It’s Time to Point and Laugh, Because That’s What We Do On Fridays!

This has certainly been a busy week in the land of the profoundly ignorant and stupid.  With the return to the internet of Slaughterhouse Sue and Douchebag Duquette becoming the latest PSA blogger, it’s been tough to keep up with all the doings of the PSAs.  They have been bringing the crazy like never before and it has provided endless entertainment and frustration for the rest of us. This week even saw the brief return of some old favorites and our usual suspects were in great form too.  We have a lot to cover this week, so let’s get rolling with `Point and Laugh Friday’, brought to you by the letter `S’ for STFU.

 

I guess we’ll kick off the proceedings by checking in with the moronic matriarch of the PSAs, Slaughterhouse Sue.  Still offering no rebuttal or explanation for the Missouri lies, she returned to the loving embrace of her fellow online horse haters.  Ole Suey has been burning up her keyboard looking for articles and linking them to the UH like a woman possessed.  Maybe she is just going through Bute withdrawals.  Unfortunately for Suey, the articles came from largely obscure and questionable sources and were met with apathy from her supporters.  I’m still having some trouble with why an online tech magazine would run an editorial about horse slaughter.  It’s not a big deal since it has become apparent that the majority of the PSAs are quite unable to put down their Doritos and get off Facebook long enough to make any comments or support their stance.  No worries, there were plenty of anti-slaughter people willing to step up and set the record straight with *gasp* facts.  Way to go, guys!

As we covered earlier, Suey’s next mission was to pull out all the stops and begin a petition to the USDA demanding they begin inspections RIGHT NOW.  She joined forces with the other IEBA buttholes, Bill `Maggot’ desBarres and Olivier `Moneybags’ Kemseke, to voice their `concern’ about the suffering of American horses among other things.  She further went on to mention how much worse these horses suffered when they were shipped out of country.  Not sure why Maggot desBarres, being from Canada,  felt the need to shoot himself in the foot like that, but maybe Moneybags is lining his pockets too.  You would think it had already been a busy week for Ole Suey, but she wasn’t done yet.  She next applauded and drooled all over Crazyass Steve King from Iowa, who basically hates all animals as much as he hates Wayne Pacelle.  Just to recap, Crazyass King is in support of dog fighting, puppy mills and the cruel and inhumane treatment of food production animals.  Don’t worry, he hates gays and people who use birth control too,so he’s basically an equal opportunity hater.  He’s actually a pretty good fit with the PSAs.  I bet most of them have his picture on their bed side table, right next to their bible, beer and shotgun.

D-bag Dave sizes up his next meal…

Because this week was Holy Theresa’s turn to have her head parked the furthest up Ole Suey’s ass, that basically left Douchebag Duquette unsupervised yet again.  Apparently he got tired of cultivating his Amish style goatee and decided to take up blogging.  I surmise he is being poorly assisted with this spelling and grammar as his two posts have not been as peppered with profanities and gibberish like we have come to expect from him.  Still, he kicked things off D-bag style by comparing the UH to `Samson and Goliath’ and giving himself a virtual reach around for a job well done.  His next blog entry was the one that truly pissed off anybody that cares about the welfare of horses and is in possession of a  firing synapse.  It laid out the plans for the UH’s Equine Rescue and Rejuvenation Program and how amazingly wonderful it’s going to be for horses to participate.  Because of all the poor and starving people who have to give their horses up to slaughter, D-bag and company are going to allow people donate the to the UH and `maybe’ give them a tax receipt.  Maybe they’ll sell the horses and keep the cash or maybe they’ll slaughter them.  Either way, the original owner of the horses do not get any money.  Naturally, the UH brain-dead think this is incredibly awesome….

“Personally, I love how the program will realistically assess horses for ability. It’s no wonder so many traditional rescues go under when they throw money and effort after foolishness, i.e. horses that are a lost cause, when they could be

channeling funds toward something productive. And I think it’s wrong how so many rescues beg and plead for money (to the tune of thousands of dollars) to extend the life of animals when the kindest thing would be to put them down.“

– It still escapes these people that if they don’t agree with what a rescue is doing or like the clothes they wear, they don’t have to donate money to them.  Any 501c3 will ask for donations, even fake ones like the UH. That’s what non-profits do.

” I love the fact that it will be run by HORSEMEN, who KNOW horses. And the opportunities for learning and teaching through assessment and evaluation are endless.”

– Holy Mother Theresa gets her pom-poms out and chimes in……

“Really, what an incredible resource for college equine programs. It’s really sad how common it is for people to “rescue” horses and then not have a clue what else to do with them, other than beg for money to keep them fed”.

– Yes, running equine husbandry classes at a slaughterhouse is really going to be a super thing for colleges and their community profiles….

“Very True. I see it ALL the time. “They” seem to find the time to attack and attempt to discredit those of us who do actually know the difference between a horse sound for work, vs. one for light riding vs. a lawn ornament. I have nothing against lawn ornaments so long as the “adopter” understands the responsibilities of their choices. I recently had a lady get in touch with me after visiting the rescue of one of my loudest critics. She said she felt that every horse at that rescue was in pain and should be put down. I really don’t think you qualify as a rescue if your are simply prolonging their pain, with managment. WTH?…i have an old guy here for the summer. HE WAS SOMEBODY until he got hurt….and then neglected. He’s really two legged, but we manage his pain for him…for the summer. Give him some good green grass in his belly and sun on his back. But when winter sets in and his pain gets severe, it’ll be time for him to go. It’s the humane thing to do. I’ve had people offer to adopt him as a lawn ornament but when we discuss the cost and RESPONSIBILITY associated with helping him manage his pain, they shy away, which is good, because I won’t let them adopt him anyway. He’s so darned honest and full of try, I can just see him trying to pack their butts around on two legs and them not having a clue he’s lame. (face-palm)“

– No St. Theresa, `we’ have issues with rescues that support and send horses to slaughter. You don’t run a rescue, you run a horse killing program.  As far as taking good care of her animals, I heard a rumor that St. Theresa forgot to close the door of her horse trailer and splatted one of her horses all over the highway awhile back.  There’s some great `care’ right there!  Anybody want to guess how her old horse is going to meet his end should Suey get a slaughter-house open?

 

Everybody’s favorite multiple personality, Mendy Tobiano had a strange week indeed.  Apparently, somebody called her horses skinny again which kicked off a series of rants and bizarre blog postings.  She is now using make-believe horses and paintings to demonstrate why her horses aren’t starving to death. While none of the Hollywood horses she used as examples were actually skinny, she continued on with her ranting and hoof stomping and failed to see the difference in her poor beasts.  She also got super pissed about somebody calling her trailer trash and, true to form, decided to counter that by a round of over-sharing, including pictures of her `not a trailer’ abode.  The sad part about that is we are supposed to be impressed that it is an 1800’s house and forget that she has posted many times about not having a working stove, sharing the home with a burn-out handyman and other white trash problems.  At the end of the day, who cares?  We all know that trailer trash is an attitude above all else, so if the hooker shoes fit…..With her increasingly bizarre behavior and hostility, the NT blog is becoming less relevant by the day.  She is currently trying to dump one of her one-eyed Mustangs that she is unable to train and I have to wonder if it has anything to do with this old blog entry:  http://ballengertraining.blogspot.ca/2012/01/again-it-has-been-quite-some-time-since.html

A few weeks ago, this blog and a few other Facebook pages posted about a PSA that had a horse with ring bone.  She was upset about having to Bute him and waste his meat and entertained the romantic notion of taking him to slaughter personally.  She didn’t want him to go to waste and contaminate the ground water by chemically euthanizing him.

“am incredibly depressed… after my chat with the farrier I know my horse wont have much time left. Depending on the amount of ringbone the horse has he will have a better idea of how long I will have with him before hes too uncomfortable and we will have to put him down. Now I dont believe in euth drugs, especially not on a horse, and I prefer him to go to good use. Since I am so close to canada I wonder if there is a way I can contact them and bring him up myself to avoid extra stress and pain. Even be there at the moment he dies if they would allow it. I have to make a trip this fall to Canada anyways… anyone have ideas on who I can talk to?”

Anyhow, it seems that the poor horse has made that trip to Canada after all but she didn’t actually go with him or make sure he was processed right away and hugged and kissed.  I wonder if she realizes that the poor horse is likely not even dead yet and standing in a feedlot getting beat up by other horses while he awaits his date in the death chamber.  This may be one of the more cruel acts a PSA has ever bragged about.  Sure hope she didn’t fudge on his EID papers and say he hadn’t been Buted….I am sickened…

“I reposted with my thoughts. It made me very, very angry. My horse made a 30 hour long drive to canada because of where feedlots are located. If they were open in the u.s. it wouldnt be like that! Our horses suffer longer because of these morons. Like to know how they can say every horse gets bute someday. BULLSHIT! Only used it once ever on a horse and owned them since I was 12. Everything has a withdrawl period, even the worst medications that are the most dangerous!”

RIP 😦

Daffy has made a tentative return to public posting and is as illiterate and nuts as always.  She seems to be trying to gain favor from her UH buddies so she can regain admittance into their inner sanctum once again.  I guess talking to herself and her mother on a private page is not nearly stimulating enough for her.  Daffy kept busy being the resident `expert’ at the UH Facebook page and expounding on her vast knowledge of Bute, breeding and anything else anybody cared to comment on.  She’s still an avid reader of this blog.  Perhaps I will let her do a guest posting here so she can teach us all to ride really well liker her….

As we know, the PSAs love nothing better than to swarm rescues and unsuspecting strangers online.  This week was no different.  They have been amusing themselves with some pretty hilarious videos from self-proclaimed `horse expert’ Sarah Stetner.  To be fair, this person is a moron for sure.  When you get past the cringing at the things she says and does , you kind of sit there in disbelief that anybody could be so stupid. I almost can’t believe these videos are meant to be serious.  Check them out. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD8023BK0cA&feature=relmfu)  The problem is, that the PSAs became obsessed and found her Facebook page and where she worked.  The girl is a vet tech at a small animal clinic.  They then decided it would be funny to leave trolling messages on her work’s guest book.

“I double dog dare some one to sign the Vet Clinic’s guestbook and ask about their horse riding expert….”

 

“I will triple dog dare anyone and with a cherry on top!”

 

Of course, a few volunteered to go over and bomb the guest book, including last week’s poster PSA, Doris Kelsey.  What is NOT cool about any of this is:

a) this is a place of business they are harassing and has nothing to do with the YouTube vidoes Stetner has put up.

b) the guest book appears to be largely used by clients who have had sick pets and pets that were put down. 

Really not cool or funny for innocent people that may be grieving the loss of a pet to have to see this asshattery and maliciousness.  Thankfully, it appears the comments are held for moderation, so their fuckery was thwarted.  The hypocrisy is they are the first ones to screech `foul!’ when they get outed for what the post online.

 

This week saw some new developments on the slaughter issue.  Probably the most damaging one to the PSA mission was the notice that Clenbuterol and Bute was found in sample testings of horse meat that originated in Canada.  (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/portal/index.cfm?event=notificationDetail&NOTIF_REFERENCE=2012.1078)  You would think this would be very worrisome to a bunch of people that want to open up slaughter houses…..Nope, they are STILL in denial about it and they STILL don’t know the difference between drug withdrawal times and carcinogens left behind.  The concept of `Banned’  escapes them and they have started to sprout their usual conspiracy theories about it all.

“I just want to point something out. EVERY other meat possible is permitted in the EU countries from the US except horse….is it possible, I mean just in the realm of way out there, might be the reason is NOT about BUTE but not wanting to flood the EU countries with the plethora of horses that would. If we blame bute instead of bitching about worrying about US tanking the meat market then no one gets suspicious. After all, the EU is not so stupid as to not notice all the horses being exported into Mexico and Canada which ARE permitted to send horse meat over. Just something for everyone to ponder since I actually sat down and read the EU documents.”

I guess this rocket scientist doesn’t realize that Mexico and Canada are likely going to be in trouble too.  The EU will hold everybody’s feet to the fire on their deadline of July 2013 to have a passport system implemented. Now that they have found banned substances in a sample test, they will be increasing the frequency of testing.  If you need a reminder on how all that works you can review it here:  (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/)

 

I feel like I haven’t recapped this week properly with all that has gone on.  With Slaughterhouse Suey returning, Douchebag Duquette blogging and all the general fuckery we are used to, it was almost overwhelming to keep up with it all.  Have no fear, we have much to look forward to in the coming days, including our Sunday PSA feature where we get to name and shame the horse eaters.  Mostly, I think I’m still so pissed off about the UH’s proposed Rescue and Rejuvenation Program, I find very little they do all that funny right now.  Several important deadlines are looming and we cannot afford complacency.  There is a lot to work to do and a lot of people to educate.  I’m going to leave you with a comment that was left on the previous posting here.  Please do what you are comfortable with. As always, leave me a message in the comments or send an email if you have news or issues you want to see addressed.  Keep up the good work, everybody!

“There are lots of things you can do the save horses from slaughter without even leaving your house! Here are three of them:
Join the Adult letter writing campaign. Send letters to be presented to congress and the president. Find details here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/477262352286586/

Get prestamped, addressed post cards from here & hand get them signed at shows, fairs, family dinners- wherever people who are opposed to horse slaughter may be. Find the post cards here: http://nhequinewelfarecouncil.org/Advocacy.html

Pick up the phone and call your congress people. Let them know that you do not want your hard earned tax dollars spent on inspections for a food that will be shipped abroad. Remind them that these inspections will divert funds from food safety programs that have already been slashed. Tell them that the real solution is to support S1176 and HR2966. Here is how to find your congress people.: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/

 

 

 

 

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She’s Baaaack!!!!!

After spending the last two weeks licking her wounds and attempting to fabricate some explanation for the Missouri debacle, Slaughterhouse Sue has made her triumphant return to Facebook.  Since the best she could do for an explanation on the Rockville lie was to say `It’s not true’, she decided to count on the short memories of her followers along with their propensity to get distracted by shiny objects and forge ahead with her plan to torture horses.  This time it is by sending an `Urgent Petition’ to the USDA and she wants everybody to get busy.  She got four whole `likes’ for her post, so we should all start shaking in our boots now.  She posted a ridiculous resolution from the 67th Annual Meeting of the Midwestern Legislative Conference of  The Council of State Governments.  (http://www.csgmidwest.org/MLC/documents/horseproces2012.pdf) Sadly, as they were sitting around filling their faces in Cleveland and writing up this crap, they forgot that the last slaughter-house closed in 2007 and not 2008. Oh well, what’s a few inaccuracies when you lie like a sidewalk all the time?  I would actually be kinda disappointed if she got her facts straight and actually told the truth.

Sue addressed all four of her loyal followers with this statement: “We have just sent this to the Secretary of Agriculture, Vilsack, at the USDA, as well as to all of our networks. For those of you who are inclined to be proactive and support the horse business, this is a really good opportunity. Keep those cards and letters flying to D.C.!”  Since we never like to pass up an opportunity to have a good laugh, I’m going to post up the covering letter for her `Urgent Petition” .  You can check out the rest of the mess at this link:  (http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs024/1103685263837/archive/1110610853601.html)

“Dear Secretary Vilsack,

 

On behalf of the International Equine Business Association and the horse businesses of the United States I am writing to urge your agency to immediately provide the inspection necessary to humanely and safely process horses in facilities that are ready to do so in the United States. The horse industry is already severely damaged because of the lack of market and options, and now with wide spread drought and wild fire damage, the situation is truly dire.

 

Attached please find an urgent petition, and background information supporting this letter.”

– Nothing like a good old natural disaster to make your argument.  I bet Holy Theresa thinks this means God wants them to torture horses!

“USDA stands squarely in the way of enterprises that could offer some relief and a humane option for many of these horses. It has come to our attention that USDA is promulgating directives to states that indicate the agency has no intention of providing the inspection they are required by long-standing U.S. law to provide, and are actively discouraging state departments of agriculture from implementing any kind of state inspection. This singles out one class of livestock owner for economic harm and persecution that is extremely detrimental-leaving many with no option except to destroy valuable animals, or to sell them at pathetically low prices and allow them to be hauled to other countries out of U.S. jurisdiction. In the face of widespread natural disaster, some would say this is the height of hypocrisy and completely counter to the mission of the USDA to promote and responsibly regulate agriculture in this country.“

– What Ole Suey fails to realize is that there was a $9million cut to the USDA budget this year.  In order for them to provide these inspections for meat that will mostly be exported, it may well compromise the inspections of beef, pork and poultry which are specifically raised for slaughter and supply our local grocery stores.  Since horses are not currently being raised for human consumption, the USDA is not singling them out for economic harm at all.  I will further suggest that if these animals are so `valuable’ they wouldn’t have to be destroyed.  Good horses, still sell for good money and the horse market has been on the upswing as I talked about in this entry: (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/the-reality-of-the-horse-market/)  I even gave them verifiable numbers and everything.

“Several horse processing facilities are ready to offer horse owners a fair price for the animals they desperately need to sell — or could be within days — to provide much-needed emergency relief. Markets for the product are ready to accept it domestically and internationally if the meat is USDA-inspected exactly as it was in 2007. ”

– As far as anybody knows, not a single slaughter facility has been retro fitted to offer these super-duper humane options she promised.  In fact, not a single thing has been done to the Rockville facility she still doesn’t own.   UH has NO money and nobody has actually retained Temple Grandin to do the designs.  There have also been no permits issued on a single facility to be open for business, so not exactly sure how they could possible ready `within days’.  Besides, isn’t this a rather expensive proposition for emergency relief?

“USDA should not stand in the way of much-needed, humane options for horses. Horses and horse people are uniquely suffering as a direct result of federal government inaction, and the Department’s refusal to provide the inspection services federal law requires USDA to provide.

 

Across the nation, states, tribes and private citizens are working hand-in-hand with the federal government to provide relief to every other breed of livestock, and every other kind of business, yet USDA stands directly in the path of the same relief for the horse industry.    

 

This is a moral and ethical imperative that USDA must address without delay.”

– I guess the USDA should hop right to it since some batshit crazy rep from Wyoming says the sky is falling.  The `horse industry’ is not a food producing industry to anybody else but Suey and her bumbling followers who don’t even make up the majority of horse people, let alone tax paying citizens.  I wonder is she is aware that there is wording in the budget to shut down inspections for slaughter and that could be passed at any time.  I just can’t see the USDA, on their reduced budget, throwing a bunch of money at something that isn’t even going to last a few months, let alone a year.

Strangely, the letter is not only signed by Ole Suey, but also Bill `Maggot’  des Barres (Canada) and Olivier ‘ Money Bags’ Kemseke from the EU.  What do those  other two asswipes have to do with US horses other than to profit from their slaughter?  I guess this is supposed to strike fear in the heart of the USDA or something.  I apologize for the length of this all, but I think we should actually look at the wording of the petition as well.  I will spare you the boredom of reading the same three tired stories she has mined off the UH Facebook page to back up her stance.  You can go read it all at the link provided earlier.  Much of the petition is a rehash of her cover letter, but I want to take a look at her addressing drug residues in meat.

“The International Equine Business Association (IEBA) has been formed as a production agriculture organization representing the equine industry, and it stands ready with well-developed quality assurance programs and food safety protocols designed to exceed USDA requirements.

 

We understand traceability is a priority, and that another priority is the prevention of drug residues in meat. IEBA proposes allowing the association’s equine ID and tracing system – a system tested and proven in Canada – as an interim emergency measure. This system can be altered or amended later to fulfill any USDA requirements that may not be currently met, and can be updated when the Department finalizes its equine systems. IEBA also proposes its drug residue testing protocol – which uses third party laboratory testing to scientifically validate zero residues — to establish the eligibility of every horse for processing prior to slaughter. Allowing the implementation of these systems now will provide the desperately needed humane and economically viable outlet for the drought and fire-impacted horse industry.”

Canada has not even fully complied with the EU regulations that must be met by next year. She doesn’t mention  how in the hell they are going to come up with the money to implement this?   In fact, Canada has only been testing for banned substances for LESS than two years and their testing is hit and miss at best.  If you need a reminder on how it all works, check out this entry which will also give you links to the CFIA (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/anybody-want-a-bute-burger/).  “Altered” or “amended” later doesn’t exactly build good faith or confidence given the Slaughterhouse Sue’s propensity for lying and bending the facts.  In fact, Canada is doing such a bang up job of testing, this was just provided to me by one of the readers of this blog: (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/rasff-window/portal/index.cfm?event=notificationDetail&NOTIF_REFERENCE=2012.1078) Read it and weep Suey!!!

“USDA should not stand in the way of much-needed, humane options for horses. Horses and horse people are uniquely suffering as a direct result of federal government inaction, and the Department’s refusal to provide the inspection services federal law requires USDA to provide.”

I would say that a federal agency, such as the USDA, has a responsibility NOT to burn up tax payer dollars on an industry the overwhelming majority of tax paying citizens are strongly against, only to put money in foreign pockets.  It especially shouldn’t do that when it will likely be shut down again within months.

I guess this is the PSAs pulling out all the stops.  I have a very hard time believing that anybody is going to take Slaughterhouse Sue and her foreign henchmen all that seriously, but you never know.  If you feel inclined to make your voice heard on this issue, make sure you back it up with facts and numbers.  Those are two things the PSA side never provide and have working against them.  It’s been a busy kinda PSA day, so more to come soon!

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The Truth About Kaufman?

“The slaughtering of horses in the town of Kaufman began more than 25 years ago by the former owner of the plant.
The business from the beginning provided numerous jobs and injected millions of dollars into the local economy.
The business for many years enjoyed an excellent relationship with the community with no complaints.
It was only in the last couple of years prior to closing that the company came under attack, and this was primarily from sources outside the City of Kaufman.
When the attacks began against the Dallas Crown the same individuals and groups began their attacks against the two other horse slaughtering plants in existence at the time.
Although certain individuals with the city of Kaufman jumped on the band wagon and manufactured complaints against the company this was mainly brought on by the media attention.
The mayor, Paula Bacon, was able to get her 15 minutes of fame on Nightline and was subsequently defeated at the polls.
None of the alleged complaints brought by the city were ever prosecuted to a conclusion.
When the company shut down hundreds of individuals and families suffered financially and the City of Kaufman had nothing to offer them.
The meat processing business has often been unfairly criticized for its treatment of animals and this seems to play well to the media.
However this type of business has always been regulated and inspected by the USDA and numerous other state and Federal agencies.
While Dallas Crown was in operation there was a full time licensed Veterinarian who worked for the USDA on the premises and the company had an excellent record with this agency and others.
This type of business is not only necessary for many practical reasons it is an industry that is capable of supporting many jobs and producing home grown American made products.
The horse processing business supports and regulates the fair and humane treatment of animals more than any so called animal rights organization.
When the horse processing industry was forced to close in the United States the country suffered economically, but tragically, the horse population has suffered even more.”

~ Statement from Mark Calabria, posted by Slaughterhouse Sue as the `Truth about Kaufman’

~

 

If you have involved yourself in either side of the slaughter issue, you have heard about Kaufman, Texas.  Both sides of the issue frequently mention this hapless town in support of their stances.  Kaufman was home to Dallas Crown Inc., one of the last slaughter plants to be closed in the US.  I’ve heard stories of blood in the streets, overwhelming stench, backed up sewage, and increased crime rate from the anti side.  The PSA side will mostly tell you Kaufman never happened at all and that the plant was shut down by an `Animal Rights’ mayor.  So, I decided to dig around and see what I could find out as far as what really happened in Kaufman.

Dallas Crown Inc. was a horse processing plant owned by the Belgian company Chevideco that began operating in Kaufman, TX in the late 70’s.  This would be the same company that Slaughterhouse Sue wants to go into business with in her quest to bring back horse slaughter.  One of the things The UH will tell people is that these proposed slaughter-houses will bring in all sorts of revenue to the horse industry and communities that host them.  While it is true that slaughter houses exported an estimated 42 million dollars worth of meat a year, that money mostly went into the pockets of their foreign owners.  In Dallas Crown’s case, it went to Belgium. Dallas Crown only paid a whopping $5  in federal taxes on a gross income of well over 12 million dollars (scans of tax returns linked below).  Then factor in the cost of having federally funded USDA Inspectors in each and every facility. The average yearly salary for a slaughter-house worker according to simplyhired.com is $14000 and Dallas Crown Inc employed 46 non-unionized employees.  Not sure about you, but a wage that low wouldn’t leave me with much of a disposable income to spend in the hosting community.  In fact, it would seem to me that most of the money went straight over seas and only the bare minimum spent in the US.  In cases like Kaufman, it ended up costing the town money through litigation fees, unpaid fines and upgrades to the city’s waste-water treatment. Dallas Crown paid property taxes that amounted to less than half of what they directly cost Kaufman in legal fees over their numerous violations.

 

Blood in the streets.  Did it happen or not?  It would seem the answer is yes and no.  There was never a constant river of blood flowing through the streets of Kaufman, but over the years there as been numerous environmental issues with the waste from that facility and sometimes the blood did run .  The most talked about incident from the PSA side was when a tanker carrying blood bi-products suffered a valve break and leaked its load throughout the town to the tune of 600 gallons.  They will tell you it was cleaned up right away and although `unfortunate’ was hardly an environmental crisis.  However, in the mid 80’s Dallas Crown had a year-long shut down after several months worth of incidents of blood waste backing up into citizen’s bathtubs and through drains on the street. This was due to Dallas Crown putting in a pump that forced the blood and waste through the city’s sewer systems that eventually burst the pipes.  With promises of changes they restarted operations in  early 1986, but shortly afterwards the fertilizer companies, that they told council they would be selling the blood to, rejected it as too toxic for commercial use, so once again, it was back in Kaufman’s sewage system.  In one six-week period alone,29 waste-water violations were issued each with a potential fine of $2000.  In a 19 month period between 2004 -2005 there were 481 violations until Dallas Crown refused to allow city engineers to enter the plant to do environmental tests for a period of 9 months.  This appears to be more than one little `unfortunate’ incident.

 

Slaughterhouse Sue and her Belgian buddies want people to believe that having a slaughter plant is going to revitalize the hosting community.  The good citizens of Kaufman may have some different feelings on this.  Many people living in `Boggy Bottom’, the neighborhood bordering Dallas Crown, complained of stench of decay, increased vermin, and finding animal bones in their yards.  It has been documented that Dallas Crown often left their offal tanks uncovered allowing vultures and rats to congregate.  Their property values decreased and the crime rate increased.  So much so that despite the economic crisis, since the closure of Dallas Crown,  property prices have increased and the city is now in a development and expansion phase.  Crime rates have dropped by more than half since the closing of Dallas Crown with drastic decreases in rape, murder, assault and robberies (http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Kaufman-Texas.html)

 

So, last week one of the PSAs asked about Kaufman on the United Horsemen page.  While several chimed in, very few had any actual facts to back up their opinions.  Finally, Old Suey popped up and posted the TRUTH  ABOUT KAUFMAN, TEXAS AND THE DALLAS CROWN HORSE PROCESSING PLANT. Yes, she busted out the cap-lock on everybody so we know she’s really serious and stuff.  Suey’s `proof’ was the `facts’ according to Kaufman resident and attorney, Mark Calabria that I posted at the top of this entry.  What she failed to mention is Mark Calabria was the lead attorney for Dallas Crown.  She further went on to say this:

“…we talked to the city engineer in Kaufman and it was literally, physically, impossible for blood to wind up in the city water treatment system, let alone the sewer system that connects people’s houses. There is no pipe from the kill floor blood collection which fed into a tank truck to be sold. So, the only blood that would wind up in the treatment plant whatsoever is the diluted blood in the wash down water, and that went through a DAF system (DAF stands for “dissolved air floatation”) before being discharged which removed all particulate and fat. The discharged wash down water from the plant was so clean, and in such volume compared to what was coming from the residential sewers that it was actually creating a problem for the water treatment operators because there wasn’t enough microbial action left to clean up the water. Also, all of the render including bones was hauled away daily. And the single incident where there was blood in the barrow pit was a broken valve on one of those blood trucks that was, as was noted here, contained and cleaned up within two hours.”

So, what about what happened in the 80’s when they got shut down for a YEAR due to them forcing blood into the sewage system?  Also, they didn’t even kill every day and it was documented that the `render’ was maybe hauled away weekly and only once the bins were full.  In the meantime, they were often left uncovered.  It would stand to reason these`facts’  that Sue posts up may be more than a bit slanted. Given the actual facts compiled in this entry as well as the links below, you can decide for yourself what the truth about Kaufman really is.

 

 

http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/686

http://habitatforhorses.org/problem-horse-slaughtering/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff/2012/01/10/texas-mayor-paula-bacon-kicks-some-tail/

http://galleries.forbes.com/gallery/Life_in_a_Slaughter_Town%3A_Kaufman%2C_Texas#image=07pJ1zWfXtfRk&view=filmstrip

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/

http://www.kaufmanzoning.net/documentsdallascrowncaveterrelltribune04062012.pdf

 

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Flawed Logic and Bad Business from The UH

I think that by now, we should all be used to the flawed logic that comes from the PSA side of things.  You can produce fact after fact from any number of credible sources and nothing will diminish their blood lust.  The thing that confounds me the most is that the majority of these people do this under the pretense of loving horses.  They have convinced themselves that only real horse people should have a say in the issue because only real horse people know that slaughter is the only solution.  Oh really?  I guess then maybe only `real’ horse people should be paying for the funding for USDA inspections too? Today, I saw one of the typical PSA responses on the United Horsemen page in response to their failure to find support in Texas last week.

“People who do not have a clue of what goes on in an animal industry wether it is HORSES or other livestock need to stay out of making the rules. I support the need for horse slaughter houses. I also support the need for them to be regulated and inspected to ensure humane treatment and that they follow health codes the same as any livestock processing plants. Opening the processing plants will do several things: 1. It gets rid of the excess horses caused by the closing of American plants in the first place 2. It gives the horse industry buttom prices and should raise the value of quality broke horses because of a lack of overage of horses 3. Gives people who can no longer find homes for the horses they can not take care a place to get some type of value to feed the ones they keep 4. Creates jobs 5. Feeds people who may not be able to eat, through programs that use the meat for consumption 6 Creates an export to foreign countries and a humane place to process the meat. Yes there is a market outside of the US. 7. It also gives a place to get value for horses that may harm their owners or others because they are just not safe. There are more of those than one might think.”

Ok, let’s take a look at the bullet points this PSA has outlined for us…..

1. It gets rid of the excess horses caused by the closing of American plants in the first place

I’m still confused at why they think this is true.  According to their precious GAO report, the same amount of horses are being shipped to slaughter as there was prior to 2007.  The difference is they are not being slaughtered domestically.  All these excess horses weren’t born after 2007, so clearly slaughter was never the answer

“The total number of U.S. horses sent to slaughter in 2006, the last full year
of domestic slaughter, was comprised of horses slaughtered domestically
(i.e., 104,899, as shown in fig. 2) and those sent for slaughter in Canada or Mexico (i.e., 32,789, as shown in fig. 3)—for a total of 137,688 horses.
Taken together, the 137,984 U.S. horses that were sent to slaughter in
Canada or Mexico in 2010 is approximately equal to the total number of
horses slaughtered in 2006.”

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11228.pdf

2. It gives the horse industry bottom prices and should raise the value of quality broke horses because of a lack of overage of horses

I don’t know about anybody else, but if the value of my stock is based on the bottom of the market, I need to stop breeding them.  Who goes into business and aims for the bottom?  Slaughter prices have absolutely zero relation as to what the value of a quality broke horse should be.  The economy has a lot to do with it and slaughter is not going to fix that no matter what Sue Wallis tells you.

3. Gives people who can no longer find homes for the horses they can not take care a place to get some type of value to feed the ones they keep

Here is the good ole disposable society we live in again.  If you need to wring blood money out of a horse that has served you in order to feed the rest, you probably can’t afford to own any horse.  Horse ownership is a privilege and a luxury.  Some people can’t afford to own horses.  Deal with it.

4. Creates jobs

It will actually take more jobs than it creates.  An average sized facility may employ up to 175 people.  Dead horses don’t need feed, tack, grooms, supplies etc. etc. Dead horses also don’t need training, veterinary care or trucks and trailers.  Many peripheral businesses depend on LIVE horses, not dead ones.  175 people in a few locations isn’t really going to make a huge dent in the unemployment numbers nationally.

5. Feeds people who may not be able to eat, through programs that use the meat for consumption

So this person feels that it is acceptable to feed poor people the equine equivalent of  `pink slime’ and meat that is loaded with carcinogens.  The prime cuts of meat will be shipped overseas to wealthy niche markets and what will be left is ground up lips and assholes.  Charming.

6 Creates an export to foreign countries and a humane place to process the meat. Yes there is a market outside of the US.

Yes and there is also a market for meat dogs in some countries too.  Shall we start to empty out our animal shelters and cash in on that little problem too?  Slaughterhouse Sue supports puppy mills so maybe that is part of her master plan. That’s about as logical as her telling her minions that just because we don’t want to slaughter horses we are out to wipe out the meat industry all together.  As for the `humane’ part, it has already been established that there is no humane way to slaughter horses economically and humanely at the same time.  It has never happened before and it wouldn’t happen this time around.  In fact, Suey wants to open the plants now and deal with that little problem after.

7. It also gives a place to get value for horses that may harm their owners or others because they are just not safe. There are more of those than one might think.”

I’m beginning to notice that the PSAs have an inordinate amount of `unsafe’ horses that may harm their owners.  You don’t see a lot of anti-slaughter people complaining about this little problem.  Sounds to me like there are a bunch of horses out there with people problems.

If all this wasn’t bad enough, it seems that the very organization that is going to save the horse industry may be experiencing a few financial problems.  We all know about the `postponed’ Summit of the Horse that will never actually happen, but it seems that they are having some difficulties issuing refunds to people.  This was posted on the UH Facebook page earlier today:

“What do you think of an organization that advertises an event, you register for the event and pay for a membership because it’s a cause you believe in; you buy plane tickets, reserve a room and then the organization cancels the event but won’t refund you your registration/membership fees and after three email attempts and a phone call, won’t return your call or your email. You’d think twice about supporting that organization wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t you kinda think they’re a sham and not trustworthy?”

Hilariously, Holy Mother Theresa Manzella steps up to the plate and attempts damage control.

“Hi XXXXX. Thank you for your support of UHO and we’re sorry for your trouble and frustration. I’m just off the phone w/Dave Duquette. He’s advised that yours was one of the last refund requests received and therefore it is one of the last ones to be processed and refunded. As you can imagine, scheduling and rescheduling the Summit was a huge and costly undetaking. Provisions and refunds are being issued as quickly as possible. Again, we apologize for your inconvenience.”

So, of all the refunds they had to do, this person’s just so happened to be one of the very last ones to be processed.  Considering the real reason for cancelling the whole affair was lack of interest, I’m guessing it shouldn’t have taken several months for them to issue their refunds.  I’m also not sure why we should be surprised after the whole truck raffle that never was issue of the last Summit.  (http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/uploads/Supplement_to_Dec_1_2010_Complaint.pdf).  However, Captain Douchebag Duquette decided to reclaim his manhood and handle this matter of the refunds himself by posting the email correspondence between himself and the complainant, complete with her private email address.  Very professional Dave!  What is it with these people and their inability to maintain confidentiality for their members?  It seems his main concern seemed to be covering his own tracks and I’m still confused about why it is this person’s problem they are having trouble paying the rest of their Summit bills. Here is what he posted in response so you can decide for yourselves….

“Yes I did receive your email, we just paid off several other bills for the
Summit and as soon as we can we will refund your money. If you can or still
have it could you send me the PayPal receipt email you got.”

“The above post shows that yes indeed I did respond to your emails. I will be making a donation tomorrow out my own account to pay you”

So it appears that Captain Douchebag is having to refund out of his own pocket.  Hilarious!  These are the people who are going to rescue every single unwanted horse,  have a retraining program for others, and feed all the poor and hungry in several nations including the US, yet they can’t even issue a refund for a couple hundred bucks.  Naturally, this thread went *poof* within hours and I’m pretty sure we can expect both Holy Theresa and Captain Douchebag to get bare butt spankings from Slaughterhouse Sue for letting this play out in public.

In all seriousness, The United Horsemen get more unprofessional by the day.  Does anybody have a tally on the number of lies they have been caught in lately?  Didn’t think so.  I even saw one of the PSAs mention something about an audit.  You know what all of this reminds me of?  Those emails from Nigeria where they promise you millions if you just send them your bank account number first.  Wake up PSA People!!!!!

 

 

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Death, Dying and The Hand That Delivers

One of the most contentious issues for many animal welfare advocates is what happens after a horse is hit with a penetrating captive bolt or bullet.  The PSAs will tell you that the horse is basically brain-dead as soon as the bolt or bullet hits them, while anti-slaughter people have some real concerns.  It is a major issue because it speaks to the whole pain and suffering issue.  If we are to believe Slaughterhouse Sue and her tribe of the uninformed, horses sent to slaughter spend their days relaxing in bucolic surroundings with ample food and care.  When their time comes to end their days on this earthly plane, they are gently ushered into a pristine room and are rendered senseless before they know what is going on. They are handled all the way through by caring and compassionate people and they likely have harp music playing softly in the background throughout the process.  There is no dispute that they are bled out aka exsanguinated while they are still technically alive, but the PSAs will say the horses will not be `aware’.  Other than the blood and gore aspect, it almost sounds like a fairy tale.  It reminds me of  the parent that tells their child that the family dog went to live on a distant relative’s farm when they actually had it put to sleep.  They will tell you what they think you need to hear so you’ll be ok with it.  Unfortunately for Suey, animal welfare advocates are not children and are well aware that the picture she paints is anything but the truth.

It would seem our PSAs are, once again, confused.  This is hardly surprising as they normally eschew any facts, research or data that does not support their misguided mission.  While there can be some movement of a body after brain death occurs, PSAs have been quite unable to distinguish that from purposeful movement.  One of the main ways you can tell if actual death has occurred is eye response.  Even when a horse is euthanized under ideal circumstances any competent vet will check the eye for response before considering his job complete.  Simply, if a horse can still blink when you move your finger towards its eye, it is not yet dead and still aware.  A dead horse will not be able to look around, get to its feet nor will it be able to aim a kick at somebody.  While there may be a few flickering breaths, a dead or senseless horse will not display rhythmic breathing.  All of these things have been recorded and documented in the very Canadian slaughter-houses that Wallis plans to model her empire on.  Not a single horse was checked for insensibility.  I have linked it before, but if you need a reminder you can check out this link:

http://defendhorsescanada.org/investigations/chambers-of-carnage 

If the footage is too disturbing, I suggest you read the indexes which will give you a listing of horses that were not cleanly stunned and what occurred after.  It should be noted that in these instances a .22 rifle was used to knock the animals down. Many of the animals listed were very aware and able to feel pain and fear. If you recall, Temple Grandin has outlined that 100% of animals at slaughter must be rendered insensible prior to hoisting. For the mathletically challenged among the PSA crowd, that means even one horse is too many.

Since Slaughterhouse Sue and her band of buffoons keep telling us that administering a kill shot with either a captive bolt or rifle is so easy, I’m wondering why it goes so wrong in these slaughter plants.  It mainly doesn’t go right due to placement issues.  Horses are typically brought into the kill box unrestrained.  They move their heads around a lot which makes it nearly impossible to place the bullet or bolt correctly.  There is a relatively small area on a horse’s head that must be hit accurately and at the proper angle in order to effectively render the horse unconscious.  For bigger horses that enter the kill box it becomes even more difficult to be at the proper angle to knock them down in one shot. In cases where a captive bolt is used, it is recommended that the horse’s head be restrained and the strength of the cartridge must be appropriate for the size of the horse.  As we know, they do not use head restraints for horses in slaughter houses as they are considered inhumane and, at the present time, the animals are not haltered and held for killing as Temple Grandin has suggested.  That would not be cost-effective as far as labor or time when they have a target of processing one horse every two minutes.

After I wrote one of my initial blog entries about Rockville,  there was a lot of whining and finger-pointing when I mentioned they types of workers that a slaughter plant usually employs and the effects on a community.  While most ranchers, hunters, sportsmen are quite capable of killing an animal and dressing it out a few times a year, have you ever thought about what kind of person could stand there and kill animals, all day, every day?  Thankfully I’m not the only person that wonders that.  University of Windsor Criminology professor Dr. Amy Fitzgerald wondered the same thing and completed a study linking slaughterhouses to violent crime using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report database, census data, and arrest and offence reports from 581 U.S. counties from the years 1994 to 2002.  Her findings showed support for the `Sinclair Hypothesis’, which suggests the propensity for violent crime is increased by work that involves the routine slaughter of other animals.  I will link the full report with all the research data as well as a summary article for those that don’t want to read it all.  It was a very involved study.  In short, Fitzgerald found that with an average sized facility (175 employees) the number of arrests will increase 2.24 and reports 4.69.  The larger the facility, the worse the problem.  Those may not sound like big numbers, but add that to an extremely small community like Rockville, Missouri. Remember, this was a study on VIOLENT crime.

In doing her study, Dr. Fitzgerald controlled such factors as new residents moving into a community once the facilities open, high numbers of young men and immigrant workers.  Yup, there is that dreaded `I’ word the PSAs got their panties in a wad over.  Immigrant.  “Some residents started to recognize that crime rates were going up and started complaining, and the SLAUGHTERHOUSE COMPANIES were quick to blame the immigrant labor pool they were relying on” is what Fitzgerald said. She compared slaughterhouse communities to those communities that hosted comparable industries aka dangerous, repetitive work not involving the killing of animals.  There was no rise in crime in those communities and in some cases, the crime rates dropped. More studies will be needed to figure out if the workers are committing the crimes and why it is going up.  The questions that researchers have is whether working in a slaughter-house desensitizes workers to killing or is that type of work attracting less sensitive people to begin with.  I don’t think it’s a huge leap to surmise that anybody that loves horses is not going to end up working in a slaughter-house.  I’m sure the PSAs will puff their chests out and tell us all that they could and they love horses too which is complete and utter bullshit.  They may have their fragile egos tied up in their horses, but you don’t love them if you could stand and kill hundreds of them a day or even watch.  Don’t forget, we aren’t talking about old, sick or infirm animals that you would be putting out of their misery.  You would be killing young, healthy animals that struggle to survive in the kill box. If you still think you could do that, I don’t want you living anywhere near me or my loved ones.

So, that’s the scientific explanation.  What about hearing from the actual work themselves? I feel that their own words are more powerful, so here are some quotes from workers that worked on the kill floor processing hogs. I don’t see how it would be the least bit different for horses, if not worse.  The source is linked at the bottom of this blog. I strongly suggest people take the time to read it.  These are the words of the people who couldn’t continue killing animals.  What does it take to be able to do this as your career?

“When you’re standing there night after night, digging that knife into these hogs, and they’re fighting you, kicking at you, trying to bite you – doing whatever they can to try and get away from you – after a while you don’t give a shit. You’re just putting in your time. And then it gets to the point where you’re at a daydream stage. When you can think about everything else and still do your job. You become emotionally dead.”

“So I go to their supervisor, a USDA veterinarian, and tell him workers are being hurt by live hogs…He’d be like, “Hey, I’m coming down.” And he’d tell everyone in advance. The main foreman would tell me the vet was coming down, then he’d crank up the stunners, walk around picking up pipes, and warning everybody, “Whatever you do, don’t use no pipes, the government man is coming down.” The vet would look around and say, “I don’t see no live hogs.” After that, he’d tell anyone who complained, “Hey, I’ve been down there, I’ve seen it. There’s nothing wrong with them hogs.”

“[The managers would] say, “That’s just muscle reaction, nerves. It’s not alive.” I’d say, “Then why’s the damn hog trying to bite me? Just how stupid do you think I am?”

“My wife…couldn’t take the bitching any more. I’d blow up at the drop of a hat, come home every night and find something to complain about, take my frustrations from work out on my family.”

“Today, if somebody gave me a choice of going without a job or working for [the slaughterhouse], I’d go without a job. I’d mow lawns, fix cars. I’d do anything before I’d do that again.”

I don’t know about everybody else, but I think the sources of this information are all pretty credible.  Slaughterhouse Sue and the consortium of ignorance will discredit and minimize every single fact that does not further their agenda.  People need to realize that Suzy lives in  sparsely populated constituency whose numbers are rumored to be mostly made up by her inbred clan.  The only thing this creature has been successful at is pumping out kids at an alarming rate.  As an animal welfare advocate I want these issues addressed.  If I lived in one of the communities that she wants to host a slaughter plant I would DEMAND it.  So far the only thing I’ve seen from her is lies and chicanery.

http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/14571870/1006507525/name/Fitzerald+et+al.+2009.+Slaughterhouses+and+Spillover+Effect.pdf

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/809521–probing-the-link-between-slaughterhouses-and-violent-crime

http://www.animalwritings.com/2008/06/interviews-with-slaughterhouse-workers.asp

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