WTF is wrong with people?!?!?!?!

[CSollers]

There has been many articles about the hazards of holiday pets. A lot of people just have blinders on. I just don't have much faith in the intellect of the general public.

[MrsGreene]

Ellen, the "good" news about the slaughterhouses--btw, I have been very involved with the movment against horse slaughterhouses since 1983.

Slaughterhouses were never banned in the US. Two states have made it illegal to slaughter horses in the US. What we DID accomplish, was to ban paying for USDA inspectors for the plants. This was a defacto ban, since without the inspectors, the plants could not certify horsemeat and sell it for human consumption. That is where the money is, shipping to Europe and Asia.

[MrsGreene]

Shoot. pOsted before I finished.

Anyway. This little clause basically shut down a $65 billion industry. THey have been lobbying hard ever since. The reversal of the ban was inserted into the Agriculture Appropriations bill this year, which was passed at the last moment possible on Nov 18. If the Appropriations bill had not passed, our agriculture dept would have shut down, and with it, all USDA functions including farm subsidies, conservation programs including wildlife habitat, water improvement, etc, AND the entire SNAP program--foodstamps for needy Americans.

Now what is the good news? The good news is that the ban is lifted, but no line item was added to actually fund the inspection positions. To top it off, the $19.8 billion agriculture appropriations bill was actually trimmed by $2.5 billion. So, they add in the possibility of new inspection jobs, but they do not fund them, meaning that if they are to be funded, they have to find the $$ in a less-tha-bare-bones budget. That is the good news--most likely the mostly foreign investors will NOT pony up the money (pun intended) to invest in reopening plants that have at best a tenuous chance of having inspectors.

For once, the Repub cheapness might help us out. It is estimated that the inspectors will cost 3-4 million dollars, and the industry is not allowed to pay their salaries due to conflict of interest.

[frankoliverlucy]

I recently watched a video by Scott Helsunds Animal Rescue Corps regarding Amish Puppy Mills, It was sickening... ANd made me so sad. I had no idea people could be so cruel. That is one lucky little girl who was saved fram a whack with a club or something even worse.

[Hellas]

How I regret visiting this thread :( It is beyond me how people can be cruel to dogs. Simply beyond me. I can't imagine a situation where I would just abandon my dogs.

[Miss Pugg]

Mrs. Greene: Not to highjack this e mail but it's kind of odd that a friend of mine, with a 145 lb. Great Dane, is agonizing about putting her down. She has incontinence of both urine and feces and isn't eating so she thought she'd take her in yesterday. Yesterday she painfully and slowly chased a cat so her folks are seeing what the rest of the weekend shows for her. I can just imagine what a Dane would produce with diarrhea as compared to a Pug with diarrhea (treats made one of my Pugs very sick yesterday but not made in China, ha, bet they were).

[sassismom]

I hope when I am old I am not dumped off somewhere and forgotten!

[barbs pug]

That's totally disgusting!! When they get old and sick, would they like to be killed?? UGH, upsets me so much

[Pat's Crew]

one of the really for posting the senior pics is so people can stop and think about adopting one of these sweeties too..
a senior dog can be a whole lot less worry and stress then a puppy...

my vet would not put down an otherwise healthy dog even with age.......the dog is usually going downhill fast as my boston dd in a couple of days..and the vet said it was time and she was 19 and half..at the time.

some vets will do though.........