Posted by Jordan Schaul from Nat Geo‘s News Watch
Celebrity Friends of SFTHH Give It All for the Horses
Sia and Shane Barbi
Shane and Sia Barbi–the bodacious and perhaps outrageous, world famous pin-up girls from the 90′s–have pretty much given up show business. They never did take themselves seriously nor were they seeking a life of fame and wealth.
They are, however, well aware of the power of celebrity.
To know them they are quite shy, humble, and share a self-deprecating sense of humor that makes them most approachable, if you can find them. As reclusive and private as they are, they have dedicated their lives to animal welfare causes and anti-cruelty advocacy. In fact, that is all they do now.
Along with Shane’s husband, Ken Wahl, they have championed many animal causes and most recently teamed up with Willie Nelson to oppose lifting the ban on horse slaughter. To no avail the six-year-old ban was lifted last December.
personally remain neutral on the issue. As a strong advocate of zoos and zoo animal welfare, I’m aware that zoo animals are some of the largest consumers of horse meat. Hence, I defer to zoo nutritionists and veterinarians on appropriate meat sources for zoo carnivores (carnivorans) and raptors. Some zoos choose to feed horse meat and others have or are shifting to a beef diet.
The Barbi twins and I agree to disagree on a lot of issues, but I certainly commend them for doing their homework. They vehemently oppose horse slaughter on the grounds that horses weren’t bred for human consumption. I did not ask them to comment on zoo animal consumption of horse meat, but I pretty much know where they stand.
The Barbi twins assert that “horses were bred and domesticated to be companion animals like a dog or cat. They also served as working animals on farms, and provided transport for people. They also risked their lives in wartime.”
They are adamantly opposed to both slaughter and wild horse round-ups, considering both activities to be blatant forms of animal cruelty. Sia said that “The helicopter round-ups spook the horses so they end up badly injured or trampled to death. Pregnant horses may even abort foals in these stampedes. And the remaining horses often die from hunger, thirst, or overcrowding in holding pens.”
Shane added that “most importantly, we are vegans mostly because there is no such thing as humane slaughter–that is an oxymoron.”
Again, we agree to disagree, but I applaud them for their passion and ambition to really study the issues.
Today, they are more known for their activism then they are for their work in front of the camera, perhaps, drawing a whole new demographic of fans. Along with Willie Nelson, they continue to fight for horse welfare and support the equine and companion animal initiatives of the Animal Welfare Institute.
Shane and Sia are former equestrians, but they have given up the hobby to focus on equine welfare and rescue and other animal causes from wildlife issues to companion animal concerns.
Related articles
- Petition: Tell Interior Secretary to Dump Pro-Wild Horse Slaughter Appointee (rtfitchauthor.com)
- EWA and Angel Acres say “In Your Face” Horse Slaughter Supporting AQHA (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Animal’s Angels Investigates European Horse Meat Trade (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Chief Wyoming Horse-Eater Pawns Alleged Horse Slaughter Plant Off onto Missouri (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Update: Animal’s Angels Recent Horse Slaughter Auction Investigations (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Saving Horses from Slaughter: NH Boy Blogs, Testifies before Legislature about why Practice must be Halted (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Radical Wyoming Politician’s Horse Slaughter Plans Challenged in Missouri (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Illinois Politicians Try to Slaughter Horses, AGAIN! (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Congress Considering Ending Horse Slaughter Once And For All (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Poll Finds Big Ag Horse Slaughter Promotion Has Backfired (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Anti-Horse Group Stumbles in Attempt to Justify Horse Slaughter (rtfitchauthor.com)
- USDA Threatened with Suit if Court Order Not Followed Should Horse Slaughter Resume (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Bridget Bardow also is an avid Animal Activist. There is an excellent article about her in the March issue of Vanity Fair.
LikeLike
I didn’t know that zoos feed horse meat to their wild animals. ANOTHER DISGUSTING REASON TO SLAUGHTERING HORSES. Maybe this should be brought to bear to the American public. We might get lucky when all these people going to zoos rally behind us and tell the zoos “STOP FEEDING OUR HORSES TO YOUR WILD ANIMALS”. Feed the normal meat that we eat, cattle, to the zoo population. IF there attendees stopped coming to the zoo because they feed horse meat, they would soon change their choice of their feed. Of course, we would have to have them prove that they changed their choice. I agree with you R.T. and disagree with the Barbi twins on some of their choices as mentioned above, but at least they are on our side for the slaughtering of horses.
LikeLike
california state senator ,Barbara Boxer, is on board against horseslaughter! wooo-hoooo! everyone don’t forget to write/email your state senators and congressmen/women. thanks!
LikeLike
I too was under the impression that zoos no longer are feeding horse meat because of the cancer causing pharms given horses. Bo Derek was in Illinois for us and she was such an inspiration. She held private showings of the horse slaughter plants, the treatment of horses right up to their
death for our Legislators. Many of our celebs are right on board with the no slaughter issue. Many also have ranches and own their horses. The tide is turning. I pray every day we get this bill passed so that we have protection for our horses. Keep up the good work..and .let the Force of the Horse be with you all.
LikeLike