Sometimes I go to many events just because I want to be part of it. Not wanting to bother with the work involved in covering our community events, I go because I love the event, the people behind it and the cause that it serves. And the cost has to be within my pay range. This is the case with the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society’s Wild West Casino Night. And it meets all of my conditions. It is affordable, it is a lot of fun with great people and most of all I love the charities that it serves. Rescuing horses.
Sometimes I go to many events just because I want to be part of it. Not wanting to bother with the work involved in covering our community events, I go because I love the event, the people behind it and the cause that it serves. And the cost has to be within my pay range. This is the case with the Victorian Roses Ladies Riding Society’s Wild West Casino Night. And it meets all of my conditions. It is affordable, it is a lot of fun with great people and most of all I love the charities that it serves. Rescuing horses.
Many people jump on the bandwagon when it comes to animal charities and that is something I admire in a person, but it is mostly our favorite pets, dogs and cats that get most of the attention. Horses are beautiful creatures and many are neglected and mistreated. As much as I love the Del Mar Races, I no longer go due to the treatment of the animals and the high death rate of horses in the sport. I can tell you that I miss seeing those beautiful creatures running around the track, but I just cannot support it anymore. This year’s death rate of horses at Del Mar was sickening, and it is becoming a trend.
There’s an old saying, “Old horses go to the glue factory” and there is a lot of truth to that. Many years ago, many states put in regulations that protected horses from the slaughterhouses. But many states have and are allowing the business of slaughterhouses to grow again. This is not a kind euthanasia of a beloved horse, this is the killing of horses for human consumption overseas. But it is getting worse. In February, the federal government approved the operation of horsemeat slaughterhouses to produce meat for human consumption. Although as of now, it cannot be sold legally in the United States, it still might wind up on your plate because it can be sold to Mexico, or another country, re-labeled and shipped back to the States as a low meat filler. And as I see it, we are just going to let it happen again, stepping back in time and our humanitarian ideals.
Reuters’ states that nearly 130,000 horses are slaughtered each year in Mexico and Canada and the people that support this business in the U.S. are looking to get their hands on this chunk of money in this growing business.
I fully understand that the U.S. is an exception, or used to be when it came to the eating of horsemeat and in my travels I have seen many countries that eat meat from animals that we would not even think of unless we were starving. But as a nation, we are not. So supporting these horse rescue centers is important to me and many other people. Some deal with rehabilitation and finding a family like our local dog and cat rescue centers and others simply give an old horse a good place and a humanitarian way of dying.
That is one reason that Wild West Casino Night is so popular and well attended. It is a cause worthwhile and the Victorian Ladies ensure it is an evening packed full of fun and good people.
I tip my hat to these ladies for the hard work they do all year in preserving the lives of horses at risk.
