All things considered, I had rather be out by the barn letting Pete teach me new tricks. In the few minutes I spent with him this week, he taught me how to scratch three special spots on his belly and, when he stands at the feed room door with a horribly depressed look, it means that I should give him an alfalfa cube. Pete's destined to become the John Lyons of the horse world. He continues to make a better person out of me by teaching me respect and love.

Instead I've been here at the computer, researching hundreds of pages of documentation on the pros and cons of horse slaughter. Part of the research involved watching a film of the slaughter process, looking at photos and reading testimony from those who work in the plants.

The pictures and the stories are, to put it mildly, repulsive. The reasons people give for continuing the slaughter process could be thought of as humorous, if not for the fact that 156 horses that look just like Pete are being killed today, and the same number will face death tomorrow.

When I've explained to people what is happening to these horses, they look at me with unbelieving faces. For years a number of us have tried to get the attention of someone, anyone, who will do something to bring it to a close. Now it's happening. It won't be in a few weeks, for this could drag on for months. But to see it working, to actually be a part of the process, is both uplifting and depressing. The uplifting part comes from watching my work and the work of others bear fruit. The action by the State of Texas might fail, just as the AHSPA might pass away into nonexistence, but the Belgian Company that owns these plants knows their days of making steaks out of American horses are coming to a close.

The depressing part is the lack of support from all those that have for years screamed and yelled about the horrors of horse slaughter, yet appear amazing quiet when the line is drawn in the sand. I don't understand their reluctance to become involved. Is it fear? Is it a feeling of being overwhelmed? Do they even understand how close we are to the goal?

Thousands of people wrote their legislators asking them to support the AHSPA last year. The support of this bill is a driving force to get it through the various committees. The AHSPA, or one close to it, will end horse slaughter for human consumption forever in the US. The enforcement of the Texas law will stop the slaughter in Texas, which has two of the only three operating horse slaughterhouses in the US.

If you support what we are doing, then consider this - we can't do it without your help. We need your dollars now more than ever. Setting up places to receive horses, building databases of those willing to help, feeding, housing, medical assistance, all cost money and it can't be done without your financial help.

Promises and pats on the back won't pay the feed bills. Emails showing support are nice, but they don't pay for the medications necessary to bring a starving horse back to life. “If they all just sent in a dollar a month…,” is a statement often heard at our meetings. So I'm asking you again - will you? Will you pull out your checkbook to make a financial donation? Will you support our efforts to end the slaughter?

Our online payment services also help by offering a secure place to make an online donation.

Does it sound like I'm begging? You're right, I am. I'm begging for the lives of thousands of horses. I'm begging for your help.

You can make a secure donation online by clicking here.

Thank you,
Jerry Finch

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