2-17-09

After three years of lawsuits the USDA has finally released the photo's of horses injured during the double decker truck rides to slaughter houses in the United States. We must warn you, it is far worse than anything you can imagine. Even if you believe horse slaughter is ok, after viewing these images you surely cannot continue believing that any horse should be put into a double decker trailer. This is what happened in the United States. Can you image what happens in countries that do not have regulatory oversight? Seeing these photo's is outraging, but this is why our Last Act of Kindness fund is so important. We must keep every horse off of slaughter trucks that we can. Click here for the images, again, very graphic, far worse than you can possibly imagine.

This morning Victory was not doing so well at all. She had given us so much hope yesterday that she was doing better. She was braying for carrots and was being so friendly. Tawnee spent quite some time with her and she seemed to be on the path to recovery. This morning she could not get up. We tried to get her to her feet, but despite our best efforts she was too weak.

Her eyes were still full of hope, she was begging us to help her.

We put her onto a blanket and loaded her into the trailer for the quick ride to the vet.

When Tawnee and Victory arrived at the vet, they all got her into the padded warm room and her treatment started immediately. Her temperature was pretty low and she was starting to go into shock. Her neck was shaved to put an IV in her.

Michelle did all the important vet stuff to keep her alive.

Tawnee spent a lot of time with her today at the vets. When she left to come back to the rescue Victory was resting comfortably.

Tawnee stopped by the Post Office on the way to the rescue. Right next to the Post Office is the Salvation Army thrift store. She slipped inside to look for needed office supplies. She found a nice heavy duty binder, and something a little more interesting. A circa 1935 Smith-Corona Sterling typewriter in perfect condition. No rust, no dust, just perfect. She wasn't sure if it was worth anything or not, but she went ahead and got it as it looked so neat and only cost $15. This evening she did some research on it, and found out it's worth more than $15. More along the lines of $700. What a great fundraiser opportunity. Click here for some information about it. There's a rusty one on Ebay for $2,250. Ours is much better! We will be listing it on Ebay very soon.

Back at the rescue Cruiser was being adopted. They've adopted from us before and provided a wonderful home for Mackenzie.

As you can see, Mackenzie (in the middle front) is doing great! We always love getting pictures and updates of adopted horses living life to the fullest.

Their daughter, Shania, was raising money to help out horses in need. She brought up a donation can today. She had received $130.59 in donations! Great work Shania, it will really help out on Victories vet bill.

The stall cleaner volunteers, the one that actually enjoy it, came out today as they had been thinking we were probably running low on shavings. Sure enough, we were, but now we have plenty for awhile.

They brought out 15 bags of shavings, ready to be spread out in the stalls. Thank you so much for donating shavings. Once again, we cannot tell you how much we appreciate it.

Tawnee was on the dirt road, almost to the rescue. She passed a Highway Patrol car, she thought it was funny, a Highway Patrol car on a dirt road in the rain and mud? Next she saw a horse trailer coming her way. She knew it had to be Cruiser and his new family. She stopped and chatted with them for a little bit. They said "You know, when we came to adopt Mackenzie, a Highway Patrol asked us if we were looking for any cows. The strangest thing just happened, a Highway Patrol just asked us if we were looking for any cows." It's just crazy, it's never happened to anyone before that we know of, but every time they came up, the Highway Patrol asks them about cows.

Tawnee headed on her way to the rescue once again. She noticed something on the windshield, and she had to double check to make sure she was seeing straight. Sure enough, a cute little mouse was running back and forth between the windshield and the hood. She couldn't believe her eyes, so she grabbed the camera and started taking pictures. This is definitely a first, she isn't sure how the mouse got there. Maybe a Bald Eagle changed its mind on dinner plans?

Whatever the case, it was raining, and this little mouse's mommy did not teach it to jump every time a windshield wiper came by. Ooops. It's just a bad place to hang out.

When Tawnee got back to the rescue she was so excited to see all the shavings. She gets excited over the simplest things, anything to make the horses happy...