Tennessee Walking Horses

More power to you if you can get Al Gore to work to prevent this cruel practice. Al Gore when Vice President inaugerated retesting of thousands of toxic chemicals using thousands of innocent animals, just to corroborate what they already knew about the toxicity of these chemicals, when nearly all of it could be done by computer models and had already been done before, sometimes repeatedly, with helpless animals. Not to mention the millions of dollars of our tax payers money wasted in doing it. He cared not one iota about those animals, and I question whether he will care about Tennessee Walking Horses either. Lots of luck.
Fred

Yes, Fred, I knew all about Al Gore's plan as Vice President to needlessly retest harsh chemicals which had already been proven lethal -- subjecting thousands of innocent small animals to cruel and excruciating deaths. Thank God, smarter and hopefully, compassionate heads prevailed and it did not happen.
That's one reason I did not vote for him when he ran for president. Sadly, there is so much we don't know about our candidates, but I was glad that some animal rights org clued me in then. As for his being concerned about the Tennessee Walking Horses who suffer so cruelly-- I have no
llusions about his being concerned at all, though I hope I am wrong. I also hope that any Tennessean reading this will be concerned and ask one of their legislators to introduce a bill which would forbid the "Great Lift." It's an abomination to anyone who cares about animal suffering and who I'm sure does not consider seeing an animal suffering as "entertainment." I feel the more copy this or any other cruelty gets, --whether to animals or humans, the greater the chances for needed changes. If we don't know about the cruel things that are happening, then how can we address them and so then allow them to persist ad infinatum.

An important matter you've discussed here. I'm deeply troubled by the pain inflicted on animals for man's pleasure or increased wealth or fame. However, I'm also troubled by the generalization that "Christians" as the "top of creation" lay behind such torture. We live in a fallen world. Living in a certain place, even going to church in a particular denomination doesn't make one a Christian any more than going to McDonald's makes one a hamburger. Such generalizations are dangerous and devastating to true believers who love God and have compassion toward all. Thanks for sharing your essay. It's certainly a point that needs more public awareness, but greater care in labeling would improve the writing. I am a Christian. I have raised horses with tenderness and compassion. My stallion was my best friend for many years--as gentle as a lamb. Janet

Janet, if its one thing I don't do is generalize. At least I realize that it is something I don't want to do and I feel that I don't do generally. I taught in Catholic schools for 20 years where there were no curriculum on Animal Compassion, I wrote 360 bishops re the need to teach ompassion to animals and received 10 responses. I would also like to ask you how many Christians do you know that are in Animals Rights? I've been in Animal Rights for 30 years and I see very little concern from the general public which includes a great number of Catholics and Christians who do absolutely nothing for the nimals. If your experience is more positive re the general Christian populace, I certainly would like to hear examples. As long as we don't look for the root cause of our cruelty, it will persist. By the way, I go to liturgy every day so I do believe in a kind and loving God. I would only hope that his followers would show more compassion. In the 30 years I've been involved in Animal Rights, I have been horrified how people can treat animals so cruelly and I suspect a goodly number of them are Catholics or Christians. Please prove me wrong -but if you haven't been involved in Animal Rights, then you certainly can't. I also do not buy Aquinas' Utility Principle which says animals were made for our use. The animals were made for God and if we must use them, we should do so compassionately. I wish you could read the tons of material I have saved over the years which shows we do not. If you are Catholic, why not go to Jesse Rameriz's Rethinking Aquinas on the internet? What a wonderful caring young man who dares speak the truth. As for Catholic media, I have a hard time getting my letters re animal concerns there. As long as there are people who don't seek the truth, these cruelties will persist and I'm sorry to say many of them are either Catholic or Christian.