels, zebras -- I don't think I ever did sell giraffes -- alligators, all kinds of different monkeys, I guess," said auctioneer Arlen Yoder, 36, listing off his oddest sales. Yoder wore a beard, a black straw hat, and blue plain-front trousers. Like 90 percent of the auction's employees, he is Amish. His only apparent break with the technological caution of his religion was a wireless headset to amplify his sales patter.

Yoder's use of a headset contrasts with the auction's no-cameras rule, which is more in keeping with what we think of as traditional Amish practices. It also kind of sucks because we don't have photos of the event apart from some grainy ones that were taken covertly a few years ago.





***me? this bull shit shouldn't be allowed.

[Myrina]

1. They are among the worst of puppy millers' here in Indiana ...

... horrid conditions, badly ignored/ill-cared for animals stacked on top of each other like books on a shelf. :(

[Raven]

4. Same here in NH. n/t

[get the red out]

6. Awful!

I didn't know! I hear so many people singing the song of how wonderful the Amish are, I have read some other disturbing things about them, regarding child abuse that goes unreported.

I HATE puppy millers.

[Brickbat]

2. Nasty stuff goes on in Amish country.

Nasty stuff goes on everywhere there are people. The Amish are only human, and they play the system just like other people do.

[InvisibleTouch]

3. I'm familiar with that sale...

...and I know a lot of the people who go there, both to buy and to sell. Before the knee-jerk banners come out in droves, let me say that the vast majority of people who keep exotics are dedicated and responsible keepers who have the utmost welfare of the animals in mind. There are quite a few rules and regulations in place for health and safety, and it should also be recalled that these are captive-bred animals, many of them for several generations. They haven't been snatched from the wilderness, and indeed most wouldn't be able to survive there without considerable training and introduction. Show me a place in the world where wild animals are still safe, in any case; the greatest threat to wild species is habitat loss. One day perhaps when humans come to their senses and restore and protect large tracts of wild land, many species can be re-populated again - but there will be nothing left to repopulate with if not for the captive breeders. Zoos do wonderful work as well, but a lot of the animals kept by private individuals aren't of interest to zoos because they need much more attention or don't make good display animals. It will take all of us to protect the planet's biodiversity.

[Mojorabbit]

7. I will give a knee jerk response

No one ought to be selling kangaroos and alligators at auction.
I do wildlife rehab and one of the centers I am affiliated with, has quite the collection of cougars, wolves, monkeys, and you name it that ended up there because people thought they would be real cool pets and almost killed the animals with improper care. The center has a usda permit so can "display" these animals or they would have been euthanized.

[InvisibleTouch]

5. Incidentally, the Amish aren't keeping these pets...

...they simply facilitate this sale.