"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."
- Psalm 23:4
- Psalm 23:4
BLUE RIDGE RESCUE TAKES NO CREDIT FOR PHOTOS ON THIS WEBPAGE - ALL PHOTOS FROM A PUBLIC ONLINE SITE.
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As I walk through the muck and more slaughter lines, seeing the starved, abused, neglected and throw away horses, as I deal with those arrogant, abusive and ignorant people, who have a million excuses why their horses are dying - I Pray:
Author Unknown
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Grant me the courage to survive the nightmares of the abused I couldn't save, so I can continue to save others.
Grant me the acceptance that I cannot change everyones perception, but if I can change just one at a time, it is well worth the effort. Grant me peace in knowing I am doing all I can and more people join me everyday that I am not alone in loving and saving these magnificent creatures. Grant me the ability to keep my mouth shut until I have the animal safely in hand, and only then I can truely speak my mind. Grant me everlasting joy in experience the renewal of hope and life in an animal destined for death with once listless eyes now filled with love. Grant me the words to express the outrage, wrongness and inhumanity to the next generation, for they are our light. Grant me my dreams that one day humanity will accept other beings of the planet, as fellow being and just as deserving of life. -AMEN |
WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTOS
BRR's Response to a Posting in a Popular Horse Magazine:
This Letter Was Posted In Horse&Rider Magazine:
THIS IS WHAT A MAN WROTE ABOUT THE SUBJECT
EUTHANASIA VS. SLAUGHTER
Man Writes: In October's "Letter of the Month", the writer contends that euthanasia is "the only humane, loving end-of-life solution" for horses. I disagree. Just because the tenderfeet in North America feel its's "not nice" to kill horses and cut it up for meat in their own backyards doesn't mean the meat can't or shouldn't be used in other parts of the world. The Europeans are so far advanced in their thinking compared to us--we're so wimpy that nothing gets done! We talk ourselves to death. I'd rather see my horse's remains go to fill a tummy (whether rich or poor), than get dumped.
HORSE&RIDER December 2009 Edition Page 11 Article I
THIS IS BRR'S RESPONSE TO HIS ARTICLE
EUTHANASIA VS. SLAUGHTER
I was quick to realize that some individuals need be to educated about the inhumane treatment that our equines endure during their trip to the slaughter-house. So many want to believe that slaughter is the answer because they can turn their head and pretend that horses lives don't matter. That horses don't have emotion or feel pain. That slaughter is the only answer... when in fact we can save our horses from being inhumanely treated by using humane euthanasia. Humane euthanasia can be used for any equine no matter its health or age and I would rather see this done than to see any equine end up at auction and sold to a meat buyer.
Horses and other equines that have the misfortunate ending of slaughter not only face a long and miserable wait at auction while being crammed with unfamiliar horses who will kick and fight causing injuries, hungry, thirsty, whipped and ran through corrals being injured until ran in front of numerous meat buyers that laugh and poke fun at the horse calling it a "fat horse" or whatever name that they feel suits. Then the horse is ran back out into more pens crammed with more unfamiliar horses who will kick and fight causing more injuries. Many having their tails and ribs broken by the hydraulic shoot systems that are used behind the closed doors that sorts these horses.
They will then most likely be crammed onto illegal double decker cattle trailers with no room to move with equines of all breeds, sizes, ages, including stallions, and many horses with injuries. They will be stepped on and some may die before reaching the slaughter-house feed lots because of stress and dehydration or from being trampled to death. They will stand crammed on these slaughter trucks for numerous hours if not days never given the chance to lie down or drink or eat with the smell of death.
They will be driven sometimes 700 - 900 miles before reaching the slaughter-plant where they will be carelessly unloaded onto feed lots where they will again meet more unfamiliar horses who will fight and possibly cause more injuries. Where the weak will lie down and not get up and be picked up by fork-lifts while still alive and taken into the slaughter-plant for a brutal death. The ones that could stand will stand in feed lots for days with the smell of blood and hearing the torturing squeals of horses that are being stabbed in the spine or having a needle injected numerous time into its brain.
The horses will be corralled all day and night into pens and corrals where they will be ran as fast as they can into small cold bloody pen where a heavy door will slam shut and the horse will be scared and trying to get away when the last thing they will see is an unfamiliar Canadian or Mexican depending on what country they were transported to.
In Mexico they will either stab them numerous times in the back with an ice pick object paralyzing them then chaining their legs and lifting them into the air while still alive and slitting their neck where they will bleed out. They will not die until they have bled out.
In Canada they will use a needle gun object that will shoot a needle into either the horse's spine or head numerous times until the horse drops and then the horse will also be hung into the air and splayed open.
These horses most likely do not die the first time they are stabbed because imagine a scared horse in a very cramped area trying to get a way... how good do you think the killer is at aiming at a moving scared horse?
So... since we have a full picture now of what a horse sent slaughter entails maybe we can agree that euthanasia is much more humane.
Horses that are euthanized humanely get a small prick with a needle and after a few seconds will fall dead asleep with little or no pain in a quiet familiar comfortable place.
So why is it better to fill the gut of a European knowing the brutal death that horse endured to satisfy that European's gut? It's not that American's feel it is "not nice" to slaughter a horse however many American's may feel that way but it is the fact that horses were our American way of surviving not too long ago. The Europeans that left Europe because of many reasons too numerous to mention came to America to start a new way of life and horses where what made America what it is today.
Horses made the American West. They were man's best friend, transportation, and livelihood. So when an American doesn't want to butcher its American horses isn't necessarily due to weakness but due to the respect they have for the majestic horse that has given so much in last several hundred years that it doesn't seem fair to mistreat such a dedicated and nobel animal to man especially to America.
Blue Ridge Rescue
Blue Grass, Iowa
THIS IS WHAT A MAN WROTE ABOUT THE SUBJECT
EUTHANASIA VS. SLAUGHTER
Man Writes: In October's "Letter of the Month", the writer contends that euthanasia is "the only humane, loving end-of-life solution" for horses. I disagree. Just because the tenderfeet in North America feel its's "not nice" to kill horses and cut it up for meat in their own backyards doesn't mean the meat can't or shouldn't be used in other parts of the world. The Europeans are so far advanced in their thinking compared to us--we're so wimpy that nothing gets done! We talk ourselves to death. I'd rather see my horse's remains go to fill a tummy (whether rich or poor), than get dumped.
HORSE&RIDER December 2009 Edition Page 11 Article I
THIS IS BRR'S RESPONSE TO HIS ARTICLE
EUTHANASIA VS. SLAUGHTER
I was quick to realize that some individuals need be to educated about the inhumane treatment that our equines endure during their trip to the slaughter-house. So many want to believe that slaughter is the answer because they can turn their head and pretend that horses lives don't matter. That horses don't have emotion or feel pain. That slaughter is the only answer... when in fact we can save our horses from being inhumanely treated by using humane euthanasia. Humane euthanasia can be used for any equine no matter its health or age and I would rather see this done than to see any equine end up at auction and sold to a meat buyer.
Horses and other equines that have the misfortunate ending of slaughter not only face a long and miserable wait at auction while being crammed with unfamiliar horses who will kick and fight causing injuries, hungry, thirsty, whipped and ran through corrals being injured until ran in front of numerous meat buyers that laugh and poke fun at the horse calling it a "fat horse" or whatever name that they feel suits. Then the horse is ran back out into more pens crammed with more unfamiliar horses who will kick and fight causing more injuries. Many having their tails and ribs broken by the hydraulic shoot systems that are used behind the closed doors that sorts these horses.
They will then most likely be crammed onto illegal double decker cattle trailers with no room to move with equines of all breeds, sizes, ages, including stallions, and many horses with injuries. They will be stepped on and some may die before reaching the slaughter-house feed lots because of stress and dehydration or from being trampled to death. They will stand crammed on these slaughter trucks for numerous hours if not days never given the chance to lie down or drink or eat with the smell of death.
They will be driven sometimes 700 - 900 miles before reaching the slaughter-plant where they will be carelessly unloaded onto feed lots where they will again meet more unfamiliar horses who will fight and possibly cause more injuries. Where the weak will lie down and not get up and be picked up by fork-lifts while still alive and taken into the slaughter-plant for a brutal death. The ones that could stand will stand in feed lots for days with the smell of blood and hearing the torturing squeals of horses that are being stabbed in the spine or having a needle injected numerous time into its brain.
The horses will be corralled all day and night into pens and corrals where they will be ran as fast as they can into small cold bloody pen where a heavy door will slam shut and the horse will be scared and trying to get away when the last thing they will see is an unfamiliar Canadian or Mexican depending on what country they were transported to.
In Mexico they will either stab them numerous times in the back with an ice pick object paralyzing them then chaining their legs and lifting them into the air while still alive and slitting their neck where they will bleed out. They will not die until they have bled out.
In Canada they will use a needle gun object that will shoot a needle into either the horse's spine or head numerous times until the horse drops and then the horse will also be hung into the air and splayed open.
These horses most likely do not die the first time they are stabbed because imagine a scared horse in a very cramped area trying to get a way... how good do you think the killer is at aiming at a moving scared horse?
So... since we have a full picture now of what a horse sent slaughter entails maybe we can agree that euthanasia is much more humane.
Horses that are euthanized humanely get a small prick with a needle and after a few seconds will fall dead asleep with little or no pain in a quiet familiar comfortable place.
So why is it better to fill the gut of a European knowing the brutal death that horse endured to satisfy that European's gut? It's not that American's feel it is "not nice" to slaughter a horse however many American's may feel that way but it is the fact that horses were our American way of surviving not too long ago. The Europeans that left Europe because of many reasons too numerous to mention came to America to start a new way of life and horses where what made America what it is today.
Horses made the American West. They were man's best friend, transportation, and livelihood. So when an American doesn't want to butcher its American horses isn't necessarily due to weakness but due to the respect they have for the majestic horse that has given so much in last several hundred years that it doesn't seem fair to mistreat such a dedicated and nobel animal to man especially to America.
Blue Ridge Rescue
Blue Grass, Iowa
INFORMATION ABOUT SLAUGHTER:
IMAGINE:
At one well-known meat sale in the Midwest - this is just 1 sale barn 1 time per month - many times over 500 DRAFTS, HORSES, PONIES, MULES, DONKEYS, MINIS, & FOALS will be loaded up on double decker cattle trailers - not designed for horses. Majority are young and healthy. They are crammed into the trailer with no discretion on sex, age, size, or health... And yes with STALLIONS too. They are taken hundreds of miles... sometimes dropped off on the meat buyers property or feed lots waiting to die.... then crammed onto the trucks again... (they are somewhere that NO rules or regulations have to be followed. It doesn't matter if they are treated inhumanely because they are out of site of the public). They are then transported again long distances over the border to the slaughter plant. They get no food or water, no place to lie down. Pregnant mares, mothers & foals as young as a few weeks old. Some are injured, blind, dehydrated, fatigue.
They stand in line with the smell of blood; corralled with no place to run.
At one well-known meat sale in the Midwest - this is just 1 sale barn 1 time per month - many times over 500 DRAFTS, HORSES, PONIES, MULES, DONKEYS, MINIS, & FOALS will be loaded up on double decker cattle trailers - not designed for horses. Majority are young and healthy. They are crammed into the trailer with no discretion on sex, age, size, or health... And yes with STALLIONS too. They are taken hundreds of miles... sometimes dropped off on the meat buyers property or feed lots waiting to die.... then crammed onto the trucks again... (they are somewhere that NO rules or regulations have to be followed. It doesn't matter if they are treated inhumanely because they are out of site of the public). They are then transported again long distances over the border to the slaughter plant. They get no food or water, no place to lie down. Pregnant mares, mothers & foals as young as a few weeks old. Some are injured, blind, dehydrated, fatigue.
They stand in line with the smell of blood; corralled with no place to run.
"Why when people destroy something created by humans it's called vandalism, but when they destroy something created by nature it's called progress?"
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More Information:
Some Mexico slaughter plants slaughter horses by paralyzing them first by stabbing them numerous times in the spine with an object like an ice pick or needle gun and then wrapping chains around the horses' back legs, hoisting the horse into the air, and then slitting its neck while letting the horse bleed out. It has been witnessed that most of these horses do not die until they are hung in the air with their neck sliced open.
Toni Allister from Horse Illustrated writes: "Horses' processed in U.S.-based slaughterhouses were killed by a captive bolt to the brain. Most horses currently shipped to Canada for processing reportedly die by bullet to the brain. But horses that end up in Mexican slaughterhouses are stabbed to death." "A Mexican facility, Cuidad Juarez, paralyzes horses by repeatedly stabbing them with knives. After being stabbed, the wounded horses are then hoisted up by their legs using chains. As the horses dangle above, their necks are slit so they can be bled out." She also writes; It is not entirely clear when the horses die during this process however it has been reported that; "Most meet their end bloodied and chained upside down."
Since The Ban Horses Are Now Being Inhumanely Slaughtered In MEXICO & CANADA.
The Last Three Plants to Close:
DALLAS CROWN, INC. - 2000 West Fair PO Box 467 KAUFMAN, TEXAS 75142 972.932.3436
BELTEX CORPORATION - 3801 N. Grove Street FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76106 817.624.1136
CAVEL INTERNATIONAL INC. -108 Harvestore Drive DEKALB, ILLINOIS 60115 815-756-8051
Toni Allister from Horse Illustrated writes: "Horses' processed in U.S.-based slaughterhouses were killed by a captive bolt to the brain. Most horses currently shipped to Canada for processing reportedly die by bullet to the brain. But horses that end up in Mexican slaughterhouses are stabbed to death." "A Mexican facility, Cuidad Juarez, paralyzes horses by repeatedly stabbing them with knives. After being stabbed, the wounded horses are then hoisted up by their legs using chains. As the horses dangle above, their necks are slit so they can be bled out." She also writes; It is not entirely clear when the horses die during this process however it has been reported that; "Most meet their end bloodied and chained upside down."
Since The Ban Horses Are Now Being Inhumanely Slaughtered In MEXICO & CANADA.
The Last Three Plants to Close:
DALLAS CROWN, INC. - 2000 West Fair PO Box 467 KAUFMAN, TEXAS 75142 972.932.3436
BELTEX CORPORATION - 3801 N. Grove Street FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76106 817.624.1136
CAVEL INTERNATIONAL INC. -108 Harvestore Drive DEKALB, ILLINOIS 60115 815-756-8051
So many people ask; How do we stop this? How can we change the market? and Why are so many horses unwanted?
Stop the breeding of horses that are without a specific purpose.
Did you know... according to Horse Illustrated's January 2008 edition:DThe Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations 2006 report;
There are 58,372,106 horses in the world. THE UNITED STATES has the largest number of horses with approximately 9,500,000 horses.
Many horse organizations; including the American Quarter Horse Association and many Veterinarian groups, opposing the slaughter ban is exactly because they love these animals and believe the absence of the humane slaughter option creates more problems than it solves.
According to LMA Vice President Nancy Robinson: No one wants to see horses slaughtered inhumanely. And, ironically, inhumane slaughter is exactly one of the negative unintended consequences we and other slaughter-ban opponents predicted would happen if humane slaughter became unavailable in the U.S. Before the closure of the last three operating plants in Texas and Illinois, there were 300 percent fewerhorses being shipped to Mexico for slaughter than there are now. The ban created a worse situation than the one ban proponents said they were trying to get rid of. And now, when HSUS takes horrific film of horses being stabbed to death inside Mexico, they use it to support their continued efforts to make the ban in the U.S. permanent, when the ban is what resulted in those horses going to Mexico in the first place. It's absolutely maddening.
There are 58,372,106 horses in the world. THE UNITED STATES has the largest number of horses with approximately 9,500,000 horses.
Many horse organizations; including the American Quarter Horse Association and many Veterinarian groups, opposing the slaughter ban is exactly because they love these animals and believe the absence of the humane slaughter option creates more problems than it solves.
According to LMA Vice President Nancy Robinson: No one wants to see horses slaughtered inhumanely. And, ironically, inhumane slaughter is exactly one of the negative unintended consequences we and other slaughter-ban opponents predicted would happen if humane slaughter became unavailable in the U.S. Before the closure of the last three operating plants in Texas and Illinois, there were 300 percent fewerhorses being shipped to Mexico for slaughter than there are now. The ban created a worse situation than the one ban proponents said they were trying to get rid of. And now, when HSUS takes horrific film of horses being stabbed to death inside Mexico, they use it to support their continued efforts to make the ban in the U.S. permanent, when the ban is what resulted in those horses going to Mexico in the first place. It's absolutely maddening.
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A growing type of abuse: trucking them nearly 700 miles to Canada & Mexico for slaughter, circumventing a U.S. ban on the practice. Much of the meat is eventually exported to countries in Europe and Asia for human consumption.
One of the largest buyers of killer horses in the country. Barnes, who scours sale barns in Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana and Texas for Carter, estimates he has bought more than 1,000 horses for him this year alone.
http://www.newsmax.com/us/horse_slaughter/2008/11/26/155365.html
One of the largest buyers of killer horses in the country. Barnes, who scours sale barns in Nebraska, Colorado, South Dakota, Montana and Texas for Carter, estimates he has bought more than 1,000 horses for him this year alone.
http://www.newsmax.com/us/horse_slaughter/2008/11/26/155365.html
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How To Help:
EDUCATE ONE PERSON AT A TIME... ONE HORSE OWNER AT A TIME, ONE BREEDER AT A TIME, ONE REPRESENTATIVE AT A TIME AND ONE HORSE LOVER AT A TIME. START EDUCATING TO MAKE A CHANGE...
There will always be unwanted horses with no place to go...
Lets start educating about responsible breeding, humane euthanasia and about not taking horses to auction.
IN A PERFECT WORLD EVERYONE WOULD ADOPT...
However if you are going to breed no matter what:
Breed to better the breed - only breed the best to the best and care for the sire & dam until the end.
Place your foals in lifelong loving environments.
NEVER take your mares & foals or any of your horses to auction.
Most Importantly - BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR EQUINES.
There will always be unwanted horses with no place to go...
Lets start educating about responsible breeding, humane euthanasia and about not taking horses to auction.
IN A PERFECT WORLD EVERYONE WOULD ADOPT...
However if you are going to breed no matter what:
Breed to better the breed - only breed the best to the best and care for the sire & dam until the end.
Place your foals in lifelong loving environments.
NEVER take your mares & foals or any of your horses to auction.
Most Importantly - BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR EQUINES.
You said, you loved me. I was always there when you needed a shoulder to cry on.
They say you can't put a price on a life. You put a price on mine.
Just because I tripped at the third barrel, you send me here, where a man is beating me, screaming number in my ear.
"SOLD!", that is the last word I heard the man say. With one last slap on the rear, I shed my first tear.
As the ol' man in the alley way says "load em' up, and we'll be on our way."
The last thing that comes to mind, "Why?, Couldn't you have gave me once last try?" Author Unknown
STOP THE SLAUGHTER - END THE ABUSE
They say you can't put a price on a life. You put a price on mine.
Just because I tripped at the third barrel, you send me here, where a man is beating me, screaming number in my ear.
"SOLD!", that is the last word I heard the man say. With one last slap on the rear, I shed my first tear.
As the ol' man in the alley way says "load em' up, and we'll be on our way."
The last thing that comes to mind, "Why?, Couldn't you have gave me once last try?" Author Unknown
STOP THE SLAUGHTER - END THE ABUSE
"Times are changing and so are people's decisions about breeding."
Some associations have dropped 30,000 registrations just in 2007 and then another 30,000 in 2008.
"Breed only the best to the best, or else not breed at all."
"When people can't sell their young stock for what they have in them - and when nothing but the very, very top prospects are in demand - it only makes sense for them to make these changes."(Dunning 40)
What happens to the sudden influx of Brood Mares with no jobs?
Unfortunately most are unwanted and end up slaughter.
COMMERCIAL BREEDING - Also Known As MILLS
Commercial Breeders are breeders that endlessly breed for monetary gain and/or financial support...
And some breeders do it for something to do, status,
or because some don't believe in having "empty" mares.
Some associations have dropped 30,000 registrations just in 2007 and then another 30,000 in 2008.
"Breed only the best to the best, or else not breed at all."
"When people can't sell their young stock for what they have in them - and when nothing but the very, very top prospects are in demand - it only makes sense for them to make these changes."(Dunning 40)
What happens to the sudden influx of Brood Mares with no jobs?
Unfortunately most are unwanted and end up slaughter.
COMMERCIAL BREEDING - Also Known As MILLS
Commercial Breeders are breeders that endlessly breed for monetary gain and/or financial support...
And some breeders do it for something to do, status,
or because some don't believe in having "empty" mares.
TO THE BREEDER:
Can't Sell Last Year's Foal(s)?
Breed Less - Breed Less - Breed Less
Only Breed Your Absolute Best
No More Breed Less
Help the Ripple Effect
Less Horses Less Suffering Less Death!
Can't Sell Last Year's Foal(s)?
Breed Less - Breed Less - Breed Less
Only Breed Your Absolute Best
No More Breed Less
Help the Ripple Effect
Less Horses Less Suffering Less Death!
Common Abuse:
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"If you have people who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you will have people who will deal likewise with their own kind."
Warning:
What is PMU OR Premarin(e)?
IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOU MAY WANT TO READ THIS:
PMU OR Premarin® stands for Pregnant Mares' Urine (PREgnant MARes' urINe)
Premarin (including Prempro, Premphase, Prempac, and Premelle) is a drug made up of conjugated estrogens obtained from the urine of pregnant mares -- put out in many forms (pills, creams, injections, patches, and many other forms) and is used to reduce the symptoms of menopause in women or women who have had a hysterectomy.
PMU FARMS have been known to keep MARES TIED UP WITH TUBES INSIDE OF THEM.
They collect urine from the pregnant mares, which is then sold to pharmaceutical companies for the manufacturing of hormonal medications.
The foals are then taken away and put on feed lots to "FATTEN" up and then sent SLAUGHTER.
WHEN THE MOTHERS ARE NO LONGER FERTILE - THEY TOO ARE THEN SENT TO SLAUGHTER.
IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOU MAY WANT TO READ THIS:
PMU OR Premarin® stands for Pregnant Mares' Urine (PREgnant MARes' urINe)
Premarin (including Prempro, Premphase, Prempac, and Premelle) is a drug made up of conjugated estrogens obtained from the urine of pregnant mares -- put out in many forms (pills, creams, injections, patches, and many other forms) and is used to reduce the symptoms of menopause in women or women who have had a hysterectomy.
PMU FARMS have been known to keep MARES TIED UP WITH TUBES INSIDE OF THEM.
They collect urine from the pregnant mares, which is then sold to pharmaceutical companies for the manufacturing of hormonal medications.
The foals are then taken away and put on feed lots to "FATTEN" up and then sent SLAUGHTER.
WHEN THE MOTHERS ARE NO LONGER FERTILE - THEY TOO ARE THEN SENT TO SLAUGHTER.
