2 February

Sadness And Submission: And Then, They Came For The Horses, The Dogs And The Ponies

by Jon Katz
Then They Came For The Dogs
Then They Came For The Dogs And

I wrote yesterday about the many people who message me or post on social media when they see Red out in the snow, they often say he looks cold and sad and submissive, the same thing they often say about the New York Carriage Horses. One friend posted and urged me to ignore these messages, I didn’t need to reply to them, she said, people get Red and know how much he loves his life.

I thanked her, it was a nice sentiment, but the truth is, I ought to have answered them sooner, and more frequently and effectively, and so should all of the people who love their animals and wish to work with them and keep them in our lives. First, they came for the elephants in the circuses, then the horses in the movies, then the chickens in the farmer’s coops, and then they came for the horses, and then they came for the ponies who give rides to children, and  soon, for certain, they will come for Red and the dogs who work with people, for the guide dogs and bomb dogs and search and rescue dogs and therapy dogs.

Work, they say, is abuse, animals are not meant to support or amuse or entertain people, they should all be living in nature, in the wild, away from  human beings. The mayor of New York and the people who call themselves supporters of animal rights are seeking to ban the carriage horses from their clean and warm and well-kept stables and fresh hay and sent them out into the holocaust afflicting horses and so many other animals.

Because no one spoke up and said it is not abuse for working animals to work, people like the mayor of New York remain ignorant about animals, they think they are doing holy work by cruelly depriving people of their livelihood and horses of their safe homes and work. Many of these horses face an awful death, sent either to slaughterhouses to have nails driven into their heads or to impoverished rescue farms where they will spend their lives eating hay and dropping manure.

Could any rational lover of animals really argue that this is a better life for them? Or a better life for Red? Or the ponies in the farmers markets? Or the elephants in the circuses, facing slaughter and extinction in their own habitats? Or the horses in Hollywood, now being send off to slaughter because producers don’t want the grief of dealing with people who claim to speak for their rights, while really finding new ways to kill them?

I answer the people who project their own emotions and feelings onto my dog because I want to fight for his life and his right to work and share his life for me.  He helps make my life possible, every single day. If you feel the same way, I hope you will do the same. I am sorry to tell you that if they get the horses they will come for him, and they will come for your dog or horse or pony too. That is why I have to reply to those messages, if someone had done this in New York, perhaps the horses would be safe.

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