Kenders' Musings

With the tragic (and completely unforeseeable) death of the champion filly Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby on the backside after the race last weekend PETA called for all kinds of crazy and untenable changes in the horse racing industry. Well and good. I fully expect PETA to go hysterical every time a horse breaks down in a big race, it's what they do. Nevermind the fact that one of PETA's points was "You shouldn't run the girls against the boys", where were they when plans were laid to run Eight Belles in the Derby? If they're gonna bitch about things like that, maybe they'd appear more sincere if they actually complained beforehand.

What really galls me about PETA (funny related story at the end of this rant) is that they have not said one damned word that I can find over this story.

Even more details here.

The HSUS Offers Reward In Shenango Township, Pa. Pony's Dragging Death

The Humane Society of the United States is offering a reward up to $2,500 for information leading to the identification, arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for dragging a blind 10-year-old pony to death April 30 in Shenango Township.

Mercer County Humane Society officers give the following account: On Apr. 30, Tory Morgan found the mangled remains of her pony, Kahlua, on her Shenango Township property. Officers believe the pony was roped to an all-terrain vehicle and dragged. Kahlua’s back legs were broken and his legs, chest and belly had sustained large lacerations. Morgan also found four of her horses with cuts and scratches, which officers believe the horses might have sustained while fleeing the assailant or assailants.

The trusting nature of the 10-year-old gelding, and his blindness, undoubtedly played a role in his torture and death. Owner Tory Morgan found his mangled body in her Shenango Township, Mercer County, pasture on Wednesday afternoon. Investigators think he was roped and dragged behind an ATV.

I want to make no mistakes about how bad this attack was, so below is a quote from the forums on Florida Horse dot com. (emphasis mine)

Both of Kahlua's back legs were broken. Large pieces of skin had been ripped away from his legs, chest and belly.

"There were enormous [bruises]" all over his body, especially on his withers, where another bone may have been broken," said Ms. Morgan, who is a trained veterinary technician. "There were rope burns that went down to the bone. Severe swelling indicates he was alive when those injuries happened. He died a slow and torturous death."
Renee Dorogy, humane agent for the Humane Society of Mercer County, said, "there are tire tracks in the pasture, we think from an ATV." The shelter has put up a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest, and donations were coming in yesterday to up the reward ante.

I AM FURIOUS!

This kind of wanton cruelty is beyond the pale. A blind trusting pony is roped and dragged to his death is a field and PETA in all of their hypocritical glory doesn't say a word about it? Who ever did this, and I hope they are caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, won't get what's coming to them unless they are treated as they treated this pony, i.e. trussed up and drug behind an ATV until their skin is flayed off and their bones are broken.

If these people treat a pony like this how do they treat the people they come in contact with? The link between violence to animals and violence to people is well documented.

I want you to imagine for a minute being blind, and suddenly finding yourself with a rope around you and drug around a field until your skin peels away, the rope burns into your flesh to the bone and your legs break, and then being left there, in the darkness, broken, bleeding, to slowly die without a comforting word, not understanding what was done to you or why, and all because some sick bastards have no empathy, no compassion and probably no fear of the law.

Not a pretty thing to imagine is it?

If, by some chance, the people that did this happen to read this, let me assure you that there is a special place in hell for you, and you should find a deep hole now and hide in it, because if that were my horse you had done that to, no amount of protection would be good enough to keep you safe from me, were I to discover your identity, and I would bet a dollar to donuts that if the owner of Kahlua to get their hands on you thoughts resembling mine would certainly be running through their heads too.

Every horseman I know would probably want to flay you alive for your actions, at the least, and the cruel and inhumane death you gave that horse is so much nicer of a death than you now deserve.

At least Eight Belles died doing what she loved and what she was born to do. I'd wager you do not.

Now for the funny part. I was at an event called the Lemon Festival is Riverside California one fine morning, strolling back to the beer garden for a refill when I walked by a young lass handing out small blue flyers. Fully expecting the flyer to be for a local band, and loving the live music scene, I grabbed one from her as I walked by. I quickly saw that it was not a flyer for a local band, but was instead a flyer for an upcoming PETA meeting. Having worked in the horse racing field most of my life (and having just been on horses on Santa Anita that very morning) I knew of PETA's tactics against horse racing, and had verbally sparred with their members before, so I turned around and asked the girl how many trees died to make her flyers?

She retorted that they had a lot of recycled paper in them (yeah sure) and then, glancing at my leather boots asked me in a snooty tine "Do you really have to wear leather boots?

"Why yes", I calmly replied "in my line of work it's pretty much required."

"What do you do? she asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I exercise race horses." I said with a smile, knowing the rant she was about to launch into. Sure enough she took a deep breath and I could see the talking points flashing through her eyes as she prepared to toss out every cliched piece of bullshit that PETA uses in their anti horse racing rants, and I quickly held up my hand before she could actually utter a sound and said;

"Sweetheart, if God didn't want us to ride horses he wouldn't have given us cows to make saddles out of."

Her instantaneous deflation was replaced by a simmering anger that made my smile even bigger as she actually HHRRMMPPHH'd at me, stomped her foot and stormed away.

Me: 1
PETA: 0

BWAHAHAHAAAAA