Re: Please help save our horses!!!!

[Valerie Martineau <valm@zianet.com>]

As long as people continue to create too many horses, the issue of what 
to do with the excess will continue as well.  And some people will 
choose to sell their excess/unwanted horses to the slaughter houses.  A 
partial answer, as I see it,is careful breeding in order to not produce 
unsuitable horses and appropriate care so we don't cripple horses 
unnecessarily. That means, to me, stop racing and futurities and other 
activities that produce physical and emotional equine wrecks.  And 
campaign vigorously to discourage folks who continue to breed 
substandard animals.  
Attitude changes are likewise crucial.  In the area where we are, most 
folks consider horses to be livestock, and when they are no longer 
productive, off they go to "the sale".  For a caring horse person, 
nothing is harder than to see a horse that worked hard all his life and 
probably babysat lots of kids over the years being driven through the 
sale ring and bid on by canners. But that is reality for many people and 
horses here.  The $200 or so that may be gotten will put groceries on 
their table or purchase hay for their remaining horses. I don't see how 
a beef boycott will in any significant way impact the sale of horsemeat 
to Europe.  If anything, they will purchase more horses to keep the 
slaughterhouses busy.  At the risk of offending delicate sensibilities, 
perhaps it would be more helpful to our equine friends to advocate for 
more humane shipping and slaughter methods, at least until we can 
convince folks to not create more horses than we really need.  

kelli norcross wrote:
> 
> Calling attention to all breeders, owners and lovers of horses.  What do
> we do to keep our friends out of the slaughter houses and off dinner
> plates?  How do we protect them?
> 
> According to the USDA, over 358,000 horses and ponies were slaughtered
> and processed in this country and exported to Europe for human
> consumption in 1989. Additional 77,203 horses were exported live to
> Canadian slaughterhouses. Each one of the animals killed every year is
> an individual, sentient being, fully capable of feeling the boredom,
> stress pain, thirst, fear and panic imposed on him or her. The meat
> industry considers the animal a profit making item, whose death is
> merely part of the production process.
> 
> "If slaughter houses had glass walls, everyone in the world would be a
> vegetarian" ~Linda McCartney
> 
> "The greatness of a nation and it's moral progress can be judged by the
> way it's animals are treated" -- Mahatma Gandhi
> 
> "If mankind and the world as a whole are to have a future, it will be
> necessary that we reduce the selfish tendencies in our ethics in favor
> of a higher regard for the community and for the whole of creation" --
> Ernst Mayr (Biologist)
> 
> "Compassion for animals is intimately connected with goodness of
> character, and it may be confidently asserted that he who is cruel to
> animals cannot be a good man" -- Arthur Schopenhauer (Philosopher)
> 
> URGENT CALL FOR HELP:  To show that we make a difference and to be
> heard, completely eliminate BEEF out of our diets for a month to give
> the industry a kick in the butt!  They have used horses to supplement
> their income, now let's let them know it is unacceptable.  I am not
> asking you to become a vegetarian or to stop eating all meats for a
> month, just BEEF.  Why?  Because it is important that it be obvious to
> the same people that are causing the inhumane treatment of our horses
> that we are targeting them.  It is the only way to be heard.  Keep
> eating everything else you normally would; chicken, fish, etc... but let
> them know we have the power to influence the meat industry.  Boycott
> BEEF for one month.  When they ask why the demand for BEEF has dropped,
> we can tell them why.  It worked when they boycotted tuna to save the
> dolphins.  So my friend, will you help to save the horses?  Mark your
> calendars, for the month of March, eat chicken and seafood!!!!!
> 
> Please help by forwarding this message to as many people as you can.
> Thank you!!!  Your fellow horseman.
> 
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