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!

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!

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.

Arabian Auction – MILLIONS Made, of Course!

Yes Cheryl, as is proven by the prices your $10,000 black straight Egyptian Arabians went for, your horses were not actually worth that much, now were they?

NOT.

And yes, I’m writing this straight to Cheryl, since she decided to comment all over my blog.  What?  Your horses went for $50-100 some of them?  What was top price?  Maybe just over a thousand?  Most went for $400 to $500ish?  Yeah.  Those are some pretty speshul horses you got there.  But no, years ago, when you first had financial trouble (which by the sounds of it, you were the cause of most of that) you wouldn’t sell any of the horses for under 10k.  What?  Are you on crack?  I mean, really, why didn’t you let a few of them go for a thousand or so, and feed the rest of them?

You see, according to eye-witness reports, most of the horses were underweight – even though they were being fed by volunteers for the last month or so – and their hooves needed trimming, and most hadn’t been ridden in over five years.  Yeah, those are some real speshul horses you got there.  Man, I know I’d pay ten thousand for one of those!

Poor Baby

Cheryl Foster or Churney (whatever) Has been Begging for Money – Forever

Making the rounds on the Internet, between Facebook, blogs and forums, is the story of a woman in Schomberg Ontario who has had her 23 SE Arabians seized under the Innkeepers Act.  She is $30,000 in debt to the woman she leased the facility from, and her name is Cheryl.  When first approached, Cheryl lied and said she was only the “caretaker”.  It wasn’t until later that she admitted to being the owner.

Desperate for Money

As far back as over a year ago Cheryl was begging for money on Twitter, making it sound like she was trying to help someone else (as always, click on the photo to see it enlarged, click your “back” button to return to this page).

Please Send Money

Now, a year later, most of those same horses are a body score of less than three, one is very old and riddled with cancer – but they’re headed off to auction under the Innkeepers Act.  I find it interesting that she’s in debt $30,000 but a year ago was begging for 50k…

I’m in Love

With a man.

Yep, you heard it here first.

Click on the link.  Ignore the commercial.  Listen to the Investigative Reporter.  I love him.

http://www.8newsnow.com/category/28259/8-news-now-video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=6009322

 

Ontario Auction June, 2011 – CHDC

Pearl’s Journey

Posted on June 30, 2011 by canadianhorsedefencecoalition

The photographs below were submitted by one of our supporters and were taken on June 25, 2011 at an Ontario livestock auction.

This aged Belgian mare, who we’ve called “Pearl”, was brought to auction by a known horse dealer, who subsequently sold her directly to a known kill buyer from the area who ships horses regularly to Quebec for slaughter.

This photo shows the condition she was brought to the auction in:

Note the size of her left hind leg.  It’s blown up from haunch to hoof and double its normal size.

The Heartbreak of Racing

This is the problem with the thoroughbred racing industry.

A very young horse, Eight Bells, broke both her front ankles racing her heart out.

At the Kentucky Derby.

She came in second.

Filly Eight Belles broke both front ankles after the wire in the Kentucky Derby. She was euthanized on the track while Big Brown's victory was celebrated.

Photo

Just after the race finished, she rounded the curve and was pulling up, and both front legs collapsed out from under her.

Hometown Heroes Leave Carcasses in their Wake

Single German Woman with Three Kids Seeks White American Criminal

According to one source, that’s pretty-much how Christiane met Jimmy.  After they met online, they married and she moved herself and her three children to Georgia to be with her ex-con of a husband.

Christiane posted on Facebook on Jan 30th 2011:

“Jimmy Judd about this time exactly one year ago we met for the first time at Atlanta Airport after dating virtually on FB for a couple of weeks!  This first date changed our complete life…I am thankful for having you in our boys and my life. Baby, I love you with all my heart and I am so proud of what we have accomplished! You are my Redneck Hero! ;0)”

I especially love how after chatting on Facebook then meeting briefly, she calls her children “our boys”.  Two months later she packed up her kids and moved to Georgia.

One Survivor