Excerpt from the book Straight from the Horse’s Heartby R.T. Fitch
The Stroke of a Legislative Pen stood between her Life and her Death
“On 9/21/2007 the bloody, preditory Illinois horse slaughter plant, Cavel, was shut down as outlined by Vicki Tobin in the previous submission. It was such a moving moment that I sat down, on that day, and penned the following story which is now included in our book, Straight from the Horses Heart: A Spiritual Ride through Love, Loss and Hope. It brings me to tears to read the story, even today, when I think of the hundreds of thousands of horses that have been sent across our borders to suffer unimaginable terror and suffering since the closing of the U.S. plants. And on the other side of the bloody coin it incites in me great anger to see the likes of Sue Wallis and Dave Duquette flood the internet with lies, deceit and corruption in an effort only to make money from the flesh and blood of our equine companions. Please, help us keep our American horses alive and well.” ~ R.T.
She stood in a dimly lit, narrow alleyway with just four other horses ahead of her. She was the last one in line followed only by a mean spirited human that prodded her with a stick every time a horse at the front of the line was pushed through the doors ahead. The doors simply snapped open and the crowded horse would leap forward to escape. Instantly, they slammed shut followed by not only mechanical and unknown sounds but by the soul rendering screams of horses in agony. She had no way of knowing where she was.
As the poking and prodding grew more intense and the screams grew ever closer she had no way of knowing that for years people across the nation and around the world were sweating blood and crying tears to prevent her from being pressed against those very same doors.
She had no way of knowing, as she was forced through the doors and into the confining chute, that only a pen and a piece of paper stood between her life and her death.
When the captive bolt gun hit her forehead and she spastically crumpled to the floor, while her bladder emptied, she had no way of knowing that the humans around the chute were enjoying this last kill. They resented her life and her very essence.
As the chain from the overhead winch was wrapped around her left rear hoof and she was brutally hoisted into the air, she had no way of knowing that people would be celebrating this day as a happy, triumphant occurrence.
While the knife cleanly yet cruelly slit her throat and her own warm blood ran down her face and into her dilated nostrils, she had no way of knowing that the event of her death would be documented, cherished, and revered for all time. The senseless killing was over.
And finally, as her spirit unwillingly was wrenched from her butchered and mutilated body, she had no way of knowing that she was truly, the last one…the last horse to be killed in the US for human consumption in lands far, far, away. She was the last one to suffer, the last one to die, the last one to cry out, and the last one to be lost.
She had no way of knowing….
Related articles
- Senator Baucus Dons his Horse Slaughter Suicide Vest (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- For Horse Lovers Everywhere: The Truth About Horse Slaughter (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Critical Week In Stopping the Flow of Cross Border Horse Slaughter (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Horse slaughter: Schakowsky, Dan Burton Bill to Save American Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- The True Unintended Consequences of Horse Slaughter (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Dirty Little Secret: Canada’s Horse Slaughter Industry Under Fire (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- GAO Follows Horse Slaughter Lobby Down the Rabbit Hole (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Equine Advocacy Blog Hits 1 Million Viewer Milestone (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, The Force of the Horse
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
And while we cheered the closing of Cavel, little did we know there was hiding in the legislation so hard fought for a gaping hole allowing the transport of our horses across borders to meet immeasurable cruelty in their deaths.
We cannot allow another loophole…
LikeLike
So many of our Congressmen have been bought off it’s a disgrace but good will prevail and the truth will be told.
LikeLike
This was very well written. It made me cry. For her and for all before and after her. ALSO for every COW that FEELS THE EXACT SAME WAY. And for every PIG THAT FEELS THE EXACT SAME WAY. And for EVERY CHICKEN and EVERY TURKEY and for EVERY DUCK and EVERY LIVING ANIMAL THAT FEELS THE EXACT SAME WAY. If it is wrong, and it is, to do this to horses and dogs and cats because they fell fear and pain just like you and your children, then it is wrong to do it to any other living being. It does not get any more simple than that.
LikeLike
YES
LikeLike
Let her death truly be the last horse and let us get those laws passed so that somewhere their will be the last horse transported across borders. We owe it to her and all her brothers and sisters.
LikeLike
I agree with MagicLady6698 ” We cannot allow another loophole” We must stop the transportation of horses outside the U.S. for human consumption. Once and for all. Stop the over breeding. Force the Racing industry to be respnsible.
LikeLike
It sounds very much like the close of Europe to North American horse meat is coming…The EU has medical papers released on health related issues especially with children..related to the chemicals in the supposedly inspected meats being sold for consumption…I myself am relying heavily on those findings..We cannot expect our governments to do anything for the horses..but with no market..it will be done by the ones who are seeing that we were rite all along..Bute is cancerous…Let alone what effects the other vet drugs are in some of those horses meat..Sadly it’s their innocent children who are paying the price for greed…EH??
LikeLike
I hope you are right Jim. I have shared this with a friend in Germany, who also has friends in Belgium. Unfortunately, no we cannot expect our government to do the right thing, only the drying up of a market for this horror will end it.
My rep. in Congress has one of the worst records on anything to do with animal welfare of any king, but with 89% of Californians against HS I think maybe I have a chance to get his attention. I have requested a meeting with his staff assistant. I think in additional to calling, emailing and faxing, this is going to take personal visits to our representatives. I am willing to do whatever I have to. Like so many, many I am sick of the nightmares our horses are subjected so Sue Wallis and her ilk can make money.
LikeLike
I hope you are right Jim. We cannot depend on the government to do to the right thing, but if the market dries up people like SSue will have to find other ways to line their pockets. My rep in the House has one of the worst records on any sort of animal rights issues, domestic or wild, but I have requested a meeting with his District office here in CA. With 89% of Californians against HS, I think he is going to have to start paying attention. I have no clue what has happened to Barbara Boxer, and have requested a meeting with her office here in San Diego. Dianne Feinstein co-sponsored the Senate bill on July 22nd.
In addition to calling, emailing and faxing, I think we need to start visiting the district offices and make their staff actually look at what is going on.
LikeLike
Ohhh!!! The tears won’t stop flowing for these wonderful, gentle giants. I pray that there will come a time when All of our animals will have a quicker, kinder and more humane ending to life! (sigh)
LikeLike
For Canadians reading this please remember to keep contacting your MPs to voice your opposition to horse slaughter in Canada and ask them to support any new bills that might be presented in Parliament this Fall which I’m pretty sure will happen….
LikeLike
I love this story, but even as we celebrate the end of horse slaughter in the US, remember that there are still horses being butchered ILEGALLY in Florida by ruthless bottom feeders to sell on the black market. Mares led from stalls and butchered while a foal watches, orphaned and helpless; horses stolen from pastures and paddocks and butchered, with their carcasses left for the traumatized owners to find; and yes, those sold at auctions only to be hauled in suffering to Mexico and Canado to die in agony in their slaughter houses. Let’s celebrate, yet steel ourselves for more of the fight. Never give up. Never forget. Never stop working until this horrible business is gone from our horses.
LikeLike
@Marian..there always has been a quicker end for our old and beyond hope friends..Sadly the D**** vets are in it for profit also..I will never begrudge anyone for making a living…But when we had to say goodbye to the wife’s Appy last fall..with the vet(300$) and the neighbours backhoe (180$)…it didn’t leave much room for grieving after the cheques were wrote after the deed was done..I usually don’t lose my temper..but that hurt just about as much as losing the horse..there should become compassion with them vets..She only made about 1000$ trying to save him..And he had to suffer for about 2months trying to get the hoof to heal..and it actually was a broken cofin bone also..I know of others who always ship the injured..I could never do that..but for lots of others it is the cheap way out of having to deal with vets, etc….@ Andalvin..You got it..I’m constantly sending clips to my MP and MLA…it’s as provincial as it is Federal..The province gets the tax spinoffs also..and can say not in our province…Good time to be emailing these new Priemer candidates …Could never expect them farmers to do anything about it but may the new guy has a different outlook..EH??
LikeLike
such a great story, although one paragraph was all I could read because of the tears. you can tell someone what goes on in these places, or what happens to a cow or a pig or a chicken, and they always say, I had no idea it was like this. well everyone needs to know! bless all the animals…
LikeLike
The tears we have all shed because of the Slaughter Issue could fill a ocean , it has no place in this day, the way to stop it is right in front of us, if they cannot move horses through State Borders, this is the way to stop it forever…….. This word needs also to be removed from our Dictionary’s and our vocabulary, it should have been abolished long ago , we have the ways and means to stop it now ………………..it s a heartless , disgusting entity that should have been thrown to the wayside with education…….. no civilized Nation should ever accept this, There is no need for this kind of barbaric torture of any thing that breathes…………………………..
LikeLike
EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THIS…. Knowing the truth is often a deeply moving and emotional experience. Hopefully it will cause something in us to stir and take action to help save the less fortunate than ourselves. As with many of the other articles and posts here, I wept my way thru the story, praying that some how, some way we can make a difference to save the other horses from such unspeakable brutality. It MUST be STOPPED – whether here across the borders!
LikeLike
Ok…oK…so All these days, this story has
sat…in continual-motion…sliding up &
down, as emails above & below it were read
& deleted or moved….I Could NOT Read it..
again ! Yet, it refused to “disappear”
on its Own…& I could Not Delte Her !
See, I’ve READ your book…@ least 3 times;
I Know…Her story…. Then, this morning,
There it Still Stared @ me 😦
& so, I Read….& I knew…& You Said, it
was the Same. And yet…through my
New tears….I kept Hoping….hoping,
Somehow….THIS Time?—that pen & paper
Would SAVE Her…this agony, before the
Last moment !?
And I would ….! CHEER !
But….of course, It Did NOT…cannot…& I
Cry for Her & All her kind….all the more!
& I’m glad…that you republished Her story:
& I Knew, that I’d eventually Have to read
it—-BECAUSE, She simply Must…..Remain
the LAST one !! @ least, the Last 1 HERE,
in our “civilized” country…of “plenty”.
….So, NOW—before my tears are dry;
before I Delete this….I will Forward it.
TO our newest Senator, who took the Seat
(But never the Place) of late Great Horse-
friend…the Honorable Senator Robert Byrd!
I’ll Send it to Senator Manchin…although
I know, that He, too already has your Book.
…& He can Decide, too….IF he can read
about Her…again .
She will Be there….to Remind him, as well
….Her Screams must be The LAST. 😦
LikeLike
Retweeted today ! 😉
..& tried not to Reread..re-Cry..but Did anyway, of course :((
1 on Laura’s blog had great new Gandi quote:
“An Error does not become Truth by multiplied Propogation,
Nor does Truth become error…because nobody Sees it”
LikeLike