19 September

Update: Big Paul Is Saved, His Savior Is Helped

by Jon Katz

Big Paul Is Saved

Big Paul In Oklahoma Quarantine

People are good, given the chance.  The news is filled with hate and cruelty but that does not have to be our story. We make our own news, do not have to accept theirs, or the Apocalyptic gloom of our so-called leaders. There are many people on the earth eager, even desperate, to do good, to live in harmony, given the chance.

Big Paul (formerly Asher) has been saved by a good-hearted animal lover and writer named Nancy Gallimore and her husband. She has been aided in her mission to rescue a doomed draft horse by Pamela Rickenbach of Blue Star Equiculture, and  by the equally good-hearted readers of this blog. He was an hour away from going to slaughter.

In two days, scores, perhaps hundreds,  of people have sent small contributions to Oklahoma. Nancy spent her own money to buy this working horse, and she will need more to care for him. We are hoping to reimburse her for that cost.

It will cost Nancy between $1,500 and $2,000 to purchase, save, move and treat Big Paul (named for Paul Moshimer, late of Blue Star Equiculture) and she has already received more than $1,200 through her Paypal account  – [email protected]  and a bunch of checks are making their way to her via the U.S. mail. You can also e-mail her at [email protected] if you would like to support her or send her a contribution off of the Internet.

You can follow her work on her very fine blog.

If Nancy receives more money that she needs, she will account for it all and donate the surplus to Blue Star, the very wonderful draft horse rescue farm and sanctuary in Palmer, Massachusetts. She is anxious for all of you to know she will not keep one penny she doesn’t need. I can assure you that she won’t.

I nod to new technology. How remarkable it is that a woman in Oklahoma is alerted to the impending slaughter of a draft horse – he has been purchased by a kill buyer for a slaughterhouse –  and contacts Pamela Rickenbach at an animal rescue farm in Massachusetts, connects to my blog in Upstate New York, then receives money and support from all over the country in hours.

This is the new world, the new way, the new opportunity and antidote to the hate and argument raging around us. We are a community.  We support animals and we support people as well, we do not exploit the love of animals to hate or batter human beings. This is the real news, the real promise of our world. You will not see this story on cable news tonight, or on television or the front pages of your newspaper. But it is important news.

We are often led to think that we are voiceless and helpless, that our own efforts cannot change the world. I believe this is wrong. Deeds like the rescue of Asher/Big Paul do benefit society, often out of our sight and our consciousness, and this, like hate and rage,   spreads like a gentle and cleansing wind. These acts may seem small, but they are not, they restore our sense of humanity, they enable us to live more meaningfully and to feel that life on our planet is worthwhile.

We regain our own sense of power and our faith in the power of compassion and community. I thank Nancy for her generous and loving spirit, I thank all of you for yours. Big Paul is safe now, he is just a few days away from as good a life as any horse can have, living on Nancy Gallimore’s farm.

And Nancy Gallimore is very close to having the money she needs to complete her very good deed and be whole. Tomorrow, she will go and see Big Paul for the first time.

At first, Nancy was uncertain. Would saving one more horse in the catastrophe facing horses in America now make a difference? She decided that it will, she was encouraged by Pamela Rickenbach. Many people also agree, this loving act has already spread and made all of us feel that life is worthwhile.

One good deed at a time, none are too small to matter.

Email SignupFree Email Signup