once upon a time............

..... in the far away land of Alberta, there was this cruel and nasty couple that abused horses, so as in all good faerie tales ... along came some towns people and reported them to the SPCA, well you know how these faerie tales go; the knight in shining armor (SPCA) showed up and stopped the evil couple... yup these people got showed real good by the SPCA. Yes sirree the SPCA gave these people heck! Not hell even but I think they maybe scolded them well not very hard or effective they didn't want to hurt feelings, even though these people are regulars in the complaint department of the SPCA' but they did not even get fines.... just heck. WOW. About as effective as a fly swatter against a bear.

Now back to the tale.....then because all the nasty caring and concerned people who wanted to help the horses put pressure on this couple, the couple decided to turn the horses out to pasture and let them run free with the rest of the herd. Now isn't this where I am supposed to say ... the story ends well and they lived happily ever after.... right?

No this is the twisted ending to keep us all in suspense. The stud horses they let out were so under weight they could barely keep alive... but now they have been turned into a herd of Mares open and willing.... and these poor studs will probably allow mother nature to take over and I expect these poor creatures to breed themselves to death.

I guess it's better than dying in a 12 by 12 pen with no water at 30 degrees heat or freezing to death with no shelter, I am sure though the end will come. We know the Morgan association is aware of this couple through another concerned friend, and they have done as little as the SPCA they haven't even sanctioned the couple... I guess in this faerie tale everyone isn't happy ever after .. but the authorities are because they don't have to do anything and it will all blow away, they are just horses anyway right...

Well; that's not how all the people that have tried so hard to save these wonderful horses feel; but we do feel betrayed and let down, again, remember those poor souls The Rescue One Hundred Society had two years ago ... over 100 dead and dying horses and that's after the ones needed to got put down were taken care of. Well unlike good faerie tales these horses are doomed but I pray at least that these studs have a quick death... not a slow one.. at least that is what it seems from where this cowboy sits.

They are still there! No Help Hmmmmmm?

Well funny thing is I have been phoned by everyone, even got some emails, thank you. The problem is the abusers are still in control of these animals and they are mad as hornets at everyone who won't mind their own business.

Get this straight; any abuse that goes unchecked slanders everyone in the horse business, these type of breeders should find a way to get into another business, not continue to brand all of us with these types of actions.

The owners of these horses are mad, so what.

The people who helped these so called breeders propagate this and let them continue to abuse them are mad, so what.

The enforcement agencies are upset we are making noise drawing attention to there inability to help these wretched, starved creatures, so what.

If you have a problem with me having my opinion about this shameful business, so what.

Then bloody well do something about these poor creatures then; and if you can't; don't take it out on those of us who are trying to help these animals, at least that's the way it looks from where this cowboy sits.

horse cruelty picture

To get pictures of the poor emaciated creatures email me at crossingrafterranch@yahoo.ca

Horse Cruelty

I am sure there are a hundred versions of this old story but this is the way I was told the story. I hope I don’t weaken the integrity of it telling it from my sometimes not so perfect memory, or I hope I haven’t plagiarized someone's story and if I have, I apologize. I believe once a story is told though it is released from its story teller and takes on its own being. That’s the way it should be and I think stories should be ever evolving so that each time it is shared it takes on each teller's special attributes.

A young boy was walking along the beach in low tide after a great storm. The beach was covered in thousands of star fish and the sun was getting hot and the starfish were starting to dry up and die. The little boy would walk over to one star fish, and then another until his little arms couldn’t carry anymore. Once loaded up, this young boy would walk over to the tide some distance away and put the starfish in the tide and they would be drawn in and away out to the ocean. Then he would walk back to the beach and start all over one starfish at a time. Unknown to the boy he had an audience; the devil had come down to the beach and was watching him in his diligent tasks.

Well the little man was barely making a dent as the sun got hotter; he scooped up one starfish at a time and took his little armful to the water. Well on one of his trips back to the beach to save more starfish the Devil went up to him and asked, “That looks like hard work carrying those starfish.” The little boy said, “Yes a little, they get heavy but I don’t mind,” The Devil then said, “Well young man look around there are so many starfish and really wouldn’t you rather stop and have a soda and let nature take its course?” The little fella thought for a moment and said, “A soda would be nice, but I really want to do this.” The Devil getting frustrated at this purposeful child said, “Young man do you think this matters to anyone what you are doing, do you think anyone really cares?” The little fella stopped and thought; finally he answered, “Maybe not, maybe it doesn’t matter to anyone else.” The devil said, “Exactly then why would you waste your time doing such a thing then?” The boy thought then walked over to an exceptionally small starfish, picked it up and said, “You know you are right, it may not matter to anyone, but it means life and death to this little one,” and he began filling his arms again. The Devil walked away in disgust, but he hadn’t realized many people had been watching this child’s unselfish act of kindness and were so moved by this little man they had joined him in his attempt to pick up and save the starfish, and soon almost all were saved.

The reason I bring this up is that a few years ago I met these folks that had a horse breeding operation, and they were animal abusers. Pure and simple animal abusers! They bred beautiful Morgan horses, when I say they bred them, it is they ensured the fantastic lineage was being capitalized on. The mares were allowed to run in a reasonably ok pasture but the five stud horses were kept in 12 by 12 foot pens year round. When I first saw them they were standing on rounded hills inside these pens of their own frozen manure and urine. Their hooves were long and unkempt, even their legs were showing signs of malformation. On that occasion after commenting they had no water the owner said, “They were chewing snow and that we will water them later.” I guess the snow was along the pen she couldn’t have meant under the pile of feces. This breed of horse is magnificent; Morgan horses have big shoulders and thick necks with strong hind quarters something they are known for. Well these looked like an anorexic version of Morgan horse. Their ribs showed through and they looked emaciated.

My wife, at the time, was brought there under pretences by her friend who was hoping that she would do something to stop this and she did try. She filed complaints took pictures and even called everyone she knew to help and then the SPCA told her they would be taking care of it. They certainly did; they called the abuser up and told her they would be coming out and it gave her heads up and time to put water in the pens and throw some feed in as well. Sure enough the SPCA did its due diligence by warning her sternly, that there was another complaint and they would be watching. Oh this was probably the tenth complaint they had against her. They warned her they meant business, and to ensure she fed and watered those horses. When we talked to the lady who at that time had no idea it was our complaint, she said the SPCA couldn’t do anything because she had a Veterinarian on her side and that Vet said they were ok in their pens with no shelter, water and sparse food. She, the Vet; even went so far according to this woman as to give this abuser a letter saying she was monitoring the horses' care.

This matter got worse not better. The lady would leave those poor horses out in the sun with no water, too lazy to water them. She continued to starve them. I know a time my wife and friends of ours were finding buyers and even we had horses coming to be fattened up at our ranch and sold, all to protect them from these people. She even had ads and a site on the internet trying desperately to save as many as she could, not knowing these people were replenishing the pens with other horses as fast as they could. The battle continued and the SPCA kept saying they had their hands tied; there was nothing they could do and so these poor horses suffered. It is as though the farmer that dares run an old truck full of hay down a road and the government nearly fines him out of business, but they won’t stop those that are cruel and ridiculous to the animals that are their living and they give ranchers and farmers bad reputations.

The SPCA seems unwilling to take action and I think these folks should be forced to find a different way to make a living. I don’t think any of God’s creatures deserve a slow agonizing painful death in a 12 by 12 foot square cell. This is just plain wrong and as long as the Veterinarian and the SPCA let this go on they share in the shame. These people seem to be Teflon and nothing sticks to them especially not morals. The SPCA was brought up to speed again and you won’t believe it, they phoned the lady in advance and upon their arrival they warned her again. They are just so concerned it makes me want to vomit. These studs would be better off euthanized than subjected to this living hell.

So here are these once majestic, proud animals and they are unable to move confined to their small feces filled prison. On a sidebar a couple of years back the ladies husband took a fall from his tractor and since because of the head injury he sustained has lost his mobility and is confined to a small wheeled prison, unable to get around. You think he would have found a new empathy for these that he and his wife imprisoned so cruelly. It’s funny how that Karma stuff works... or what you give is what you get... or in another way to say it is sow what you reap, reap what you sow. The choice we all have I guess is the same as faced the little boy: does one star fish matter, do we sit back drink a soda and let cruelty carry on? Maybe we allow those that commit atrocities and cruelty against animals just go on unchecked. Worse we could be the Veterinarian backing these abusers, while of all people, you think she would protect those poor horses. Even worse, mishandle the situation from an enforcement position and let the poor animals you swear to protect go on suffering in a horrible Auschwitz-type environment, at least that’s what it looks like from where this cowboy sits.

Douglas Stacey is a public speaker, humorist and a writer. He can be reached at crossingrafterranch@yahoo.ca

I want to share some information that I think is important. Some people know I have committed my professional and business background to help an amazing society as its Funds Development Manager. No; it is not one of those Government owned facilities that also has a foundation and pretends to be a charity. No - my work is humble and more vital in nature, and it is for one of those charities you don’t hear about a lot, but we fill an absolute vital need. We, serve adults with disabilities, and we try to help these individuals obtain the skills necessary to get employment. We help bring them and employers together so that both the employee and employer win. I think it is a basic and real right for everyone to have the opportunity to employment, and the ability to work towards the realization of their dreams.

In this capacity I facilitate many special events in my attempts to raise both awareness for our work and much needed funds. I partner with caring individuals and companies and find innovative ways to make giving fun and rewarding. The problem is, for years the culture of giving is: a charity asks, and then the company or individual gives, and the good feeling of benevolence is what the expected payback was.

Along came some tougher economic times and companies started saying wait - we want more for that ever competitive donation. More competitive and sought after, including a huge portion of donated or fund raised dollars are going through the back door into the coffers of the government via their institutions fronted as foundations. Usually these same foundations have multimillion dollar fundraising budgets. Lately because of the economics being as it is; some businesses and the media picked up on this and figured, hey we will give but we expect business out of it.

Recently I was negotiating a deal with a radio station to support an up and coming event, one that matched the radio station's audience perfectly. In the past this station gave me some support in as much as they mentioned an event we held. They supported us as they do many charities in the way of PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) and after some work they even featured a link to my event on their web site.

I was thrilled, and to pay them back for their kindness and give them the recognition they deserved I made sure all our literature prominently featured their logo. Even the two half page advertisements so kindly donated to us by the Edmonton Sun had their logo featured. We did a couple of advertising mailers and ensured they were featured on 5000 of these mailers. At the event we had banners printed and prominently featured them as a sponsor. Even during the announcements I asked the 250 odd people to give the station a listen and featured them in our handouts.

Afterwards we insured the station was featured in our multimedia sign board at our training facility to show all that came they had sponsored us. I thought it was pretty good return for their investment in kindness. One of our government funders during this period also asked us to announce an awareness program for business and this station was given that business. I was building a relationship based on mutual give and take and hoped the station felt it was treated very good for their benevolence.

Well in the past few weeks the station announced a policy that unless charities committed $5000 in advertising they would not sponsor these charities anymore. That is nothing for the multimillion dollar so called foundations and such, but for real charities struggling to maintain services it is a hell of a hit. This station should know that it could be sure in the future that no matter what; if we had need of an advertising a program this station supporting us would be certain to get the dollars allocated. That is a no brainer.

This method the radio station and many donors seem to be using to insure business, is maybe not the far sighted marketing tool they expect it to be. I understand why they are taking these steps, especially watching the huge dollars thrown around to the media by some of these multimillion dollar foundations. I am also convinced this type of knee jerk reaction is compounded by the fact that many charities forget to support and ask their friends to support donors. I think the donors can find another way to feel they are getting something back for their kindness and their commitment to a charity.

What I suggest, and it should be talked about by the charity asking for the donation, is the word partnership. I hope we are establishing partnerships with all those that support our society. I want those that support us to know that when we have resources to buy their particular product or service that we will be sure to look at their business first. The charity should let the sponsor or donor know what media campaigns they are planning, and be sure that if the campaign is to a potential audience or customer of the donor, that they will be featured prominently to these individuals. The donor should have the ability to offer a tag along advertisement in mail outs that would be beneficial and not compromise the charities campaign. The sponsors should be featured in posters and billboards if those are used in the campaigns. Most of all they should be presented in such a way at the event that they can capitalize on the opportunity to earn new customers.

“It doesn’t hurt anyone to help his friend, when both can benefit from the others help, what do you have to lose” is what my Grandmother Adele Hadley used to say to me, and it makes sense. I think instead of pushing small charities into uncomfortable positions in order to insure payback, maybe businesses can find a way to still be benevolent and get payback for their efforts. I think the community we live in will be a better place and the businesses can feel a real partnership in the charities' good works and benefit at the same time without compromising the benevolence. At least that’s what it seems from where I sit.

Bullying charities, why

I want to share some information that I think is important. Some people know I have committed my professional and business background to help an amazing society as its Funds Development Manager. No; it is not one of those Government owned facilities that also has a foundation and pretends to be a charity. No my work is humble and more vital in nature, and it is for one of those charities you don’t hear about a lot, but we fill an absolute vital need. We, at EmployAbilities Society serve adults with disabilities, and we try to help these individuals obtain the skills necessary to get employment. We help bring them and employers together so that both the employee and employer win. I think it is a basic and real right for everyone to have the opportunity to employment, and the ability to work towards the realization of their dreams.

In this capacity I facilitate many special events in my attempts to raise both awareness for our work and much needed funds. I partner with caring individuals and companies and find innovative ways to make giving fun and rewarding. The problem is for years the culture of giving is; a charity asks, and then the company or individual gives, and the good feeling of benevolence is what the expected payback was. Along came some tougher economic times and companies started saying wait; we want more for that ever competitive donation. More competitive and sought after, including a huge portion of donated or fund raised dollars are going through the back door into the coffers of the government via their institutions fronted as foundations. Usually these same foundations have multimillion dollar fundraising budgets. Lately because of the economics being as it is; some businesses and the media picked up on this and figured, hey we will give but we expect business out of it.

Recently I was negotiating a deal with a radio station to support an up and coming event, one that matched the radio stations audience perfectly. In the past this station gave me some support in as much as they mentioned an event we held. They supported us as they do many charities in the way of PSA’s (Public Service Announcements) and after some work they even featured a link to my event on their web site. I was thrilled, and to pay them back for their kindness and give them the recognition they deserved I made sure all our literature prominently featured their logo. Even the two half page advertisements so kindly donated to us by the Edmonton Sun had their logo featured. We did a couple of advertising mailers and ensured they were featured on 5000 of these mailers. At the event we had banners printed and prominently featured them as a sponsor. Even during the announcements I asked the 250 odd people to give the station a listen and featured them in our handouts. Afterwards we insured the station was featured in our multimedia sign board at our training facility to show all that came they had sponsored us. I thought it was pretty good return for their investment in kindness. One of our governmental funders during this period also asked us to announce an awareness program for business and this station was given that business. I was building a relationship based on mutual give and take and hoped the station felt it was treated very good for their benevolence.

Well in the past few weeks the station announced a policy that unless charities committed 5000 dollars in advertising they would not sponsor them anymore. That is nothing for the multimillion dollar so called foundations and such, but for real charities struggling to maintain services it is a hell of a hit. This station should know that it could be sure in the future that no matter what; if we had need of an advertising a program this station supporting us would be certain to get the dollars allocated. That is a no brainer. The method this station and many donors seem to be going this way are using to insure business is maybe not the far sighted marketing tool they expect it to be. I understand why they are taking these steps, especially watching the huge dollars thrown around to the media by some of these multimillion dollar foundations. I am also convinced this type of knee jerk reaction is compounded by the fact that many charities forget to support and ask their friends to support donors. I just think the donors can find another way to feel they are getting something back for their kindness and their commitment to a charity.

What I suggest and it should be talked about by the charity asking for the donation is the word partnership. I hope that we are establishing partnerships with all those that support our society. I want those that support us to know that should we have allocated resources to buy their particular product or service that we will be sure to look at their business first. The charity should let the sponsor or donor know what media campaigns they are planning, and be sure that if the campaign is to potential audience or customer of the donor that they will be featured prominently to these individuals. The donor should have the ability to offer a tag along advertisement in mail outs if that would be beneficial and not compromise the charities campaign. The sponsors should be featured in posters and billboards if those are used in the campaigns. Most of all they should be presented in such a way at the event that they can capitalize on the opportunity to earn new customers. “It doesn’t hurt anyone to help his friend, when both can benefit from the others help, what do you have to lose” is what my Grandmother Adele Hadley use to say to me, and it makes sense. I think instead of pushing small charities into uncomfortable positions in order to insure payback, maybe businesses can find a way to still be benevolent and get payback for their efforts. I think the community we live in will be a better place and the businesses can feel a real partnership in the charities good works and benefit at the same time without compromising the benevolence, at least that’s what it seems from where I sit.

Douglas Stacey is a humorist and a writer.
He can be reached @crossingrafterranch@yahoo.ca