Horse Thieves, Obama and Animal Extremists

I once stole a horse.
My senior year in high school I was concerned about a horse living on abandoned property. The home had been abandoned so long, vandals had destroyed it. I began to go by every day, no one else ever came by to check on the horse and he was in poor condition. There was no local humane association and local laws had not yet been passed that could bring in the authorities. I decided the old gelding needed a new home....
I enlisted the help of the class president and the football team captain. We borrowed a horse trailer and the guys brought wire clippers. I brought the halter and lead rope. I haltered the horse while the guys snipped the barbed wire. Just before dawn,we loaded the horse and hauled him to his new home, a family who had offered a beautiful small barn next to their home with lots of pasture to graze and run on and people to watch over him every day.
The old horse settled into his new home and the three of us felt we did the right thing as we watched him gain weight and his coat bloom.
Then we got caught....
Many months later, my father informs me he had received a phone call from the principal of a high school across town. It seems, he told my dad, that I had been involved with stealing his horse. Rumors had circulated at his high school implicating me. I confessed that I had but I insisted that I only got involved because the horse was so neglected. My father,knowing my great compassion for animals, drove me to the principals' house and had me confess to him as well. I pointed out the horse was in bad condition, and that it had been months before the owner was aware that his horse was missing. He could have been tangled in the barbed wire fence and left to die for all that principal knew. Animals must be looked after I insisted, and this one was now well looked after in his new home.
My father, ever the diplomat, suggested that since the horse was in fine condition, was well fed, and had been vetted, that the matter should be dropped because if charges were placed it would become publicly known that the horse was badly neglected by the high school principal. In addition, the football team captain and the class president did not need criminal charges against them as it could badly damage their fine reputations. The principal agreed...
A few years later I was living in Washington D. C. and my friend Pat was crawling on her belly cutting fences to release lab animals for the Peta army. Pat severed her association with Peta when one night, after breaking into a lab and freeing animals, a large commercial type truck pulled up into the field, supposedly to carry the animals to safety. But, she told me, it was a euthanasia clinic on wheels...
Most of us who have worked in the pet rescue world know that Peta's purpose is not to find a home for that cute Beagle being experimented on. And we also know that Peta preys on the compassion of animal lovers for funds. Back in the 1990's, HSUS made no bones ( pun intended) about being an appendage of Peta. They are as similar as the Russian Prime Minister and the Russian President,but what I did not know until recently reading the blog,' The Endangered Owner', (see my list of faves)was that HSLF was an appendage of HSUS.
When Barack Obama ran for office, I was thrilled at his humaneness. I supported his positions in regard to animal welfare. But now I worry. I recently learned that his campaign accepted funds from HSLF...The above photo is from their website. And is originally from Jana Kohl's book, 'A Rare Breed of Love'.
I don't want to see Obama become a puppet of puppy killers. And don't forget that Peta's Pet Person of the Year is his good friend Oprah.
When I liberated that old gelding, I enlisted the help of two admired classmates, the class PRESIDENT and the popular football team captain. Since I was the goth/hippie chick in school I wasn't exactly hanging out with these guys but I knew if they helped me it would be easier for adults to accept what I did...and I was right.
It seems that Peta/ HSUS/HSLF has the same idea.... Not only does HSLF support Obama but apparently they also support his appointment to the Secretary of Agriculture position as well, is that coincidence? I worry about the new associations between our government and Peta/HSUS.
It appears to me that Peta/HSUS have used our own humaneness against us....again.

Dogs,Horses,Oprah and Crimes Against Nature

Oprah Winfrey once consulted me about the care and handling of an Afghan Hound puppy she had purchased. I can certainly understand her attraction to this beautiful dog of the desert.She is a well known Arabian Horse fancier and the Afghan Hound it would seem would be a perfect fit.
It wasn't...The Afghan just wasn't suited to her lifestyle and living conditions.The Golden Retreiver as we all know was.
Many people fall in love with a particular breed of dog and try to force it to fit their lifestyle.This is wrong and a great injustice to the dog.
My very good friend Katie raised the superstar race horse Cannonero.After he was shipped out of the country to stand at stud she turned her focus to her other love, dogs.Specifically Salukis and Irish Wolfhounds.Katie said that raising these two breeds was just like raising horse colts...they had all the same needs.Fresh air, sunshine and lots and lots of running to build strong bones and soundness.
These are necessary requirements for any puppy. But the giant breeds need this absolutely without question. If the average Lab puppy exerts the energy to run fifty miles a day, how much space do you think you need for a giant breed?Twice that....so bringing that Saint Bernard,Wolfhound or Mastiff puppy into your 628 sq ft apartment is not going to work. There is simply NO WAY possible that you can raise that puppy to reach it's full HEALTH potential both physically and mentally. Let me repeat...THERE IS NO WAY POSSIBLE THAT YOU CAN RAISE THAT PUPPY TO REACH IT"S FULL POTENTIAL BOTH PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY!!! Without adequate excercise (i.e. free running all day) your giant breed puppy will not develop proper bone structure and musculature, and will develop painful joint issues.
Another friend, tried to raise a Mastiff puppy in a house with no fenced yard but access to running a couple times of day...he grew up so unsound from his bones being big and his lack of musculature underdeveloped he was euthanized at age five because he was in pain from being so unsound.
Yes, bad breeding accounts for unsoundness but it only contributes fifty percent. The other fifty percent is environment.
Responsible breeders can account for the genes but it is up to the puppy owner to provide the correct environment,anything less than what your breed needs is ANIMAL ABUSE.

Yes, I said ANIMAL ABUSE.It is very hard for me to watch people attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole when it comes to their puppies....Because they LOVE this breed they think they can make it work....well guess what people...YOU CAN'T!!!
If your breed of dog was designed to walk across acres of land to patrol for poachers on the Squires Estate and all you can provide is a postage stamp sized yard and a trip to the dog park then you are abusing your puppy by stunting it's natural development and causing a crime against nature. And yet I see people do this all the time...it drives me INSANE.
I once officiated as dog judge at a Specialty match in Atlanta and I could tell when I was judging the puppies which ones were raised in a correct natural environment and which ones were not,just by running my hands over them.
One puppy in particular was a stunning tri-colour imported from England and was winning Specialties from the get go. The crowd was STUNNED when I dumped this undefeated puppy in my judging. His musculature was horrible and his owner would scarcely let him run because she was afraid he would get hurt.
Instead I put up a so- called backyard dog of no particular great pedigree but who was raised in the correct environment and was both beautiful and SOUND in structure.
I took a lot of flack for that judgement at that show.A whole lot.
As fate would have it, the backyard dog who had never previously won anything went on to become a top specialty winner and the expensive English import who was not allowed proper excercise because the owner coddled him grew up to be an unsound dog with no adult show career.
Now having said all of the above,Oprah and my friend who euthanized her crippled dog, still could have had the dogs of their dreams without great changes to their lifestyles.
How you ask?
By adopting older dogs of their favorite breeds.
Yes, you can have that Mastiff in your 628 sq ft apartment!
An older geriatric dog would be quite happy to retire in your cozy little apartment home. He or she would not require any more excercise than an amble around the neighborhood 45 minutes twice a day and then a really cushy bed to lay in afterward. (cause we know how beat up those Mastiff elbows get) Older dogs of your favorite breed are often free from dogshow breeders who can use the room for that promising showpup they just bred and are thrilled to place their older retired show dog in a home where he can be spoiled with lots and lots of love and attention.
Check with your favorite breeds parent club for breeders who place retired show dogs as well as breed rescue groups.
Yes you can have the dog breed you love, just don't try and force a puppy into an unnatural situation, OK? It's a form of abuse.