This is my own personal opinion. Disagree if you choose. Do I have all the answers? Nope! Do I have the perfect solution? No I do not.
Here's what I see. Some rescue groups do good things. They rescue what look to be potentially suitable horses, rehab them, vet them, retrain, and find them good homes. That's great! Some are participating in things I don't quite understand. We've banned slaughter. It's currently "bad news" to slaughter a horse for someone in another country to eat it. Okay, fine enough. That means OwnerQ, who can no longer feed PonyM, is stuck with an animal they don't want. Animal Control and the FuglyPatrol pop in, call OwnerQ all kinds of names, and demand they surrender PonyM. PonyM gets fat at MiracleRescue, and all things are happy in the world. Great.. wonderful things being done.
Things get dicey, in my opinion, when we get OwnerX, who's bred a baby they can't care for. BabyD has a genetic deformation, born with a crooked leg, a bent up neck, malformed jaw, etc. BabyD doesn't have much hope of being more than a pasture ornament. What is OwnerX to do? Euthanize the critter? Wait, while they're trying to decide, here comes Animal Control and the FuglyPatrol again. Calling OwnerX all kinds of names, cursing, being generally obscene and obnoxious. MiracleRescue walks in the gate, and pOOf! There goes BabyD.
BabyD's picture pops up all over the internet, mostly in a request for fundages. MiracleRescue wants to "fix BabyD", but they need your help. That's it, ladies and gentlemen, dip in your wallets, hundreds are appreciated thanks. BabyD gets the food she needs, and MiracleRescue finds a way to turn her into a suitable ... Um... Grass mower.
BabyD is now advertised for adoption. That's right, folks! Now, today, for only $1000, you can own BabyD! She'll be a great addition to your farm, mowing the grass, and staring at you through the fence, nickering and screaming at you to be fed, trimmed, and vetted. What can you do with BabyD? You can give her food! And cookies! And comb her pretty mane, just do it gently, or her neck will hurt and she'll kick you into next week.
Meanwhile, PonyM sits in the field, wondering where his new Mommy is, because he used to carry little kids around. But MiracleRescue wants $2000 for PonyM, and you can't afford that up front. You can afford BabyD at $1000, but you can't spring for $2000 for PonyM from MiracleRescue. Why does MiracleRescue want so much for PonyM? They need the cash so they can go rescue more BabyDs.
I see a problem with this, obviously. Horses that could have a great life with a job, and a family to love and exercise them stand aside, waiting their turn, while horses that can't be ridden safely are promoted. I wish MiracleRescues spent more time on the PonyMs, and found them a good exercise rider, and humanely euthanized BabyD. Yup, I know, I'm a horrible murderer, and should be burned and beaten. Somehow, I suspect there are PonyMs all over the country, being euthanized by OwnerQs, that don't know what else to do.
I will now allow the flame throwing, and arguing to begin. I haven't done much blogging to this level of controversy, so I can only suspect what will happen. There are enough tag keywords here, I can just guess what crowd I'll assemble to attack me. Let the games begin...
3 comments:
I'll be your huckleberry. Which is more noble? A) mercifully put down an animal who is suffering and has little to no chance of a pain-free, healthy life, or B) beg, borrow or steal funds from every source possible to give an animal a slim chance at a miserable life eventually bankrupting or numbing your supporters into ignoring.
Now, go blog about gun control, abortion, Medicare and social security to complete your conversion to the dark side of the force. Nothing like a controversy hand grenade to liven things up.
Thanks, K. Mister Lawyer in training.. Congratulations again, sir!
You know I think you have a good point there. There are a lot of good horses out there and a lot of horses that will never really be worth anything. Some with great personalities that should be rescued, others that just are not worth it.
My Zorro was essentially a rescue horse, a 3 month old baby that was race bred and double appendix, so could not be registered AQHA and I show him very successful at local/regional level. And I love him to death, he is 6 years old now and a great all around horse, showing everything from western pleasure, to english, to showmanship. But I didn't get him from a horse rescue, essentially got him from the breeder.
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