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| Fair Dinkum Farm |
Willie, a new foal, was born to Snickers, a
horse rescued from slaughter by The HSUS. |
By Keith Dane
An amazing new chapter unfolded in the story of the HSUS Miracle Horses when an unexpected arrival, a new foal, was born April 16 at Fair Dinkum Farm in Evansville, Wyo. Fair Dinkum Farm is one of the six organizations that gave sanctuary to the 28 horses who escaped death at the Cavel slaughter house in DeKalb, Ill. last month.
When rescue staff went to feed the nine horses they took in during Operation Miracle Horse, they found a tenth in their midst.
A beautiful, perfectly healthy bay foal was resting by his mother, a blind 11 year old bay mare nicknamed Snickers. The foal's arrival came as a total surprise; the mare had not shown any signs of being pregnant.
Farm manager Catherine Peterson believes that Snickers had been a mother before, as Snickers shielded her son from the other curious horses—even though she was unable to see them.
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Illinois Advances Anti-Slaughter Bill |
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On April 18, the Illinois House of Representatives passed H.B. 1711, a bill to ban horse slaughter in the state. The bill will move to the senate.
Illinois Residents: Tell the Senate to ban horse slaughter and protect horses like Snickers and Willie.
U.S. Residents: Tell Congress to permanently ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption and the export of live horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. |
The colt could stand, nurse and nuzzle with his mother within minutes of birth. He proved himself a little dynamo—running and bucking up a storm in the maternity ward that was quickly set up just for the two of them.
The colt was named "Willie" in honor of two special individuals—the late father of a Fair Dinkum's supporter, and country music superstar Willie Nelson, a leading advocate for a national ban on horse slaughter.
The surprise birth of this Miracle foal underscores one of the most gruesome aspects of the horse slaughter industry—the fact that mares heavily pregnant and due to give birth are shipped thousands of miles in crowded trucks to be butchered—their unborn killed and cast aside, never living to take a single breath or see the light of day. Had it not been for the success of the federal suit against USDA and the Operation Miracle Horse efforts, Snickers and Willie would have undergone that terrible fate, and would not be here today.
The same is true for the 27 other horses who were rescued, including Mariah and Sahara, a mother and daughter pair who arrived at their new home, the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, April 12.
The HSUS is urging passage of a federal slaughter bill, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503/S. 311), to protect American horses like Snickers and Willie safe from the horrors of slaughter both here in the United States and abroad.
Keith Dane is the director of Equine Protection for The HSUS.
