Right Horses, Wrong Initiative

As promised, I am finally getting a chance to deal with some other things that have been kicking around on the back burner for a while.  If you’re here for HiCaliber fuckery, this isn’t the post for you.  If you’re here for drama, this probably won’t be the post for you either.  You see, once upon a time, this blog was about no one thing and certainly not even a little bit about HiCaliber.  What it was about was a lot about slaughter and other issues in equine welfare that I felt like posting about at any given time.  Those were the good old days and aside from the odd troll here and there, things were relatively peaceful and slower paced back then.  I do realize that you can’t put a genie back in the bottle, but after almost 2 years of pretty much all HiCaliber, all the time and all the drama and histrionics that entails, it’s time to focus elsewhere for now.  Believe it or not there is a great big horse community beyond Southern California and not every horse in trouble is easily found at an auction or with a `notorious’ flipper.  Sometimes the threat comes from within and sometimes they walk among us.  So, with that in mind, let’s talk about an issue that is troubling to many advocates right now.  Let’s talk about The Right Horse Initiative.

 

I wanna say it was about a year or so ago that I first heard of The Right Horse Initiative.  Even from the get go, I looked at it with a very jaundiced eye.  You know the old saying about if something sounds too good to be true?  It would seem to apply here.

The Right Horse Initiative has the primary goal of increasing the number of horses adopted annually nationwide and a secondary goal of providing more resources in communities to horse owners….will focus on training transition horses for placement in equine-assisted therapy, beginner horsemanship programs or other placement opportunities. The goal of this project is to create an infrastructure in which transition horses receive the care and training required for them to prime candidates for non-traditional adoption or placement opportunities in therapy and/or beginner riding programs.

Sounds pretty awesome, right?  Increasing adoptions and community resources is something we should all be able to get on board with.  Well, get ready for red flag #1 of many.  RHI is piloting a program that sees rescues which they now refer to as `adoption groups’, bringing their `horses in transition’ to regional training hubs.  They claim they will make these horses `better trained and more desirable’ which will allow them to be cycled through quicker.  The exact verbiage they use is “this increases movement in all the adoption centers and decreases their length of stay while increasing their ability to take on additional horses in transition.”  Movement. Interesting phrasing.  It’s almost like they are talking about product rather than sentient beings.  Still, if this was the only issue, it would be down to semantics.  Sadly, it’s not the only issue.

 

For those readers that have been with me since BHC (Before HiCaliber), you might remember the shit show that was United Horsemen under Sue Wallis and Dave Duquette.  Their main mission was to make horse meat happen in America under the guise of giving a shit about the welfare of animals.  One of the ways they tried to ram this down the throats of the horse community 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 surrendered horses.  There, they would be assessed for health, soundness and trainability and then horses they deemed suitable would enter their program.  The rest would go straight to a proposed slaughter plant on the very same property.  Make no mistake, the mission for Dave and Suey was to get slaughter up and running and the whole rescue facet of this program was basically the bread of the shit sandwich they were serving.

“To rehabilitate horses from an unwanted and at-risk status to a healthy and functional status. We will identify horses with potential, teach them skills, and then offer them to the public. Horses that can be trained, or re-trained for new purposes, will be sold. Horses that demonstrate suitability for purposes such as non-profit therapeutic riding or youth programs will be made available to those groups at little or no cost.”

Am I the only one not finding the  United Horsemen’s failed ERRP and RHI mission statements eerily similar?  To be fair, RHI is not openly advocating for slaughter.  What they are offering is `end of life services’ and on the surface that’s not a bad thing.  I am not now, nor have I ever been anti necessary euthanasia.  I think the problem with proposed programs like this is that people get euth happy and, RHI seems to place their emphasis on a horse’s ability to be ridden. Most rescues don’t have a huge issue placing good riding horses.  That hasn’t classically been the problem area in rescue. From the rescues I have spoken to and dealt with, it’s the pasture puffs and senior horses that are harder to place and I don’t really see RHI addressing this beyond euthanasia.

 

 

Another red flag, I have with RHI is the money getting thrown around.  They are funded by Watershed Animal Fund which is a division of the Arnall Family Foundation.  There seems to be no shortage of cash and they have some rather generous grants available for adoption innovations.  For 2019, there are two 25k grants and another for up to 50k.  I don’t know about you, but that kinda money tends to buy some loyalty.  Who wouldn’t put the RHI logo on their social media if it meant that kind of cash?  This is where it gets a bit gray and scary for me.  On the surface, it’s completely awesome for a rescue to get a grant of that size, but at what ultimate cost?  As far as I can tell, if you get the grant, they kinda own you for at least the next 18 months.

A quick glance at RHI’s listed partners is a major cause for concern.  A few of the orgs listed such as NRHA, Equus Film Festival have direct ties to Protect The Harvest which, as most of you know, is one of the major lobby groups working on bringing back slaughter.  PTH is also where Duquette landed after Suey fell off her perch.  Like RHI, they also like to throw a lot of money around.  Equine Sciences at Colorado State is another partner and they lean to the pro slaughter side of things as well.  Of the five vets listed on RHI’s advisory council, at least three of them are said to be pro-slaughter, Dr. Tom Lenz being notoriously so.  Noticing a pattern here?

 

 

 

In the interest of full disclosure, RHI categorically denies any ties to Protect the Harvest.  That could be true, but as we have come to find out, PTH’s tentacles reach far and wide and their logo shows up at all sorts of industry events that you wouldn’t expect them to *cough*EquusFilmFesitval*cough*  What I find most interesting about this little threat message is that they do not take a firm anti slaughter stance.  They don’t really take any stance at all, but rather indicate that they’ll get in bed with anybody to push their agenda.  That’s how I’m reading the highlighted portion anyhow.  BTW, this wasn’t sent to me and it’s been posted in many places so let’s not be suing another innocent person in the next attempt to unmask me.  That’s getting kinda old.

This is just scraping the surface of my concerns with RHI.  There already is a group of advocates that have laid out many of the issues on social media.  You can check them out on this Facebook page.   They go into far more detail than I have here and will happily answer any questions people may have.  I realize that all of this might seem like much ado about nothing or, at the very least, not much, but if I have learned one thing in the past couple of years it is to ask questions if things don’t feel quite right.  The response to those questions usually tell you if it’s worth a closer look.  I am deeply concerned that The Right Horse Initiative is buying support and, at best, not addressing the issues that will go a long way to improving the conditions for all horses.  By not taking an anti-slaughter stance and partnering with pro slaughter orgs and individuals, I worry about what is to come should they gain a strong foothold in the rescue community.  There as many ways to `rescue’ as there are rescues, but a common thread should be that the horse comes first and the focus should never be on quantity over quality.  Packaging it all up with feel good terms like `horses in transition’ is just lip service.  If you want to improve conditions for all horses then get behind the legislation that will CHANGE things for them once and for all.  Lean on your lawmakers to enforce existing laws and lobby for ones that have more teeth.  We need to focus on the cause rather than putting bandaids on symptoms and, as true advocates, we should always be working our way out of a `job’.  What I see with RHI is a lot of people making rescue a business and that may just be the road to ruin.

 

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Some`Things’ Never Change

Just as expected, September 15th has come and gone with The Manson Family, or what is left of them, remaining firmly entrenched at their feed lot.  Despite Manson preaching about wanting to vacate the property so that the landlord can sell it *cough*bullshit*cough*, it appears she’s had a change of whatever black lump fills the space in her chest cavity where other people have hearts.  It would also appear that Manson has dusted off an old hustle and made some tentative steps towards branching out.  We’ll get into that a bit later, but first I thought we’d update a few things.  I’ve also got a little bit of `not really’ HiCaliber business to deal with today as well.  Time to buckle up, because things are going to get a bit maddening.

I thought I’d start off with a bit of housekeeping.  See what I did there?  This picture, along with a few older and less dramatic ones have been making the rounds lately.  This bedroom super gross despite some of the village idiots claiming it was just `normal’ for people who were moving.  What it is not though, is Manson’s house or much to do with her other than being on the same property.  As much as I know people want to hang anything an everything on her, this one ain’t hers.  She’s got a cleaning lady, remember? These pics are from the little stone cottage and the inhabitants of that are her paid feeders aka former owners of the now deceased Romance.  The room belongs to their kid and I actually feel a bit sorry for the kid.  Maybe some additional pics of their abode will help me explain why.

These are some additional pics of the same house that were sent to me.  (Thank you to the person that did).  While some of the pics are in that same bedroom, the absolute filth of the rest of the house is evident in at least one of the pics.  I feel sorry that this kid is living with parents that normalize this type of unsanitary living .  I don’t even want to know what mixture of human and animal body fluids created some of the stains on the mattresses (why do they not have sheets?). I hope nobody goes after that kid, but damn, those parents should be ashamed that they are living in these conditions.

Poor Corky the pig.  Manson posted a short clip of him in the barn with what appeared to be an injury on his ass.  The poor pig looks very stiff and Manson, now a pig expert apparently, informed her village that it is a `meat pig’ issue.  Even when questioned by somebody that clearly does know about pigs, Manson stuck to her 30% opinion.  The other issue was the poor pig’s balls.  Apparently he gets to keep his because Manson is still trying to make the whole `rebel’ thing work for her.  Sadly for the pig, it will make finding him a new home even more difficult  What a great rescue!

Does everybody remember Emlyn the orphan filly that was allegedly a PB purchase but they continued to fund raise for her and then she got `adopted’?  She appeared at auction the same day a lactating mare without a foal showed up and, at the time, a lot of people thought perhaps they were related.  The other mare, Madre, ended up going to A Little Rescue, and despite them offering to take Emlyn and see if they could be matched up, Manson refused.  That’s the Cliffs Notes on that situation but I recently stumbled across this post that Wrinkles was tagged in.  What are the odds that post was made the day before Emlyn appeared at auction?  We’ve long heard from former volunteers that Manson has often asked owners wanting to surrender horses to take them to Ontario auction so they could `save them from a trip to Mexico’.  Manson knows that the village idiots love themselves some exigency and it always inspires them to dig deep.  Such was the case with Emlyn apparently. Moving right along…

Back in July Manson listed some skinny and otherwise needy horses from her usual suspects.  Of course they all came with a creative and tear jerking post that was designed to loosen up some person strings and establish some relevancy.  Nobody was buying, not even most of the village idiots, and that particular fund-raiser was a flop.  As a result, these horses were never heard about again and nobody really asked about them either.  One of the stand outs that caused some drama at the time was the gray Paso who was obviously at Nacho’s place.  He had actually run through Mike’s auction and was purchased by Nacho for $80 only a few days before.  The original breeder on him was said to want him back, but when people tried to intervene,  the word from Manson was that he was already placed/ spoken for.

Guess what?  Manson did acquire the gray Paso and he’s been there with them at HiCaliber the whole time.  They called him `Pegasus’, but the general public never knew he was there. He never hit the website nor was he listed in one of their sporadic adoption posts.  Luckily for him he was recently an R2R transfer to GAIT (Gaited Intervention Action Team Inc) and has finally landed softly.  He was reportedly extremely lame when they picked him up and has since broke an abscess out of his coronet band.  You can follow him on GAIT’s Facebook page.

This was Manson’s dog, Atlas.  She had him before moving to the current location.  He was said to have spent much of his life in his kennel and never had a day of training of any kind.  Manson was on a service dog kick at the time and got Atlas as a puppy (might have been a trade or Craigslist scoop depending on which story of hers you believe) because the waiting list for a real service dog was 2 to 4 years.  Her intent was to train him herself, but that never happened.  She pretty much hated him and ignored him.  Eventually Atlas was `given away’ and there were a few stories on that too.  Manson told people that he went to be a police dog.  So, why am I dredging this up now?

Lately Manson has been spotted out and about with a dog wearing a service vest.  Nobody is really sure what disability this dog is supposed to be for, but it’s not a disability that requires the dog to be anywhere near her unless she’s somewhere she can get attention or needs a pedicure apparently.  She even dragged this dog to Mrs. Talbot’s funeral and it was said to be very disruptive and distracting.  I guess we shouldn’t be really surprised or blame the poor dog either considering where Manson got her from.

Barely five months ago, Manson manifested this dog, then a very young pup, at auction.  You know, because all good service dogs are acquired at some back alley auction out of the back of a truck.  I recall being disgusted she was dragging home yet another animal to feed at the time, but it never occurred to me that she would be dusting of an old hustle.  Because I’m not involved with service dogs, I figured I’d ask somebody who was. The following is written by this person for Manson, but I think everybody needs to read it.

An open letter to Michelle Knutilla from a REAL SERVICE DOG TRAINER

Impersonating a service dog is a crime in the state of California under penal code 365.7 as follows:

365.7.  

(a) Any person who knowingly and fraudulently represents himself or herself, through verbal or written notice, to be the owner or trainer of any canine licensed as, to be qualified as, or identified as, a guide, signal, or service dog, as defined in subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) of Section 365.5 and paragraph (6) of subdivision (b) of Section 54.1 of the Civil Code, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(b) As used in this section, “owner” means any person who owns a guide, signal, or service dog, or who is authorized by the owner to use the guide, signal, or service dog.

Now that we have that out of the way, the fact that you have purchased a vest and a patch portraying your dog as a legitimate service animal is a CRIME!

Knowingly taking your dog into places allowed only with a VALID service animal does a terrible disservice to those that actually require the assistance of a service animal.

How ironic that you post about your “legitimate service dog” and think the public is at all convinced you are anything more than a fraud. The dog is one you picked up at the Ontario Auction 6 months ago and made it your own. I was there when you got the dog! It takes a whole lot longer than 6 months to train a LEGITIMATE service animal to perform a task to mitigate the disability of its handler.

That same fake service dog was a huge distraction at my dear friend Laura Talbot’s funeral. How dare you bring an untrained and unmanageable dog to her final hours with us?

While you may or may not have had a TBI, what specific task is your dog trained to perform? Histrionic Personality Disorder-what specific task is your dog trained to perform? I agree that not all disabilities are visible. However, the dog MUST be trained to perform a SPECIFIC task to mitigate that disability.

I am going to set you straight on your message you very poorly attempted to educate people on what a service animal may and may not do.

1. You are correct, sadly too many people buy the vest and the fake certificate INCLUDING YOU!

Here are the links to purchase the exact vest and patch on your dog.

VEST: https://keepdoggiesafe.com/products/reflective-utility-vest

PATCH: (just one of many places to purchase this patch). http://www.diabeticalertdog.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=220

2. If your fake service dog is being attacked at least once a week while you have it in a public place you had better do some additional training. I have trained service dogs for over 3 decades and have yet to have any of mine in training or a finished dog attacked by another animal. It is called being PROACTIVE and aware of the environment you are in and having a dog with stable nerves and a stable mind.

3. We’ll address the term you used “washing out”. Your dog has not had near enough time to be trained to perform any task reliably in a public environment. So far, you have mentioned taking it to school with you once and to the salon. At no other time do you even remotely address the fact that you are “training” your stray dog for service work or that it is accompanying you anywhere. Not to get ice cream, dinner, lunch, auctions. None! For a dog you need, I would think you would have that animal everywhere exposing it to the environment so you can socialize it and then begin to ask for it to perform a specific task under the pressure of being in a public place. NOPE-haven’t seen it!

4. A service animal is to be WELL TRAINED. It is not to be making noise (unless it has a verbal cue to indicate it’s assistance). It is not to pull on its lead, jump on anyone, going greet anyone (unless on command). It is supposed to be seen and not heard nor cause a single ounce of disturbance to anyone else anywhere. (Your dog at Laura’s funeral was absolutely inexcusable).

5. You are correct. There is no registry for a service animal in the United States. There are “fake registries” where people like you can buy a certificate and take your “fake service animal” in public exactly as you have done with your stray you picked up at the auction. Never, ever would anyone ask to see a “certificate”. Anyone can purchase an ID or even make them at home. $20 and you have an ID.

This is in no way a threat. This is a PROMISE! I have already contacted the appropriate authorities regarding your FAKE SERVICE DOG. As stated earlier, it is a crime punishable under California’s Penal code that could earn you jail time and a fine. It would be my privilege to make sure you are busted for this crime!

Leave your dog at home! You are a fake! Your dog is a fraud! Allow those of us that actually train the dogs to assist others to continue to produce service animals that actually assist someone in need, unlike yourself! You are not a dog trainer! You are damn sure not capable of training a service dog!

Signed,

A. Friend (of LT)

It appears Manson has also acquired another German Shepherd lately.  I think, if her Chihuahua is still in the land of the living, that puts her up to at least 5 personal dogs and that’s not counting whatever Wrinkles is currently hoarding.  They like to blame their current about to be homeless situation on haters.  I’m not sure haters have anything to do with their animal hoarding tendencies and that being an unattractive prospect for any potential landlord.  I also remember last year when Manson blamed haters for Bang Bang Becky not being able to keep Rez at the ranch because that would put them over their allowed number of dogs.  At the time it was beyond hilarious considering the amount of horses she was accumulating.  Anyhow, let’s set the HiCaliber drama aside for a moment…

This horse is one that was taken in by Premier Equine Rehab recently.  She was likely given to them for nothing or next to nothing given the fact she has bowed.  Premier Equine has only recently gotten their 501c3 but have been doing intakes at a fast clip with next to no follow-up on most of their horses including the ones they got from HiCaliber.  When I first saw this mare, she didn’t stand out much from all the other multiple intakes they do until I saw this a few days later…

I can’t say 100% if that is the same horse she is offering up as a broodmare and it doesn’t really matter if it is.  Rescues really shouldn’t be offering any horses up for breeding.  I’m sure some of the village idiots will be all up in arms over me calling out PER for this but this isn’t the first major red flag I’ve had with this rescue.  There has been some very sketchy interactions involving HiCaliber and don’t even get me started on Michael Gipson.  Actually do, but maybe another time.  I don’t want to be the rescue police, but I also don’t want to see things get so far out of hand like they have with HiCaliber.  Maybe PER can dial back the sketchiness and save everybody, including the animals, a lot of grief.  Time will tell.

Back to HiCaliber… Apparently fostering isn’t happening anymore.  That’s hardly surprising given the fact they are on the hook for that lawsuit they recently lost.  As you can see Amanduh is still deeply involved and Manson has no intention of stopping.  I think it’s more a case of not stopping until donations completely dry up and that may be why they are reluctant really say how many horses are left to adopt and who they are.  I see she’s asking for another $1500 for her vet bills and some farrier work.  Funny how all bills are $1500 lately. Oh wait, there was the one that was only asking for $1400 so we couldn’t say they were  all for that amount.  It’s almost like she’s on a payment schedule or something.  The funny part about the farrier ask is they get their farrier work done for free or deeply discounted these days or at least the rescue horses do.  Just sayin..

I’m sure everybody remembers the post about donating meals or gift cards for the unnamed person in the hospital.  We now know it was Mrs Talbot and she has unfortunately passed away.  While it’s not surprising to see Manson use somebody else’s tragedy for her own personal gain,  it is no less disgusting.  From what I am told by a very reliable source, she never actually did bring meals to the family during Mrs. Talbot’s illness and hospitalization.  Mrs. Talbot also never set foot on the HiCaliber property or had any involvement there. Manson made her announcement and begging for volunteers several days after Mrs. Talbot passed.  In the end, it was only Manson and her very rude dog that attended the service where not only the dog was distracting, but Manson felt the need to take pictures and cry way more than was appropriate.  At least the HiCaliber horses watered that day though.

It seems the village idiots have conveniently forgotten about the injured horses.  Nobody really asks how they are doing other than a few rogue ones and those queries are always ignored.  I wish I had more of an update but this is as close as it gets  Meatball and Rizzo are still in the barn or were when this post was made.  Maybe this is where some of the gift cards/meals went?

I know many people are getting extremely frustrated with how long this situation is dragging on.  It is beyond frustrating to watch Manson continue to beg for money and pull new cons.  I get that.  Now is not the time to drop the guard though.  I mentioned the gray Paso gelding that she was keeping without telling people, but what about the other horses she listed that same day?  What ever happened to them?  We know she’s recently killed a few more, did she help those other horses vanish too?  There is nothing more I would love than to never have to think or write about The Manson Family again, but as long as they are exploiting animals, I feel compelled.  She can start her own religion, start her own stinky panty empire or whatever con she wants to run, but leave animals out of it.  The best we can do for now is to stay vigilant and keep documenting the frauds.  The end is near, but now is not the time for complacency.

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Value and Dignity

Does anybody remember that post I made back in November where we reviewed 24 `good’ reasons to slaughter your horse besides the good old standards of crippled, defective, and unruly?  Those reasons were helpfully provided by our buddy Naughty Tobiano and the covered everything from mane rubbing to that unspeakable crime of being a mare.  (https://shedrowconfessions.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/24-reasons-to-slaughter-a-horse/) Of course, most of us that actually like horses didn’t agree with NT’s reasons, but they probably are reasons any good slaughterphile is on board with.  If you’re a good anti, you know these reasons were bigger load of crap than what you find piled up in the Petulant Pony’s dry lot that contains her hoard.

Given the perfection that the PSAs demand of their horses I’m going to surmise that any perceived flaw that a horse possesses is a valid reason to put it in the slaughter pipeline.  Certainly a youngish horse that has become completely blind due to Moon Blindness should be disposed of immediately.  Better to cash in on him while he’s in good flesh and you can feel good about yourself that you gave him back his dignity by squeezing the last few dollars out of him.  Horses always feel much better about themselves as they are being hogpiled into kill pens and tortured to death when they know that at least you have your beer money.  I am going to go out on a limb and estimate that 99.99999% of slaughter supporters would agree that if your 9 year old horse goes blind, you are completely justified in slaughtering him because anything else would be wasteful.  It’s all about value, right?  There is no way you should be obligated to keep this otherwise healthy animal for 15 or more years.  Horses are not pets!  Well, I’d like y’all to watch this video.  It is an application video for the 2011 Versatile Horse and Rider competition that was held at the Ohio Equine Affaire.  This is Becca and Stormy and all the footage on this video was taken AFTER Stormy became completely blind in 2005.

Becca and Stormy

 

I’ve been accused of being an elitist snob more than once by our PSA pals.  Stormy obviously isn’t a rail horse nor would he likely have been a world beater even before he lost his sight.  Who cares?  What you can clearly see in that video is a young girl that loves her horse and refused to toss him aside like a broken toy.  What you also see is that every horse has a `value’ beyond the almighty dollar no matter what hand fate deals them along the way.  I don’t know about you, but I think Stormy looks like a pretty happy guy and is doing something far more dignified than being tortured and ending up on Slaughterhouse Sue’s dinner plate.  Thank you Becca for being so awesome and showing everybody what value and dignity really is all about.

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How About A Compromise?

Can you see the John Lyons quote on the picture above?  It’s a pretty nice sentiment and I can get on board with it.  I would guess most anti-slaughter advocates can relate to it as long as they actually believe in God.  Guess what?  I pulled it off our the Facebook page of our favorite slaughter supporting horse rescue, Willing Servants.  Apparently the insight God granted Holy Theresa of Willing Servants  is that the best way to treat and care for these `reflections’ is to torture, kill and eat them.  I know none of these delusional fuckwits actually look at slaughter that way because they have come up with softer terms for what it is they want so badly.  Harvesting, processing, and even humane euthanasia.  I realize their ignorance and hypocrisy isn’t news and it seems to get less funny over time.  What is news is that I’m so sick and tired of the whining these idiots do, I’m willing to make a compromise if they will just stfu and move on to something that I don’t care about.  Seriously.

While I know the prices of euthanasia and burial/disposal that the slaughterphiles frequently quote are grossly exaggerated, I do appreciate that doing the right thing isn’t always cheap.  Believe me, I know more about that than I want to, but I also consider that a part of owning a horse.  Personally, we choose to bury or cremate our horses because it’s what we can live with.  I don’t really judge anybody for how they choose to dispose of an animal after the fact.  It really doesn’t make a difference to the animal and even after cremation, there is a significant amount of cremains to deal with.  Since nearly all the players on both sides of this issue claim to be horse lovers and only wanting what is best for the animals while they are living, then why not compromise?  Let’s bring back knacker trucks!

Back in the day, that’s how it was done if you didn’t process your own animals.  You paid a nominal fee and a guy would come out and shoot your animal and either haul it away or process it for you.  Since nobody wants to admit that they are into slaughter just because they like killing horses and watching them suffer, I think this would be a great compromise.  Old Dobbin can live his days out in familiar surroundings and when his time comes, you call in the knacker and allow him the dignity of dying without fear and torture.  Even though it’s not an option I would ever choose, I could get on board with it if it meant no slaughter houses and no shipping across state lines or international boarders for slaughter.  Surely if you can’t afford a couple hundred bucks to make sure your beloved horse dies peacefully, you need to stick to gold-fish.  Maybe that’s unfair to gold-fish too.  Get a stuffed toy or something.

I realize my compromise is never going to be considered.  As we all know, it’s all about the money and enabling backyard breeders and bottom feeding horse traders.  God forbid we see little shops of horrors like Sugarcreek, Shipshewana and New Holland go out of business. How do we know this?  Because slaughter is legal in most states.  You can send a horse to slaughter right here on home soil.  The problem is you can’t do it for human consumption and sale without a USDA inspection, so nobody is going to make money off it and open up a slaughter-house.   This minority pocket of assholes, lead by the ever greedy and inappropriate Slaughterhouse Sue, want to mass slaughter horses at the expense of our beef, pork and poultry producers and the safety of the food on your dinner table.  I guess the fact that this just isn’t an industry that is ever going to profit the majority of citizens doesn’t matter as long as Suey gets to see her `dream’ come to fruition and line her own pockets.  There isn’t a shred of love for horses that factor into the equation.

Remember how the slaughterphiles keep telling us that slaughter is to save horses and stop the cruelty and neglect?  It allegedly provides a way of dealing with unwanted and unsuitable horses.  Horses that have no other value left in them but to end up on a dinner plate.  Well, I’m sure most of you have read about Cactus Cafe and Canuki over the past year.  They are two Thoroughbreds that raced at Beulah Park in Ohio, that were sold under shady circumstances and shipped to slaughter in Canada.  (http://www.drf.com/news/canadian-slaughterhouse-firm-no-longer-accepting-thoroughbreds) The uproar over this resulted in at least one Canadian slaughter plant refusing to accept known Thoroughbreds any longer.  Cactus Cafe and Canuki were both located at Viande Richelieu near St. Hyacinthe, Quebec in the kill pens ready to head to a dinner plate despite having been given banned drugs throughout their racing careers.  Thanks to the hard work of several people, these two horses, in an unprecedented move, were recovered from the slaughter plant and sent to a rescue.  Remember, that according to the IEBA, slaughter is a `humane’ way of dealing with unwanted and flawed horses.  Seems that Cactus Cafe and Canuki were anything but unwanted as people went to great lengths to save  them.  Are they unsound and untrainable?  Look at their recent pictures and decide for yourself if these were two horses that needed a dinner plate to give them value….

Canuki

Cactus Cafe

 

 

 

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IEBA Asshattery

Everybody mark your calendars!  Good ole Slaughterhouse Sue is back to saving the equine industry despite the fact she doesn’t own or even particularly like horses.  She’s about to host a super secret, members only meeting in Kansas City area for her IEBA people.  This is “If you are or plan to be directly involved in the horse processing business as management, or employees, or in supplying plants with livestock, or transportation of livestock, “.  Of course she doesn’t actually want to give out the actual location of this meeting incase somebody that doesn’t hate horses shows up and dares to tell the truth.  I’ve gotta say that from what I’ve seen from Missouri, it seems like a pretty good place to host a horse eater meeting.  Apologies to the very few of you from there that aren’t assholes, but when you are home state to NT and Puppymill Patterson, along with Sheila Short I’m going to go ahead and assume it’s not exactly a horse friendly state for the most part.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=6oijm7dab&v=001aYDP54lNfT-1pVjSYkze2DYoJ6bejRdCfYnS_UokxeMMyphkKjPkKBmDn7271MLbnaLleyJN1hIjxr3vyMB09SlyuNB7b7JB3rJOKiSk9cDHai7Z-pzsLDisex1DLdRXhxGXidz5IZq41maSjP9cttdS_Py1iVKaCVcRIW3SBeLoptaEoYXuJXNgkjLl8_hHiOOfK07giVLuGjl_j4-CYXWud0BfbbGbzbs0IUPr6f5Z4SnpJ_7xBh2xTfUBmWUhDcZGWUJHOIJ4BieIfoZVKiwn3AZVUob5AJeBez00hYnkB55MZTr5buiij5gIRjAmCw3XcyfTXQ6PY6PmsJUm7Q%3D%3D

 

So, what’s going to be discussed at this super secret meeting?  Basically, everything you need to know about opening up your own horse torture chamber emporium!  Awesome!

• Humane Handling Guidelines and Assessment
• Horse Transportation Regulations and Compliance
• Plant Regulations, Inspections, and Compliance
• Equine Traceability and Testing
• Drug Residue Withdrawal Periods and Research
• Facility and Personnel Protection and Security
• Media and Community Relations
• Employee Background Checks and Hiring
• Administrative Outsourcing Options – Payroll, Insurance, Employee Benefits Administration

Quite the agenda, no?  About their Equine Traceability and Testing system’; They seem to have a problem with the concept that as of next July, no horse over the age of six months old will be eligible for slaughter as per the EU guidelines for identification. That means that every single horse currently on the ground in the US will not be able to be slaughtered for human consumption.  Period.  I don’t see that little issue on her agenda.  Here’s another little problem with her `system:

“Only IEBA members with contracts to sell directly to plants will have the training and authority to enroll horses in the database. One positive aspect of going this route is that our private business association owns and controls the database, we can lock down security and privacy to protect ourselves, and it is NOT a government run deal. On the other hand it will provide the assurance that is being demanded by the international marketplace and regulators to guarantee horses are free of contamination when they are slaughtered.”

Apparently, Suey wants to OWN the ID system and get your money coming and going.  I’m not usually given to a lot of paranoia, but this sounds to me like she’s setting up things to have approved suppliers of horse meat.  How is this going to help the unwanted horse population she keeps crowing about?  Last time I checked, other than Dorothy Robertson types or the BLM, there isn’t just one or two suppliers of unwanted horses.  It’s a few here and there from many different sources and I really doubt they’ll be able to afford her membership fees if they are getting rid of their horses due to financial hardship.  Apparently, IEBA members are stupid and only selectively paranoid.

In one her earlier letters to announce this meeting, Suey talked about testing animals as well.  Apparently the IEBA’s pockets are so deep and they are so much smarter than anybody ever, that they are going to do live drug testing on the animals.  Remember, that the only way for them to currently test for banned drugs in the tissues is to take an actual tissue sample….like the eyeball or an organ.  I don’t even want to know how they profess to accomplish that on a live animal.  It would appear that nobody in the IEBA has any concept of drug levels in the blood stream and actual residue in the tissues.  I have officially lost hope that they will ever wrap their mind around that either.  “Information and training on optional live animal drug testing protocols will also be presented. The system includes an option for independent third party laboratory testing scientifically verifying each animal’s eligibility for processing.”

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As we all know, it ain’t a real PSA situation without an over-the-top amount of paranoia thrown in for healthy measure.  You pretty much need to supply your own DNA sample to gain membership into their organization.  It’s kinda funny actually…

“Since our first notice, we have received some questions about our request for references in regards to your membership applications. To clarify, the purpose of this is to ensure that IEBA members are legitimate horse industry business people, and not animal rights activists seeking to infiltrate our organization. We know that the horse world, especially the horse processing world, is a very small and close knit community of people who are generally known to each other. So, all we are asking for here is people we can call who are in the horse business, and who can vouch for the fact that you are, too.”

Remember, this is coming from Slaughterhouse Sue.  The same person that doesn’t own a horse, and doesn’t contribute a single dollar to anything in the horse industry.  Yet, she’s asking for YOUR references to prove you belong.  She is right about the horse world being a small one.  Next time you talk to somebody not particularily up to speed on the slaughter issue, ask them if they have ever heard of Suey or D-bag Duquette.  Not many people have.  However, I have lots of `industry’ references, so I’m wondering if I should apply for membership?  I would if she didn’t want $250 dollar a year to be on her propaganda list.  That’s just for individuals.  If you are anything other than a buyer or seller, you get to pay $500 a year.  We all know how well it worked out for the poor suckers that paid for UH membership and Scummit fees….Anybody else smelling another scam?  Please understand that any slaughter plant would need to be USDA inspected and have some degree of government funding.  She is now suggesting that vets, transporters etc. pay a $500 a year `membership fee’ to do business with them.  Last time I checked, cattlemen don’t need to pay a membership fee to take their livestock to auction or join an association to transport them.

While we’re on the subject of paranoia, Suey is going to devote a large portion of the meeting to `Security and Protection’.

“This segment will be led by the Animal Agriculture Alliance and will cover the protection that you can build around an operation to protect against activist threats. This will include vetting employees, background checks, management and training of employees to ensure loyalty and vigilance, community relations to build a layer of support around your facility, and some very innovative (and inexpensive) ways to physically protect your grounds from top security experts who are also very savvy about agricultural operations. This portion of the meeting will also include legal defense against litigation presented by the Cavalry Group.”

Remember that the majority of slaughter workers do it for around minimum wage and many aren’t `legal’ to work in this country.  There just isn’t a large number of people whose life long dream is to spend their days torturing animals.  In fact, I bet that not a single kid in school writes that they want to grow up and kill animals some day.  Ok, maybe Jeffrey Dahmer did, but we all know how he turned out…

I don’t have the time or desire to take her agenda apart, line by line.  I’ve provided the links, so you can read up for yourselves.  What I do want to drive home is the hypocrisy of what she proposes.  One of the main battle cries of the PSAs has been about unwanted horses and people going broke and not being able to afford to feed or care for their horses.  Angela Marshall shipped her crippled horse to slaughter because she didn’t want to go to jail for burying him on her property and there was no other way to dispose of him.  Well, if Suey gets what she wants, the ONLY people that can sell to a slaughter-house is an IEBA member.  That means you either pay your yearly dues, plus $1/head transaction fees or you sell to a kill buyer.  The kill buyers need to make a profit, so they aren’t going to give you any more than they are giving now.  Considering IEBA membership fees are $250 for a single membership, I’m going to go ahead and say that it’s cheaper to euthanize your own horse (either with a needle or a bullet) and have the rendering truck pick it up or pay the landfill charges.  The IEBA wants to `own’ the traceability system and they’re going to charge you for that too.  That means you get to pay them money to keep your horse eligible for slaughter.  They are going to be in your pockets at every single turn and the ONLY people making money will be the IEBA.  It won’t change a single thing for unwanted horses or people in financial crisis.  If anything it will make things worse and horses will continue to suffer and die horrible deaths. It’s a shit show and it’s a scam.  How are people even signing up for this crap?

 

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Brief Update

I’m sure you have all heard by now that US horses are being accepted for slaughter once again.  (http://www.examiner.com/article/business-as-usual-for-slaughtering-american-horses-canada-begins-again) There is still much confusion surrounding the reasons for the temporary shutdown and why it was handled the way it was.  Of course, Slaughterhouse Sue is minimizing the entire deal, even after throwing her skirt over her head and running around screeching about a global economic crisis over the weekend.  Make no mistake, it was a bold and swift move by the EU and a sign of things to come.  It also showed the true colors of the would-be horse eaters in a way I never could.  The blood lust was astonishing. The good news is that it also showed us how swiftly equine welfare advocates are prepared to mobilize in the future.  If there is still anybody out there that doesn’t think the EU is serious about enforcing their deadline for documentation and identification on ALL horses presented for slaughter, they may be more stupid than we gave them credit for.  As sad as we are that horses are still suffering in slaughter houses, don’t lose heart; the end is in sight and nobody is ready to give up yet.  If anything, it steels our resolve to see this through.  Much more to cover and recap on Friday on all fronts….keep the faith people!

 

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Point and Laugh Redux….UPDATES

I can’t believe it’s only been a day and already the fuckery has escalated to a point I feel compelled to point and laugh again . Of course we have the mystery and drama surrounding US horses being rejected for slaughter.  We’ll get to that and update in a bit.  We also have Dorothy Robertson and her devotees over at HGS flipping the switch from being loony to full-blown, batshit crazy.  I never realized that so many people hated horses so much and that those same people bother to involve themselves with the object of their hatred.  We may point and laugh at these people, but I’m finding them less and less funny lately.

As we mentioned earlier, Dorothy is back online and showing no remorse.  I guess, understandably, she is super pissed her horses were taken away, but she seems to have slipped a gear in the rational department.  She appears to be devoting all her time in attacking the rescue that was awarded her horses and has now actually suggested they are hiding them and starving them so that she’ll look bad when she goes to court at the end of the month.  I’m not even making that part up, sadly. This is straight from Dorothy…

“Concerns have been raised by some in the community that NNER may not be feeding adequately in order to “slim down” the horses and take undated photos claiming they are “before” shots. Seems there’s not a lot of trust in this outfit among the ranchers/livestock owners here. I do have additional photos taken with long tele lens less than 2 weeks after they were taken (a time frame that the vet testified would not show marked improvement IF the horses were in starvation metabolic status)….film was torn in removal from camera and is in specialty pro photo shop in Reno for handling…should be here by the end of the week and I’ll post what I get as soon as possible. In addition, am seeking photos taken by others (WalMart photo center person said about 50 people had film developed over the time the horses were at the sales yard and that the comments were overwhelmingly along the lines of “nothing wrong with their weight…should not have been taken….why couldn’t the local farriers/vet offer some help for the few that needed more work and why hold out and not euth the one for 4-5 days after being taken?”). Hope to post requests for sharing of photos in several locations within the next couple of days. New job is odd hours….12 hour shifts from 3a to 3p or 3p to 3a…..3-4 days a week most likely so getting some things done may not be very speedy.”

– Sometimes there just are no words…..Naturally, she is being egged on, consoled and encouraged by the nest of assholes that inhabit the HGS board.  Not a single one of them can count past the number of fingers they have and seem to want to place all the blame on the rescue who had NOTHING to do with seizing these animals.  Their newest plan is to take this to the media and they all figure it will get national coverage….Ok then…

 

As I’m sure you all know by now, Canadian slaughter plants are not currently accepting US horses and there is some indication that Mexico has or will follow suit.  This was a decision that came from the EU and pretty much without warning.  I would have thought it would be a time to band together and help some horses that are seriously at risk right now, but once again I was wrong.  The PSAs are redoubling their efforts to get a slaughter-house open, despite there not being an actual market for the time being. I guess the taxpayers are supposed to overlook that little stumbling block.   I’ve seen some suggest that all the slaughter horses be dumped on Wayne Pacelle’s lawn, that there will be loose horses running in the street by tomorrow and all the usual doomsday predictions they subscribe to.  I have yet to see a single one of them accept what is the current reality and come up with any idea or solution to make sure that horses do not suffer.  I guess the fact that the horses in question currently have owners and those owners will remain responsible to feed and care for those horses or there will be charges laid doesn’t register with them   Nobody knows how long this will last right now.  To lighten things up, I thought it would be fun to take a look at Slaughterhouse Sue’s emergency press release on the issue.

“Yesterday, October 12, 2012, the international commerce in horses for processing from the United States to both Canada and Mexico was disrupted by an unannounced action of the European Union. Approximately 2,500 head of horses per week have been crossing the border to European Union regulated plants in Mexico per week, and an estimated 1,300 head to Canada in recent months. 

 

This is a higher number than usual driven by the widespread drought, devastating fires, high cost of feed, and lack of pasture forage in the United States leaving horse owners with few options except the selling of horses. There is a strong worldwide demand for cheval. Cheval is the common name for meat produced from the equine species in the same way that beef refers to meat produced from cattle, and pork refers to meat from hogs. “

– Don’t y’all just love how calling horse meat `cheval’ is suppose to make it more palatable or something?  I’m not sure how strong the `worldwide’ demand for horse meat actually is, but I’m going to guess it’s declining given the recent discoveries of adulterated horse meat and a recent death from somebody ingesting Bute.

“In the United States, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service is still finalizing the validation of science underlying their equine drug residue testing program, which they anticipate will be completed by the end of the year. Several U.S. based companies anticipate receiving the necessary grants of inspection to begin operation at that time providing a much needed humane option for the horse industry in the United States. Currently the only viable outlet is transportation outside of the U.S. to the E.U. regulated plants in Mexico or Canada. “

– I’m not sure there is anything in this paragraph that is actually the truth.  Anybody?

“Today, the leaders of the International Equine Business Association: Sue Wallis of the United States, Bill des Barres of Canada, and Olivier Kemseke representing Mexico, Argentina, and the European Union are issuing the following statement:  

“The International Equine Business Association (IEBA), including it’s partner the Horse Welfare Alliance of Canada (HWAC), and its members in the United States and Mexico who are businesses engaged in the provision of accurate information and education respecting the health and welfare of horses and the equine products trade, have been working to advance an industry leading Equine Identification, Tracking and Traceability system that provides a fully compliant, auditable data base that  exceeds the standards of the European Union. “

– Too little, too late, Suey!

“In consideration of the immediate welfare of some 48,000 horses in the next 3 months, it is notable that our organizations have sourced, contracted and facilitated the implementation of an internationally harmonized equine traceability system that can be fully utilized within the next 90 days in the U.S. and Canada.  Major components similar to the industry driven IEBA Equine Quality Assurance Program in the United States, and the Equine Traceability Canada systems, are already in use in Mexico to assure all horses processed for food are uncontaminated, and that horses can be identified, tracked and traced in compliance with rules and regulation.”

– Really?  90 days?  Canada has already stated they won’t be ready in time for the deadline next year and Suey is going to get it all done from scratch in 90 days?  The rumored holding time on these horses is currently longer than that.  How are you going to get around the fact that Bute is banned and there is currently NO system in place that tracks a horse throughout its lifetime?  We shouldn’t be surprised, Suey has also promised she is going to test each and every horse for banned substances PRIOR to slaughtering them as well.

“To ensure the welfare of horses and avoid an international humanitarian and economic catastrophe, the International Equine Business Association joins with thousands of North American horse owners and businesses to call on all applicable government entities in North America and the European Union to work quickly to resolve this crisis as soon as possible. Times of worldwide economic and social hardship are exacerbated by regulatory actions that cause horrific, unnecessary animal suffering, destroy jobs, narrow economic opportunity, disrupt international commerce, and limit access to a sought after, affordable, high quality, and safe protein source for the world. “

– These slaughterphiles really do live in a bubble.  An international humanitarian and economic catastrophe?  Really?  Because some rich people can’t gobble down their favorite dish?  Slaughter CAUSES horrific and unnecessary animal suffering and dead horses don’t provide as many jobs as live ones do.  Those are facts.  North American horse meat is NOT safe.  That is another fact.  Many of us that are in the horse industry are not going to see the value of our horses go down even a little bit over this.  It will be business as usual at our farm tomorrow, just as always.

Puppymill Patterson busily wrote up a statement on behalf of D-bag Duquette which I posted yesterday.  She is also trying to get everybody to sign her petition to immediately kill horses, because Lord knows we need another petition out there.  I’ll be surprised if she managed 1000 individual signatures on it.  I think for comic relief, we’ll check in with what some of the UH brain trust had to say about it all.  We won’t hear from Mendy Tobiano though, because rumor has it she got her ass booted off Facebook yet again and is creeping around in one of her alternate personalities, Bunny Buckled.

“We are now in campaign mode again and need to contact Vilsack and Congress to put pressure on them push forward with U.S.D.A. inspections!”

– Good ole Puppymill Patterson never disappoints!  We shouldn’t be surprised that she feels that rather than ensure there aren’t horses stuck on trucks or dumped over this, that her time would be better spent going into `campaign mode’.  She is, after all, the person that is working double time to strike down stiffer penalties for animal cruelty and abuse.  The prospect of all the horses that could be killed right in her own back yard probably has her moist.

“……most of the people who are anti slaughter are not horse people…there for they do not understand the challenges or impacts things like shutting down slaughter bring. Horse abuse and abandonment have rose since the close of the last slaughter plant in the U.S. and now with this debacle it will get WORSE!! The rescues are over flowing, tame horses are being turned lose to fend for themselves, starved, shot and who knows what.”

– Somebody please alert The Jockey Club and all the big farms in Kentucky that they will no longer be considered `horse people’ according to the brain trust of the PSA  contingent.  Strangely, I don’t think anybody that needs slaughter to value their stock or be in this horse industry is much of a horse person either….Funny how that works..

 

“The next Presidental debat is going to be held in NY next week in a town hall meeting. it would be very interesting if someone would ask the candidates what their opinion and plan is for the unwanted horses and slaughter issue now that this has happened.”

– Considering this rocket scientist can’t even SPELL `presidential debate’, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that she honestly believes that they will discuss horse slaughter rather than foreign policy, health care and the current economic climate.

 

“I and many other draft breeders consider the meat buyers CUSTOMERS!!! Whether anyone likes it or not, the meat buyers have kept our breeds from becoming extinct.”

– Sounds like somebody needs to get out of the breeding business.  I would be mortified if one of our horses ended up at slaughter.

 

“We need to stay on our toes, keep up to date and push hard to get people to understand this is necessary and humane thing that can benefit the whole country not just horseman. The people that need convinced is the general public.”

– When you are constantly in the minority on a certain issue, maybe it’s time to `understand’ that you are wrong.  You are not going to convince an increasingly health conscious `general public’ that consuming adulterated meat from a companion animal that is not raised specifically for human consumption is in their best interests.

 

“The antis behind everything are vegans”

– This little gem came from the good vet, Kim Houlding.  The one that still maintains there is a withdrawal time for Bute and other banned drugs and has no understanding about the difference between a blood sample and a tissue sample.  I wonder if she could wrap her mind around the fact that `antis’ probably had little to do with what happened.

 

“Folks this is no different than all the odds and obstacles we have already overcome to get to this point. Don’t hang your head like we’re done cause this is far from over..”

– This is from D-bag Duquette.  He also said yesterday that all of this was `no big deal’.  I see a bare butt spanking from Mama Suey in his near future.

 

“i sold a young horse on Tuesday and lucky for me she and not gotten any shots or been wormed since June. did not get much for her. she went to Sweet Grass border cross by Thursday”

– What an asshole this person is.  I see a Sunday feature in her future….

 

“If all these city folk want these horses to be Fido & Fluffy so badly, how come they aren’t boarding a couple each? Maybe a crippled up mare with arthritic hocks so bad she is 3-legged lame, an insane stallion that has been let to terrporize people all his life so is a human safety hazard, oh, and finally maybe an inbred product of some retard who let a colt breed his mother and all his sisters too and this said horse is dumber than a brick and stunted. You think the ‘do-gooder, horse huggers are gonna ‘adopt’ and ‘care for’ those horses too?? Bwahahahaha! <right!!>”

– I’m going to come right out and say that the `city folk’ horse owners probably contribute more to the industry than these backwoods bumblefuck ranchers that can’t get with the times.  I’ve also got a crazy suggestion for this PSA.  How about the person that created the 3-legged lame, the insane stallion with no manners, and the inbred product of `some retard’ who let a colt breed his mother and sisters take responsibility for their own mess and do the right thing?  Why should anyone else clean up your mess and why should thousands of horses suffer because a few people want to be asstards? I think it is far easier and will do far more good to cull these types of people right out of the industry.

 

PSAs eagerly await for the next UH press release

I have a feeling this is going to go on and on for a long time.  I’m not going to pretend that the coming days will be easy in the horse industry should this ban last longer than a week or so.  They won’t.  Depending on what news we get about this next week, some immediate action and intervention will be needed.  Hopefully, the ban will stay in place and without the looming threat of slaughter, advocates can focus on helping the horses.  Please keep checking with Equine Welfare Alliance for updates as well as Habitat for Horses.  There is already a lot of misinformation out there and sadly, there will be people trying to take advantage of the situation.  Please read the following updated press release carefully.  (http://myemail.constantcontact.com/2012-10-13-Update-on-Press-Release-.html?soid=1103281455502&aid=NWXY_HKnWpo)

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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US Horses No Longer Accepted At Canadian Slaughter Plants*Update from UH*

Today is a day that should be marked on everybody’s calendar as a victory for the welfare of all horses.  As of this morning, US horses are no longer being accepted in Canadian slaughter plants for the time being.  Mexico is expected to follow suit.  Right now seems to be mass confusion but the fallout has already begun.  The following is a press release from the Equine Welfare Alliance (http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/).  Please read it carefully.

CONFUSION REINS AS CANADIAN SLAUGHTER PLANTS STOP SLAUGHTERING US HORSES

 

Chicago (EWA) – US horses are no longer being accepted by Canadian horse slaughter plants, according to multiple sources. The Shipshewana auction in Indiana confirmed reports that they have discontinued loose (slaughter) horse sales for an indefinite period of time.

 

A spokesperson for the Sugar Creek Ohio auction also confirmed that the kill buyers were no longer taking slaughter horses because “the plants are shut down”. This was further confirmed by a Richelieu slaughter house official. An unconfirmed report from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) indicated it was the result of a European Union (EU) directive.

 

Canadian customs officials, however, knew nothing of the action. To add to the confusion, at least one driver stated that he did deliver horses to an undisclosed plant Friday afternoon.

 

The move came so suddenly that many trucks were already on the way when they learned of it. According to Lambright the issue is that the EU has banned American horse meat from being shipped for consumption in Europe. EWA has yet to receive confirmation from the EU.

 

Following the closure of US based horse slaughter plants in 2007, the export of horses to slaughter in Canada and Mexico increased dramatically. In 2011 the US exported over 64,000 horses to Canada and 68,000 to Mexico.

 

Documents showing horse meat contaminated with phenylbutazone (a carcinogen) and clenbuterol (a steroid) surfaced recently, indicating that the CFIA and the EU were accelerating their residue testing programs. These reports were followed by claims from some kill buyers that blood was being drawn from as many as half their horses (an unprecedented percentage) before they were being accepted.

 

Since most of the meat from both the Canadian and Mexican plants is being consumed by the EU, it is reported but not confirmed that Mexico too will curtail imports of US horses.

 

In 2008, the EU announced that it would require third countries to come into compliance with their standards which require horses to be micro-chipped and all their medications tracked, but few observers expected any action would come before the expiration of a July, 2013 deadline.

 

The most likely explanation for the sudden move is that the expanded residue testing program has yielded worse than anticipated results. 

Clearly, this is a huge victory towards ending horse slaughter, but now is not the time for complacency.  There hasn’t been word on how long this ban will be.  The United Horsemen are, of course, claiming this as `no big deal’.  D-bag Duquette claims to have spoken with a sale barn and his Canadian contacts and said “Not a big deal, it’s about EID’s and will re-open. Just a bad time for that sale so they cancelled it”.  He can go right on thinking that.  I’m sure the trucks that were turned around and refused at the border today may disagree with him.  Of course they are also waiting for word from the USDA who had nothing to do with what happened today.  Stockland Livestock Sales in Davenport, WA has cancelled their fall horse sale that was due to be held tomorrow.

“UPCOMING SPECIAL SALES:Saturday, October 13th: HORSE SALE CANCELED!!Due to unforeseen circumstances all exports of horses to Canada and Mexico have been suspended. We just became aware of this situation the morning 10/12/12. We have reached out to numerous experts and traders in the business and as a result and due to the uncertainty with the market we have decided to cancel the horse sale. We will reschedule later this fall or early in 2013. As it stands we would have no buyers and no place for the horses and would be unable to provide a service to you or your animals. We understand that this is both a frustration and inconvenience to you. We will keep you posted as more details about the exports and a future sale become available Stockland Livestock Sales, Davenport WA”

Even with that announcement, the UH loyalists remain in denial and have already begun hatching conspiracy theories….
“A play on words with no proof or actual facts.Folks this is a scare tactic,dont believe a word of it. Seriously,look who wrote it,lol.”

– Regarding the above press release…

“These horses will still need to die. These people are truly delusional if they believe they are saving any.”

– Not sure who `these people’ are, but I wonder if this person would like a mug of blood to quench her thirst until they can get the border open again?

“Its not unusual just befor a weekend to hold off on taking some across the boarders,specially if the plants are working full shifts all weekend,and get holding pens as empty as possible befor resuming across the boarder, sales resume a few days later. Chicken plants,hog,beef,they all do it once in awhile,its not permanent.”

– Then why hasn’t it happened before?

“We will have to wait to see how it plays out, I could see where all exports for any reason would be stopped for a period to prevent dealers from reassigning the load once in the other country. I could see where this move would force the usda to ban bute totally so that they will start accepting young stock again and then gradually increase the age to match how long the ban was in effet, so if you use bute you might want to get stocked up now.”

– Less than 1% of the horse population goes to slaughter.  There will not be a ban on a useful therapeutic medication so that small number can be sent for human consumption.  Period.

So, as of tonight there really are a lot of horses in limbo and needing help.  I’m sure the kill buyers will hang onto what they have for a little while until some clarity is given on this shut down.  However, with sales cancelling and effectively no dumping ground for these horses, now is the time for people to step up.  Support a rescue, donate to a hay bank, and euthanasia clinics will be needed.  I don’t even care what side of the slaughter issue you are on; if you care about horses now is the time to step up and help them.  The reality today, right now, is that there is currently NO slaughter for American horses.  Now is the time to work together for the welfare of all horses.

********Update*********

Seems that somebody told D-bag that his `no big deal’ was not an appropriate response…Puppymill has just posted this on his behalf (pretty sure she wrote it as well)

A statement from Dave Duquette, President of United Horsemen:

As many of you are already aware, there has been a major disruption today in the international trade of U.S. horses going to Canada and Mexico. This is the result of an unexpected and unannounced European Union action. Little official and accurate information is available on a Friday evening, nonetheless, United Horsemen, a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is devoted to the well being of horses and horse people, and its executive team is working through our international networks, as well as governmental and industry contacts, to get to the bottom of this situation. We will provide continual updates and information as it comes available, and work with all of you to make sure that our network has accurate and reliable information.

Bear in mind that reestablishing humane horse processing in America is a viable solution needed more than ever with the news of this situation. As always, United Horsemen continues its work to restore much needed balance in the horse markets and horse industry, while profoundly improving the state of horse welfare.

We call upon all of you, as members of United Horsemen, for your much needed support in our efforts on your behalf and on behalf of the U.S. horse industry.

Warm regards,

Dave Duquette
President
United Horsemen

Notice their only concern is to get to killing as soon as possible and no mention of HELPING those horses that are stranded and displaced as a result of this…..Seems that the UH’s information source is not as timely or accurate as the EWA.

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Propaganda and Inconvenient Truths

Well folks, it seems like Slaughterhouse Sue has finally found a YouTube video she finds worthy of sharing with everybody.  It’s a fascinating piece on the unwanted horse issue.  If you are ADD like I tend to be, you can watch the 7 minute version, or if you have a strong stomach for bullshit, you can wade right in and watch the hour version.  In the interest of not boring the crap out of y’all and my own inherent laziness, I’ll recap the short version and leave you on your own for the longer one.  They are sharing this little fictional piece far and wide and hoping to sway legislators with it.  They even have a narrator with a faux British accent to make it seem more important.  I guess they finally realized that the hick speak most of them engage in isn’t getting them all that far.  Are you ready to be entertained?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yffOu1SZZIY&feature=share

Ok, remember this video is about UNWANTED horses.  That part is important since they use pictures of Secretariat in their opening.  There probably are very few horses that have been less unwanted so I’m really not getting the point of that.  I’m also going to go right ahead and guess that the use of his image in a pro-slaughter video is not authorized given the stance of his former connections on the slaughter issue.

NEVER spent a day being unwanted in his life…

Surprisingly, the video openly acknowledges how repugnant that the majority of the population in the US find the idea of eating horse meat as well as the horse’s importance in our culture and development.  They even use warm fuzzy pictures of children with their horses before it all heads south.  The video talks about the $65 million export value of slaughtered horses prior to 2007, but neglects to mention that the large majority of that money went straight overseas with the carcasses.  This video does not say where they get their stats from but make mention of the fact that non-profit shelters spent something like $50 million caring for unwanted horses in 2009 and that taxpayers are handing out `millions to care for unwanted horses’.  Strangely, they don’t make any mention of how much it costs the taxpayer to fund USDA inspections on horse slaughter houses and how little they put back into the US economy.  If you go to the Kaufman zoning link on the side bar  you can see where Dallas Crown paid a grand total of $5 in taxes one year.   Given the fact that most workers in slaughter houses are minimum wage and the problems it has caused hosting communities, horse slaughter actually COSTS the taxpayer.  That is the real and well documented fact of the horse slaughter business.

 

Next they move onto the wild horse and burro population and that nearly half a billion dollars have been spent maintaining them.  I have to admit I’m not as up to speed on the BLM issues as I should be.  My focus has mainly been the domestic horse population, although I’m very anti-slaughter for any equid.  My opinion on the wild horse issue is probably not a popular one, but I see most of the problems being human created.  We stepped in and took out natural selection, now we have a mess on our hands. No, natural selection is not pretty at times, but it works.  Sadly, it’s probably gone way too far for that to be viable by now so once again, humans screw up due to their own greed and the animals pay the price.  Lovely.  Naturally they blame the problem on animal rights advocates, when in fact it probably has more to do with the wild horses and other wildlife being displaced by humans and our greed.  What city doesn’t have reports about some wild creature that has wandered into a yard and caused an uproar?

They pack a lot of propaganda into a short 7 minutes, I’ll give them that.  They also do some extremely dodgy math predicting that by 2016 there will be something like one million unwanted horses.  I guess that means that nobody will or has cut back on breeding and that not a single horse will die between now and then.  Again, no source for their stats, but they sure sound impressive, do they not?  They talk about the `enormous expense’ in transporting horses to Canada or Mexico for slaughter, but they don’t mention that’s not on the taxpayer or that in some cases, it will be even further for them to ship to Oregon if D-bag gets his way and opens his plant there.  The video actually states that some unlucky horses have owners that can’t afford the cost of shipping to slaughter.  Huh?  Also kinda tired of hearing how things are so much less strict and humane in Canada.  Pretty sure they operate under what would be the same guidelines and design that US slaughter houses have and would.  Lies of omission again….They even give us this huge increase in horse abuse stat that is `verified’, but they neglect to say where it came from.  In short, it’s a load of crap, but go ahead and watch it for yourself.  Anybody with the intellect of a dull carrot will see right through their lies.

This is about how the PSAs draw their conclusions….

Ok, let’s talk about inconvenient truths.  As we are all aware, PSAs tend to minimize the whole Bute issue surrounding horse meat and the fact that horses are not generally raised for human consumption on this side of the pond.  Several of them have stepped up with stories about either consuming Bute themselves or knowing `oldtimers’ that have taken it all their lives.  Some of them have even suggested that Bute is perfectly safe but only banned because nobody has bothered to do an FDA approved study on it yet.  In fact, I believe Angela Marshall was even offering to fund such studies with her food stamps and welfare checks!  Well, recent news out of Singapore is that somebody has died from ingesting Bute.  (http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC121004-0000033/Woman-dies-after-taking-illegal-health-products).  “In August this year, the patient consumed Flutulang, which her son bought in Indonesia. The HSA said she had assumed it was safe after a relative consumed it without any problems. Unknown to her, the product was tainted with phenylbutazone, which was responsible for a similar serious adverse reaction she suffered in 2006…….This time, the woman developed a similar life-threatening skin reaction and died”  The article goes on to mention another woman falling ill after taking a product that contained dexamethasone aka azium, which is also a very common medication given to horses.  It should be very interesting to see whether or not the PSAs acknowledge this at all or how they’ll spin it if they do.  That’s the problem with their `facts’.  They are very selective on what facts they give out and how they frame them.  If you really want the truth, you’re best to seek it out yourself and do so with an open mind.

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MMmmmm Raw Horse Meat!

I’m sure most of you are busy watching the debate tonight.  Always nice to see master debaters doing their thing, no?  I am sure Slaughterhouse Sue et al are shocked and outraged that nobody mentioned horse slaughter.  Personally, I love it when people get pissy with each other, so I’m watching anyhow.  However, we have some things that need our attention back here in horse world today, so I’m going to let you find somewhere else to discuss the debates and talk about some things you can do as far as the slaughter issue.

You may or may not be aware that the newly opened M. Well’s Dinette, located in MoMA’s PS1 gallery has decided that it is oh so hip and trendy to add horse tartare to their menu.  I’m not going to waste  everybody’s time by rehashing all the reasons they shouldn’t be serving up horse meat, let alone raw horse meat,  because we’ve gone over and over it.  Emotions aside, it’s not safe and it’s not humane.  As far as I know, they have not said where they are actually getting their horse meat from and it may or may not even be legal for them to be serving it.  Hopefully, somebody took a head count of the NY carriage horses before this restaurant opened. ( BTW, that’s sarcasm, just so our PSA trolls are clear on that) Anyhow, Slaughterhouse Sue being the internet junkie that she is, has posted up the links and issued a call to arms for her UH zombies to get behind this establishment:

“I hope each and every one of you will take a few minutes to contact this restaurant and tell them how much you appreciate their consideration of delicious, safely and humanely produced cheval (common term for horse meat) in their restaurant. Do not let the bullying voices of HSUS and their ilk be the only people they hear from! “

http://blogs.artinfo.com/artintheair/2012/10/02/humane-society-to-moma-ps1s-new-restaurant-m-wells-dont-serve-horses/

 

Naturally, they are all stampeding over there to leave their witty remarks.  This includes everybody’s favorite backyard breeder, Dorothy Robertson, because I guess she hasn’t made herself out to be hateful enough these past few weeks……

“XXXXX, people in this country have historically eaten horse meat for all but the most recent generation…..it was served in school lunch programs, on the menu at Harvard and in any number of other places, was available in stores in Portland, OR in the 70’s (and yes, I bought and ate it)….our military are likely eating it now if they eat with any of the Afghan families in their area of service. The whole point of trying to make horse slaughter available in this country for those that choose to use it would be to be able to regulate it as well as make access much less stressful (read shorter hauling) for the animals. Making slaughter better regulated would be a much better solution than forcing owners to turn horses loose in the desert, to hide them in back fields, etc when vet care/disposal costs are either not available or are more than an owner has available in this economy.”

 

Does anybody else have problems with Dorothy extolling the virtues of horse slaughter and not having to `hide them in back fields’, considering she, as a PSA chose not to use this outlet for her own horses, but decided to neglect them and starve them instead?  I just keep hearing my mother’s voice saying `birds of a feather…..’  with this group.  Don’t believe me?  Here is what another of our favorite horse and system abusers has to say about it all.  From Angela Marshall:

“I say go for it! Glad someone is offering something good. I think it would be awesome to have it offered here. A cheaper, and very abundant source of meat that sounds awesome to start. Especially with the numbers of cattle and pigs being so low. Beef and pork are continuing to soar and no end in sight.”

Yet, she couldn’t bring herself to eat her own horse.  Instead she sent him on a 30hr  torture ride to Canada when he could barely stand up and falsified his EID papers.  What excellent ambassadors Slaughterhouse Sue has!  Now, if you want some actual facts about this issue, I suggest you read this article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/vickeryeckhoff/2012/10/03/moma-cafe-chef-to-serve-illegal-tainted-horse-meat/)

 

horse tartare

 

Ok, now that we know what the Dunce Club is up to with this issue, let’s talk about making a real difference.  They can whip out their mad grammar skillz and dazzle everybody with their hick-speak in the comment sections on those blogs.  Let them fill their boots.  Keep your comments fact based and make them to the people that can make a difference.  Arguing with Slaughterhouse Sue and company should be strictly for entertainment only.  Fighting back and forth on the restaurant’s blog probably is just going to encourage them that any publicity is good publicity.  You can sign this petition and support the Equine Welfare Alliance in organizing whatever form of protest they decide to go with…(https://www.change.org/petitions/moma-ps1-and-m-wells-dinnette-prevent-the-restaurant-from-adding-adulterated-horse-meat-to-their-menu#).  You can educate people with the FACTS of why it is unsafe to serve or eat horse meat.  Consider what kind of person thinks it’s trendy to eat and/or serve horse meat and you’re probably going to have to appeal to their own ego and self-preservation above all.  I have to wonder if Fido Burgers aren’t next on the menu this establishment?

 

 

 

 

 

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