Purrs 4 Peace Week 37: Horse are not for Slaughter

If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth - beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals - would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals? ~Attributed to George Bernard Shaw

I was surprised to learn recently that although horse meat is not traditionally eaten in the United States, tens of thousands of American horses are slaughtered each year for human consumption. These horses - riding horses, carriage horses, race horses, wild horses and even children’s ponies - are purchased by slaughterhouse middlemen at auction. Sadly, many of these horses are brought to auction by their owners with the idea that the horse will find a good home. The sellers do not realize that killer buyers are at the auction along with families and horse rescue organizations. When purchased by these killer buyers, the horses are shipped long distances in cramped trailers without food, water or rest. The USDA has obtained information of horrific injuries suffered by horses in transport including dangling eyes, broken legs, back injuries...even horses dead on arrival. Most of these horses were young and healthy with years left of productive life. I will not even go into the horrendous slaughter process before their meat shipped to Europe and Asia.

There has been some action in the form of The Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503/ S. 727) which would ban the slaughter of American horses for food and ban the export of live horses across borders for slaughter. I hope you will urge your congress men and women to support this legislation.

And this week I urge everyone to purrrrr. Purr for the majestic and beautiful creatures who deserve better than this treatment. They deserve care and safety. They deserve respect. They deserve PEACE.

Week 37 of Purrs 4 Peace details are as follows:

• Week thirty-sevens’s appointed time is Sunday, February 28, 2010.
• Participants should purr for three minutes commencing at 3 p.m. Eastern (U.S.) which is 8:00 p.m. (20:00 hrs.) in the U.K.
• The cat’s human staff should assist their cats with the project by stroking and nuzzling the cat at the appointed time.
• Please post your cat name and the country you purr in at www.confuciuscat.blogspot.com as a COMMENT if you are participating in this historic project. (posting a link to your own website-if you have one-is encouraged.) Or let me know by message on twitter or facebook.
• Posting purrs on facebook ( Acolytes of Confucius Cat or as friend to Alley Mason) and twitter (@ConfuciusCat) is encouraged, since it inspires purring in others, but not required. On twitter please use #purrs4peace in your tweets.

Peace * Paix * Frieden * Vrede * Pace * Paz * Shalom * Salaam * Om Shanti * Heddwch * Síochán * 和平