Horses on the Hill
Over the years I have received a multitude of emails asking what can be done to halt the slaughter of the symbol of our national heritage, the American Horse. Often I have felt helpless in offering no more than a simple letter to the appropriate Representative in Washington. Even the production and publication of our book, “Straight from the Horse’s Heart ” often feels as if we have fallen short of hitting the mark and stopping the madness.
But now there is something that you can do, action that you can take…
Equestrians and equine advocates from across the country will descend upon Washington, D.C. on Tuesday July 14, to pressure Congress to end horse slaughter once and for all. For way too long, America’s horses have fallen victim to this brutal, foreign driven and predatory embarrassment.
Though no horse slaughter plants are currently operating in the U.S., the lack of a strong federal bill prohibiting their transportation to slaughter allows more than 100,000 healthy, sound and adoptable horses to be hauled over our boundaries to Canada and Mexico each year, where they are brutally butchered. Their meat is then shipped to Europe and Asia as a delicacy for human consumption. And as I type, state governments are researching and contriving ways to bring bloody horse killing into their states, Montana has already cleared the way.
It’s time for this cruel madness to stop!!
Join leading equine advocates, veterinarians, trainers, riders, owners and artists from around the United States as we unite to end this brutal, murderous trade for good.
Horses on the Hill – 2009
Please mark your calendar and join us (Terry and I will be there) in Washington, DC on July 14th to meet with your legislators and show your support for America’s horses and the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/S. 727). The last Horses on the Hill was a huge success, let’s make this one even bigger and better!As plans unfold for the daylong event you can start right now by signing up to attend. Please send an email to blair@awionline.org telling us if you plan on attending. Feel free to email if you have any questions.
Then follow these steps:
- Visit AWI’s Compassion Index to find your US Representative and two US Senators. Enter your zip code and hit go.
- Call their offices and ask to speak with their animal staffer, let them know you are a constituent. Schedule a meeting on July 14th between 10 am and 4 pm. You will be scheduling a total of three meetings (one in US House, two in US Senate). You can ask to meet with your legislator, as well, but meeting with the animal staffer is very beneficial. Questions about calling Capitol Hill? Click here.
- After you set your meetings, come back to AWI’s Compassion Index and fill out the form with your meeting information. This will help us both coordinate your meetings and follow up after you leave. We will provide specific information (brochures, fact sheets, etc…) that will help in your meetings.
- Send this email to everyone you know and ask them to join us in Washington, DC on July 14th for America’s horses.
- Make your travel plans to join us on Capitol Hill. DC is a great summer destination. There are lots of things to do.
If you have any questions please email Blair at blair@awionline.org. We look forward to seeing you all on July 14th. Be sure to bookmark http://www.horsesonthehill.org and check back often for updates and new information.
www.horsesonthehill.org www.awionline.org www.hsus.org
I have decided to put my money where my mouth is and attend this initiative…and if you knew me, and the size of my mouth, that is one TREMENDOUS commitment. Please join my wife, Terry, and myself in D.C. on the 17th and let’s put this issue to bed one last and final time. I made a promise to an old Equine friend to “tell the story”, maybe now is the time to “make it happen”.
See you soon.
R.T.
R.T. Fitch
Author – “Straight from the Horse’s Heart”
The Force of the Horse®, LLC
1-800-974-FOTH
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Categories: Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I too abhor the slaughter of horses, but what is the alternative in America where too many people keep breeding too many horses?
When the horses are not slaughtered in the states, they are often times shipped to Mexico for even worse treatment or people are just dumping horses on public land where they may or may not be able to survive.
It is a terrible problem.
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Thanks for the comment, Marla…but the answer is really a no-brainer…responsible breeding and educating the American public that slaughter is NOT an option. We do not slaughter our cats and dogs to be a delicacy overseas and should not treat our companion horses in the same manner.
The pro-slaughter people want you to believe that this is an avenue to “take care of” old and, this really pisses me off, “unwanted” horses. (there are no unwanted horses only irresponsible owners) But in reality the brutal, overseas slaughter houses want only healthy, young and viable horses. Kill buyers don’t buy the old, weak and infirm.
How do we release a very sick and old dog or cat, we put them to sleep with respect and dignity. This, likewise, is how we assist horses over the bridge. We do not send them to a slaughter house where a captive bolt gun only stuns then while they are skinned alive or to Mexico where they are stabbed, continually, in the withers with a knife until their spinal cords are severed and they too are skinned alive. Is that a solution…I think not.
Education and a serious dose of reality is the answer but while the pro-slaughter horse killers continue to spread their lies across the country the advocates of those who cannot speak for themselves will be in Washington on the 14th.
Please join us, it is the beginning of the end of the blood bath and a time for all of us to make peace with our souls.
Hope to see you there.
R.T.
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