This was such an amazing act of advocating for animals that are rejected and forgotten by society. You have helped reach millions of people to inform them about how they can help horses and sanctuaries like this one.

Like so many stories of abuse of animals, not many people know about "retired" or rejected race horses nor do they know about the Premarine industry.

It was wonderful to see all of the horses doing well and acting out their natural behaviors in a happy and secure home.

Thank you, thank you for having this articulate and amazing horse advocate on your show.

If Congress manages to block all routes to slaughter for horses..
[Article by Juli Thorson published with permission from�her post on the� PleasureHorse.com forum]
[From the desk of author, Juli Thorson] - The other day, it occurred to me that if Congress manages to block all routes to slaughter for horses intended as food, the U.S. horse economy would become the first in history to operate without food-salvage value as its floor. Basically, this also would make horses the only form of livestock WITHOUT per-pound salvage value, having the effect of turning horses from assets into liabilities. In turn, this would alter the horse economy's infrastructure so profoundly as to force a new one into being, to replace the one society now finds repugnant.

So, for what it's worth, here are some of the things I can see coming as a result:

* An annual tax per head on every horse we own. This is how the government will seek to fund the equine holding facilities, "re-homing" operations, and disposal stations it will see a need to build as the unwanted-horse crisis continues to build. The Seattle Post Intelligencer just ran an editorial calling for this very sort of tax:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/347789_erbe18.html

* Mandatory microchipping of every horse. These ID chips will be used for multiple purposes, including ability to track down and fine/prosecute any owner who abandons a horse. As the rate of abandonment accelerates, this will come to pass sooner rather than later.

* Mandatory facilities registration, accompanied by inspections. Horse owners will pay fees toward these measures, too. This already has a name: NAIS, for National Animal Identification System. The general public will buy into this as a way to protect itself against a form of bioterrorism, among other justifications:

http://animalid.aphis.usda.gov/nais/index.shtml

* Mandatory application for and payment of a "transport voucher," any time you wish to move a horse to or from your property. This will be used as a way of funding reinforcement of a federal ban against transporting a horse for the purpose of slaughter, once that's been made illegal.

* Federally built, regulated, and funded equine euthanasia/disposal stations (see my first point). Whether people care to acknowledge this or not, every horse eventually ends up as a half-ton carcass that needs to be disposed of somehow. If not turned into usable meat/hoof/hide byproducts, it comes garbage--buried or composted on private property, rendered, dumped in a landfill, or dragged off for wild animals to feast on. I just read a statistic, published in the New York Times, stating that 138,000 fewer horses were processed in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in 2007 compared to 2006:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/us/11horse.html

If all 138,000 head were "humanely put down" instead, that'd add up to around 75,000 TONS of horse carcasses to be dealt with in some manner. A year. With somewhere around 100K of those in the U.S. How long do you suppose our "not in MY neighborhood!" society will put up with that before getting the government involved? Especially when you consider that the carcass of a horse killed with barbituates is increasingly considered to be a threat to the environment?

* As an answer to the toxic-carcass problem, a new service provider will appear: The person willing and able to euthanize your horse by gunshot. In my area, such a service is already available, if you know the numbers to call. However, those who provide the service will be forced underground, once those in the general public get wind of it. "My God--people are allowed to SHOOT horses?! This must be stopped!"

* Federal taxation on every breeding. I don't think I need to explain this one. Just see all the above.

* A resulting horse economy--for good or for bad--that will be unrecognizable to us within 10 years.

--Juli Thorson

WE ARE ALL FOR MARTHA'S ANIMAL ACTIVISM AND MAGAZINE !!

SEE LONG TIME SUPPORTERS WEB SITE, http://andreajetspencer.blogspot.com/

IT FEATURES MARTHA THIS MONTH AND ALL OF THE REASONS SHE IS MEDIA'S CHOICE TO LEAD THE ANIMALS ! ! !

More information can be found at http://www.saddlebredrescue.com

Thank you again for all that you do for our nations horses and animals. My sister and I are avid Martha fans. She watches you daily in the morning and I catch your shows on the Living station late at night.
Best regards,
Anne Juratovac
Strongsville, OH