This is a direct quote from a PSA today. They are up in arms and Slaughter House Sue is braying at them to `circle the wagons’ in light of their defeat today. Actually, they view today’s events as a personal defeat. I tend to view it as a victory for horses. I guess it just goes to show you the differences in mindsets. However, I agree with this PSA’s statement. Most people really do know `bullshit’ when they hear it, or if they read it. That is exactly why the PSA’s went down in flames today.
The United Horsemen have been the most vocal of the PSA side for quite some time. They don’t let their mission get clouded by logic or facts, they push forward their message with fear mongering and embellishments bordering on outright lies. Because their true motives and mission is so distasteful to any person that has a conscience, they have packaged it all up to make it look like they are the good guys and only trying to help. They have proposed some programs to show you that they are in it for the horse. Think of it like a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down…..Let’s break these `programs’ down, shall we?
According to the United Horsemen website “The Horse Rescue, Rejuvenation, & Slaughter Program offers an unprecedented, comprehensive, solution to the unwanted horse problem, with the highest standards of care and a range of options for each horse. It establishes a sanctuary for horses who are starving, neglected or otherwise suffering; re-trains and re-homes horses who are potentially useful for riding, equine therapy, or other jobs; and provides quality care and a quick, painless death through humane slaughter for horses who are unsuitable for any other purpose.” Wow, if they are able to do all this, they should be able to save the world too! First off, rescue and slaughter do not and will never go hand in hand. Most rescues are founded with the mission of saving horses from slaughter, not for slaughter. Now you have a slaughter group that wants to `rescue’ horses. From what????? Rescue them from getting good homes? Is it a coincidence that one of their mouthpieces, The Holy Mother Theresa Manzella also runs a rescue?
Let’s talk about their `highest standards of care’. Who will be doing the care and where will it be? Does anybody else get the idea that this alleged care will consist of fattening them up and holding them for a determined amount of time to clear their system of drugs? I’m going to go ahead and leap to the conclusion that this care will take place on feedlots conveniently located in close proximity to slaughter facilities.
The UH is also going to re-train and evaluate horses for re-homing. Hmmm. Isn’t Captain Douchebag, Dave Duquette a frustrated horse trainer? I suppose he’s going to be involved on that end of things. Then we have the question of how does one get one of these re-trained horses? I’m assuming you’re going to have to buy it from them at an inflated price. This money will enable them to go out and buy even more horses for their `programs’. Funny, I recall one of Naughty Tobiano aka Mendy’s complaints was that rescues that sell horses aren’t rescues but brokers. So, a federally funded horse brokerage?
The other part of this quote is the quick, painless death for unsuitable horses. What makes a horse unsuitable and who gets to decide? We already know that the old, frail and skinny horses are not suitable for dinner plates, so I’m still not sure what they plan to do with those ones.
All of these programs will supposedly be complimented by their Equine Assurance program. This is where they `address both animal welfare issues and food quality and safety issues through licensing, certification, and training;’. I’m not sure what they are licensing, certifying or training other than the actual horse killers. Still no word on who will be doing all this licensing ,training and certifying either. I suspect Captain Douchebag will have a heavy hamfist in this as well.
Yet another `program’ is the Horses For Humanity Program. UH website states “which is specifically focused on using horse products for charitable purposes where horse meat can be provided to the hungry, or be contributed as pet food to nonprofit animal shelters.” So, basically a flowery way of them saying they want to start feeding the ground up lips and assholes to the poor people. Yup, poor people will now get to suffer the additional indignity of having horse meat thrust upon them or go hungry. You know the prime cuts are headed straight to Europe or expensive domestic niche markets. I’m sure the majority of non-profit animal shelters will be exotic `sanctuaries’. Don’t forget this is the same group that is up in arms about a proposed ban on private ownership of exotic cats. Guess who breeds and sells exotic cats? Holy Mother Theresa Manzella!
The last hilarity from UH is their National Do Not Slaughter Registry. That’s where you can put a chip in a horse and that they will scan it when it goes to slaughter. If your name comes up, you will have three days to respond to them or the horse gets killed anyhow. So, you better never be on vacation or move, because if that horse you sold four years ago turns up for slaughter and you don’t answer your phone, he’s getting killed anyhow. It doesn’t even begin to address stolen horses. It isn’t unusual for stolen horses to show up at auctions with their brands altered or cut out. It sure won’t be a leap for criminals to cut out a chip. How are they going to make sure these id chips are available to each and every single person that wants one at a cheap price?
Another factor in all these proposed programs is cost. Who is going to fund the cost of all these programs? It certainly won’t be the European investors that are backing Slaughter House Sue. They are in this strictly for profit. Taxpayers certainly won’t want to foot this bill. They don’t even want to fund the USDA inspections to kill horses. Even if the UH magically managed to be able to implement these programs, they would basically wipe out the profit margin for their slaughter houses. We know that’s never going to happen. They also haven’t really said WHEN they planned to implement these programs. Good faith would have them all in place prior to the opening of slaughter houses. I suspect it would be a case of open the slaughter houses and then we’ll work on the rest. There may be a minimal half assed attempt some time after the plants re-opened, but they would never get off the ground. If they wanted to show good faith they should have been working to put some of these programs in place PRIOR to getting slaughter houses re-opened. So far they are nothing more than a pie in the sky fantasy that they have sold to their simple-minded minions to push forward their ultimate agenda of lining their pockets.
Perhaps the biggest lie of them all is that slaughter houses will fix the problem of unwanted and neglected horses. I’m not really sure how they think that it will. It isn’t even in debate that meat horses will be young, healthy and in good weight. Are there really so many healthy, young horses that nobody wants? Give me facts, not shouts of YES there is!. It also won’t address the issue of neglect. Most of the big scale rescues of horses have been from people who would do it anyhow with or without slaughter. A case in point was the Many, Louisiana rescue.
In January of this year, 60 starving Thoroughbreds were seized from a single owner in Many. The herd consisted of mares, foals and a few stallions. There were dead horses in the fields and many of the younger stock did not make it. Would slaughter have fixed this? No. The owner of these horses denied it was that bad and fought tooth and nail to keep his horses. These people will still exist. They are either so cruel, suffer from mental illness or both that they aren’t the people who send horses to slaughter. While a large-scale neglect case, it is by no means isolated. I will repeat it again: SLAUGHTER WOULD NEITHER FIX OR PREVENT THIS.
So, PSAs can continue to call up their state reps, start a million websites and special interest groups to push their agenda. They will continue to prey on the ignorant and unsophisticated into buying their lies. The only downside to no slaughter is that it robs the rest of us the joy of saying `I told you so’ when Slaughter House Sue and her butt monkeys take the money and run. I’m perfectly fine with that. I’ll take even more joy when the Senate wipes this out and the horses win.
So I guess I’d like to know what is your plan for all the horses that are being shipped out of the country to be slaughtered, going for $25, $40, $50 at the auctions, If this plan is so bad, what is your plan? If you take out the fact that they would send the “unsuitable” horses would be slaughtered. Is this still a horrible idea? What if they put this plan in motion and agree to send all the unsuitable horses to you and the other anti-slaughter supporters houses and you can feed and house all the old, lame horses. I agree though, why should this plan have to wait really, who knows maybe someone is already trying to get it in motion, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Heck even without slaughter they could just bring the unsuitables out back and give them a quick bullet and do what they want with the meat. Would that be ok with you? You want there to be no slaughter, but truth is many, many horses are still being shipped out of this country for just that. So there are unwanted horses. WHAT exactly do you propose for an idea for all of them?
I see you rant and rave, call names, make fun of peoples bodies, assume you know who this is and that is, who is a member of what, etc. I always laugh at all these “online detectives” who know EXACTLY who everyone is. Yes sometimes you can identify people, but you do know I could copy and paste anything you say here and post it anywhere else, yes? But anyway.
Do you actually have a plan or an idea to help these horses?
I hope you do copy and paste what I say. The more that read it, the happier I am. Make sure you site where it comes from though or you will be stealing my intellectual property.
I find it funny that you PSAs want to slaughter all these `unsuitable’ horses but I’ve yet to see a single one of you take responsibility for your own messes of poor breeding practices and appalling animal husbandry. Rest assured, I practice what I preach and contribute nothing to the `unwanted’ or neglected horse population.
You say Rome wasn’t built in a day, yet you stupidly howl that no slaughter for a couple of years hasn’t fixed anything. Well, it has. People are breeding less and lots of asshats have thankfully gone out of business. However, all those horses that they flooded the market with for the last however many years are still alive and kicking around. Horses generally live to be 20yrs or older. The problem wasn’t going to go away overnight. If slaughter is brought back, the only thing that will return is a bunch of morons breeding junk because they have an outlet for their mistakes again.
You want to cry about devaluing of horses? Personally, we still sell our stock for more money each than some people make in the year. People will still pay good money for quality horses. If you are only able to get $25, $40 or $80 for YOUR stock, you probably need to look at your breeding program. Better yet, get out of the business because you are clearly a failure.
Again, you show the complete lack of self awareness that is common in a PSA. You refuse to take ownership of YOUR part of the problem. I keep my own backyard clean, can you say the same?
Gotta love the “send-all-the-unsuitable-horses-to-you-and-the-other-anti-slaughter-supporters-houses-and-you-can-feed-and-house-all-the-old,-lame-horses” argument.
Whatever happened to personal responsibility? Why should anyone besides the owner or breeder be responsible for taking care of a horse?
I’m betting these horse slaughter folks are the first in line to condemn government entitlement programs like welfare and food stamps, but they’re real quick to absolve horse owners of *ANY* responsibility for the animal’s care, including euthanasia and carcass disposal.
Horse slaughter supporters who pound their chest over “property rights”, ironically are the first ones in line to suckle at the teat of the federal government for the taxpayer money needed to pay for their beloved horse slaughter.
What a bunch of hypocrites.
Very well said!
I guess Dave Duquette is going to be personally riding about 200 horses per day (a lowball of their slaughter daily projection) in order to properly “evaluate” them for this program. What about all those old retired schoolmasters who are too thin to be ridden, but are really, really “broke,” how will they be evaluated? Will each slaughterhouse now be refurbished with a dressage arena, and standards and jumps? Ha – they will be “evaluated” by the pound and no other metrics.
Exactly right. Dave should stick to buying made horses off of real trainers and letting his wife show them. A horseman, he is not.
Funny, I don’t remember saying I bred horses? I don’t even own one, I know I can’t afford it, I have never bred one either, and probably never will. I have a job, work full time and still can’t afford it. Never have sent a horse to slaughter and never will. But you just keep making those assumptions about everyone who posts here, calling them names.
So since you never actually gave an answer to one of my questions you have no ideas as to how to help the horses, that are on the ground now, you just want to flap your arms and make accusations, stand on your pedestal that YOUR horses are quality and will NEVER end up in a bad place. Gotcha!
I guess we will just all wait a few more years for when all those left overs from those other crappy breeders, that have apparently all gone out of business and stopped breeding finally stop filling the trucks heading to Mexico & Canada. Then there will only be quality horses left, the horse market will miraculously recover there will never be a horse starved to death, left on someones property. It will be nothing but butterflies, rainbows and gold piles of poop in pastures throughout the country.
Great plan. Hope that works out for ya.
So, you don’t own horses, you have never bred a horse and never will. It would seem to me you don’t really have an interest here then. Considering you want to see them slaughtered and eaten I’m going to go ahead and assume you don’t even like them that much. Not much point in discussing the reality of the present situation with a troll like yourself.
Or as Sue Wallis claims, if you don’t work in the “horse industry” or don’t own horses, you have no right to comment. Word.
Then Sue needs to STFU.
umm just because sue doesn’t phsycially own horses, her hubby and her family does.
She doesn’t. She doesn’t get to have a say. End of story.
HER Family and her husband owns horses, therefore what is his is hers. thats how a marriage works.
So, since you don’t want your fencing posted on here, everybody else is going to assume that it is a death trap, just as I told you….
There you go assuming again, oh and name calling.
So Ok I don’t get to have a say since I don’t currently own a horse. And it wouldn’t count even if I grew up on a horse farm, or if my family still owned horses. Or if my husband owned horses. Wow, just amazing how you will twist things to work for you, and only you.
Oh, but wait a minute, let’s think about this for a minute……
In your post before this and a lot of the Anti-slaughter advocates toss around this statement
“80% of Americans are against horse slaughter”
Now that doesn’t say 80% of Horse Industry working Americans are against horse slaughter. Just everyday Americans.
So your opinions count as long as you are anti-slaughter. If your for the other side STFU. Got it. Your hipocracy is astounding.
This “troll” is done.
Actually, I don’t believe that only horse people have a say. That’s Sue Wallis who has made those claims. I always maintain that everyone is able to offer an opinion; of course it doesn’t mean I will agree with it or they with mine.
I did not participate in the Vietnam War, nor have I met Sarah Palin, but I have an opinion on both of those. Perhaps you missed the ironic overtones in my post…..
The percentage of the horse industry that oppose slaughter would be even higher. Contrary to what they believe, the AQHA is not the only registry or power player in the horse industry.
Actually, the Arabian Horse Association supports it as well.
http://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloodstock/arabian-horse-groups-express-support-for-reopening-slaughter-plants/
And so does the APHA and other breeds. What is your point?
SC, can you explain how can you accurately assume how millions of horse industry participants feel about slaughter? Do you know them all? Can you link to a comprehensive survey anywhere that substantiates your claim?
Do you know them all? There are no comprehensive surveys of each and every horse industry participant. There are votes. So far, the numbers fall to the side of anti-slaughter in actual polls. Online polls are skewed due to click counters and the ability to clear cache and vote multiple times. Both sides can do that.
No, I sure don’t know them all, or likely even a minute percentage of them…but I am also not the one who claimed “The percentage of the horse industry that oppose slaughter would be even higher”. I was asking for information. I am well aware of the ability to skew online polls and that online polls are rarely even close to accurate. I am asking how you can assume to know that more people oppose than support slaughter with any hard proof.
As far as the Arab association, I was just pointing out that AQHA is not the only one who approves and supports slaughter as a viable out for unwanted horses.
The majority of the horse industry does not approve slaughter. Sue draws a lot of her support from cattlemen as well.
I never said the majority did support slaughter, nor did I say anything about Sue? I am simply asking if YOU, who made the broad statement, can provide something factual rather than your own personal assumption to substantiate the claim. I am asking how you can claim to know how the “majority” of the industry feels on the matter if, as you say above, there is no comprehensive survey anywhere, and you don’t know them all personally. I neither agree nor disagree with the statement, simply because I have yet to see anything conclusive either way.
Considering that most of my days are filled with interacting with industry people in one form or another, I can draw the conclusion that the overwhelming majority are against it. I have seen more change their mind and become anti-slaughter but not a single person that I know has gone over to the pro side. But then again, most people that do what I do, got into it out of a love for the animal and not to get rich.
So of the industry persons you DO know, most are anti slaughter. Fair enough.
I know a lo of industry people. Just sayin…
I didn’t say you didn’t, I just have a hard time accepting that one single person could have enough vocal intimate enough contacts country wide, in every discipline, to feel they had the ability to comment on the feelings of the equine industry as a whole on this issue. Would you say you can accurately speak for 500 or 1000 or 10,000 industry members? There just seems to be a lot of assumptions online (not just here, but all over) of people speaking for others, the broad statements without any factual evidence, it makes me legitimately curious on true numbers for and against and how many lie on the middle ground. It seems we surround ourselves with those that share our views, on things, so it would makes sense, as you are in the opposing group, that most of your connections feel as you do. I don’t imagine given your passion for the anti debate you’d readily choose to associate closely with those pushing for slaughter. Or am I wrong?
No, I’ve worked many different ends or the horse industry. I grew up on a ranch, I rode hunter/jumpers in my youth and AQHA. I worked for a trainer that is remains in the top 5 all time money winners for the NCHA. My personal passion was racehorses and that is where I have earned my living the longest. I have kept my friends and contacts from my former vocations though. I still travel a lot and interact with horse people of different disciplines from all over. I think it’s a pretty good cross section to take my opinion from. Not saying I’m the only one that has had a varied career, but many people pick their discipline and stick to it. Another thing about my ranching family…..not a single one of them are, or have ever been, pro slaughter. I watched the PSAs invite a rancher to their board and then proceed to attack, shred and discredit him when he politely told them that it wasn’t for him as he was very much anti-slaughter as were generations of his ranching family. Just because you run cattle does not mean you’re pro slaughter and apparently that is hard for them to grasp.
[…] was the Equine Rescue & Rejuvenation Program. I talked about it all the way back in 2012 on this post. Basically, what they were telling people they wanted to do was have a central hub where people […]