5-18-09

The New York Times ran an article on May 1st about why horse slaughter is "necessary." We all know that horse slaughter is not only not necessary, it is wrong, inhumane and cruel. They also stated "Last fall, a certain town in Northern California announced that horses could be brought to town on a certain Saturday for no-questions-asked euthanization. It was the most merciful thing to do." No doubt that jab was referring to us, but, can't they even get the day right? The clinic is on Wednesday, not Saturdays, and the town was not taking horses, we were. If they didn't get those simple facts right, how much of the rest of the article is wrong?

They also stated that $400 million is needed to care for the unwanted horses, along with the following quote: "We must recognize that there is a market for horse meat (not only for human consumption, but also for zoo and circus-animal consumption) and that in a starving world, a source of protein should not go to waste for sentimental reasons. It is sentimentality that has resulted in profounder cruelty to our horses — because we don’t accept that they are animals and have a utilitarian purpose, we hide from what happens to them, and so what happens to them happens in secret." Let's put this in another light. There are only roughly 100,000 horses that are shipped for slaughter every year. Average euthanasia and disposal is $150. That would be a mere $15 million. A far cry from the $400 million they want to claim is needed. There is a big market for dog and cat meat too in other countries, why let the 4-6 million dogs and cats that are euthanized yearly in the United States go to waste instead of feeding hungry children? As stated in the New York Times article, horses are animals and have a utilitarian purpose, well, don't dogs and cats too? A good heavy dog weighs in at over 100 lbs and can feed a hungry child for quite some time... It's because it is inhumane and wrong! We don't ship our dogs and cats to slaughter, and it is time to stop shipping our horse companions to slaughter too! Click here to read the article. Humane euthanasia is the humane solution for the over breeding of horses that has already happened, just like it is humanity as a whole's responsibility to euthanize dogs and cats that do not have homes.

The Modesto Bee must hire better writers, their article was much better... Back to the rescue happenings of today. Tawnee and Jason worked on the computers a lot of the day. There were lots of emails to catch up on, and there still are almost 100 in the inbox. Last week was so hectic with 30 horses being rescued that almost no emails were written.

We have an exciting announcement. There are a small number of people who receive the blog entries in their email every day, previously reserved for the board of diretors, large donors and NER Members. But now, if you are on the mailing list, you will get it too! That's right, the daily blog will be sent to your inbox every evening after it is published. We hope that you enjoy reading the blog in your email. This is a great way to keep involved with what happens here at the rescue on a daily basis.

There are a couple new items on the home page, click here to check them out!

And, there is a new program on our website that has been started. It is "The Gift that Lasts" and you can read all about it by clicking here.

Tawnee showed horses this afternoon. Donna came up to take Passion home, and when her transporter pulled up, Tawnee said "That's a big trailer, you'll probably be leaving with more than one." Sure enough, she ended up adopting Cloud and Little Man as well. Cloud was in adoption pending, but after his evaluation he was not a good match for his potential adopter. Tawnee called them up and explained, and so he got to go home with Donna, who was the perfect match. Little Man will be going to a trainer to get some education.

Since they did not have 4wd, Jason just hooked up the tow chain before they headed up the hill and pulled them along. If you come to the rescue you'll be fine in the car, but if you are pulling a trailer, you'll need 4wd or we will just have to tow you.

The hay guy, Troy Hay Sales, came this evening with a load of hay we had ordered. He brought some great news with him: there is hay coming in that should be $7.50 a bale delivered. We are going to get a couple bales to see how the horses like it. Any donations to the May Hay Days are definitely needed! This load was over $2,000 at $10.50 a bale.

As the hay was being unloaded the sun was setting.

We would like to thank you for your support. For everyone that is reading this for the first in your email, welcome! If you do want to unsubscribe for any reason, there is a link below that will do that automatically. We will still be sending occasional Special Edition E-News to the mailing list as well.