Quest, Quest Plus, Zoetis and a Horse Named BOGO

Brought back to NotABreed by a video of a horse named BOGO…

First, let me apologize to the thirty or so commenters as I apparently wasn’t receiving notifications so didn’t check!

I have found this past year or so that I try NOT to watch videos or read stories about animal abuse – I think I burned out on this blog which is probably why I haven’t written in a long time.  The constant horror stories about what people do to horses, dogs, cats, all animals, just got to me.  Yes, way-back-when, I forced myself to watch videos of horses being slaughtered, read all the articles and looked right at those horrifying photos without looking away.  That’s what got this blog started, but eventually, all you do is get mired in the abuse that society as a whole heaps on the innocent animals.

Eventually something’s gotta give.

This video of Bogo is very hard to watch.

Woohoo the Bitch is Dead

I don’t care if she did good in ANY area of anything.
Sue Wallis, the largest (and I mean LARGEST) pro- slaughter activist, is dead. I can’t help but celebrate this early passing of the most evil bitch-on-wheels that ever pushed the slaughter agenda on the planet.

GOOD RIDDANCE BITCH.

Sorry to all those folks out there that think this is harsh, but this fat cow deserved to die young, relatively speaking, considering how much evil she spewed onto the equine world.

Ha!! I knew it!

Labradoodle Creator Now Regrets Cross-Breeding

(DOGS) The Labradoodle, a mix between a labrador and a standard poodle, was originally bred for a woman who needed a non-allergenic guide dog.

Now, the man responsible for the breed’s creation says he regrets creating a new breed – and all of the problems that came along with it. – Global Animal

Sydney Morning Herald

If Wally Conron had known what was going to become of the labradoodle, he wouldn’t have bred the dog in the first place. It was 22 years ago and Conron, now 81, was working as the breeding manager for the Royal Guide Dog Association of Australia when his boss set him a tough task. A blind woman from Hawaii had written asking if they could provide a guide dog that would not shed hair, because her husband was allergic to it. ”I said, ‘Oh yes, this will be a piece of cake. The standard poodle is a working dog, it doesn’t shed hair, it’ll be great.’ I tried 33 in the course of three years and they all failed. They just didn’t make a guide dog.”

Conron decided there was one possibility left: take his best labrador bitch and mate it with a standard poodle. They created three cross-breed puppies that needed to be boarded out to be trained and socialised but nobody would take them; everyone wanted a pure-bred. And that’s when Conron came up with the name labradoodle. ”I went to our PR team and said, ‘Go to the press and tell them we’ve invented a new dog, the labradoodle.’ It was a gimmick and it went worldwide. No one wanted a cross-breed but the following day we had hundreds of calls from people wanting these master dogs.”

The labradoodle proved to be a brilliant dog for the blind and the woman in Hawaii was happy. So what was the problem?

It’s how the dog has been used and abused and sold under false pretences, Conron says. ”When the pups were five months old, we sent clippings and saliva to Hawaii to be tested with this woman’s husband. Of the three pups, he was not allergic to one of them. In the next litter I had, there were 10 pups but only three had non-allergenic coats. Now, people are breeding these dogs and selling them as non-allergenic and they’re not even testing them.

”All these backyard breeders have jumped on the bandwagon and they’re crossing any kind of dog with a poodle. They’re selling them for more than a pure-bred is worth and they’re not going into the backgrounds of the parents of the dogs. There are so many poodle crosses having fits, problems with their eyes, hips and elbows; a lot have epilepsy. There are a few ethical breeders but very, very few.”

Conron says that despite the fact the dogs have helped so many blind people, he regrets creating the first cross-breed. ”I released a Frankenstein. … People say ‘aren’t you proud of yourself?’ and I say, ‘not in the slightest. I’ve done so much harm to pure breeding.”’

Follow Up to Calgary Herald Post (NY Times)

Funny, just two days after reading that horrid advertorial in the Calgary Herald (and writing my last post), I come across the NY Times piece that follows.  The Calgary Herald should take notes.

Danger on Europe’s Dinner Plate

By WAYNE PACELLE

Published: March 11, 2013

THE discovery of horse meat in products labeled as beef in the European Union has raised serious questions, not just about food labeling, but also about food safety and the working of the somewhat opaque, global horse meat industry.

While the authorities in Brussels and various E.U. member states continue their investigations related to the scandal, there are questions unrelated to accurate labeling that must now be asked of industry and government regulators.

The European Union has strict rules on what meat products should be allowed into its home markets. In the case of horse meat imports, it’s apparent that these products are held to a different standard — a porous and permissive standard — compared with other meat products destined for dinner plates and supermarket shelves.

For example, the E.U. forbids imports of American chicken because the carcasses are bathed in chlorine. The authorities also ban pork imports because American producers treat the animals with ractopamine, a feed additive to promote leanness. And as a general matter, it is forbidden to use certain veterinary medicines on any animals used for human consumption.

Despite these important food safety policies and standards, every year tens (maybe hundreds) of thousands of animals are routinely given prohibited substances; racehorses, show horses and carriage horses regularly end up as meat intended for human consumption imported into the E.U.

Plants in Canada and Mexico slaughter horses from their own country, but the majority of the horses they kill come from the United States. Horse meat from these plants eventually makes its way to France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Contaminated horse meat imports from these North American countries can end up anywhere in Europe for further processing. In July 2012, residues of the drugs phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and fever in animals) and clenbuterol (a drug that promotes leaner meat but that is banned in the United States and the E.U.) were found in a consignment of horse meat imported to Belgium from Canada.

European beef eaters are rightly appalled that they bought beef, but got horse meat instead. They should be even more concerned that some of that horse meat may also be contaminated and unfit for consumption.

There is no record-keeping mechanism for tracking the administration of drugs to racehorses. E.U. regulations stipulate that only meat from horses with a known medicinal treatment history (an equine passport) can be slaughtered for export to the E.U. But no North American horses have these passports. Yet last year approximately 160,000 American horses were transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, with the meat going primarily to the E.U. and Japan.

More testing and analysis would help, but it is insufficient. Animals coming off of U.S. racetracks and out of pastures are injected with prohibited substances on a routine basis, and that alone makes this type of meat unsuitable for import. These animals were never bred or raised for the table, but for other purposes, and they should be disqualified from the meat trade.

For Shame Calgary Herald. For Shame.

Damnit.  And right in my backyard.

The Calgary Herald wrote what can only be termed an advertorial on horse meat.  And then of course wouldn’t allow anyone to comment on it, like they do their other stories.  Sad really.  I hate it when mainstream media write what are basically opinion pieces that are thinly veiled advertisements for the pro-slaughter activists.

Link:  Calgary Herald

The writer is Robert Frankel, who sadly has the same name as a Hall of Fame racehorse trainer.  What are the odds?

Here’s the article in full, with my comments to each point as per usual.

What horse meat scandal? Toronto deli owner doesn’t eat any other kind of meat

First off, I take extreme offense to the title!!!  I’m shocked actually.  WHAT SCANDAL?  How about the scandal that people took the time to read labels and were not eating what they thought!?!?  How absolutely ignorant of you to title your article like this.  People should be outraged at you for this very asinine title alone.  How about you go and pick up some food for your kids or grandkids, and feed them something unknowingly?  Fuck.

TORONTO – Horse meat found lurking in beef products in Europe has some meat eaters worried about what’s on their dinner plate, but not Filomena Lorusso — she knows it’s all horse, of course.

Yeah, she knows because she put it there.  She made a choice.  Unlike the folks in Europe who didn’t have a choice?  What about them?  Your ignorant tongue-in-cheek intro to this article (not to mention the title) takes a very serious issue and turns it into a joke.  Shame on you!

Lorusso, the owner of Toronto deli Cavallino Carne Equina and Groceries, feels so strongly about horse meat, it’s not just the only type of meat she sells, it’s the only kind of meat she eats.

“We do not serve beef, I do not eat beef,” she says. “I eat only horse meat.”

Ah.  How nice of you to have a choice.

Lorusso’s customers are mainly of French, Italian and Russian backgrounds, she says, but she has seen all types of people purchase horse meat.

“Any way you eat beef, we eat horse,” she says. “Sandwiches? Yes. Barbecue? Yes. Every way.”

Shamez Amlani, owner of La Palette on Queen Street in Toronto, says horse meat is not as popular here as it is in France, where he lived for several years, but it is delicious.

“It tastes like beef — a little sweeter, and more tender,” he says. “Don’t cook it beyond medium rare.”

La Palette serves horse tenderloin in two ways on their menu. Both options are $35, the most expensive entrees on the menu (along with the bouillabaisse) but Amlani says their horse meat is flavourful, lean, and definitely popular.

Please note here folks, it’s not going to feed the poor and hungry… so keep that in mind for those who like to whine about that.

“We want to serve European food and so when I found a source in Quebec that had nice horse tenderloin, we jumped on it,” he says.

All European food is not based on horse meat.  The fact so many people were up in arms about the horse meat being in their food should tell you that!

Well, It’s Been a While…

Yes, I’ve been away for quite a while.  Sorry about that.  It’s been a tough year or so for me, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

I’ve still been active in the horse rescue / information arena, and have been watching this latest newsfest about the “scandal” of horse meat showing up in products labelled as beef overseas.  I’ve been thinking all along that this is probably the BEST thing to have happened to the horse slaughter industry in a LONG time (from an anti-slaughter activists POV).   The reason for this thinking is varied on my part.  On the one hand, I really believe that a solid 75% of the general population (those who don’t own or are not involved in the horse industry) have NO idea about horse slaughter at all.  I’ll recount going to a doctor for a procedure and that doctor had NO idea horses were slaughtered at all in Canada!  This was a smart, educated woman, and because she wasn’t an ‘insider’ she had no clue.  She was utterly shocked when she found out how many horses were slaughtered annually, and where that “meat” ended up.

I’ve also talked to many folks who are not horse owners or involved in the industry who have NO clue that 130+k or so horses are slaughtered for meat in Canada annually.  I can’t blame them; I had no idea myself until I started searching online for my first horse years ago!  I’d always loved horses, but had been on the periphery of the horse-world.

Beyond the fact that I believed this issue would make more non-horsey people aware of the slaughter industry, I thought (believed) many people reading about this scandal would really be offended that there are folks out there shopping in their local grocery, believing the labels as to what they were eating – yet they were being fooled!  I mean really, how offensive is it that people take the time to read labels, to ensure they’re getting the best nutritive value for their buck, and they’re NOT eating what the label says they’re eating.

Really, what if people found out the meat was actually DOG or something???

Unfortunately, I think if it WAS dog there would be more of an outcry.  That saddens me.  I see comments on news pages, and while the majority of them seem to be of the “WTF?” variety and honestly offended for the exact reasons I noted above, there ARE some seemingly average blokes commenting in the vein of “what’s the problem here?”

And then, what really pissed me off, what prompted me to come ‘out of hiding’ so to speak, today was seeing an article in the Edmonton Journal about the slaughter industry in Canada.

David Van Leeuwen, owner of Ben’s Meat & Deli sells smoked horse meat from his store (from the Edmonton Journal)

I have to say I was bothered with the implication that “more Canadians were willing to try horse meat in the wake of the “scandal”???  Here’s my take on this article:

Jerry Finch – Says it like it is…

With permission from Jerry, I’ve re-posted his open letter of sorts.  An excellent read, and be sure to check out the comments on his page:  http://habitatforhorses.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/i-quit/

I QUIT!

11JAN

I’ve finally had all I can take – filled to the limit, my cup ran over. I’ve listened to all the excuses, tried to understand, tried to reason, to engage in logical discussions, tried everything I know to grasp the meaning and motivation of those who hurt animals. “Understand your enemy,” has been a mantra, a driving force behind hours of classroom work, literally hundreds of books, articles and long discussions with those far wiser than I.

The psychosis of hoarding (don’t tell me it’s just a neurosis. I’ve seen the horror up close and personal. Even neurotic people have their limits), the sociopathic beatings, the purposeful starvation, the power driven need to show complete dominance over all living things (including spouses and children), the utter and complete ignorance and lack of desire to learn about anything outside of giving pleasure to their own mortal bodies – I’ve studied all of it, tried to comprehend, did my best to overcome my bias, to swallow the thoughts of disgust and contempt.

I stood outside of horse slaughterhouses and did my best to make sense of the unthinkable. I talked with ranchers who completely believe the “slippery slope” theory and killer-buyers who see horse slaughter as a business, the same as selling used cars. They use a logic that any high school graduate can see is faulty, circular and irrational, yet I tried to understand.

I can’t anymore. It’s over. I quit.

In just a few more weeks I will have been around for 68 years. It’s almost time for me to decide what I want to be when I grow up. One thing I don’t want to be anymore is understanding. That’s pretty much over. I’ve had all the lessons in economics, government, supply and demand, psychology and religion that I need. My internal hard drive is full.

I’m just not going to be nice anymore. If you starve your horse, I’m calling you down, if you ship your best friend off to the slaughterhouse, I will tell you that, to me, you are the lowest form of life. There is no excuse. Don’t even bother opening your mouth. Go tell someone else how great you are.

I also quit trying to talk with pro-slaughter politicians. Money is the only thing they understand and the only reason they vote as they do. No person with any form of education can honestly tell me that they believe all the dribble and slobber that comes out of the mouths of those who are in it for the money. The politicians have simply joined forces to grab a handful of blood money.

A Tangled Web…

This is a story that I actually had to draw a flowchart to keep track of… so bear with me here.

There are several key players, not the least of which are a well-known criminal and the OSPCA.  There’s also a rescue involved… go figure.

AND there are some horses that desperately need saving!

Player Number One

Richard “Butch” Clare

If you don’t know who he is, you’re obviously not from Ontario.  This is a well-known man who not only owns a cattle slaughter house / feed lot (Aylmer Meat Packers Inc.) – but he’s made a good living at transporting horses to slaughter.  Ah Butch, you’re already my favorite character.  My favorite part of Butch’s story is that he has plead guilty to, and been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for, improper acts.  What improper acts?  Oh, you know… slaughtering cattle not fit for human consumption and putting it out in the market for us ‘humans’ to eat.  You see, the cattle he ‘slaughtered’ were already dead.  They showed UP dead.  The only animal that should have been eating that cow was a dog (not that I think that’s ok either).  He lost his (slaughterhouse) license FIVE times in 12 years!  That didn’t stop him from slaughtering cattle for human consumption though!  Oh no, not Butch!

Another Poignant Quote

James Herriot is a country vet in England’s Yorkshire and has written quite a few books about his times there and the animals he dealt with – large and small.

The book James Herriot’s Dog Stories is one such book.  It was published in 1992, but many of the stories are from decades before.

One story, about a small white dog he was dealing with which had Hodgkins and was starting to suffer, led me to quote him.  It shows my exact thinking on euthanasia.

‘Good lad, good old Theo,’ I murmured, and stroked the face and ears again and again as the little creature slipped peacefully away.  Like all vets I hated doing this, painless though it was, but to me there has always been a comfort in the knowledge that the last thing these helpless animals knew was the sound of a friendly voice and the touch of a gentle hand.

Sentimental, maybe.  Not like Paul (the owner).  He had been practical and utterly rational in the way he had acted.  He had been able to do the right thing because he was not at the mercy of his emotions.

Then he goes on…

Tarrant County Officers Should be Charged with Neglect

Buy a cow, get a one-eyed horse for free.

Not only is this poor horse a stallion, but he’s emaciated, and only has one eye.

What is wrong with this picture?  I mean, aside from basically giving him away at an auction?  What’s wrong is the fact that the sheriffs department had this horse for approximately five months, and quite obviously haven’t been able to put weight on him.

The photo is apparently from August 12th.

They posted photos that literally prove they neglected this horse.