Republican Horse Killers

First ran into an article about Paul McCartney's wife Heather Mills, who is working to get a ban on pet fur in Europe. Then I came across another article that got me even more fired up.

In a nutshell, thanks to a Republican (surprise, surprise), wild horses may now be, once again, sold to slaughter houses. Yahoo article

This isn't the first time I've run into this disturbing issue. It was addressed in a January article in Newsweek, "A New Range War." As in the Yahoo article, the stated, primary motivation for this is protecting cattle ranchers, who claim the horses are competing with cattle for grazing.

I could go on and on about this issue. Horse slaughter is a problem that extends beyond wild ("feral" is the more accurate term) horses. Every year, thousands of domestic horses are sent to slaughter. Most are still perfectly good, useable animals. (Contrary to the industry claim that they are old, infirm or untrainable.) They are shipped to slaughter in too-small cattle trucks, their journey long (12+ hours) and without food or water.

This is not just a "wild horse" issue. Anyone who sells a horse should be aware of this issue. (This is why, kidding aside, Nikolaij will always be my horse.)

But back on the wild horse issue. In the February 21st, "Letters" section of Newsweek, two readers made my points for me.

One letter writer--Erin E. McManis of Kirksville, MO--makes the following point:
With the stated problem being that the horses threaten cattle ranching, it is a stretch to believe that the 37,000 wild horses, roaming over several states, threaten the several million [emphasis, mine] cattle that range in those same states.

But another reader made the best point of all:

We have thousands of mega malls, big-box supercenters, sprawling subdivisions and acres of asphalt devoted to car dealerships. But in this vast country we have no room for 37,135 wild mustangs. If we can't own it, eat it, drive it or be entertained by it, it's of no value. What small selfish people we have become.
Lesli Garretson, Marietta, GA.

People have always been selfish. It's survival. It's in our nature. But in a country as blessed as the United States, it's shameful that we can't look beyond own petty desires.

Slaughtering wild horses will not make hamburger meat cheeper and it will not help the already beleaguered small rancher. Factory farms, also a Republican pet, are destroying small ranchers and farmers, not wild horses. (Remember that next time you shop at Walmart.)

Also, if you need a real reason to hate the French, this is it. They are one of the biggest consumers of American horsemeat.

Nasty, smelly, French.

Barn raisin'...
My clever, clever J-man finished three sides of the framing for the spiffy garden shed. The Nikster's been keeping a careful eye on it. I think he thinks it's a horse killin' contraption.

Writing...
First sale of the year! A non-fiction article called "Curse of the Nice Girl," my rant about the bland [female] characters I run into when critiquing, will run in the Spring 2005 issue of Neverary.

Got a few hundred more words on Pinnochio's Dream.

Cheers,

P.K.