Mr./Mrs. Obrien,
Thank you so much for taking
the time to read the emails being shared with you regarding slaughter.
I don't want to badger or
belabor the points so eloquently already made. I want to add just one
quick thought, and then ask you to read and reread the information that
has previously been provided.
I personally attend two
auctions monthly which are attended by slaughter buyers. This past weekend
I watched the slaughter buyer refuse to purchase 2 horses -- a mare so
lame that she would be nearly impossible for the buyer to unload at the
plant, and an enormous clydesdale stallion whose only flaw was to have
somehow poked his left eye. His owner left the eye to fester until all
that was visible was proud flesh. The horse, while surely worth a lot of
money as meat, was apparently considered to be too much work to keep him
from killing the slaughter buyer's other charges on his double decker
trailer. And so, the 2 horses, 2 of only 3 at the sale which fit the image
the slaughter houses try to portray of the aged/sick/useless horses, were
left to go home with the horrible people who brought them to the sale,
because no one, not even the slaughter buyers, would take them.
In the mean time, the
slaughter buyer DID leave with a full double-decker trailer -- I
cannot account for all he bought, but I know he purchased 7 healthy riding
horses in the $400 each range, outbidding families and horse trainers. I
know he also purchased a pregnant mare and her 4-month old foal, and
approximately 10 other weanlings. He was not the only bidder on any of
these horses, but he outbid what the local public felt they were willing
to spend on these horses, and with that, the slam of a gavel and the ching
ching of money in the slaughter buyer's pocket, their lives are over.
Many mistakenly assume that
the slaughter plants are doing Americans a favor by getting rid of
unwanted horses. But my experiences just thist past weekend (and so many
others) are first hand proof that they are NOT removing the unwanted; they
are bidding and buying healthy, fat, desirable horses out from under the
families that would have them.
Seven hundred and eleven
American horses died on 10/11/03. Please research this information for
yourself, and if you come to the same conclusion we have, please help us
make HR857 a reality so that 711 more don't die next October 11.
Sincerely,
AnnMarie Cross
President
Crosswinds Equine Rescue,
Inc
http://hometown.aol.com/horses5ormore/homepage.html
"john/missy o'brien"
<obrien@1st.net>
>Reply-To: "john/missy o'brien" <obrien@1st.net>
>To: <fletosojoi@hotmail.com>
>Subject: horse slaughter
>Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 08:24:46 -0400
>
>i received your statement on banning horse slaughter.
>
>i am a horse lover, trainer, breeder, i show, and own several
horses,
>but....
>
>where are all the horses going to go? there are only so
many places to
>send the unwanted, lame, outlaw, and unhealthy animals.