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Published: March 05, 2008 07:00 am    print this story   email this story  

Heard Around Town

Local horse activist at anti-slaughter rally.

Mary Martin, a West Newbury-based horse activist and director of New
England Equine Rescue, will be joining more than 80 activists and
celebrities in Washington, D.C., in what will be the largest rally to date
against horse slaughter.

The Americans Against Horse Slaughter Week event will take place
today and tomorrow. Attendees will meet with their representatives and
key congressional leaders to push for the passage of the American Horse
Slaughter Prevention Act. Those not able to attend will be calling their
congressional members.

The AHSPA presently has 193 co-sponsors in the House and 38
co-sponsors in the Senate. Of particular significance, the top candidates
for president, Sens. Hillary Clinton, John McCain and Barack Obama, are
all co-sponsors of the legislation.

Last fall, Martin helped a group of West Newbury girls save a horse from
a "kill-pen" in Pennsylvania.

>>MORE INFO on the NEWS page.<<

 

 

North Kingstown

Unbridled Success Story

01:00 AM EST on Friday, January 4, 2008

By Arline A. Fleming

Journal Staff Writer

Deidre Sharp gets a positive response as she rubs the neck of Raven, an 18-year-old thoroughbred and resident of Horse Play Equine Rescue and Sanctuary.


The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

NORTH KINGSTOWN This craggy bend of Gilbert Stuart Road has witnessed hundreds of years passing from one calendar page to the next.

But this year the bend, and its equine occupants, are the subject of the calendar itself.

The dozen horses living at Horse Play Equine Rescue and Sanctuary have been photographed by Narragansett’s Jodie C. Sinclair and packaged into a 2008 calendar. Proceeds from sales will benefit the sanctuary, says its administrator, Deidre Sharp, who relies on grants, donations “and begging” to care for the rejected animals.

But while calendars may be especially timely this week, the rescue and rehabilitation of horses is a year-round project for Sharp and her volunteers. Every week, every year, she hears of horses in need of not just homes, but also rescue from slaughter. That’s one of the motivating forces behind the 2008 calendar — to bring awareness to the nationwide problem of the abused animals. And it’s the reason for Sharp’s commitment to the project she started in 1999.

“You know when there is something you need to do,” says Sharp.

Sharp says many people are sensitive to abandoned cats and dogs, horrified by animal abuse, but remain keenly unaware of neglect in the equine world.

“Profoundly unaware,” agrees Beth Hill Ross, of Saunderstown, founder of New England Equine Rescues, a network connecting horse owners and rescuers. “Even horse people don’t know. There’s a big need for people to take horses . . . .

“People have no clue.”

That has its effect at the sanctuary, where those saved roam the 82 acres just up the hill from the Gilbert Stuart Birthplace.

“We have a waiting list,” Sharp says.

The nonprofit Horse Play not only provides rescue for abused, neglected and slaughter-bound horses, but also shelters horses with health and behavior problems, or those whose owners can no longer keep them.

Horses, like people, “are living longer than they did in the past,” says Rhode Island’s state veterinarian, Dr. Scott Marshall. “It’s not unusual to find them living well into their 30s.”

Marshall says that horses have evolved in many cases from livestock to pets, and so owners are caring for them “into their geriatric years.” And it makes for an expensive pet, one not everyone can care for long-term.

As a result, he says, “the plight of the unwanted horse is growing on a national level.”

Horse abuse and neglect “is a very, very big problem,” echoes Dr. Hollie Stillwells, of the New England Horse Care Center, in North Smithfield. “Nationwide, it’s a very big issue.”

SHARP ESTIMATES the cost of keeping a horse at $175 a month — and that doesn’t include unexpected medical expenses, which inevitably occur, or rental on the property where they’re kept.

“People don’t know what they are getting into with a horse.”

One horse owner with money issues lost both the horse and a farm, but Sharp managed to save half of that equation.

“She probably would have gone to slaughter,” Sharp says of that animal.

But Libby, Calypso, Little Reno and the other horses at the sanctuary are not only alive, but also serving as models for photographer Sinclair, who says she hopes to make the calendar a yearly project. She plans to photograph the horses in each of the different seasons

“I’m happy to do anything I can to help Deidre over there,” says Sinclair, who donated her time for the project “to raise awareness.”

Sinclair says she is also a practitioner of equine natural movement. That, she says, is essentially a type of massage, “a healing touch for animals.”

Her work brought her to the North Kingstown sanctuary, she says, but as a girl growing up in East Greenwich she “spent many years riding, and I just started riding again.” So she is comfortable photographing the animals, she says, and especially wants to bring attention to their plight “because I love animals.”

Which is also why Frank Guernon of Westerly volunteers at the sanctuary almost every day. The retired retail manager is one of a dozen or so people who help out at Horse Play, Sharp says.

“It’s easy to get hooked,” says Guernon, 65, who was searching for a hobby. Horses have long been an interest of his, and while checking the Internet, he found Horse Play.

He puts in his time there, he says, because “horses are the best people in the world.”

HORSES SOMETIMES come to Sharp when the owners have health problems and can’t care for them.

“Vets know about us,” Sharp says.

The animals, too, sometimes have health problems, she says. And for racehorses, there are other reasons that are more abstract: “A lot of people consider them extensions of their ego. If they are not winning, it becomes the horse’s fault.”

Having ridden for most of her life, Sharp supplements her sanctuary through instruction, putting her skills in teaching and training to use. But horses weren’t her first occupation. She started out leading excursions aboard yachts. When she arrived in Newport Harbor two decades ago, the former resident of Virginia and the Caribbean decided to stay.

She started out with a therapeutic riding school and then found herself taking in homeless horses. Soon the homeless animals took priority, but they also take time and money.

Thus, the calendar.

While copies of the calendar have been available in Wakefield’s Purple Cow and Wickford’s World Store, they can also be ordered at www.cafepress.com/horseplayri. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the Horse Play calendar, which is selling for $19.99.

Or contact Sharp at (401) 294-3565. The Horse Play Web site is www.hptrc.org

A Report from a Citizen Lobbyist on the American
Horse Slaughter Prevention Act

Posted Mar 12, 2008 by lauraallen

U.S. CapitolOn March 4-5, 2008, over 100 people gathered at the nation's Capitol to lobby members of Congress to pass the Americans Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 311. 

I say "people" because we came from all walks of life with different connections to horses: some were rescuers, some formerly raced horses, some grew up with horses, some owned farms where they keep horses, and some just care about the welfare of horses and other animals.  For at least these 2 days all were citizen lobbyists, walking the halls of the Capitol, meeting with as many Senators, Representatives, or staffers as we could, working to convince them to pass this bill.

I was there for the Animal Law Coalition.  We were all there for the horses. (Special thanks to Julie Camarante and others who helped organize this event.)

This group of citizens came together as Americans Against Horse Slaughter, http://www.americansagainsthorseslaughter.com/ ("AAHS"), a grass roots effort launched by Shelley Abrams and Deborah Lopez to stop the slaughter of American horses, a movement that is gaining momentum all across the country.

Alex Brown, a horse racing professional, helped organize the event.  He commented during a reception held at the end of a long day of lobbying, that so many people became aware of the cruelty of horse slaughter after the death of horse racing legend, Barbaro.  Barbaro wasn't slaughtered, but his death brought many horse enthusiasts together on email lists, list serves, online chat rooms and websites. This loose organization of people who care about horses began circulating information about horse slaughter. And they decided to do something to stop it.

Actor Paul Sorvino and his daughter, Amanda Sorvino, a committed animal rescuer, along with TV Survivor star, Jenna Morasca, joined us in meeting with Congressional members and aides during the two day event. Paul Sorvino told our group, "Killing our horses is killing our history. ...I'm thinking about what it means to be dealing with an issue with an animal, the kind of animal, more than any other, that bespeaks America.  Horses....are part of this extraordinary country...Paul Revere did not come a riding on a donkey. He came on a horse.

 "The important thing to remember, these animals are not livestock. These animals are not to be saved just because they are beautiful...These animals are ...like the American eagle, icons of the American spirit....We can't ignore that."

Sorvino continued, "I came kicking and screaming into this....I had no interest in this really ...until I found out [the] dirty little secret....in the horse racing industry, if you can't run, you die.  ....When people are tired of these animals, they send them off to [slaughter]....This is a flight animal....an animal that's extremely sensitive....with a need for human contact...[with] this history of nobility.

"They can't get away with it forever...because people like me know about [slaughter]...I will not shut up".

Sorvino has spent at least $600,000 of his own money in the past few years to save horses from slaughter.

A View from a Citizen Lobbyist

Among those I met with was my own representative, Jim Matheson (D-UT).  Almost as soon as I walked in the room, he announced he opposed the bill to stop horse slaughter for human consumption. Rep. Matheson told me, "Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind."  As a constituent who had traveled from Utah to meet with him, I may have been naïve in hoping  he would at least consider what I had to say.   

             Dispelling the Myth of the Unwanted Horse Argument

Rep. Matheson asked, "Well, what will we do with the unwanted horses?"  As if a multi-million dollar a year industry is driven by unwanted horses.  I explained that horse slaughter is driven by a demand for horse meat, that kill buyers buy horses at auction for slaughter, and the USDA has said over 92% of American horses slaughtered, are healthy. 

One member of our citizen's lobbying group owns a farm in Colorado.  She described a nearby feedlot where there is a weekly horse auction. Owners leave horses there to be auctioned off. Kill buyers looking for horses to take to slaughter in Mexico or Canada are always there, bidding on these horses. The kill buyers are not looking for the unwanted or abused or neglected horses. They are looking for healthy horses that can be slaughtered for horsemeat, a delicacy in parts of Europe and Asia.

Also, the horse slaughter industry actually encourages the over breeding of horses. Because owners can make money from the brutal slaughter of their horses, they have an incentive to over breed.  As Paul Sorvino put it, "37% of those horses are going to be slaughtered because they couldn't run fast enough....So, it's run for your life."  If the slaughter of horses for human consumption is illegal, there is no reward for over breeding.  

Sadly, pro-slaughter groups have disseminated disinformation in the media to convince the public that without horse slaughter, there will be large numbers of abandoned, abused and neglected horses.  (Even if that were true, it is not clear how substituting one form of cruelty for another is somehow a solution.) 

Indeed, these reports in the media have proven to be unfounded.  Pet Abuse.com actually reported a decrease in horse abuse and neglect cases following closure of the last U.S. horse slaughter house in 2007. Click here for a detailed report of an investigation into the many fabricated articles about abandoned, neglected and abused horses seen since the closure of the U.S. horse slaughter houses in 2007.

Historically, there have not been increases in abandoned, neglected or abused horses following closures of horse slaughter houses. In 2002 the Illinois slaughter house burned to the ground and was out of commission for some time.  Reports of abandoned, abused and neglected horses in the Illinois area were actually on the rise in the 2 years before the fire but decreased afterwards.

The number of horses slaughtered in the U.S. dropped significantly from over 300,000 annually in the 1990s to 66,000 in 2004.  There was no notable increase during that time of abandoned, abused or neglected horses.

As AAHS puts it, "The ‘surplus horse population' [argument] is a scare tactic."  

                 Horse Slaughter is Not Humane Euthanasia

Horses going to slaughterI wanted Rep. Matheson to understand horse slaughter is not a program of humane euthanasia for unwanted horses.  Many times people selling horses at auction are unaware or don't intend for the horses to end up in the slaughter house.  Without the kill buyers who skulk around horse auctions buying horses for slaughter, most of these horses would be purchased by others or end up in rescues or sanctuaries.  

As John Holland, a free lance writer and researcher on horse slaughter, has explained, "Kill buyers do not go around the country like dog catchers gathering ‘unwanted horses' as a public service."  Kill buyers are not looking for unwanted, neglected or abused horses. They are looking for the healthiest horses.  They are buying American horses because of the demand for horse meat in parts of Europe and Asia.  

I felt it was important for Rep. Matheson to note that about 920,000 horses die each year in the U.S.  As AAHS points out, "Just over 100,000 horses were slaughtered in the U.S. in 2006. If slaughter were no longer an option and these horses were rendered or buried instead, it would represent a small increase in the number of horse being disposed of in this manner  - an increase that the current infrastructure can certainly sustain. Humane euthanasia and carcass disposal is highly affordable and widely available. The average cost of having a horse humanely euthanized and safely disposing of the animal's carcass is approximately $225, while the average monthly cost of keeping a horse is approximately $200."

Rep. Matheson seemed unaware of the cruelty of horse slaughter, probably because the AVMA and AQHA and horse slaughter industry lobbyists have done such a good job spreading the disinformation that horse slaughter is humane euthanasia. I explained to him there is nothing "humane" about horse slaughter.  The captive bolt gun used in the U.S. slaughterhouses did not typically render horses senseless before slaughter. The slaughter houses never bothered to restrain the horses' heads or use only trained personnel to operate the gun.  

As John Holland has explained, "In its 2000 report on methods of Euthanasia, the AVMA stated that the captive bolt gun should not be used on equines unless head restraint could be assured. This is because of the relatively narrow forehead of equines, their head shyness and the fact that the brain is set back further than in cattle for which the gun is intended. It is difficult for an operator to assure proper placement of the gun.

"No slaughter house ever found a practical way to restrain the heads of the horses, so by the AVMA's very definition, the process was not acceptable. The result was a very large number of ineffective stuns. These misplaced blows undoubtedly caused severe pain until a stunning or fatal blow was delivered. "

I tried to describe for Rep. Matheson the pain and terror experienced by horses as bolts were repeatedly fired at their heads many times by untrained operators. I told him these horses were many times still conscious as they were then hoisted upside down for slaughter.

I explained that because horse slaughter could not be made humane according to the standards in its 2000 Report, AVMA simply changed the requirements in its 2007 Euthanasia Report! In that report the AVMA removed any mention that horses' heads should be restrained during use of the captive bolt gun. That pesty requirement that slaughterhouses ignored anyway simply got in the way of the AVMA's campaign to convince Congress and the public that horse slaughter is "humane". Now the AVMA is effectively telling Congress and the public that it is humane euthanasia for an untrained operator to fire metal bolts at a horse's unrestrained head until it is more or less unconscious and then, still alive and perhaps even conscious, subjected to the slaughtering process.  

Of course, this does not even include the fear and suffering endured by horses as they are transported to slaughter. Most are stuffed into double decked trailers where they cannot raise their heads. They are transported long distances without food or water for more than 24 hours.  Many are trampled, injured and even killed during transport. The USDA has issued a regulation barring use of double decked trailers, but with a wink and a nod at the kill buyers transporting horses to slaughter. 9 CFR 88.3 The USDA has said it does not have the resources to enforce the regulations. As a result, kill buyers still use double decked trailers to haul horses to slaughter.  

(For more information on the brutality of horse slaughter in the U.S., click here to read the July 25, 2006 testimony of Christopher J. Heyde, Deputy Legislative Director for Animal Welfare Institute, before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. Mr. Heyde and other representatives of the AWI as well as HSUS lobbyists including Nancy Perry were on hand to give us pointers in lobbying. They provided some much needed support for our citizen lobbying effort!)  

                   States Rights?

Horses greeting each otherSeveral of the Congressional aides we spoke with expressed concern that the federal government should not pass legislation on this issue, that this is a matter for the states to address. The problem is that the states where there were horse slaughter houses, Texas and Illinois, have done all they can to stop horse slaughter. In 2007 state laws upheld by federal courts shut down horse slaughter in those states.

In fact, former Mayor Paula Bacon of Kaufman, Texas was there to tell Congressional members and aides during our citizen lobbying effort that there is nothing more Texas or any other state can do to stop horse slaughter. She should know. Until last year Kaufman, Texas was the home of one of the nation's 3 horse slaughter houses.  Mayor Bacon described that when she had to drive by the slaughter house, she could see the horses there awaiting slaughter. She demonstrated to us how they would neigh at her, seemingly beckoning her to save them.  One day she saw a horse with a mane that was still curly, meaning that the horse had just appeared within the past day or two with a braided mane at a show or exhibition. And then the owner sold him, knowingly or unknowingly, to be slaughtered.       

Mayor Bacon was instrumental in the fight in the Texas federal courts to shut down both horse slaughter houses in Texas.  And, last year the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 1949 Texas law that banned horse slaughter for human consumption, a law which had been largely forgotten. 

Mayor Bacon's involvement in this effort did not make her popular with many of her constituents, particularly the state's powerful agriculture and veterinary industries. She has been nominated for Caroline Kennedy's Profiles in Courage Award given annually to an elected official who has the courage to take unpopular stands on important issues.     

Click here for more on the Court's decision upholding a Texas law banning horse slaughter for human consumption and here for information about the fight in the legislature and the courts in Illinois to shut down the horse slaughter plant in DeKalb.    

Several states either have bans on horse slaughter for human consumption or are considering such laws. But a state can't regulate commerce between other states or with foreign countries.   

I told Rep. Matheson that with the closing of horse slaughterhouses in the U.S. in 2007, there has only been a 14% decrease in horse slaughter. Much of this grizzly business has moved to Mexico where instead of a captive bolt gun, untrained workers use a puntilla knife to stab horses repeatedly apparently in an effort to stun them before they are slaughtered. For more on the cruelty of horse slaughter in Mexico, click here.

It requires a federal law, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, H.R. 503/S.B. 311, to stop the sale and transport of American horses to slaughter houses in another country. I told Rep. Matheson we were there in the nation's Capitol to ask him to co-sponsor that law and help pass it.  

In fact, Congress has not regarded horse slaughter as a matter for states to address. Congress has previously voted to ban horse slaughter for human consumption. In 2006 the Ensign Byrd Amendment passed the Senate by a vote of 68-29 and the House by a vote of 269-158. This Amendment to the agriculture budget eliminated funding for USDA inspections of horses slaughter houses. Without inspections, horse slaughter houses cannot legally operate.  (Yes, Rep. Matheson voted against this amendment.)

Of course, the USDA tried an end run around this law and offered slaughter houses the opportunity to pay for their own inspections. Yes, under the USDA's vision, the horse slaughter industry would basically inspect itself. But another federal court stepped in last year and found the USDA's plan illegal. Click here for more on that federal court decision.

               U.S. Economic Impact              

 I also wanted Rep. Matheson to understand the insignificance of the horse slaughter industry to the U.S. economy. All 3 of the horse slaughter houses closed last year were part of a horse meat industry that was only 0.001% of the U.S. meat industry. The slaughterhouses were all foreign-owned. They paid little in income taxes. One facility paid $5 in federal taxes on $12 million in sales. These slaughter houses paid no export taxes, meaning the U.S. government effectively subsidized the sale of horse meat to consumers generally in Asia and Europe.

Horse meat is not consumed in the U.S. It is not used in the manufacture of pet food, and very few zoos use horse meat at all. Horse meat is an expensive delicacy served in fine restaurants primarily in parts of Asia and Europe.     

Horse slaughter is a brutal business. It has no place in American culture. It's time it went the way of dog fighting, trafficking in illegal drugs, slavery, prostitution, child labor, dumping of pollutants onto land or waterways and other sordid practices. It's time to ban horse slaughter.

              Property Rights

One Congressional aide expressed concern that horse owners have a "right" to send horses to slaughter. Actually, as AAHS points out, "Horse owners' property rights become an issue when they cannot sell their horses without any assurance they will not end up at slaughter....Horse owners' property rights become an issue when their horses are stolen out of pastures and barns every year for the horsemeat trade." In fact, when California banned slaughter of horses for human consumption, horse theft dropped 84%.

Besides, having property rights does not mean you can do what you want with an animal. Michael Vick learned that the hard way.   

___________________

Did I convince Rep. Matheson to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act? Well, he hasn't signed on as a co-sponsor. I have a feeling his ties to the agriculture and veterinary lobbies that support horse slaughter are more important to him than my vote.  But I haven't rallied my fellow constituents yet.....

WHAT YOU CAN DO

HorseYou don't need to go to the Capitol to lobby for Congress to pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. Click here for more information on this law, where it stands now, and how you can help pass it without ever leaving your home!

Remember it's an election year. The three remaining presidential candidates, all Senators, have all signed up as co-sponsors to this Act. No one should be elected to Congress without agreeing to co-sponsor this legislation. No member of Congress should be re-elected without signing on as co-sponsor to H.R. 503 or S.B. 311.

Contact Animal Law Coalition for help in convincing Congressional candidates or your representative or senators to sign on now as co-sponsors!  

________________________________________________

Click here to read  the white paper issued by the Veterinarians for Equine Welfare on horse slaughter.

Click here to read John  Holland's point by point refutation of the AVMA's pro-slaughter arguments.

Click here to read how you can help restore the protections of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

by Laura Allen for the Animal Law Coalition

 
 
 
 
 
March 11, 2008

Anti horse slaughter supporters Vicki Tobin, from Illinois, and John Holland, from Virginia, make plans with volunteers before visiting the House of Representatives.


Alex Brown (center) with volunteers. Brown is at the forefront of the Americans Against Horse Slaughter group.

Americans Against Horse Slaughter (AAHS), supporters of a federal ban on the slaughter of American horses for human consumption overseas, proclaimed last week's "lobby week" a resounding success.

In all about 100 volunteers showed up in Washington on March 4 and 5 for its "lobby week". The intense two-day effort, intended to garner support for federal legislation, was the largest such effort to date.

"It was an incredible example of grass-roots democracy at work," said Alex Brown, a racing professional, professor and one of the event's organizers. The all-volunteer effort attracted experts on every aspect of the issue as well as several celebrities.

The volunteers were joined by actor Paul Sorvino who attended meetings with key congressional members and staffers. In all, hundreds of separate and pre-arranged meetings were held between AAHS volunteers and congressional staffers, and packets of information were presented to each office.

"We wanted to stress that the closing of the three domestic plants has not stopped slaughter," said Julie Caramante, "Our horses are still going to Mexico and Canada and they are suffering terrible stress and brutality." Only federal legislation can stop these exports.

Chris Heyde, left, of the Animal Welfare Institute AWI helped volunteers prepare for lobbying.
Among the activities was a reception attended by AAHS volunteers, members of Congress and congressional staffers. The capacity crowd heard presentations from Paula Bacon, the former mayor of Kaufman Texas (home of the defunct Dallas Crown slaughter plant), Sonya Meadows of Animals' Angels, writer John Holland, Jill Anderson of Return to Freedom, Shelley Grainger of the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition (CHDC), Nancy Perry of Humane Society of the United States, Liz Ross of the Animal Welfare Institute, actor Paul Sorvino, Phantom Stallion author Terri Farley, survivor star Jenna Morasca, and documentary producer Robyn Day (What about the Horse).

The presentations were intended to bring the members up to date on all aspects of the battle against horse slaughter and to present the findings of investigations into horse transport by Animals' Angels, conditions at Canadian slaughter facilities by the CHDC and deceptive press accounts concerning the effect of the closing of US based plants last year. All presentations will soon be available on line.

The AHSPA, which had 193 cosponsors in the House and 38 cosponsors in the Senate, immediately gained two cosponsors with indications more would soon follow. Of particular significance, the top candidates for president, Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama, are already cosponsors of the legislation.

Members and supporters of the Americans Against Horse Slaughter group in Washington.

Wed, Jan 16 2008
 

Published: January 16, 2008 12:00 am    print this story   email this story  

'Lemonade girls' hope to make life sweet for rescued horses

By Katie Curley , Staff Writer
Daily News of Newburyport

 

WEST NEWBURY - A group of local girls who rescued a horse by selling lemonade all summer are at it again.
The "lemonade girls": Lydia LeDonne and Emily Dresser, both 12, of West Newbury; Carissa Fitzgerald, 15,
Cara Shaw, 15, and Emma Kate Symonds, 12, of Groveland; and Madison Masi, 12, of Amesbury sold lemonade
throughout the summer on Bridge Road in West Newbury in order to rescue a horse.

Too cold for lemonade, the girls, in collaboration with New England Equine Rescue, have come up with another
creative way of saving their favorite animal.

"The lemonade girls, along with local horse owners, have helped by clipping some hair off local horses in order
to make horse hair bracelets," President of NEER  Mary Martin said noting the bracelets, crafted by
a woman in New York, will be sold at local equine shops.

Proceeds from the bracelets will go toward a rescued horse in North Andover in need of medical treatment.

In addition, the girls continue to rescue horses earmarked for slaughter, and they are within steps of saving
another.

"The lemonade girls are still fundraising to help horses in need. They recently donated toward saving an old
horse from a kill pen in Pennsylvania. The money will go toward having the horse shipped to Rhode Island,"
Martin said.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, 108,000 horses were slaughtered last year alone, an
increase from 90,277 the previous year.

"Just because horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S. it doesn't mean the horses are not being sent to Mexico or
Canada to be slaughtered," Martin said.

Horses too slow to race, sick or the byproduct of animal testing are all sent to kill pens where they are bought
at auction and often sent across the border to be killed and exported for human consumption.

Animal rights groups are currently pushing for federal legislation that would forbid the sale and transport of
horses for human consumption, thereby banning the export market. Bills await action in both houses of Congress.

On April 19, NEER will participate in the Essex County Trail Association Equine Expo at the Topsfield
Fairgrounds. At the expo, a rescued trick horse will do a demonstration, and the lemonade girls will be at the
booth to help sell bracelets.

Bracelets are being sold at Essex County Co-op in Topsfield, Unique Equine in Topsfield and The Equestrian
Shop in North Andover, and the Hallmark store in Haverhill at the Rivers Edge Plaza.
 
Donations can be made to New England Equine Rescues and are tax deductible. Visit the Web site for more
information www.newenglandequinerescues.com

North Andover Citizen  Homepage

'Days from a dinner plate'...

By Sally Applegate/Correspondent

Thu Dec 20, 2007, 04:32 PM EST 

North Andover - Noir sticks his friendly face out of his stall and nuzzles visitors at North Andover’s Windkist Farm. His intelligent eyes have a twinkle in them. The beautiful little black horse was recently rescued from a kill pen at a Pennsylvania slaughterhouse by New England Equine Rescues and Another Chance for Horses. The two rescue groups work to save perfectly good horses from ending up on someone’s dinner table.

Now this highly trained performance horse has developed a potentially fatal case of Equine Sarcoid, and he needs some costly treatments as soon as possible in order to survive. Caused by an infection with Bovine Papiloma Virus 2, with other unknown factors, the disease causes large wart-like bumps on the horse’s skin that grow deep into his flesh and thread through the muscle.

Noir has six of these tumors, including a large painful one on his chest, and if they can’t be stopped soon, too much of his flesh will have to be cut away for him to survive.

There is a cure, but it’s expensive. Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed Imiquimod 5% cream [Aldara,] a cream for use on people that works on horses as well. This cream could save Noir’s life if treatments can be started soon enough. It is an expensive medical cream, and it will take a lot of it to stop the six tumors on Noir.

This is where the gentle horse needs people’s help. Windkist Farm is working to raise funds to buy the medicine as soon as possible. One of the tumors has already broken apart, causing pain and infection.

“We’ve got to stop the disease now,” says Dora Ferrari of Equine Rescues. “This is a last ditch effort to save this horse. If every person that sees Noir gives $1, we could cure this horse.”

“He’s our most urgent case right now,” adds Equine Rescues member Mary Martin.

On Wednesday night 11-year-old Anastasia Beechin of Wakefield, who saved money from her paper route and Christmas and birthday presents to rescue Hunter, another wonderful horse living at Windkist, is hugging Noir in his stall before his performance. She talks about Hunter.

“I thought he was the best horse even though he had scars and bruises. I didn’t care what my horse looked like — I just wanted a rescue horse. I loved him right away. Every horse needs to be loved.”

Later, as Anastasia rides Hunter in the large arena, the recovering horse — which turned out to be a 4th level trained dressage horse — looks gorgeous.

The arena and stable at Windkist are like a scene out of the movie “Babe,” complete with Sadie, a sweet-faced rescued black Border collie wearing a Christmas bow. Razor, a saved alpaca, is touching noses with Midi the miniature horse.

“They’ve never done that before,” says farm owner Trish Lambert. She has been socializing the alpaca and reassuring it.

Annabelle, a young rescued sheep with a voice as loud as a bullhorn, walks the barn constantly going “Aaaaaaaaa” and checking out the dogs. She’s unnerved by a tiny sheep like gray dog that is jumping all over the place.

“You’re a Border collie,’’ Lambert exhorts Sadie. “You’re supposed to herd sheep.”

Instead, Annabelle butts Sadie in the side.

The action then moves to Noir, who’s been saddled and is ready to display some of his tricks.

He shows off his talent for an appreciative crowd. Rider Josh Castiglioni puts him through his paces, including rearing up which draws cheers from the audience, walking backwards, and other fancy maneuvers including letting Castiglioni stand up on Noir’s saddle with the horse staying steady as a rock.

“We think Noir is a seasoned performance horse,” says Martin. “He rears on command. He bows when he’s in the mood. He allows riders to jump on him from behind and stand on his saddle. He knows all the Western reining patterns. We think he may have a head shake command and a paw command.”

If Noir can be saved, Martin and Ferrari both think he would make an excellent performing horse to show people what wonderful horses end up being auctioned off to slaughterhouses.

“Somebody put a lot of time into him,” says Ferrari. “He’s the perfect horse to do an exhibition. He did a holiday show in the barn. He’s a born showman.”

As if to verify this, Noir keeps turning his head to the camera as if making sure it gets his best angle.

Castiglioni becomes angry when he thinks of anyone considering killing Noir, which he says has the personality of a big dog.

“I don’t believe any animal so beautiful as that should be raised for food or used as a beast of burden,” says Castiglioni. “Horses helped build the history of this country. Wherever a man walked, a horse walked beside him.”

Ferrari warns that people who sell their horses have no idea where that animal might end up, and too many perfectly healthy horses are going to slaughterhouses. The first rescued horse at Windkist was a sweet filly named Cenere “Chichi” and when she arrived, she couldn’t be handled.

“I needed a place to teach a horse to like people — now she’s everybody’s best friend,” says Ferrari, who works to make the best possible matches between horses and people. “These rescue horses deserve to be someone’s pet. They don’t have anything more to prove by showing off all their training. They were pets before and someone put time and effort into them. They’re not cattle. They weren’t ever raised for slaughter.”

Ferrari says U.S. Dept. of Agriculture figures for 2003 showed 90 percent of horses slaughtered in the U.S. are in good to excellent condition. Other studies show 80 percent are under age 10, 74 percent are sound of limb, and 96 percent have no behavioral issues. Looking at Noir and Hunter, it’s heartbreaking to realize how close they came to being slaughtered.

 “He was days from a dinner plate,” says Martin about Noir.

Martin is running the fundraising effort for Noir. There are also genuine horsehair bracelets and zipper pulls for sale. The elegant items each contain one hair from every rescued horse at Windkist and cost $10 for bracelets and $5 for zipper pulls. The money raised will help Noir. The items are available at Windkist Farm, 125 Windkist Farm Road, the Hallmark store in the Building 19 plaza in Haverhill, and at the tack shop in the Parsons Plaza off Route 1 in Topsfield.

The community is also invited to make a tax-deductible donation, with checks payable to New England Equine Rescues. Write “For Noir” in the memo section and mail the check to: New England Equine Rescues, 1487 Boston Neck Road, Saunderstown, R.I. 02874.

Mary Martin can be reached at 1-508-284-4022. She is currently constructing a Web site for Noir and his fundraiser, viewable at www.freewebs.com/trickhorse

Thank you Anne Dillenbeck for saving the Trick Horse from the broker,
and for donating to NEER to be treated!!

Humane Society slide show:

http://multimedia.hsus.org/slideshows/yearend/2007/index.html?source=data.xml&d=1

 

 

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Published: December 18, 2007 12:20 am    print this story   email this story  

Girl, 11, saves horse from slaughter house

Drake Lucas

NORTH ANDOVER — Hunter has seen his share of bad days.

The horse’s withers, the bones where the neck and back join, have been broken. His hair is just now covering the scars from various cuts and scratches. Last year he was headed for slaughter.

But to Anastasia Beechin he is the most beautiful horse she has ever seen.

The 11-year-old from Wakefield saved up every penny from birthdays, Christmas and her paper route for more than two years to rescue the horse from slaughter and keep him for
her own.


/Staff photo Anastasia Beechin, 11, of Wakefield feeds her horse, Hunter My Hero, at Windkist Farm and Equestrian Center in North Andover. Anastasia saved all her money from her paper route and gifts to buy her own horse and ended up saving Hunter from the slaughterhouse. CARL RUSSO/Staff Photo (Click for larger image)


“I love him even though he has scars,” she said. “I didn’t want a new horse. There are horses that cost up to $30,000, but I just wanted him.”

Anastasia learned about the horse through
Dora Ferrari, a dressage instructor at Windkist Equestrian Center in North Andover where Anastasia has been taking riding lessons for three years.

Anastasia had saved $2,100, but horses, especially well-trained ones, cost more than $10,000. So Ferrari steered Anastasia toward Another Chance 4 Horses, an organization in Pennsylvania that saves horses who are headed to
slaughter.

“A lot of people don’t realize that perfectly good horses are in slaughter pens,” Ferrari said.

It’s a mystery why Hunter, a bay thoroughbred gelding, ended up in a slaughter pen. The horse is trained to be ridden and does well with children. It’s a gentle horse that doesn’t mind people and petting. He’s 16 hands tall, a large horse even though his ribs are still visible. The horse, which has been recovering for about six months, still needs to gain more than 100 pounds.

Horses end up in slaughter pens for various reasons — a family can no longer afford them or the horse becomes injured or sick and the owner doesn’t want to pay for rehabilitation. Mary Martin, who works with New England Equine Rescue, which helped bring Hunter to Massachusetts, said sometimes families don’t even realize the horse is headed to slaughter when they sell it to someone.

When Hunter was found at auction, he was so weak that several people had to pick him up and help him out. Ferrari said he was just “skin and bones,” and needed to gain at least 300 pounds. He rehabilitated for four months before making the trip to North Andover six weeks ago, arriving two days before Anastasia’s birthday last month.

The two are a perfect match.

“It happened instantly,” said Anastasia’s mom, Cindy. “Like magic.”

After being at Windkist for six weeks, the horse is settling in. Anastasia spends four nights a week and all day Saturday at the center, spending as much time as she can with the horse outside of homework and her paper route.

When she isn’t taking him into the indoor arena for a ride, she is brushing his thin skin with the softest brush she could find, kissing his nose and nestling in his neck.

Anastasia has loved horses since she could remember, filling her room with posters and checking out every horse book she could find from the library.

Hunter, whose full name is Hunter My Hero, is her dream.

“I always wanted a horse of my own,” she said.

 

 
Jan 08, 2008
 
Now I lay me down to sleep,
not a hug from my owner,
not a pick to my feet,
 
Legs not going,
thrush is growing
Now I lay me down to sleep
 
Where are you??
 
-- Anastasia Beechin & Hunter

 

 

 

Sarah in the news:
http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/homepage/x1908584027
 
Plymouth
 
News from the Old Colony Memorial and Plymouth Bulletin
 
  horse_1205
Zanzi, the appaloosa, when Sarah Nagle took her in.
 
Related Photos
 
horse2_1205 horse3_1205 horse4_1205 horse5_1205 horse6_1205 horse7_1205 horse8_1205 horse8_1205
 

By Casey Meserve

Thu Dec 06, 2007, 06:30 AM EST One Thursday night, a smarmy-looking man counted the wad of bills in his wallet. “A buck-50,” he shouted.

“One seventy-five,” a high-pitched voice cried.

The man looked over at the petite woman with long brown hair. Every bet he made, she upped it. He looked in the ring at the ragged chestnut mare. Her ears lay back against her head. She fought the handler, baring her teeth and tossing her head.

The auctioneer was waiting for him. He shook his head and the woman smiled. The mare was pulled out of the ring by the handler.

By 4 a.m. the next morning, the mare, now named Faith, was in a paddock with green grass and a high white fence, saved from the slaughterhouse by Sarah Nagle for $175.

Faith is a Peruvian Paso, a breed known for its extraordinary gait. She is the type of horse often found on the auction block, one that was bred for the show ring, but never got there. She’s wild and scared – some would call her viscous – and she’s not safe to be around if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Faith is Nagle’s most recent rescue. Dozens of horses have been saved from the slaughter house, neglectful and abusive owners, and just plain bad situations. Eight horses call Cedar Oaks Equestrian Center in Cedarville home, including Nagle’s own horse, Aztec.

Patrick, a black mustang with a star, stripe and snip on his face, came to Nagle a half-starved colt. He was born in the western United States and was left to starve after his herd was slaughtered for meat, Nagle said. Horse meat is consumed by people in several European countries.

“Patrick and the other foals were left to starve,” she said.

“Actually, since the slaughter of horses was made illegal by Congress, I’ve had a huge increase in calls,” Nagle said. “I have to turn away two or three horses a week.”

There is an overabundance of horses in this country. Premarin, a menopause drug, is made from the urine of pregnant mares. According to The Humane Society of the United States, the drug has slowed in sales, and mares that were once bred only to produce the substance, were not needed. More than 40,000 foals were produced each year through these pregnancies. In 2003, there were 500 farms that bred mares only for their urine in the country.

That industry, along with the racing and show horse industries, created a glut in unwanted horses. Not every horse can be Secretariat, and most thoroughbreds never touch the racetrack.

Nagle can’t take them all, though she’d like to. As it is, it’s been a tough year for Nagle, 35, a mother of two. A contractor she paid to build a barn for her took off with her deposit, she said, and the shelter a group of kids built for her collapsed during a storm. Nagle works three jobs to keep a roof over her head and her horses’ heads.

The stories of Faith and Patrick are heart wrenching, but Nagle’s other horses have sad tales, too.

A black and white pinto named Star, for the white star on her forehead, shares the paddock with Patrick. Both horses are 2 years old, but don’t seem it because Star is a spotted draft horse. Her head is twice as big as Patrick’s. Star was another horse Nagle found on the auction block.

Then there’s Cie, pronounced see, a gray Arabian, “who was just left to rot,” by her former owners. So was Zanzi, a roan appaloosa with a white blanket on her hindquarters. The two Morgans, Deedee and her son, Mint, have been at Nagle’s farm for several years. Deedee had laminitis, the same hoof disease that killed Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. Both of them had botfly worms coming out of their skin.

It’s hard to believe by looking at them both now – happy and content in a paddock of their own. Deedee was as viscous as Faith is, but Nagle’s gentle but firm hand soothed the horse.

It all started 10 years ago. One day Nagle came home from work to find an old decrepit horse on her front lawn, munching away at the grass. Rosy’s knees were the size of softballs. She had been, in horsemen’s terms, “ridden hard and put up wet” for too many years.

Nagle nursed the old girl back to health and eventually got a friend to adopt Rosy, but Nagle couldn’t stop – she was hooked.

“I sold my dressage horse so I could focus on my needy children,” she said.

Nowadays, abused and neglected horses occupy a huge spot in her soft heart. It kills her to turn away a needy horse, but she simply doesn’t have the room.

“This is a lot of work, but it’s my passion,” she said.

Eventually, she plans to build a barn and indoor arena, and set up a boarding facility to bring in income for her needy children. She’s filing paperwork to make Cedar Oaks a non-profit rescue organization. She’s also a member of the New England Equine Rescue

Though many of Nagle’s horses would be suitable for adoption, she’s leery of trying it.

“If I get a free one and know it will go to a good home, I might adopt it,” she said. “But so many times the horse comes back.

“I had someone interested in one of my horses a few weeks ago. The woman called me and asked if I could trailer him up because she couldn’t rent a trailer and afford to get him shoes at the same time. So she didn’t get him. If you can’t afford to get shoes, you shouldn’t have a horse.”

Instead of adopting them, Nagle has come up with an interesting idea. She wants people to sponsor a horse.

“For $150 a month, they cam come and visit the horse or ride anytime they want,” she said. “It’s like sponsoring an Ethiopian child.

“I love people who love horses, and I want to open a facility that will allow people who might not be able to afford leasing or owning a horse, to have the chance to be around one.”

For more information about Cedar Oaks Rescue contact Sarah Nagle at 508-728-9062

 

Registered non profit in the state of RI:

(NEER will show up on irs.gov in April)

http://ucc.state.ri.us/CorpSearch/CorpSearchEntityList.asp?ReadFromDB=True&UpdateAllowed=

The Inside Edition Horse Story...

Beth and Mary and the girls, (dedication) Honor The Horse...September '07

 

The Lemonade Girls enjoy Ava,
the goat saved from going to meat...

 

Published: September 15, 2007 12:00 am    print this story   email this story  

With lemonade, girls take a stand and save a life.

By Katie Curley , Staff Writer
Daily News of Newburyport

 

WEST NEWBURY - A group of local girls has brought new meaning
to the phrase, "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

After watching a YouTube video one night during a sleepover, the girls
learned that horses in this country are still, to this day, being kept in
"kill pens" for slaughter, and often sent overseas and across the borders
for human consumption.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, 108,000 horses
were slaughtered last year alone, an increase from 90,277 the previous year.

"We decided we had to stop this," said Lydia LeDonne, 12.

So Lydia, and Emily Dresser, 12, of West Newbury; Carissa Fitzgerald,
15, Cara Shaw, 15, and Emma Kate Symonds, 12, of Groveland; and
Madison Masi, 12, of Amesbury went about making their lemonade.
Lots of it.

Through a series of lemonade stands set up over the summer and
some other fundraising, the girls have raised nearly $1,000 to save a
horse that otherwise would have been slaughtered. Instead, the horse
will live a comfortable life on the LeDonne's West Newbury farm.

To raise the money, the girls organized quickly, setting up a small,
makeshift lemonade stand on Bridge Road in West Newbury. In just
two days, the girls raised $100. After relocating to another spot, the
girls netted $150 in two days, this time adding a wide variety of
homebaked goods to their stand.

"They were only charging 50 cents a cup!" said Julie LeDonne,
Lydia's mother.

Growing up in and around West Newbury, each took horseback
riding lessons and most own horses of their own.

Julie LeDonne, a horseback-riding instructor and owner of Jules'
Farm on Georgetown Road, put the girls in touch with Mary
Martin, director of the New England Equine Rescue League.

"It's really wonderful what they have done," Martin said. "It's
especially wonderful that the donation is earmarked for a specific
horse, and they know how the money will be used."

Last Saturday, the girls participated in Groveland Day, selling
painted horseshoes and rocks, bracelets and cookies, earning
them $250. With so much merchandise left over, they set up a
table in front of Food Mart, and reached their goal of $700 and
kept going.

In the coming weeks, the girls will be waiting anxiously to see
what type of horse will be arriving at the LeDonnes' farm.

A representative of the rescue league will go to one of the largest
livestock auctions in the country, located in New Holland, Pa.,
where "kill buyers," employees of the meat industry, buy up
several horses and bring them to a pen behind the auction
house known as a "kill pen."

Currently, there is no federal law barring horse slaughter,
according to Chris Heyde, Animal Welfare Institute Deputy
Legislative Director. Instead, it is up to each individual state to
create laws against it.

People from rescue leagues frequently attend the auctions and
attempt to outbid the kill buyers and save horses, Heyde said.

There is also the option of going directly to the kill buyer's kill
pen and negotiating with the buyer to sell you one of the horses
he has bought to slaughter at a higher price than he paid, Heyde
said.

Horses end up in the kill pen and ready for slaughter for various
reasons, Martin said. Some are Thoroughbreds that are too slow
to race, others are the byproducts of animal testing.

"It's not all sick, crippled horses," Martin said. "There are some
really good horses in there."

Though the girls still haven't decided on a name for the horse,
they are sure that they will keep raising money for care and supplies
for the new horse and for possible future adoptions down the line.

"We want to stop this altogether," Emily Dresser said.

The girls have also had petitions on hand at their booths for
people to sign to urge Congress to pass legislation banning horse
slaughter across the country, as well as the transport of horses out
of the country for slaughter and consumption.

The girls will set up another booth to continue raising money this
weekend at a horse show in Boxford.

Lydia LeDonne hopes that once the horse arrives at her farm, she
will be able to use it to give lessons.

"It's just great that the girls are being aware and proactive," Martin
said.

To donate locally to stop horse slaughter and help provide care
and supplies, contact Jules' Farm at 978-363-2422 or NEER on
its Web site, www.newenglandequinerescues.com

 

 
 

Fri, Nov 09 2007

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Published: November 08, 2007 12:00 am    print this story   email this story  

Letter: Sickness leads to horse's death

Daily News of Newburyport

To the editor:

We are very sad to have had to euthanize Faith, the Lemonade Girl's buckskin horse on Nov. 1. As she was at her quarantine barn we had discovered that she had advanced ringbone,and something else going on with her hind end (EPM) as well. She was in pain, and there was nothing more that could be done.The girls loved and pampered her in the last weeks, and she was happy. But most of all she was spared the long trip to Canada or Mexico to be brutally slaughtered. Faith was one of nine slaughter-bound horses pulled from a kill pen. She and another were humanely euthanized. The seven others are doing fabulously, and all but two are in loving homes. The girls would like to thank everyone who supported the rescue effort. And they will continue to fundraise to help horses in need.
 
Read this article in full with a
Plus Edition account.Click here to learn more

We're in print!!

 

And here...

West Newbury Riding and Driving Club...

http://www.newenglandequinerescues.com/wnrdcMarch2007.pdf

...scroll to Members News.  (:

 

And we have a blurb in MAHorse... http://mahorse.com/

 

 

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Published: April 24, 2007 12:00 am    print this story   email this story  

Grateful for Pentucket students' help with NEER

Daily News of Newburyport

To the editor:

I am writing to thank the Pentucket Regional High School for their current
efforts to help New England Equine Rescues. NEER is a group that
helps any horse in need, with a focus on slaughterbound horses. In addition,
we are trying educate Americans about the horrors of slaughter. 

For those seeking more information, we can be found
at www.newengandequinerescues.com.

On our Web site, you will find information on horses we have saved,
horses wanted, horses needing homes and ways people can help
our cause. There is a horse slaughter information page as well,
where you can be kept up to date on the status of the three
foreign-owned horse slaughter plants located in the U.S., and
the anti-slaughter bills that we are trying to get passed.

BETH HILL ROSS, Founder

New England Equine Rescues

 

 

 

 

 

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Published: April 10, 2007 11:20 am    print this story   email this story  

School groups help rescue horses

Jennie Rundlett

Students at Pentucket High School are raising money for an organization
that fights the abuse and slaughter of horses, and a Groveland teen is
taking a leadership role in the campaign.

Mary Martin is an organizer with New England Equine Rescues, a
group focused on protecting horses. She recently approached Pentucket
High School groups to recruit volunteers. SAVE | the school's
vegetarian group | and the German Club immediately showed interest
and have been making efforts to raise awareness and money to
prevent the slaughter of horses.

"Horses do not choose their fate and many end up in the wrong hands,
which is not their fault," said Caitlyn Donovan of Groveland, a member
of the German Club at Pentucket and an owner of a rescued horse.
"It is so easy to save a horse's life. We already have homes ready,
we just need the money to get them there."

While horse meat is rarely consumed in this country, it is eaten in some
European and Asian countries. There are three foreign-owned horse
slaughterhouses in the U.S., Martin said | two in Texas and one in
Illinois. All three are currently shut down, she said, but horses are
being transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter.

Martin and her organization, along with other humane groups, are
pressing for federal legislation to outlaw horse slaughter and
transportation out of the country.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures cited by
an organization called the Animal Welfare Insitute, 108,000
horses were slaughtered in the U.S. in 2006, an increase
from 90,277 in 2005.

The Pentucket High School groups have put out a large
jar in the cafeteria for students to donate any spare change
and lunch money to the cause. Caitlyn and other students
who are passionate about the issue will tend the jar at lunch
and hold a petition sheet for students against horse slaughtering
to sign. Raina D'Orazio, a ninth-grader at Pentucket, said she
believes the petition will get many signatures.

"All it takes is a signature and it helps so much," Raina said.
"If people can sign, it can end up making a really big difference."

Martin and the volunteers from Pentucket decorated cans which
were placed in several stores around town to collect donations
for the cause. So far, the group estimates that they have made
about $200 since they put the cans in stores about a week and
a half ago.

The average cost to save a horse is about $300, Martin said.

The high school volunteers have also hung posters along the
walls of the school to raise awareness of the issue.

"Everything depends on awareness," D'Orazio said. "The more
people that are aware, the faster things will get done to prevent it."

The money that is raised with the school's efforts and the cans
around town will go to NEER to spend the money rescuing horses
and getting the animals treatment, equipment, and other necessities.

"We never make a profit," Martin said. "Money can always be
used for shots and other things to take care of the horses."

This year, NEER has rented a booth at the Equine Exposition in
Topsfield on April 21. They are selling raffle tickets to give people
the opportunity to win a Pelham Saddlery saddle with an estimated
worth of over $1,000.

"Our goal is to really just raise awareness and get money to save
horses," she said. "You don't have to own or love horses to help
out. Cruelty is cruelty and it should be stopped."

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