Racing’s Efforts to Grapple with Horse Slaughter not Enough, at least for now

by R.T. Fitch

by Daniel Ross as published on The Guardian

The US racing industry has stepped up its game significantly when it comes to re-homing its retired equine athletes in recent years, but there’s still plenty of work to be done

Ginerous Legacy (Harley) saved from slaughter and adopted by Terry and R.T. Fitch ~ photo by Terry Fitch

Dina Alborano rescues ex-racehorses bound for slaughter. A savvy social media operator, the New Jersey resident drums up donations through platforms like Facebook and Twitter, then purchases and plucks horses from ‘feed lots’ – facilities, also known as ‘kill lots’, where horses are penned before going to slaughter in Mexico or Canada. Through her horse rescue organization, she then endeavors to find these horses new homes.

Alborano’s efforts have recently received support from some of the most respected jockeys, trainers, owners and journalists in the industry. Some say that she has…

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Fleet of Angels Update: WE’RE PACKIN’ UP AND MOVIN’! | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

by Elaine Nash

“…we have transported most of the 313 remaining horses to Colorado to our beautiful new adoption hub in Fort Collins.”

After a two-month long stay in Faith, SD- 30 miles from the ISPMB location, Barbara Joe Rasmussen and I are heading to Fort Collins, Colorado today to join the Hallelujah Horses and our new crew there for the final phase of this massive mission.
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Fleet of Angels launched this mission on October 14, 2016 at the request of the SD State’s Attorney. We all dove in and worked like mad to set up a workable process, and as a result, we were able to adopt out over 270 of the 900+ at-risk ISPMB horses by December 22, 2016- the number that was allowed by the court order that was in place at that time.
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We continued working to recruit adopters through the holidays, assuming that more horses would need us as soon as the state’s legal maneuverings allowed it. We returned to the project on January 26, 2017 when a new court order was put in place that removed all but 20 of the 600+ horses from ISPMB ownership and turned them over to Fleet of Angels to care for, manage, and find good homes for. (We were not involved in the legal aspect, but had offered to be a safety net for the horses if the courts removed them from ISPMB, to prevent their being sold at auction and the likely slaughter of most of them. In order to save them, we- thanks to a group of incredible donors, reimbursed the counties over $150,000.00 to prevent their being auctioned on December 20, 2016.)
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Now, five and a half months later- with the help of a LOT of people and organizations, we have adopted out and transported a total of almost 600 horses to approved homes, and we have transported most of the 313 remaining horses to Colorado to our beautiful new adoption hub in Fort Collins. (Our two shippers will make one more trip this week, and then all of the remaining horses will be in Colorado.) Of the 313 still under our care, about 175 horses still need homes (IF all pending adopters who have committed to take from two to a herd of 75 horses come through).
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For the month of April, we will be working to get the remaining horses adopted and transported, with the goal being to finish this mission by the end of the month of April. PLEASE HELP US IF YOU CAN. We need adoptive homes for 175+ horses, and we need funds to cover the costs of feed, facility use, ground team workers, lodging for some of the workers, and transportation. Literally every dollar helps, and every penny is pinched. Our donation page is: www.ispmbhorserescuemission.org.
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Special thanks for helping us get this far, so far, to Neda DeMayo and Return to Freedom and the Wild Horse Sanctuary Alliance, Patricia Griffin-Soffel and the Patricia Griffin-Soffel Equine Rescue Foundation, ASPCA, Victoria McCullough and the Triumph Project, Lauri Elizabeth Armstrong and Chilly Pepper Miracle Mustang, Shirley Puga and the National Equine Resource Network, HSUS, and MANY OTHERS for helping us help these horses. Please help us finish this job, so every horse in this mission has a good, loving, lifetime home.

Teamwork works!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ISPMB.Adoptable.Horses/permalink/1283727228384737/

Source: Fleet of Angels Update: WE’RE PACKIN’ UP AND MOVIN’! | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

House Leadership Renews Push to Reinstate Horse Slaughter in US | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Source: Equine Welfare Alliance PR

Chicago (EWA)– EWA has learned that Mr. Douglas A. Glenn, Director, Office of Financial Management, Department of the Interior, has notified his department in a letter dated 22 February, that the GAO (Government Accountability Office) has been tasked to study any changes in the state of equine welfare in the US from 2010 to the present.

The request to the GAO was made by the Chair of the House Agriculture Committee and the Chair of House Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration.

Attached to the letter was a statement of the scope of the work to be performed, including addressing four questions:

What is known about changes and trends in the U.S. horse market since 2010?
What impact, if any, has the prohibition on USDA funding for horse slaughter inspection had on horse welfare and on states, local governments and Indian tribes?
What is known about the number of abandoned and unwanted horses in the U.S. and associated environmental impacts?
What is the current capacity of animal welfare organizations and shelters to accept and care for unwanted and abandoned horses?

Source: House Leadership Renews Push to Reinstate Horse Slaughter in US | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

FOUR ISPMB ‘HALLELUJAH HORSES*’ HEADING FOR FULL CELEB STATUS | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

by Elaine Nash as published on FaceBook

Animal Planet Here We Come

As I posted earlier, we saw 10 mares off on their several-month long journey to Alaska yesterday. Six of them will be going to the Chena Hot Springs Resort near Fairbanks. The other four have an even more exciting life ahead of them because they have been adopted by Dr. Dee Thornell, who’s featured as ‘Dr. Dee’ on the Animal Planet show, Alaska Vet. In addition to being a celebrity vet who flies to remote Alaskan villages to help animals of just about every sort, she is a horse driving enthusiast and well known national competitor. Dr. Dee asked me to select four big, beautiful bay mares from our herds for her, so they can be trained to become a competitive four-in-hand team. She hopes to show people all over the world that mustangs are very versatile, athletic, fast, and fun to show off!

Before heading north, the four big bay mares (real beauties!) will join the Chena Hot Springs Resort horses in WY for needed care, gentling, and training (and probably foaling) before heading up the AlCan highway this spring or summer to their new home with Dr. Dee!

CONGRATULATIONS, LADIES!
We’ll look forward to seeing you four on TV and cheering for Dr. Dee’s Hallelujah Horses!

Previous episodes of Alaska Vet can be seen at http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/dr-dee-alaska-vet/.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ISPMB.Adoptable.Horses/

WE STILL NEED LOTS OF HELP to get the rest of these horses cared for, placed, and transported by March 26th, our deadline. Still many horses to get out of there! Here’s how you can help:

DONATE: www.ISPMBHorseRescueMission.org

ADOPT:
Lots of nice, healthy horses still available. We also need adopters for dozens of BLIND HORSES, SENIOR HORSES, and STALLIONS (If adopting stallions, ask about the gelding subsity of $100. provided by the National Equine Rescue Network.)
https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdXEVFZhWzY6qKuPr…/viewform

TRANSPORT:
We need as many adopters as possible to arrange for and transport your own horses. Time is of the essence at this point, and there’s not time nor manpower to arrange for a lot of individual Fleet of Angels transports for you at this point.

We also need teams of drivers who have large trailers (40′-ish) that are capable of hauling 15-20 horses at once, and who can take load after load until the end of the month.

*Hallelujah Horses is the nickname given by Fleet of Angels to the 810 horses impounded and seized from ISPMB (Int’l Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros) in South Dakota. Fleet of Angels was given custody of all the horses, so each horse could be properly evaluated, treated and cared for, adopted, and transported to a safe new home. www.FleetOfAngels.org

Source: FOUR ISPMB ‘HALLELUJAH HORSES*’ HEADING FOR FULL CELEB STATUS | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Feel Good Sunday: Short & Sweet, in more ways than one | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

“We have a brief but funny one for you on this day of rest, folks. Nothing will give you the chuckles over your morning coffee or Bloody Mary like a herd of wild minis’ stampeding through a barn with a dog in the lead, ya just gotta luv it!

Have a great day with family and friends, be they two legged or four, and we will jump back into the fray in the morning. Keep the faith.” ~ R.T.

Source: Feel Good Sunday: Short & Sweet, in more ways than one | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

‘Skin Trade’ Donkeys ‘Waiting to Die’ at ‘Horrific’ Markets | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

by Rachael Turner as published on Horse and Hound

“There’s about 700 donkeys coming here to wait to die. There’s no food, there’s no water…”

The ‘horrific’ conditions facing donkeys in markets in Tanzania have been highlighted by welfare groups.

The Donkey Sanctuary’s Alex Mayers and Thomas Kahema, founder of The Tanzanian Animal Welfare Society, recently visited a donkey market in Tanzania believed to be serving the skin trade.

Read the entire article at the Source: ‘Skin Trade’ Donkeys ‘Waiting to Die’ at ‘Horrific’ Markets | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Feel Good Sunday: Rescued Donkey Acts Like A Puppy

“Okay, time out, folks. It’s Sunday and all of us deserve a few moments of quiet reflection, a hug, a smile and perhaps even a big smooch. We can ramp back up for the fight tomorrow morning but for now hug each other and above all, scratch the forehead or backside of your four legged […]

via Feel Good Sunday: Rescued Donkey Acts Like A Puppy — Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Bureau of Land Management glosses over coverup of 213 wild horse deaths on the Scott City, Kansas, feedlot

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Photos of wild mares at Teterville (photo: Carol Walker)

By Debbie Coffey, V.P. and Dir. of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation

After no news for 2 years by BLM on their promised investigation and report to the public on the deaths of wild horses at Scott City, KS, after our 2/2/17 report titled “196 wild horses died at BLM’s Scott City feedlot (a BLM Auschwitz for wild horses),” the BLM was suddenly able to muster up a little something for the public on the Wild Horse & Burro Program website in only about a week.

It popped up under “news” and it seems the BLM was careful to not mention deaths or draw too much attention to the issue at hand in the headline, by titling their “news” “Status of Off Range Corral in Scott City, KS.”

In fact, buried at the end of the 3rd paragraph, the BLM (with more current information) finally stated that 213 mares died (out of the 1,493 wild mares) between June 2014 and October, 2016.

So, about 14% of the wild horses that the BLM shipped to that feedlot, died on that feedlot.

It seems that in the very little offered as a “news” report to the public, the BLM tried to cover up their actions (and more importantly, their lack of action), resulting in the deaths of so many wild horses.

In BLM’s “news” version (HERE) of what happened to wild horses on the Scott City feedlot, they cited “crowding at the feed bunks most likely resulting in some horses not receiving the protein and energy required to support their needs. The BLM made adjustments and the animals began to acclimate and show improvements in their overall health, which resulted in a dramatic decrease in the monthly mortality rate. “

SO WHY DID SO MANY WILD HORSES DIE BEFORE THE “ADJUSTMENTS” WERE MADE? In an August 2014 article on EquiMed, USDA veterinarian Dr. Al Kane stated “in addition to increasing the amount of feed being offered during feedings, we’ve worked with the onsite veterinarian and the operator to increase the energy density of the horses’ feed by increasing the ratio of alfalfa to grass in the hay mix. This helps support the horses’ nutritional needs during the transition from open-pasture to the corral environment”..

WHY WASN’T THE CORRECT FEED PLANNED BEFORE THE WILD HORSES ARRIVED AT THIS FEEDLOT? The BLM has been “managing” wild horses for about 45 years and still can’t get it right.

The BLM still didn’t inform the public that 87 of the 196 wild horses were euthanized, or that 41 wild horses died of colic or that 14 wild horses died of fractures of the spinal cord (neck and back) and 6 horses died of leg or pelvis fractures. The BLM’s version of the “news” didn’t mention the wind storms that were noted by the local veterinarian in his reports to them, or the many cases of sand colic suffered by the wild horses, or the fact that a squeeze chute wasn’t brought to the feedlot until almost 2 months after the horses arrived.

Note that the BLM’s “news” did not provide you with the name of the contractor for the Teterville Off Range Pasture (ORP) in Kansas. (And, also note that the BLM doesn’t disclose the names of ALL of the ORP contractors for the public anywhere on the Wild Horse & Burro Program website.)

While omitting so many important facts for the public in their “news,” the BLM managed to hone in on a couple of mistakes in our article. We corrected these immediately. However, we didn’t kill 213 wild horses and the BLM can’t “undo” what they did.

The real issue is that 213 wild horses (that we know of), died on this feedlot, no matter what the time frame, and the BLM didn’t issue a promised report to the public until now.

If the BLM would give more information to the public, there would be no mistakes. We request that the BLM, in the spirit of transparency, post the spreadsheet containing the freezemark numbers of the horses that died, the dates of deaths and causes of death, and all of the veterinary, necropsy and blood pathology reports of the Scott City wild mares on the Wild Horse & Burro Program website.

We can only hope the BLM will apply some focus to noticing and correcting their mistakes in their own statistics and data, and in their management of the Wild Horse & Burro Program.

Source: BLM glosses over coverup of 213 wild horse deaths on the Scott City, KS, feedlot | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

People Are Killing Millions Of Donkeys Just For Their Skins

Warning: Graphic Content – What they’re used for is such a waste

For centuries, in rural cultures across the globe, one animal has been an important part of the family, helping to keep farms and villages running.

Not only do millions of people depend on donkeys for practical purposes — many donkeys are seen more and more as smart and loyal pets.

But this friendship between people and donkeys is increasingly threatened by a growing trade in something you’ve probably never even heard of: “ejiao,” (also known as “colla corii asini” or “donkey hide glue”) a kind of gelatin made from donkey skin — and demand for ejiao is killing literally millions of donkeys per year.

A new report from The Donkey Sanctuary in the U.K. shows just how massive this emerging global trade really is. At least 1.8 million donkey skins are being traded each year — but it could be between 4 million and 10 million. The trade is difficult to track and until now hasn’t been studied at such a large scale.

“Our report reveals the shocking scale of this global trade and how it’s causing a chain of welfare issues for the donkeys at every step, from sourcing to transport and finally to slaughter,” Mike Baker, chief executive of The Donkey Sanctuary, told The Dodo in a statement.

“Ejiao is a medicine with ancient roots and has been promoted as a product worthy of emperors,” the report says, explaining that traditional herbalists in China claim that ejiao can increase libido, slow aging and prevent disease. But ejiao has not been recognized as having medicinal properties by western medicine.

This belief means that donkeys are becoming more valuable for their skins, and therefore harder for rural families to afford. Even the loyal donkeys families already have are at risk. It is becoming more common for donkeys to be stolen right out of a family’s yard and slaughtered for their skins.

While exports of donkey skins come from South America and Asia, the largest source is in Africa, where donkeys (many of them stolen) are rounded up in “donkey markets,” where they are often packed together and left without shelter from the hot sun and without food or water, while they await slaughter.

Often, after the skins are removed, the bodies of the donkeys are burned.

“The market is far worse than I expected,” said Alex Mayers, program manager at The Donkey Sanctuary, from a donkey market in Tanzania last week. “There are about 700 donkeys basically coming here to wait to die. There’s no food or water. The donkeys are very stressed. There are lots of signs of dehydration and hunger.”

But there is hope.

Some countries have already taken action and banned exports of donkey skins, making their donkeys much safer. This includes the African countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, and Pakistan, in Asia.

The Donkey Sanctuary is calling for a stop to the trade of donkey skins worldwide, so that the damage already done to donkey populations and the people who depend on them can be assessed.

“In particular, we urge other countries affected by this trade to follow the lead taken by Burkina Faso and Niger and ban the slaughter and export of donkeys for their skins,” Suzi Cretney, public relations manager for The Donkey Sanctuary, told The Dodo.

Cretney said that raising public awareness about where ejiao really comes from could help consumers make better choices.

“We are asking countries to follow the lead by Burkina Faso and Niger to end the slaughter and export of donkeys for their skins because it could help thousands, if not millions of donkeys — their welfare, and their real value supporting people’s livelihoods is at risk,” Baker said.

“This has to stop,” Mayers said, standing by a pen packed with donkeys awaiting their fate. “This absolutely just has to stop.”

To get action alerts about how you can help save these donkeys, join the campaign.

Click (HERE) for video and graphic photos!

https://www.thedodo.com/donkey-skin-trade-2230693220.html

Source: People Are Killing Millions Of Donkeys Just For Their Skins | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Feel Good Sunday: Clydesdales Help Purina Deliver Surprise to Horse Shelter in Need

Source: Purina Mills TV

“Annually, many Americans wait to see the ultimate and final “Big Game” of the year which just concluded in our own backyard, here, in Houston. But also there are many who may not be football fans but annually look forward to the next installation of the heart tugging, mini-sagas put forth by Budweiser featuring the gentle giants of the equine world, the Clydesdales. This year, the fans of horses were disappointed when Budweiser benched the ponies and went a totally different direction and suffered poor reviews on their attempt to document immigration history. The result was a lose/lose on both-sides with Bud slipping in the ratings and the Clydesdales fans left without a horse fix, so we are here to help correct that oversight, today.

We issue a “tissue alert” in advance and would also like to add that we are not endorsing any one horse rescue but instead tipping our hats to all of the fine organizations out there filled with good folks who donate their time, their money and their lives to the effort of finding good forever homes and futures for equines in need. There is no need to identify them as you already know who you are and we love each and everyone of you bright points of compassion, caring and love. May you have a wonderful ‘Feel Good Sunday’ and never give up the good fight. Keep the faith!” ~ R.T.