Mare is the visionary Partner, Editor and Radio Host for Alpha Mare Media. Mare is a New York State-licensed Thoroughbred owner. Her membership in NYTHA (New York Thoroughbred Horsewoman's [-men's] Association; NYTB (New York Thoroughbred Breeders; Thoroughbred Women, Ltd. and the Saratoga Thoroughbred Club all inspire, educate and contribute to her depth of knowledge of the breed and the Sport.
Her volunteer interests are all Thoroughbred-related, of course: she should probably get a hobby off the track, but there's just no time or interest. Her mantra is, "If it don't have four legs and a maneit ain't an athlete!"
Rants and raves, one darned opinionated Broad--er, Woman--who loves Thoroughbreds; loves the sport; and freely expresses her exasperation. The Alpha Mare wants to see good things all around for everyone in horse racing, and will use her proverbial pen to start dialogues and perhaps even instigate a revolution or two...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Triple Crown 2009 = Open Season on Horses. And on Racing. Unless We Act TODAY.
Ah, The First Saturday in May: The day that separates the proverbial sheep from the goats. The title of a great documentary film. The day when PETA dons its orange vests, sets the scope on Louisville and, like a starving weasel lurking outside a chicken coop—takes aim and fires at an industry it doesn't understand.
The day that, after over a century of successes, has morphed into an event that sets an entire industry on edge. Every year henceforth, we must tread gingerly and pray that nothing goes wrong.
God help us if a Derby horse has a hangnail—PETA will be on it like an elephant on a bag of peanuts.
PETA and some others have convinced a lot of people that our sport is rife with hard-hearted horsehaters. Not only do we force horses to run—we may actually pray that one of them goes down. We get a sadistic thrill out of seeing a horse writhing in pain, and then euthanized. PETA has done a great job of convincing a lot of lonely, ill-informed, ignorant people that we are The Bad Guys.
But we who love Thoroughbreds—genuinely love them—and the sport of racing them, have before us a Golden Apple. The chance to band together and make a difference. This plum opportunity has been handed to us on a silver platter. We can resurrect the reputation of the sport—a reputation that has been decided by PETA's spin doctors—simply by making a few phone calls.
Amazing, this opportunity for resurrection: Spring truly brings with it the promise of New Life.
We need not fear Kentucky Derby Day simply because we know that PETA will be watching and waiting. We can take action, one horseperson at a time, and change not only the world's perception of ourselves—we can actually do something of huge merit.
We can save the lives of horses.
We have before us two opportunities to save horses' lives AND, a nice side benefit—prove to ourselves and the outside world that we're not the demon-possessed trolls we've been painted to be. Sweet: being rewarded for Doing the Right Thing.
Opportunity #1: The 33,000
Last week, Madeleine Pickens trekked to Washington, D.C. to speak on behalf of The 33,000 (as I'm calling them)—the beautiful Wild Horses who should be allowed to live out their lives on the 1,000,000-acre Sanctuary that Mrs. Pickens wants to create for them. A gift to the horses; the people of the United States and to the government—this proposed Sanctuary is running into opposition. Go figure.
In fact, as I began to write this, I received an email from James Magill of the BLM. He thanked me for emailing the BLM about the Sanctuary, and he provided a link to the BLM's official stand on the issue. I read this statement as being a government-sanctioned tap dance, all smoke and mirrors. Reading between the proverbial lines isn't so hard—the BLM is reporting their take on Mrs. Pickens' proposal. And, like the Six Blind Men and the Elephant—they're seeing the thing from only one perspective: that of the Ag lobbyists.
A-HA! You thought I was going to say that they see it only through the BLM's eyes, didn't you? Hell to the no: the missive reeks of Ag lobby influence. (You know the Ag lobbyists, those fun-loving, high-living drones whose pockets are lined in the blood of dead horses. They represent ranchers who've been sold the bill of goods that, if the Wild Horses are allowed to live their lives peacefully on the Sanctuary, or if horse slaughter becomes fully illegal—somehow this is going to take down the entire meat industry. No more Triple Whoppers for Bubba—all because of those damned horses.)
I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how the Bureau of Land Management and the State of Nevada can think that the horses are a threat—to the cattle industry, or to anyone else. Maybe because they eat grass? Take up space? Breathe air that steers need? Whatever the imagined threat, it's all propaganda for the sake of greed.
The hot pursuit of Filthy Mammon once again dictates that innocent horses must die. Just in case their existence is a threat to wealthy ranchers.
We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mrs. Pickens: her goals are noble, her love for the horses, real. She encourages us to contact Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, to voice our support of the Sanctuary.
Please do so, and let Mrs. Pickens know that you're a conscientious member of the Thoroughbred industry who's behind her efforts 1,000%.
Opportunity #2: Banning Horse Slaughter in the United States, Once-and-For-All:
This was quite the morning: I also received an email with the link to the Animal Welfare Institute's latest press release. The AWI today bears great tidings: a bill has been introduced onto the floor of the Senate, a bill which will make it illegal for several reasons for horse slaughter to occur in the United States.
This is grand news: passage of this bill into law will effectively nuke all efforts by wannabe Slaughter States like Montana and Illinois—even if they give the proverbial finger to the will of the people, and create horse slaughterhouses—they'll do so in violation of federal law. The slaughterhouses, themselves, will be illegal. It's already illegal for USDA inspectors to inspect the meat from said proposed slaughterhouses—this new law will make it illegal, period, to even build—never mind use—such a facility.
The bill will also dovetail with H.R. 503, and make it illegal to ship outside the country for slaughter.
This bill can get it done.
We know that President Obama will sign the bill once it's passed onto his desk. All we have to do—all we need do is contact our Representatives, and let them know that we want the bill to pass. Call/email/fax/carrier pigeon your Representative, and tell them that you're involved with Thoroughbred racing. Tell them that you're a fan, a hotwalker, the President of CDI. Whatever your role—we need your voice. We need three minutes of your time—that's all the time it takes to call your members of the Senate, and tell them that you want the slaughter stopped, once-and-for-all.
The link to the Animal Welfare Institute's press release will lead you to the link to your Representative.:
Three minutes of your time will help change the course of history.
Horse racing sits at a crossroads: we have myriad problems within the industry that must be fixed, immediately, if our sport is to continue into the 21st Century. We have to get healthy, then stay healthy.
There's a lot of bad PR out there. Some of it is justified. The majority of it is the result of hate campaigns by PETA and others who would deep-six our beloved sport simply because they don't understand it. They've created a culture of hatred: they benefit financially from the public's misunderstanding of the sport and of those of us who live, love and work in it.
Whether the criticisms are justified or not—it falls onto our withers to change the public perception of Thoroughbred racing. We are the ones who must do the work to show the world that Americans in horse racing are good people, people who weep when a horse breaks a leg and must be put down. We are the victims of the smear campaigns—so we must be the ones who clean up the mess.
And the only way—the only way—to clean up the reputation of horse racing before Triple Crown Season descends fully upon us—is to stand toe-to-toe with Madeleine Pickens, the Animal Welfare Institute, American Against Horse Slaughter, the Humane Society of the United States and all the other groups which are striving to save the lives of our horses. Madeleine Pickens and AAHS are horsepeople: the people who run AWI and HSUS are not—but we're all on the same page. (Interestingly enough—those last two groups are doing a better, more effective job at rallying people for the horses than others of us within Thoroughbred racing.)
If we're guilty of any sin here, it's the sin of omission. We go about our days knowing that Mrs. Pickens and those three groups are working on behalf of the horses. So we don't have to.
No more. Today is the day. Today is the day that you—we—I—must pick up the phone and make two calls. Two simple calls, to Ken Salazar on behalf of The 33,000, and to your US Representative in favor of the new anti-slaughter bill on the floor of the Senate.
Two calls that will change the future for all horses—wild, Thoroughbred and burros alike.
If we can't each commit to making two calls for the horses—then PETA is right. We don't care about anything but money. We don't care about horses. We care only about cash, baby, the Almighty Dollar.
But if PETA is wrong about us—speak up, for God's Sake. If we don't make those calls for the horses, if the Sanctuary doesn't come into being—and horse slaughter continues as an issue in the United States—then the Thoroughbred industry deserves to die.
Either we love horses and care about their welfare—or we don't.
If you care, act.
If you don't care—get another job, and make room for someone who does.
How morally bankrupt must be the soul of a person who works as a killerbuyer?
Or as a member of the Montana State Legislature?
Both these groups of people are on The Alpha Mare's Hit List this week, for both play a very active role in the torture and dismemberment of equines—and in the eventual distribution of horsemeat for consumption in Europe. Apparently both sleep very well at night, also, ThankYouVeryMuch.
Let's start with the most urgent bit, the covert and tres sneaky actions of those funloving Montanans. We'll report on our jaunt straight up to the Gates of Hell—a conversation with a killerbuyer—tomorrow. (We, the "royal we," that is, cantered into that vast wasteland…we called said killerbuyer at home, and had a chat. The hairs of my mane are still singed from the encounter. I can still taste the sulfur on my lips. But that journey will be the subject of tomorrow night's report.)
Tonight we must get your full attention onto a very serious subject—and get you to take action. ASAP.
This week, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer will sit, pen-in-hand, and either sign or not sign a bill that passed the Montana State Legislature in late February. Right under our noses, those tricky boys in cowboy hats gathered under their big sky and created a death warrant for horses.
The details:
"The (Montana State) Senate endorsed House Bill 418, which would allow a horse slaughter facility in the predominately rural state and offer it legal protection if someone challenges legality of the plant. The bill also requires anyone contesting the construction of the plant to post a bond equal to 20% of the estimated construction cost.
How appropriate is that last name? Hollywood couldn't contrive a more perfect moniker for a politician whose pockets are lined in horseblood, than "Ed Butcher." It's oh, so, Johnny Depp-esque.
And how insane is it that, anyone who contests the construction and legality of the plant will have to post a bond equal to 20% of the estimated construction cost? That's…Mafiosi. That's…corrupt. That's…RIGGED. That's…that's…the American way?: If you don't like the fact that they're running roughshod over the Law of the United States of America…they'll find a way to fine YOU for THEIR crime.
So I, The Alpha Mare, sitting here in New York, do hereby contest the construction of the slaughterhouse in Montana. Its construction is illegal on its face.
And I am hereby throwing down the gauntlet, and screaming, "GO AHEAD, BOYS. FINE ME. Charge me bond to the tune of 20% of the construction costs." (I'm Italian and Irish: I'm not afraid of bullies and lawbreakers—especially if the lawbreakers are those who took oaths to defend that very Law.)
I hope that the irony here is not lost on you: the very people who took oaths to defend the Law of the United States of America—are giving the proverbial finger to that very same Law. The USDA is not (legally) allowed to send inspectors to meat "processing" plants—read that, slaughterhouses—that kill horses. Ergo—there's that damned Greek logic again—ergo, the meat coming from a US horse slaughterhouse, such as is proposed for Montana—is illegal meat. Cannot be sold. Cannot be consumed, anywhere.
Flying in the face of that law regarding the USDA, the Montanans passed this bill, which they intend to pass into their own law, to build a building for the express purpose of slaughtering horses and other equines.
The fact that the USDA will not send inspectors to inspect the meat does not faze them, whatsoever.
The fact that, any meat sold or distributed sans USDA stamp of approval is therefore illegal meat—doesn't flutter an eyelash for them.
This bill, if passed by the single swipe of Governor Schweitzer's pen, will re-introduce horse slaughter into the United States.
We're still striving to get H.R. 503 passed (forbidding transportation out of the US for purposes of slaughter)—and now this comes along, seemingly out of left field.
There's no reason to believe that Governor Schweitzer won't sign the bill—after all, those boys in chaps (members of the Legislature, and the ranchers), write his paycheck every week. He has every reason to sign the bill—and not a single reason against.
Except, oh, you know—morals and the illegality of it all.
The excuses offered by the legislators for wanting a slaughterhouse built in Montana are the same old-same old: old and sick horses, etc. That the ranchers' livelihoods are threatened by the excess horses lying around. That unwanted horses are abused. Yada-yada-yada.
"If horses aren't slaughtered, where will all the unwanted horses go?
The annual number of horses slaughtered in the US dropped from over 300,000 in the 1990s to less than 66,000 in 2004, with no special infrastructure to absorb the thousands of “unwanted” horses that were not slaughtered. Horses are being kept longer, sold to others, humanely euthanized, or donated to retirement and rescue facilities. The “surplus horse population” is a myth."*
"Will banning horse slaughter mean more cases of horse abuse and neglect?
No. In fact, both the Hooved Animal Humane Society (HAHS) and the Illinois Department of Agriculture reported that during a year long closing of the only slaughter plant in the region due to fire, abuse cases actually decreased. California banned horse slaughter in 1998—since that time horse theft has dropped 34% and cruelty reports have not increased Texas, which had the only two slaughter plants in 2003, had among the nations highest rates of cruelty and theft that year. The existence of horse slaughter plants seems to be directly related to increased horse abuse and theft."**
Ah, then there's the argument put forth by the Montana politicians, themselves: that the slaughterhouse as proposed is actually good for the economy. Hmmmm. Since "the plant," as the euphemism has been tagged, is owned by a BELGIAN company: it will have no positive effect on the economy, at all.
"How will banning slaughter affect the economy?
The three existing slaughter plants are foreign owned, and pay no corporate taxes or export tariffs. The entire horse meat industry is only 0.001% the size of the U.S. meat industry, making it economically insignificant."***
Oh, yeah, and the jobs for those workers whose deadened souls slit the throats of horses in the bloodied halls of a slaughterhouse?
Yeah…they can get another job. These are not high-level jobs that require much experience or education. All you need do is learn how to blow out the brains of a horse, and not want to kill yourself for doing it.
I refuse to believe that, if a slaughterhouse isn't built—anyone's family will suffer. Follow this logic: I'm not being "cruel." This is me being utterly pragmatic:
a. The jobs weren't there in the first place—it's not that there was a slaughterhouse, then the mean old horselovers closed it up.
b. So: there WERE NO slaughterhouse jobs.
c. Ergo: no jobs were lost.
ERGO: this means, "THEREFORE": and this is basic Greek logical argumentation, folks: ergo—no one lost a job, and those who would work in "the plant" can find another job that doesn't require much experience, education or spiritual content.
If I sound harsh, it's because I have absolutely Had It. I have had it with selfishness and pure, unadulterated greed that runs the slaughter industry. The condemned souls who are trying to push slaughter back into America are not doing it because they give a tiny damn about the economy, or the people who make up their constituency. Of course they don't care about the horses, we know this. But they lie through their bonded teeth when they say that they're doing it for the people they represent.
If they cared one iota for the Montanans who need jobs—they'd CREATE jobs, jobs that would offer a future and some reason to live besides a paycheck. They'd take money from the General Fund, and create jobs that give people a reason to be content at the end of a hard workday, to know that they've done a good job and have contributed to society.
If the Montana politicians gave a damn about their constituents—they wouldn't pass bills that offer only jobs murdering horses, and deadening human souls. If they cared about people in their state—they wouldn't pour innocent blood all over the hands of the people whose credentials are minimal, who need low-level jobs because that's all they can do.
A slaughterhouse job isn't one of which one is proud, or that promises a future of advancement and self-esteem building. It's like being a hooker or drug dealer: no five-year-old child says, "Daddy, when I grow up, I want to slit horsies' throats and watch them exsanguinate."
In other words—the politicians in Montana are concerned only with lining their own pockets with the money of the Belgians who will own this plant.
Think about this:
I actually care more about the people who live and work in Montana than their own Representatives.
I care more about Montana obeying the Law of the United States—the Law that refuses to allow USDA inspectors to enter a horse slaugher plant in Montana—than cares the entire body of the State Legislature of Montana.
And that's a damned shame.
This week, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer will pick up a pen and either create something illegal, or he'll obey the Law of the United States.
The Law which he swore to uphold.
You must—I am not asking, I am saying that you must—pick up the phone first thing in the morning, and remind him that he swore before God and history to uphold and defend the Law of the United States. And that, if he signs this bill and allows the Belgians to create a slaughterhouse in Montana—he will, in a very real way, be breaking the Law of the United States. For if no meat can legally be inspected, then no meat can be sold.
And why would anyone build a slaughterhouse that cannot sell the meat? Does Governor Schweitzer really expect that the slaughterhouse will just keep murdering horses and letting the meat pile up and rot? If it moves out of the building—it's doing so illegally.
You might want to remind him of this…and let him know that, if he does this illegal act…we law-abiding citizens of the United States will be forced to take legal action against him, the State Legislature of Montana and the Belgians who will illegally process horsemeat.
These are the things that I'll say when I call Governor Schweitzer in the morning. If you have ever loved a horse, if you've ever made a dime working in the equine industry—I am begging you to call him, too. Don't let your emotion be your guide—he won't listen to this. But if we remind him of the illegality of the project and the implications thereof…we can stop this before slaughter sneaks back into our country.
Then we have "only" to concentrate on H.R. 503. Ahhhh, I had nothing else to do this week, anyway…
Governor Brian Schweitzer:
(406) 444-3111 (Phone)
(406) 444-5529 (FAX)
No Horse Left Behind: Ending Equicide, and a Conscientious Industry’s Campaign Thereto
Equicide's time is running out--if we care enough to act.
OK. Let's try this again.
"Ending Equicide, Take Two."
My head aches from banging it against the quarter-pole.
We at HRI have been striving to educate the racing community about horse slaughter—why it's wrong, and why it must end. We've written blogs and articles. We've talked every chance we get, to anyone who'll listen.
And yet…H.R. 6598 didn't get passed in Congress…because apparently the passion that we in Thoroughbred racing feel for our equine athletes hasn't trickled up to the sacred halls in D.C.
But, ah. We all have been given a Second Chance—that glorious gift of opportunity. The door is open; the time is now. The place is here.
The Conyers-Burton Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act, H.R. 503, is now on the floor.
H.R. 503 replaces H.R. 6598, which was tabled at the end of the last session.
The Act finally, once-and-for-all, will make it illegal to slaughter equines in the United States and to transport them out of the country for the purpose of slaughter.
Yes, this may dry up the slaughter business in Canada and Mexico.
But I don't give a damn.
And neither should you.
New year, new Congress. Bright, shiny new door open, for those of us who say that we love our horses—Thoroughbreds and other breeds, alike—to step up to the plate and DO SOMETHING about it.
I must ask: What is keeping you from picking up the phone, and calling your Congressperson, right now, to tell them that you want H.R. 503 passed?
Too busy?
It takes less than four minutes to make the call.
Don't know the number?
Go to the Humane Society of the United States' page for horse slaughter, and there's a link right there, in red. In ten seconds, you can find your Representative's phone number:
Don't care?
If you make money on this sport, in any way/shape/form—you have a moral obligation to make sure that H.R. 503 passes. If you're an owner, trainer, jock, breeder, security guard, auctioneer, exercise rider, groom, turf writer, magazine publisher, handicapper, bettor, administrator—any of a number of job descriptions in Thoroughbred racing—you have no right, whatsoever, to make money on the backs of these horses and then passively sit by while their throats are slit and they exsanguinate in a Mexican slaughterhouse.
If you're a fan, and you've never made a dime, but you just plain love the horses—you've probably already called Washington.
It disgusts and angers me to see so many people making so much money in this sport; knowing that our unified voice COULD defeat the Ag lobbyists and their lies—and yet knowing that so many in racing just plain don't give enough of a damn to make the call.
If you say you love horses and you don't call Congress—you're no higher up the food chain than those Ag lobbyists. And they're riding the rail all the way to the Seventh Circle of Hell. Their lie—that ending horse slaughter—will slippery-slope to the bovine and other meat industries—plays on the fear of the ranchers who make their living raising and slaughtering other species. The argument is false on its face, but irrational fear doesn't acknowledge reason or logic. As long as the Ag lobbyists have a fearful group of ranchers standing behind them—and no Thoroughbred people standing in FRONT of them—they'll win.
I'm not out to prevent anyone from eating hamburger or Chick Fil'a. I'm not trying to earn the moniker, The Baconatrix.
I want to stop horse slaughter. And I want to stop it NOW.
Every day that goes by—hundreds of horses are going to an unceremonious, evil, vicious, violent death. An undeserved death marked by unthinkable fear, followed by unimaginable pain.
We are all complicit in this horror show, if we don't join hearts, minds and voices and get that bill passed.
I don't want to hear the litany of crap, that there are too many "unwanted horses." We all know that the answer to "unwanted horses" is—STOP MAKING SO MANY OF THEM. And, if you absolutely MUST, just MUST, keep manufacturing horses—be a man. Be a woman. Accept the responsibility that's yours for that horse: acknowledge that you should make sure that that horse never—ever—"slips through the cracks." It's your job—your obligation—to assure that that horse is followed through its entire career, and that it retires gently and lovingly.
This is not to indict every breeder or owner--not at all. I know many b's and o's who love their horses, deeply and truly. They breed carefully and conservatively--and they care about the horses they make after the critters leave their care. Most attempt to follow the horse, and keep a caregiver's eye out as long as they can.
I don't even know how feasible it is to demand that breeders and owners follow their horses forever...I just know that to not even try...to just sell 'em and wave good-bye, "A,MF!"...is wrong. There must be some way of documenting and following a horse. It's not for nothing that their names are registered, and their lips tattooed. If we put our heads together--we can figure how to do it...our mantra must be, No Horse Left Behind.
But if you're not willing to take on that responsibility—which may be just a matter of filling out some paperwork—then shame on you. In a breeding industry that makes billions of dollars a year—yes, we know that breeders and owners can make BILLIONS—it is absolutely unconscionable of you to assert that you can't keep track of your horses throughout their lives. It really is just a matter of caring, and taking action. There must be a Big Plan out there, somewhere--and we owe it to our horses, and to our Karma, to find it.
So that's it. The HSUS link is there. Click the link. Go to their 'site. If you've not convinced that equine slaughter must be stopped—read the page. Then contact your Congressperson, and demand that H.R. 503 be passed THIS session, and made into law, ASAP.
Equicide—the slaughter of horses—must stop. The only reason anyone kills an "unwanted horse" is because there's money to be made. Not because they care about the horse potentially starving to death.
That's a filthy lie, and we all know it. Ag lobbyists, killer-buyers—we're on to you. We're out to get you. And—with the aid of every person in Thoroughbred racing and nothing short of the Congress of the United States of America—we will succeed.
Horses of the United States, take heart: the Cavalry is on the way.
