What About Bob?

Special to The Augusta Free Press
contact sports@augustafreepress.com
06-18-2004

Neglect and abuse?
I believe Julia Durfee (Horses and American values, Wednesday AFP) did an excellent job of showing this issue for what it truly is; our government at its worst!

Can we truly say we live in a democracy, and yet 91 percent of the people wanting a ban on horse slaughter is not enough to even get the issue to a vote?

On Monday, I attended a huge agricultural luncheon at the Hotel Roanoke where Bob Goodlatte spoke. When he asked for questions, I rose and asked him why he was not allowing this bill out for a vote, given its overwhelming popular support. He defended his position by saying that the bill would be bad for the horses because it would leave the "unwanted horses" to neglect and abuse.

I asked Bob, if it were true that horse slaughter reduces horse abuse, how could he explain the following: When California banned horse slaughter (and export from the state for slaughter), the abuse rate did not rise, and actually fell slightly. When the only slaughter plant in Illinois burned a few years ago, the abuse rate, which had been rising at a steady 100 cases per year, suddenly leveled out and began to decline. And finally, why Texas with the only two operating horse slaughterhouses last year had one of the highest reported horse abuse rates in the country.

To this Bob Goodlatte said, in front of 600 people, including many local politicians, that he could not comment on that because he had not studied the statistics!

The man singly most responsible for blocking the will of 91 percent of the American people apparently does not have the time to assure that his opinion is in line with the facts!

The unmistakable conclusion is that horse slaughter does not relieve abuse, but it promotes it. Instead, the very next morning he wrote a letter to other colleagues asking for support in fighting HR 857 because it would lead to abuse. It is simply amazing. And this from a man who initially got elected warning that his opponent would simply become a "career politician."

- John Holland, Shawsville


Time to take a stand
After reading Julia Durfee's article, I felt compelled to write and say that I personally believe it is high time someone stood up to Bob Goodlatte!

How un-American not to let the voice of the people be heard!

This is a bill that has passed the requirements and qualifies to be voted on by the House Agricultural Committee. Perhaps Goodlatte needs to do a little soul searching, for he certainly is not representing the people by his current actions. What he is accomplishing is giving the American people reason to question his character, by refusing to move this bill through the legislative process.

Goodlatte, as an American congressman, needs to listen to the American people instead of these foreign-owned horsemeat exporters. If that is truly impossible as he is proving, he should consider relocating to Belgium or France where he might be appreciated.

- Connie Carmichael, La Porte, Texas


Blood money
It is a beautifully laid-out article that will enlighten anyone who is wondering why, after all of the hard work done by constituents making their voices heard in Washington on this issue, and the 224 U.S. Representatives who have in turn listened and fulfilled their elected positions by taking action and co-sponsoring H.R.857, The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act may never make it out of Rep. Goodlatte's committee on agriculture.

It is a sad state of affairs indeed. In fact, I would go so far as to call it an American tragedy. And for what? The export value of their meat, and nothing else.

It is blood money, and a betrayal of a national icon, the American horse, a symbol of the ethics that we hold so dear in this country - hard work, spirit, dignity and excellence.

On the other hand, Rep. Goodlatte's performance has been a demonstration of anything but, except the hard work. It seems he has expended a great deal of energy attempting to kill this bill on behalf of the special-interest groups he serves who care absolutely nothing about the welfare of our horses, only how far they can exploit them.

- Vivian Farrell, Houston, Texas

(Publishers' Note: Ms. Farrell is the president of The Fund for Horses, which can be found on the Web at fund4horses.org.)


Hero to the horses
By running Julia Durfee's "Horses and American values," you are now heroes in the eyes of America's horses.

Writer Durfee is right. The rhetoric that Rep. Goodlatte and his legislative aide, Brent Gattis, have been feeding to Congress, to constituents and to the country - insisting that slaughter is a humane end for "unwanted" horses - is false. Statistics, common sense and compassion bear out her arguments.

People either have a selfless love for horses (not just their own horses, but all horses) or they have a self-interested, so-called love for them.

The first kind of love is akin to a strong, pure, fierce parental defense of innocent children. The second kind, a pretend love, is expressed in odd ways, such as advocating that young, healthy horses be executed and eaten just because the slaughterhouse buyer is determined to outbid the general public at auctions.

The first kind of love yearns to protect horses from all kinds of harm, not just some kinds (i.e. starvation and other forms of illegal cruelty), and it makes great sacrifices to accomplish this goal. On the other hand, the self-flatterer who claims to love horses (and I have met many of them) uses them for his own gain, then disposes of them in the fastest, most convenient and least costly way possible when they don't serve his purposes or when he finds another horse more to his fancy (and would-be fortune and fame).

The gulf between true love and self-deluded love of horses is obvious to anyone who is not a hypocrite.

What's the scenario if the bill doesn't get out of the House Agriculture Committee? Maybe horses bred and raised exclusively for meat to export to Europe and Japan? They wouldn't have any human contact - no training or affection or bonding - so they'd be no different than cattle, right? Will you stand by and watch millions of Seabiscuit's kin be mass-produced like beef by money-mongering meat men? Can you imagine at least one horse slaughterhouse in every state?

Think no such strategy is being planned? Think again.

For the record, true horse lovers don't distinguish between wild and tame, between miniature horse and full-sized, between donkey and Thoroughbred, between mule and Shetland. All are beloved equines in this country, and they all deserve to never be bred and raised as a food animal or be offered a second career as a food animal.

Seabiscuit's autobiographer, Laura Hillenbrand, has this to say on the subject on slaughtering horses: "Here are these exquisite, immensely powerful creatures, who willingly give us their labor in return for stewardship. They have attended us throughout history, bearing us across frontiers and into battle, pulling our plows, thrilling us in sport, warming us with their beauty. We owe them more than we can ever repay. To send these trusting creatures to slaughter is beneath their dignity and ours."

- Susan Clay, Houston, Texas


In memory of The Gipper
When I read Ms. Durfee's story on horses and American values, I could not get the image of the riderless horse and the horses that carried President Reagan's coffin at his funeral procession.

Horses have participated in the making of this country since the very beginning. It is a shame that so many are at risk to end up being killed in a very inhumane way just so that they can be enjoyed as meals in foreign countries.

Please, Rep. Goodlatte, before you kill this bill, spend just a few hours with a horse, any horse, and you will see they are much more than just livestock.

Julia Durfee, thank you for educating the public about this atrocity.

- Julie Roven, Reno, Nev.

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