"Today, Tennessee Walking Horses are known throughout the industry
as the breed that shows abused and tortured horses."

~ Jim Heird, Ph.D., Do Right By The Horse, February 2010

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity,
you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."

~ St. Francis of Assisi

Friday, October 2, 2009

HOW YOU CAN HELP - HSUS's American Horse Heritage Fund and TWH Page

We all get those envelopes in the mail with four-page long letters in font with an included envelope and several small cardstock "P.S." notes, telling us to save a child in some unknown third-world country for only 10 cents a day. I tend to get the animal ones, most notably from the and the since I have donated money to both in the past. No problem--it doesn't bother me, and hey, since they are usually accompanied by free return address labels or a magnetic notepad, I'm well stocked for the next 10 years of return address labels for sending out bills and birthday cards and paper for writing grocery lists!

I received a letter from the American Heritage Horse Fund two weeks ago, and this one caught my eye because the letter was specifically geared toward educating the public about soring. I was really glad to read this--it's so important to get the info out to the public. I'm sure this letter reached a lot of people who have no idea what's happening to the TWH.

Now, I can't find any info about the AHHF on the HSUS website, although they do claim that they are a part of their organization. When I googled American horse Herigate Fund, I only found a Facebook page for it. So I'm not positive of how legit the group is. However, there is a good idea included with this letter. There is a letter to the USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack that you can conveniently send back with your donation. I figured I'd post what they wrote here. If you didn't receive the AHHF letter, then you can at least modify this text for yourself to send on to Sec. Vilsack. Click here for the contact info page for the USDA.

It is unconscionable that the Tennessee Walking Horse industry consistently resists and attempts to block aggressive enforcement of the Horse Protection Act to eliminate soring of horses by chemical, mechanical or other means, all for entertainment and profit.

Tennessee Walking Horses, and other gaited horses, need the commitment of the USDA to enforce existing laws and to protect them from unnatural suffering and pain simply for the sake of profit and entertainment.

Please give the Horse Protection Act the support it needs to ensure that sored horses are not allowed to exhibit. Don't let the industry negotiate or dictate the terms under which it operates; the law and humane treatment of horses should not be negotiable.

Sincerely,

Your Name Here

Also of note, the HSUS has opened up a webpage specifically for the TWH. Click here to see it. This is great--it's prominently displayed through their Horses link at the top of the page, so our message will continue to get out there. Be sure to help spread the word--forward this page to all your horsey friends!

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