2-4-09

Thanks to your generosity, the auction fund has $2305 in it! We are on our way to the top, only you can make it happen.

The economy has hit almost everyone hard, including the rescue. Everywhere we look people are losing their jobs, then their toys, then their horses, then their homes. It's so hard for so many people. It is really hard seeing folks who adopted horses, who were well off financially and had the means to easily support their beloved horses fall onto hard times and have to return their horse to the rescue. Such is the case today. A sweet mare we rescued from an auction awhile ago was adopted into a great home. Now, however, they can no longer afford to keep her. We welcome all of our horses back, including sweet Skelter, who has been renamed Skittles.

Today was a rather slow day at the rescue. Claire had to leave early, which meant that Tawnee had to answer the phone. Tawnee also worked on the computer a lot getting records organized, and then she launched into the weekly e-news.

We are unfortunately having a bit of trouble with the county permitting system to erect the hay barn. They want engineered plans. Engineered plans are not available, but, the company is sending up the spec sheet so we can hopefully get it engineered. The county use to exempt agricultural buildings from needing permits, but they want more money, and so now they require permits on agricultural buildings. It'll get up though!

Jason worked with the tractor today and got a drainage ditch installed on the uphill side of the hay barn pad.

Tawnee stumbled across this video that the Humane Society released. A truck was heading to a slaughter house with about 40 equines on board, wrecked, and this is their rescue story. What is really touching about the story is that there are a lot of people who believe that horses which go to slaughter plants deserve to be there, and are not trained, friendly and have not been someones pet. This video plainly shows how affectionate slaughter bound horses can be! It is a really touching video, click here to watch.

There are people working hard to get a horse slaughter plant opened in North Dakota and Arkansas, and we have heard Nevada. This would certainly be a giant leap backwards in animal welfare within the United States. "But," people say "horses are being abandoned, there are too many, they are unwanted, they should be slaughtered so that their meat is not wasted." The exact same argument is being used in the Philippines right now for dogs. There is a huge underground economy where people steal dogs, transport them to slaughterhouses, and earn money off the dog meat. Can you imagine the public outrage if someone was to suggest that a dog slaughterhouse should open in North Dakota, Arkansas and Nevada? We believe that horses are pets and deserve the same protection that is commonly afforded to dogs and cats. Click here to watch the video about dog slaughter in the Philippines.

We got the weekly e-news sent out today. Sending an E-news takes many hours, but we believe that it is worth it to keep those that do not have time to read the blog every day informed about the happenings at the rescue. If you are not signed up on the E-news, click here to view it and don't forget to sign up!

We have had some reports of problems on the donate page, so Jason completely updated it today. Click here to see the new look, and feel free to try out a donate button.

Thanks so much for your support!