Bid online for an instant farm

By an odd twist, Animal Services wound up with enough livestock to get a farm running.

By BETH N. GRAY, Times Correspondent
Published September 13, 2007

Hernando County Animal Services is auctioning off goats, cattle, chickens and a horse that were abandoned by their owner.
	[Ron Thompson | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Ron Thompson | Times] Rachel Watles examines several head of cattle in the animal shelter's corral. The Brooksville mother brought her two daughters, Montana, 3 and Victoria, 4 months, with her to look at the animals. Watles owns acreage near Brooksville and already owns cattle but this is the first time she has bought animals through an internet auction.

BROOKSVILLE - The Rhode Island Red rooster, shiny black and trailing tail feathers wafting in the breeze, greets visitors with a hearty cock-a-doodle-do. Or is he preening for his hens?

The sorrel mare whinnies at the sight of an oncoming feed bucket. Cattle quietly bury their muzzles in the hay rack. Sloe-eyed Boer goats munch at hay from the floor of their pen.

The farm animals would be right at home on any spread in Hernando County. Instead, since Aug. 16, home has been the county Animal Services shelter on Oliver Street, behind the county fairgrounds.

For the right price, they can be yours.

Through 2 p.m. Sunday, Animal Services is conducting an online auction of the abandoned poultry, cattle, goats and horse. Potential owners are urged to check out the animals before making a bid, because the livestock is being sold as is.

The animals came under county control through a weird twist. Deputies responded to a theft of services call at a home on Osage Avenue north of Brooksville, said sheriff's spokeswoman Donna Black. When the deputies arrived, the occupants fled, abandoning the animals.

Within 24 hours, they were at the county shelter, said Lisa Brown, assistant to the manager at Animal Services.

Unlike many abandoned animals, these are in good condition and state of nutrition, and with pleasant temperaments, said kennel manager Cathy Evans.

Included are an 8-year-old quarter horse mare; three roosters, 13 hens and 17 baby chicks to be sold as a brood; eight goats including five nannies, a mature billy, and a young billy to be sold as a flock; a Holstein bull calf; another Holstein bull about 6 months old; a Brangus bull about 4 years old, a Brangus-Charolais calf about 4 months old and a Charolais cow about 2 years old.

Evans, who has been caring for the stock since their arrival, extols their virtues. The hens lay brown eggs, some of them double-yolked. "Delicious" compared to those one buys in the supermarket, she said. "Good layers," she added.

The mare proved negative to the Coggins test. This tests for equine infectious anemia EIA, also known as "Swamp Fever," an infectious viral disease affecting horses, donkeys, and mules. The mare is shod and is appropriate for an experienced rider.

While the bulls have an easy temperament, the cow "has a little bit of an attitude," Evans noted.

Some of the nannie goats are carrying kids. "It's a whole package," Evans said.

All of the stock are "easy keepers," said Evans. They have been examined by a veterinarian and pronounced fit and healthy. Nonetheless, the animals are advertised for sale "as is/where is, with no warranty expressed or implied."

It's not the first online endeavor for Animal Services, said Brown, adding that people seem to like them. "We seem to get a lot more people in," she said.

Atkinson Realty and Auction Inc. of Sarasota is handling the sale and advertises the event on its Web site and in classified ads, all of which result in better prices, Brown noted. "We've had a lot of inquiries, lots of people daily to inspect them, she said.

Prospective bidders can view the stock, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday and 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday. Photos of the animals, plus instructions on how to bid, can be seen online at www.atkinsononline.com. Or contact Animal Services at 796-5062.

Bids already have been registered for each of the offerings, from 16 bids for the Brangus bull, topping Tuesday at $600; two bids hitting $220 for the mare; 14 bids for the poultry brood reaching $75. Bids are updated on the auction firm's Web site as they come in.

Based on previous online auctioning, animal manager Evans predicted "bidding wars" may erupt in the last couple of hours before the sale ends.

Proceeds will offset costs of the animals' feed and care.

Beth Gray can be contacted at graybethn@earthlink.com

[Last modified September 12, 2007, 20:16:51]