Rescues Rant

Lately every time I indulge my guilty pleasure - Kijiji, I'm left with a sour look on my face. I've started to develop a rather large peeve with some of the users out there. Now most times, I get a kick out of the ads. I have a guffaw over spelling and descriptions.

There seems to be a bit of a trend right now. Horse Rescues. It seems everyone and their dog is now operating a "rescue". The ads all plea for money or resources, tugging at your heart strings, trying to guilt you into giving to their cause. But I for one am sick of it. Seriously, who are they to say who's qualified to own a horse? To say which horse is "deserving" of a rescue? Do they even need rescuing?

These people troll the local auctions "rescuing" horses from the meat pen. Their ads state things like "so we can save the good ones". Don't get me wrong, selling a horse for meat is not a choice I'd make. But do I have the right to say that there are horses out there who shouldn't be in the meat pen? Nope, I don't think so. I hate that these people buy up horses that have nothing on them, call them rescued, and place all kinds of conditions on the buyer of the horse.

One of the issues is the horses they are rescuing are a dime a dozen. There are no special features or training that distinguish them from thousands of other horses, and I don't understand the mentality of having a horse just sit in the field as an ornament or pet. I had read an article that stated the number of animals going to the packing plant has actually decreased. It seems to me that people are the problem. Would we need to rescue horses if people were more responsible? If they didn't breed randomly? My vet likes to say that breeding a horse gets another horse. And yes, my horse is bred. But that baby has a home and a use. And yes, if Whiskey ends up only being broodmare sound I will try to rehome her. I don't need or want a broodmare. I will look at reputable and responsible breeding programs, with an approved home, and sign her over. For free.

What I won't do is randomly breed her to some strange unproven stallion with a bizarre yet trendy color just for the sake of getting a baby. (Seriously, if the stud fee is only $300 there is a problem here.)

As to those rescue organizations... get a life and stop the propaganda on the sales forums. I fully and completely support the SPCA and Rescue 100 as they take neglected and abused animals. I do not support organizations or individuals who go to local auctions and try to "save lives".

Okay, I'm done my rant.