Currently, e-bird is asking people who see animals in distress to report them to their website. Even if you are not a birder, going out is still a great help. To help determine species, Sibley's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America is a fabulous resource to use and has advice to help I.D. birds that may look similar to others. If you have a good memory, then Cornell has a good regular guide if you wish to do your I.D. work at home. If you are already and expert birder and can I.D. without one, more the help.
E-bird has a special section devoted to the identification of oil spill birds, so they will not be grouped with the regular collection as found on the site. For more information visit here.
If any of you have anymore sites that could let others help despite distance, that would be great and I will add it to this one. I am aware this has nothing to do about horses, but I know how much we all love animals and want to do all we can to help those who need our help for a time.
All I ask if that if you do happen to go out there, please do not try to handle these animals yourself. Remember these are wild creatures in distress. The last thing they need is a good heart with no experience. Doing your part is well enough to help them.
More ways to help:
Donate fur/hair for eco-friendly clean-up - Here's how.
Dawn Saving Wildlife - Info - Activate Donation
Report oiled wildlife to 1-866-557-1401. Messages checked hourly.
Have links? Post them in the comments and I'll update the post to include them.
Photo from http://audubonoffloridanews.org/
Great post, CS.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I didn't want to get all "Save the animals" preachy. I hate doing that. I just hate being helpless where I am at. There's no money I can donate and I'm not in the area, so my best bet was to put this out.
ReplyDeleteI should probably put a link to Sibley's. I personally own the book. At first I really disliked it, but it was recommended for my ornithology class. I got it and now have learned to love it. It covers birds that barely come into the U.S.. It even goes as far as covering incredibly rare European visitors, to which I am afraid can show up in places like Florida and other places affected.
Here's one way you can help: http://pollution-control.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-donate-hair-and-fur-to-clean-up-oil-spills-with-hair-booms
ReplyDeleteNo money needed (except for shipping), just hair/fur/feathers/non-toxic absorbent stuff.
One of my favorite companies helping!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/savingwildlife.do
Great article.
ReplyDeleteThank you CS. I live in New Orleans and our hearts are collectively breaking. In January of this year, I took my son and his cub scout pack to plant marsh grass as part of the coastal restoration efforts. He asked me if his grass was affected and at first I was able to say no. But now, due to all the hold ups in clean up, I am not so sure.
ReplyDeleteI am going to rant now (please bear with me). We are having problems with the some of the "workers" in the clean up effort. Not all are taking this seriously and last week, a lot of pelican nests were trampled, eggs and chicks were lost. Really? Go to clean up oil and kill the wildlife?
Then the government is totally getting in our way. It took WAY too long for us to start making the protective berms because of the red tape (I think they may have started before we actually had permission). The week, the coast guard held up many oil siphoning boats for "inspections" for a 24 hour period. The ships had been inspected and it took the governor pitching a fit for the boats to go back out. Too many examples like this - just get out of our way and let us clean up!
Can I mention the oil moratorium? Yes, let's do that. We can get our oil from unstable regions of the world who hate us. Makes sense to me. While we are at it, the next time a plane crashes, let's ground all planes. Big car accident? Sure! Let's do that as well. How about the next time someone puts a beginner on a polo pony and loses a class? Ban all polo ponies (had to have a tie in)!
Anyway, I had to explain to my 10 year old son that we could not go wipe up the oil from "his" marsh grass because it was too toxic. The look on his face broke my heart.
Thank you everyone - please don't forget about this.
PS word verf: ulses (all this is giving me ulses!)
What amazes Me is that not enough people even comprehend the magnitude of this disaster.
ReplyDeleteLalalalalaaa, life goes on. Doesn't affect Me:(
Uh, hello?
We popped a real nasty boil, people.
and for what?
for the new cars we're going to...
But really, we shouldn't carry on blindly/blithely ignoring what's happened.
But we do.
never mind.
carry on..
The G20 is in Toronto. An incredible waste of carbon, right there.
Not to mention my hard-earned taxed to death money.
Great post, timely, indeed.
Wish-rant away. My husband just told me that BP wanted to be able to burn off a large portion of the oil spill and are not being allowed to do so. People don't want air pollution.
ReplyDelete??????
If over 1/2 of the spill could be eliminated before doing any more damage to the coasts/fauna/wildlife/people....
How is the government calculating risks here?
It's almost like they are purposely trying to make this cause more damage than it needs too.
You can thank our wonderful EPA for not allowing us to burn. These are the same people who made independent oil operators put nets over the salt water tank openings because birds could fly into it and die. My grandfather worked for a large oil company (I won't name it, but it's not BP) and he had his own wells. Now my dad has them. He has friends in this industry, and not one of them has ever had a bird fly into the tank. These tanks are situated near creeks and large woodland areas/pastures. Still no birds dead, and you would find them when the tanks needed to be cleaned.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I'm livid we could not burn it off. Now we have wildlife fleeing from it, which puts them in a cramped area where high stress, low oxygen, etc. will affect them.
I'm sorry, but shallow drilling would have made life a lot easier, but we cannot. As somebody who has seen wells in natural settings, I know that mother nature takes it over and not the other way around when done right. This would have been plugged in a snap if it had not been in 5000 ft. of ocean water. It's horrible, as it is incredibly hard to stop because of the location.
The government can do some good things, but with this we were slow to respond, quick to make things worse, and blew it off enough to go golfing. We even blew off help from other countries. Why is it so hard to admit we need help?!
---
Wish- My condolences. I can only hope the grasses turn out OK. If it had been salt water, I could have guaranteed you that the grasses would take at least a decade to return. With oil they may make it. Still, the lesser of two evils is not much better.
There is some minimal hope. 4 prototypes for a siphoning boat were bought that do a much better job than our current ones. Hopefully they see the light soon, as they put the ones we have now to shame.
CS, thanks for the link to where to donate hair. I have 18 bags of alpaca fiber sitting in my spare room. I will work on getting it down there where it will do some good.
ReplyDeleteCharlesCityCat- You can thank Darcy Jane for that link. All I did was put it in a spot where it didn't need to be looked for.
ReplyDeleteWow, that's great! I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated.
BEC - I had not heard about them stopping the burning (though it does not surprise me). I can't help but wonder how the efforts will change when (not if) the oil hits the gulf stream and heads into the Atlantic. This amount can't stay in the gulf forever...and I bet we will see a more concerted effort if they think the east coast will be affected by it!
ReplyDeleteThe poodles and I assembled a bag of poodle hair for shipment today. They were grateful to get that heavy fur off and happy to help out! It seems like a small thing, donating animal fur, but if it will help, I'm all for it.
ReplyDeleteWord verification: inalzoos. Ironic, no?
Burn it off, are you crazy? Do you have any idea what affect that would have on the region? As someone who lives in the area I can't imagine that burning it is even a suggestion. The amount of smoke they are predicting would mean evacuating most of the state of Florida. I don't know about you but I can't pick up and move my family and miss work for an extended period of time. Not mention the risks associated w/ breathing the fumes.
ReplyDeleteHow is that different when they burn it off the top of the water?
ReplyDeletethank you for posting this, CS. As one of our daughters lives in Orleans Parish, this hits close to my heart. I read the NOLA.com site daily for updates on the spill. The Times-Picayune is an excellent source for information, and there are many other links available. One of them is matteroftrust.org.
ReplyDeleteWishIHadAHorsey, where do you live? My DD lives in Irish Channel for now, and works in Metarie.
I live in Metairie off of Metairie Road and work in New Orleans (Children's Hospital). I love the houses in the Irish Channel area.
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone is interested in how BP is interacting from the locals, I heard a couple of interesting stories today. Both men have companies down in Plaquemines and were approached to do work for BP (one to provide manpower, one to provide 1500 boxed lunches per day). BP would not give them a contract and just told them this would be through the clean up effort. The man with the restaurant went ahead and geared up and gathered people thinking there would be steady employment for several months. After a couple of weeks, he was told never mind, they had their own set up now. While some may scoff that this man was a fool for moving forward (to gear up for that requires some expense on his end) without a contract, to me it is indicative of how BP plans on dealing with those affected: smoke and mirrors. Say one thing but then do what they want when they can.
I remember the public outcry from Exxon oil spill, where is it now?? This is much worse. We have done everything in our power here at home to no longer utilize any BP products. I have even gone out of my way to go to different gas stations. That is the only thing a company like BP understands, revenue. They loose their revenue, then maybe it won't be so nonchalant about safety.......that is if BP makes it another year, wouldn't break my heart to see them go out of business.
ReplyDeleteI would most certainly accept an internal reconstruction if they even survive this. We don't have BP stations here, and if we do they are certainly far and few between. I mainly see them when heading up north. We barely even have Shell stations (up north however...) We mainly have Conoco and the 66 stations. Oh, and the porn stor- I mean Kum and Go.
ReplyDeleteBoycotting is easy when you've been doing it all your life.
Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic Monthly is doing a wonderful job of parsing down the BP spill and its importance to both our environment and our political system. Here are some choice links:
ReplyDeleteON THE FUNNY SIDE
BP Spills Coffee: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/bp-spills-coffee.html
Massive Flow Of Bullshit Continues To Gush From BP Headquarters: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/massive-flow-of-bullshit-continues-to-gush-from-bp-headquarters.html
SERIOUS COMMENTARY
The Oil Spill vs Katrina:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/05/the-oil-spill-vs-katrina.html
BP's Damage Control: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/bps-damage-control.html
BP Lied?: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/bp-lied.html
Boycotting BP: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/06/boycotting-bp.html
funny, the BP Spills Coffee just arrived in my mailbox.
ReplyDeleteAnon, re. where is the public outcry?... you're right there- ever since the internet has gained popularity, fewer and fewer are on the streets, choosing instead web forums and BBs to.
What happened to a good old public march of protest?
(should have read ... BBs to voice opinions.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for those links, I needed a smile today:)
ReplyDeletehey, Paddy, do you think this means Canada should NOT have spent over one BILLION dollars on security for the G20 Summit wasteoftime meeting??
You mean people won't be coming out to protest?? They will just type peacefully away on their computers?
What will all of those policemen DO?
fcik. I am ready to protest.
Let's start one, shall we??
BHM, c'mon, you KNOW you want to:)
Mmmmmm....Boycotting BP gas stations is not going to affect BP 'The Oil Company'.
ReplyDeleteBP gas stations are a franchise name owned by local small business owners. Putting those stations out of business only affects a small business owner in your local community.
BP "The Oil Company' will not be going out of business any time soon. If anything, as a backlash, the large oil companies have the power to drive up the price of oil, therefore gas and we could all be paying $5-10 a gallon.
Hasn't anyone else noticed that the price of gas dropped after the accident and has stayed suspiciously much lower this summer?
When do you all think that BP is going to start recouping the cost of this clean-up? And who exactly is going to pay for it?
Do I think BP is handling everything as well as they could? Maybe not. But in many things their hands are tied. It's hard to be expiditious when you have to get clearance from every government agency in the book before you can proceed. I do believe someone else has already mentioned how some of BP's efforts have been delayed?
Yea, let's hope all of the big oil companies go under and we can just buy our oil from somewhere else. Have ya ever wondered who is responsible for the production of oil in all of those 3rd world countries and the Middle East? Certainly not the people of those countries. LOL
We import most of our spare oil from Canada and South America as it were. My least concern is the third world countries with the oil right now. Amazing how the smallest percentage has the greatest media coverage. Too bad they cannot work with it.
ReplyDeletegoL, you know me, I'm old as dirt. Well, sort of.
ReplyDeleteword verif: acited.
GL,
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid my G20-out running the cops-protesting days are over. I'm too easy to catch these days.
BP stock dropped from $60 to $30 last I heard, but guess that's not hurting them? I did notice the prices stayed low even after Obama announced the restrictions of deep drilling. If the oil prices raise, we will go back into recession, at least I will personally as I am still trying to recover from last year. As to oil, it's overdue for us to use other sources of energy. Biofuels are easily avaible here in the northern states, and the vehicles aren't too hard to find either. I could always drive my ponies to work, lol. I can't think of a reason we are still in the Middle East except to save more oil, oil, oil.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel sorry for small business owners that choose to pimp oil. I feel sorry for the workers whom earn minimum wage and risk their lives waiting on that next robbery. It's rarely the OWNER whom is actually working there.
I'm so glad to see this blog has become an oil company basher.
ReplyDeleteAnon-
ReplyDeleteMy dad is an independent oil producer. My grandfather worked for what is now a large oil company that rivaled BP before this fiasco. I am the one who wrote the blog entry because I thought it would be nice to find ways for regular people to try and help out with something that clearly needs the aid.
This blog entry was not intended in any way to bash the companies, and if you read the entry again you will find nothing against the company or others in general. It is simply a post to try and help, nothing more, nothing less.
What the comments turn into is another thing entirely. I am sorry that is seems to be heading in that direction. Already we've had two people post that they have donated to one of the non-profits, which is great and the original point of it all.
Honestly, I believe oil gets a horrible reputation. Like McCain during the election, he got no good media attention. Trust me when I say there are many hard working people out there who are doing their best to avoid situations like these. I am sure many other major companies are now checking their list twice to ensure they too do not make the same mistakes.
I do not see this as oil bashing right now, but expressing frustration (and for me it is with the Feds more than anyone else, BP a close second) and some useful and funny links. I feel the feds have gotten in the way and really want them to just let us work to clean up and protect. With all our frustration down here, we are against the oil moratorium and want to work for a better resolution. Thanks to CS for the post.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if my comment came off sounding snotty. It probably did. It just so happens that my husband and I own a small oilfield company and OMG...you guys cannot imagine how much money and effort goes into safety. We have to follow state, federal and OSHA regulations to the letter. It's the same with the big oil companies. If we are spending hundreds of thousands a year on keeping up with all of the safety rules and regulations...can you all imagine how much money the big oil companies are spending on safety? Millions upon millions. BP will probably end up spending billions on this clean-up. Right now they are frantically doing everything they can to get that hole plugged/diverted.
ReplyDelete'09 almost put us out of business. It did put many people out of business and most not through poor management. The income was just gone. I don't understand how anyone can be happy that people have lost their businesses, their liveliehoods, their homes. Personally, we went from over 60 employees to about 20. If we went out of business windingwinds, those 20 people would also be out of a job too. When businesses go under, it's not j.u.s.t the business owners who suffer...it's their employees as well. Most of ours are like family. My husband was absolutely devastated to have to start letting them go. Gas station owners are not 'pimping' oil, they are providing a service that the majority of citizens need.
But you are correct CS-it was a very good post and thank you for the information. My husband has started saving all of the hair he combs out of the household pets with his 'awesome' new furbinator. Oil field trash that he is, he figured it was worth saving if it could help.
EEC-
ReplyDeleteYes, heaven forbid the oil people go about things all willy nilly like they are allowed! *sarcasm* Did you happen to get caught up in the nutty EPA regulations, too?
Honestly, I wish these people would spend a day watching somebody check wells or watch them do maintenance or repair. Oh dear god, don't even let them see the bill for a pulling unit. I think we'd ruin their Richie Rich fantasy.
These comments remind me a lot of the small organic farmer versus big conventional farmer fights. Small organic farmers always want to consider big conventional farmers as evil, evil people who obviously have no regard to the environment or people's health. Big conventional farmers just think small organic farmers are crazy hippies, getting high and growing a few heads of lettuce and have no sense of the real world.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, very little of either side is true and it is the development of the farming "industry" that has created a lot of the bad (and good) issues we are dealing with in farming right now. And we would all be better off in the conventional and non-conventional farmers would agree to forget the stereotypes and work together for the benefit of all.
Same with oil as far as I'm concerned. Are the people that work for BP or sell their gas bad? Heck no. I bet even the BP CEO isn't the devil incarnate. And issues that may (or may not) rebound from this spill very much may affect nice, small companies run by real folks like BEC. Yet I do feel there are a lot of inherent problems with oil and if this horrible event can do something to make us take positive steps in those directions, than I do think that will be a good thing in the long term.
Like farming for instance. If...we hadn't collectively started in the 50s with a cheap food program which has subsequently continuously lowered the profit margin on farming which then contributed to the higher use of more mechanized, specialized, and efficient equipment not to mention to the loss of many more industry but less profitable crops or varieties (hence only 2 or 3 kinds of head lettuce in the stores when there are 1000s of different varieties available), we might actually be offering not only a wider range of more healthy choices of food grown on a more local basis rather than shipped in, but also real, and many, paying farm jobs! What a thought!
Same with oil. We are dependent on it in so many ways. What if we didn't have it? Or it was much more expensive? Yes, this would be a painful transition. But it will also mean development of different industries, perhaps a re-distribution of where our wealth goes. Perhaps our horses can have more useful lives than just riding circles in an arena!
Oil has been a huge boon for this country (not to mention the world) and has brought us so many advances. Yet, it has also brought it's fair share of problems for sure! But it was the path we took at the time. Doesn't mean we can't start forging a new path now and we do that with simple decisions like buying hybrid and electric vehicles, buying locally, using (or supporting) transit systems in they are possible. Little steps make big changes. And I personally think our dependency on oil (sorry BEC) is something that needs to start waning rather than waxing.
And BTW, I do believe, now that this has happened, that we should NOT ALLOW ANY MORE OFFSHORE DRILLING EVER EVER EVER! I mean, did any of you ever consider that if one of these things "broke" that we would just flood the ocean with unlimited amounts of oil? I guess I always assumed that the oil had to be "pumped" out of the ocean floor. Not that it was a big gushing hole we created and had tapped. The fact that this was ever a possible scenario that obviously some folks weighed and considered is just WAY horrifying to me. And in that regard, yes, BP and ALL offshore oil companies, not to mention the government for allowing it in the first place, should pay BIG TIME. That's just to big of a risk that we set up to happen and to think that we did it so we could drive our vehicles a few cents cheaper is yes, well, nauseating to me.
I still feel sorry for the workers dependant upon the oil companies and now the many many people whom have lost their livelyhood because of the spill. And I am sorry but the pure frustration I get when how many days (months) later the oil is STILL pouring into the ocean and it doesn't seem that anyone really cares. I don't have $ to send, I already donated my horse hair this spring to another cause, and really there is nothing I can do. Probably the worst words one can type. But PF puts it better than me.
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous poster who thinks the comments here are bashing oil companies:
ReplyDeleteIf someone takes a gun and shoots someone in the head and kills the person with multiple witnesses in the room, would you accuse people of bashing the shooter if they call the shooter a murderer? Or would you accept that as fact?
The mounting evidence suggests that BP has acted in a way that has brought harm to the Gulf coast, has taken incompetence to new levels both in the handling of the spill and the handling of the public relations effort surrounding it, and has lied about how much oil is being released into the gulf. In my opinion and in the opinion of a lot of people, that is criminal negligence of monstrous proportions. To see the Gulf coast and New Orleans in particular try to handle a problem not of their making has pierced the consciousness of many Americans, and the blame for this incident falls squarely on the shoulders of BP.
Yes, we can parse down where it's safest and best to drill. We can ask hard questions about how the clean-up is being handled. We can say that government officials have been slow to respond. But the fact remains that BP is responsible for the flow of oil that is poisoning our Gulf coast region.
Personally, I will not play apologist to the interests of a multi-national corporation. The gun has been fired and the victim is on the floor in a pool of blood. The witnesses are in the room. To suggest otherwise seems myopic in my opinion.
Yup, having worked in Alaska, I've seen the safety and cleanup regulations in action first hand. The trucks wear diapers so as not to drip oil on the tundra. There is more spilled oil in most towns from changing the oil in your vehicle than there is on the North Slope.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we as Americans are the ultimate nimby's. As long as we don't see it it's all okay. Third world countries can produce our oil for us, pollute, fund terrorists, but it's not going to make us wake up, drill on our own land, conserve, and work together.
Wasn't it interesting that the rich folks on Martha's Vineyard would not allow a wind farm to spoil their view?
I don't understand how anyone can be happy that people have lost their businesses, their liveliehoods, their homes.
ReplyDeleteThe oil leak caused by BP is going to hurt hundreds of thousands of people throughout the gulf who made their living through fishing, shrimping, tourism and a host of other industries.
I am very, very upset about how they're just getting ignored. They did *NOTHING* to deserve this, they did *NOTHING* wrong and yet they have lost their livelihoods and will probably lose both their businesses and their homes.
What about them?
That's the truth anon. It didn't help to have the BP CEO express his opinion of 'the small people' either!
ReplyDeleteWe really do need to quit allowing corporations to buy politicians.
What upsets me about this whole environmental disaster and loss of income to the many families whose incomes depend on the seafood industry is that it has become a bi-partisan issue. I hate to see it become politicized, but it is true that BP did not have a backup safety protocol to follow in the event of a spill. That was made evident last week during the congressional hearings with Tony Hayward on the hot seat last week. And now that the Justice Dept has told BP that they must withhold quarterly dividends from shareholders, it's bound to get uglier. The bottom line is that there are eleven families whose fathers, husband, and sons died out on the rig, countless people of Louisiana and Mississippi have had their livelihoods shut down indefinitely, and the fragile ecosystem of the Gulf and the wetlands is terribly out of balance and will be for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of oil spills and the cost of cleaning them up, it would be far cheaper to take the money and put into other areas like wind farms.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I am mad: today, the feds made us stop the creation of the sand berms. They told us we needed to move where we were getting the sand from. We need an additional 5 days to move the pipe for the new sand location but they will not give us the additional 5 days. The feds held us up over 30 days in red tape to start (and we started without their "blessing") and will not give us 5 days to continue. This is to PREVENT the oil from getting in, morons! They don't give a rats @$$ about us.
ReplyDeleteNow I also just read that according to the AP, "Problem with gas in vent forces BP to remove cap over leaking well that was sucking up oil."
Great. So we are forced to stop the berm building AND have unrestricted oil in the gulf. Again. Just great.
CS, I want to put wind farms on every politicians' lawn that is in favor of the moratorium. I am tired of their nimby mentality.
ReplyDeleteCS,
ReplyDeleteWe have one down the street and it's not killing birds. Also, it's not noisy.
Costa Rica has major wind farms around Lake Arenal, and the hydroelectricity produced by the lake itself is unbelievable. They have vast populations of birds that migrate through, and they placed the turbines so they wouldn't chop up the birds. We need to pull our heads out of our butts and start looking at what other people are doing, using what works, and letting go of outmoded thinking. Reinventing the wheel is counter productive.
ReplyDeleteBetween the lackadaisical approach of the feds and BP, all we can expect is a giant mess. The infighting between the parties reminds me of kindergarten cliques. Where are the statesmen that will put the welfare of our country over politics and cash?
The wind farms are ugly!!! At one time it was pretty here in West Texas, now all you see are stinkin wind turbines, I hate them. They are noisy if you get close to one, the energy depot for them is even worse!
ReplyDeleteTexasnascarcowgirl brings up an interesting perspective. I say that because while no one wants the ugly wind farms, they do not seem to mind the oil that is pulled out of the Gulf or Alaska, dragged through our marshes or the Alaskan pipeline - as long as they don't have to see it.
ReplyDeleteWe as a nation need to collectively address our energy requirements and accept that it is going to take a very long time to get off oil. But that does not mean kill oil until you have the roadmap finished. I can imagine an oil / new energy partnership that would allow the oil companies to become energy companies - and it could potentially be more profitable for them as hopefully there would be less capital outlay for energy sources.
I am tired of nimby - because it always seems to be in MY backyard.
So the oil fields are pretty?
ReplyDeleteCCC - funny!
ReplyDeleteActually, in Prudhoe Bay there is an eerie beauty.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest son is quite excited about the wind farm down by Lafayette, Indiana next year we will have MORE wind turbines than the biggest wind farm in Texas, over 1,000. I haven't heard of any birds being killed by them?? I'm sure it's possible but how many birds are killed by cars?? Or power lines?? With the recession hitting our state hard we welcome any alternative ideas that add jobs. And the ugliest thing we have close by and with noise pollution is the LANDFILL in the next county. I hope that somehow they can figure out a way to use the landfill for good. It just keeps getting taller and taller. The biofuel factories take up space and are a bit noisy too, but they are jobs and they are a step forward.
ReplyDeletewinding winds
Actually, I think wind farms are gorgeous. I have driven through/past them in southwestern Wisconsin, California, and Spain, and they never fail to fascinate me. There's something about the collective whirling of the turbines that appeals to me. My husband and I would give anything to have a turbine or two powering our farm if we could.
ReplyDeletejust thinking of U2's Beautiful Day lyrics"... see the oilfields at first light..."
ReplyDeleteThey are kind of spooky-looking. When I was a kid, they reminded me of grasshoppers or earless giraffes constantly dipping up and down.
Sitting here looking at the May/June Mother Jones magazine. The cover is "If We Don't Fix Our Energy Crisis We Are Screwed."
ReplyDeleteWell, that's putting it succinctly!
I tend to think the "solution" is not a one-fix all. Nor will it be a complete solution. Some oil. Some wind. Some solar. Some water. Horsepower. Conservation has to be a big part of the picture. The earth is not made up of infinite resources.
Use what works best for the right areas. Work hard to mitigate issues (like birds being killed in wind turbines). No solution will be the "end all." Every solution will cause more problems.
But...I think focusing toward the breadth of our energy sources coming from things other than oil would be a great goal.
And whatever we do, don't create things that, if they fail, have the power to destroy entire oceans! Still, really, really, really shaking my head about that one. I mean didn't anybody ever think about what would happen if one of these things failed? It boggles my mind that it was an acceptable risk. Of course, I guess I kinda feel the same way about nuclear power plants!
There are a variety of technologies other than wind farms that can used such as tidal energy, wave energy, or just put the turbine out at sea where no one can see or hear them.
ReplyDeleteThe large turbines effect birds less. They move too slow so you'd get more birds killed from buildings with glass.
I don't think a windfarm can hold a candle to a spill of crude, with regards to killing birds.
ReplyDeleteConsider the source, but this article is very clear that modern wind turbines represent at worst a minor danger to birds: http://www.awea.org/faq/sagrillo/swbirds.html
ReplyDeleteThis article all but says that one oil spill does far more damage than wind turbines: http://www.capecodtoday.com/news265.htm
And finally, this (multiple pages): http://science.howstuffworks.com/wind-turbine-kill-birds.htm
I found all of these articles and many more by doing a search on "windfarm kill birds" (without the quotes).
To sum them all up: The actual on-the-ground cold hard facts of the matter are that wind farms represent a negligible danger to birds, especially modern windfarms where the turbine blades are further up from the ground. The Altamont Pass data (which shoes a much higer rate of bird strike deaths) is an exception due to a combination of particularly unfortunate placement and old designs.
However, we still need oil. And getting away from the idiotic attitude of "I don't want to see that" is going to become increasingly necessary in the future. Wind and solar can contribute only a relatively small amount of power, and cannot replace the materials made from oil (plastics, pesticides, fertilizer, medicines, etc.). Even as we transition away from oil, we need to accept that the more oil we can produce ourselves, the better for our own economic stability.
And small energy sources must come into play. For instance, some students at the University of Madison have developed a small scale factory that will turn used cooking oil into diesel that can be used in any diesel engine. Small water purification plants that are low tech. Biofilm that glows...but we still also need oil. Developing what is in our own backyard is imperative.
ReplyDeleteYep - now that there are usable "one house" wind turbines, I'd love to set my house up with wind and solar.
ReplyDeletekestrel-I am desperately trying to get rid of the 'bio-diesel' cooking stuff that was left on the property we just bought this spring.
ReplyDeleteO.M.G!!!! That stuff stinks to high heaven.
The previous owner was going to come get it, but after waiting on him for over a month....
I told him never mind. It was obvious he was not going to come get it and I want it gone.
I gave these people the benefit of the doubt, because the economy tanked so badly, it's hard to tell why people ended up losing their homes...
However, after meeting this dork and waiting on him...and waiting on him...and waiting...
I know exactly why these people lost their home. Apparently birthday parties and mini-vacation weekend trips are more important than taking care of business.
I just hope the smell leaves when I get this stuff hauled off. It is horrible!
But anyway, when this guy said he wanted to come get his tanks and the grease, I asked him if it was still worth it to make bio-diesel. He told me that considering the cost, it's really only worthwhile to produce it when regular diesel is over $3.50/gal.
Therein lies the problem with getting people to develop alternatives to oil. Which we will NEVER get completely away from. Has anyone bothered to look at the list of products we use on a daily basis that are made with oil/petroleum by-products?
The cost of the finished oil product has to be sufficiently high enough that the ordinary citizen is willing to look for/request alternatives. The most common place we see discontent is at the gas pump or due to the cost of heating a home or when things go horribly wrong as they did in the case of DeepSea Horizon.
Did anyone else catch the name as being related to that movie, Event Horizon with Dustin Hoffman? Things didn't go so well for people on that space ship either.:(
Altogether too weird, BEC! The biodiesel stuff I've been around either smells like french fries or tacos. Obviously the perps have way more money than sense, since if you have the equipment it's pretty much paid for.
ReplyDeleteI remember an old Mother Earth news article that featured people who powered their house on methane from pig manure, probably from the 70's? Anyway, it did involve some *gasp* work! The technology has been around for a long time. The cost of oil does have to be high enough to make it an incentive to try. Hopefully the oil spill will be a high enough cost to get us thinking about alternatives.
"Anyway, it did involve some *gasp* work! "
ReplyDeleteYeah, that sure turns lots of folks off.
What, power isn't free? I can't just flip the light switch??
Food isn't cheap?
Our resources are not infinite?
Hard lessons being learned, globally.
coughcoughCoalcoughcough.
I read some more about the coal fires burning around the globe.
That's pretty freakin' scary, too.
Back to Reviewing FHotD for a bit. Go read her blog for today (6-25-10) Pot calls kettle black. Do as I say not as I do.
ReplyDeleteDo let us know about Champ. Don't care if your are not a 501 c 3. The rescue you are blasting is acting just as much within the letter of the law as you did. Miss "I'm not required". So which horse that was lame and attacked people was put down? I seem to remember a horse from this past January that fits that description...
She says in the comments it was Soot/Allison that was put down for attacking.
ReplyDeleteThe rescue is trying to damage control against a cult of personality on the Internet. It's a tough thing to do, and not a huge amount of fun. I feel for their position. I understand why they're asking for the information they are, but I don't think it's the right way to deal with it.
Soot was what I would call a feral horse. She was never handled and Fugly does not have the skills to deal with a horse like her. That aside, she was lame as hell. You know Fugly gets them and they are all so purdy and sweet and she is going to be a riding them, just you wait and see. Soot should have been euthanized when she was returned from Oregon. That would have been the kind thing to do.
ReplyDeleteSoot was what I would call a feral horse. She had never been handled. Fugly does not have the skills to deal with a horse like that. She was also lame. Any person who really understands and cares about horses would have euthed her when she came back from the lst home in Oregon. Fugly likes to take them and wear them like a badge. She says they are cute and just watch, she will be riding them real soon. Soot suffered at your hands as well Fugly. I know. Same as Champ, I know.
ReplyDeleteAnon.,
ReplyDeleteOil spills are definitely a big killer of birds. The biggest killer is by far glass on buildings. The reality is that there's a daily clean up of dead birds from buildings with glass in the city. I've yet to see the wind turbine produce the same kill level.
I'm amazed by the lack of News about this disaster..When the Valdez started leaking, the News crews were all over it and the images were the first thing we all saw when we turned on the TV every night for weeks. But here in the Pacific Northwest, at least, we might hear a couple of words about the 'progress' before they switch to some inane report on the local basketball team ( or something just as stupid). Where are all the interviews of the people affected by this? The images of the oil soaked wildlife...the calls for help and funds to aid in the clean-up?...Does anyone even know who's in charge? I feel so darned helpless and frustrated...I doubled my monthly 'donation budget' and sent it to the Dawn Foundation, and I'll send more next month. But it all seems so ineffective and useless. The first lawsuit was filed yesterday so maybe we will hear more now.
ReplyDeleteHelen, thank you for remembering. The relief well is "on target" for August (no, really) and BP does not have a good plan for dealing with storms. August is the peak of hurricane season and there is major concern that what Bp is proposing will interfere with residential evacuation plans. From what I understand, their plan is light on details and parish officials are trying to work it into the master plan.
ReplyDeleteFugly is actually whining because they euthed a bunch of horses? This is the same woman who assured me that a woman who put down a healthy trained horse because she felt 'no one could take care of it as well as she could'*insert eyeroll* had done the right thing. Now she's all upset because a rescue may have killed off the ugly and insane ones? Hypocrites drive me insane.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Cathy Atkinson, aka Fugly...
ReplyDelete(so fitting..) Has stopped saying Soot, Ivy, Abbey whatever you want to call her was sexually abused. Yes she was owned by someone who posted on a bestiality message board, but after someone here posted that Fugly knew there was no evidence of abuse, she stopped trying inflame everyone by saying the horse was sexually abused.
Anonymous above who said Cathy wears her rescues like a badge is so correct! She even tries to take credit for other people's rescues!!
Ha Ha word verification was Disiver!
I'm still waiting for Cathy Atkinson/Fugly to say something about SOS - they euthed 20-something ( the number keeps changing) of the 200 they rescued last year...But wait, SOS is paying for advertising on the Fugly board so I guess they are immune to the nasty comments :)Just wondering, 'cause I can't bring myself to read her drivel, did Mz Atkinson offer any kind of an alternative to euthing a horse you can't re-home, and can't afford to support? I'm an idiot and currently driving myself nutty trying to keep weight on a 33 year old gelding (Cause I looove him :)) and I don't even want to think about how much I've spent on my silly Wild Chicken. And, of course the Mule is on a special diet because they can't digest corn..and the list goes on...I'm just saying all of this to point out the fact that I'm not the 'brightest bulb in the box' when it comes to my Critters. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep them healthy and happy. But if the time ever comes that I can't take proper care of them, or if the quality of their lives are comprimised, I'll euth them in a heartbeat because no one else would want them and I can't think of a better plan.So I'm wondering here, what Miz Atkinson does with the horses she can't support. Surely since she is so willing to 'biotch' about the behavior of others, she must have a better plan for her own horses - Some brilliant scheme based on her wealth of intelligence, and vast background, and hands-on experience in running a Rescue.
ReplyDeleteI am still waiting for Cathy Atkinson aka FHOTD to say something that I can believe or respect.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking I will be waiting a very long time.
Well there ya go Cathy Atkinson, Katie Merwick, and Lanne from RACE the Prodigious fund doesnt belong to SCR and too bad you flipped that lip and wrongly accused Lori and now your names are shit or mud at Emerald Downs Owners and trainers are not donating to fund anymore so you dont get it. Having 47 horses is hoarding you are not following your mission statement you dont retrain or rehome you pawn off on foster homes and are they any better off that way Id rather see them dead. Im happy to see your world is falling apart from your actions and PS RIP to the load of TB's shipped from the lot this week because of you.
ReplyDeleteAnon 5:11pm-It sounds like you have good info...but could you please sort of spell things out for those of us that are not completely aware of what you are talking about. The cryptic messages are hard to follow.
ReplyDeleteWho's world is falling apart?
Word has gotten around that Cathy 'outed' Lori and falsely accused her of dumping her horse at kill?
What's the Prodigious Fund?
Who has 47 horses they are not rehabbing or rehoming? SCR?
http://fuglyblog.com/?p=1885
ReplyDeletethis Lori was outted compliments of Katie and Lanne after they got a TB from Rebels lot
Prodigious Fund
http://emeralddowns.com/?cat=6&id=1457&type=news
Katie Merwick has gotten the fund in the past to feed her 47 horses she hoards and is pissed because the fund was used to save 5 TB's at Enumclaw that were dumped.
And today Cathy is back to criticizing children...
ReplyDeleteThat girl rides better than Cathy ever will and back in my day they didnt make helments and in the western world they dont use them oh high and mighty AQHA owner.
Oh and the bit is a Myler dumbass you should really get some facts before you write. But then again your writing consists of stealing training tips from trainers and youtube or posting emails from you misguided readers
This is quite a trainwreck with the TB's dumped at Enumclaw
ReplyDeletehttp://auctionhorses.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=auctionhorses&action=display&thread=2131&page=1
IE: the 5 TB's at Enumclaw Sales Pavillion
ReplyDeleteI am sick that they are saved to be handed over to a bunch of Yahoos without a clue.
Why are they riding the one w/ the fracture? Also they have no idea it will cost them at least $2,000 just to get them fed vetted and farrier care for the first 6 mo it is only a matter of time before the end up right back at ESP.
I don't have a 'dog in this fight'...The Rebels couldn't accept the funds from the Prodigious Project even if they were offered...But I wondering if the folks at Emerald Downs understand that Tasha Johnson is part of Cathy Atkinson's group and that they (ED) are funding the very people who created the chaos...They are riding a horse with a fracture?
ReplyDeleteYeesh-that's a trainwreck. How nice that the comments ended in one rescuer dumping them on another (note-that's sarcasm).
ReplyDeleteSome had homes...and then they didn't?
One of the 'rescuers' called the Sheriff because of a dead horse and a dying horse?
Oh and the best part? When one of the rescuers decided to dump her own horse into the rescue pot. That's just peachy.
Wonder if they will bother to have the mare with the suspected fracture PTS...or if they will just dump her off on anyone willing to adopt her?
This is quite the emotional extortion for Emerald Downs! Give us $2,500 to save these horses so we can dump them again and then you can pay us to resave them
ReplyDeleteWin Win for the idiots that follow fugly rules of equine rescue!
I went through the posts regarding the thoroughbreds and they named a trainer that the 5 horses are supposed to be from. The person naming the trainer was wondering how his horses got there because she said he was such a nice guy. It was phrased in a non-accusatory manner so I think they were truly just wondering.
ReplyDeleteWanna bet how long it will be before some one from the fugly side decides to run with his name and "out" him?
fhotd says: June 28, 2010 at 11:05 am Those farm kids drive EVERYTHING and from a very young age. And it isn’t uncommon for them to get killed or lose a hand in machinery, either. It was just how things were back then (and still are in some places). People had kids to have unpaid help on their farm. 10 kids, great, you had a lot of help!
ReplyDeleteThere was one ep of Wife Swap where even the little kids were out at 4 AM milking. I don’t know, I’m not against kids having chores, it’s good for them, but you shouldn’t be around large livestock ’til you’re at least 8-10 and have some ability to learn how not to get hurt. Older for machinery that you can get badly hurt with.
DO I even dare start to respond to that partiicular generalization .spewed form the computer of the almighty goddess of hypocrasy?
Riiight. Poor farm kids. They should be city kids, who deal with guns, gangs and traffic?!
ReplyDeleteWe have a woman with no kids telling other people how to raise them. Because she knows how it's done.
Oh wait, she also does not train horses but will tell everyone else how it's done. Does not show except in kiddie shows and whines when she loses, and does not take care of her own horses but farms it out to other people.
People listen to her because she's loud perhaps? It's like watching an episode of Jerry Springer...
there's no point in posting on Cathy Atkinson's blog if you disagree with her. She's cherry-picking her responses, so it's not worth the time.
ReplyDeleteIt was me that posted the quote ,I was just so p*ssed that I forgot to log in.
ReplyDeleteIt constantly amazes me the crap that can be spewed . After all good heavens , teaching kids a work ethic? as far as safety goes , I was raised on the "and you will DIE theory " Every warning dad gave us ended with a graphic description of how horribly we could be hurt and or killed if we weren't careful(a bit extreme , but here I am with all my body parts ).How safe is it for kids on busy roads playing street hockey or skateboarding on the sidewalk etc. But nooo Fugly says those dang Farmers are too stupid to survive!
Fugly has gone on and on with regards to helmets. She gets all preachy when it comes to children, but has posted on childfree -by- choice user groups to the point where I don't think she likes kids at all. She often refers to 'her students' in her past. She was in high school, threw them on some old horses in a pasture, and had them go in circles while other horses grazed and bickered for herd placement nearby. Wow, that was really safe. I find it very odd that none of her former 'students' have posted on her blog.
ReplyDeleteGood point anon4:16...you would think with all of the students she has had that at least one of them would have popped out of the woodwork by now to tell us how wonderful of an instructor Miss Atkinson was. But...I'm not holding my breath.
ReplyDeleteCould it possibly be that she made riding so miserable for the poor little suckers that she turned them off of horses forever?
And fern, you are absolutely correct...growing up on a ranch, I clearly remember getting the 'safety' speeches by both my dad, my step-dad, my mom and my grandparents. It was ingrained in us from the beginning of memory...not at some miraculous age of comprehension.
Isn't it amazing how so many of us managed to survive unscathed? (snort)
So what the heck are people supposed to do with their kids until they do reach that miraculous age of comprehension? Sit them in front of a t.v. and hand them a box of junk food? Yea...cause that has worked out so well for the city kids!
I am far more worried about my teenage daughter heading out the door with her friends to go do 'town things' than I have ever been working with her beside me on the ranch or with the horses.
Besides fubbs is a bit outdated with her '10 kids for slave labor' theory. For at least the past couple of generations, farm/ranch families have become very small. We cannot afford to raise a herd of kids anymore. I'm just wondering when having to work hard as a youngster became such a hardship? Oh sure, it wasn't much fun having to get up to do chores after a long night at a school function or partying ;)...but we all survived and learned that when you have responsibilities...you HAVE to get up and take care of them.
Oh the horrors!! We had a car I drove at 12 to the bus stop after feeding livestock and plowing snow with large equipment. I Thank God my parents taught me all those things.
ReplyDeleteI think Cathy is probably jealous of this woman's success. Cathy is a timid rider and this gal just lets it all hang out.
ReplyDeleteSomeone needs to ask about Soot and how "watching and making a few small changes" didn't work. And why she thinks it didn't work. And what she would suggest to people who were in similar situations.
ReplyDeleteWhat Fugly said about farmers having 10 kids may have been true before the age of machinery and birth control pills. Today, they are no different demographically than urban families. My grandparents, who grew up on a farm 100 years ago, where throughly trained in safety. Farmers who weren't didn't live long.
ReplyDeleteBEC,
ReplyDeleteI strongly suspect that Cathy baby sat a class for a friend once or twice. I don't believe that she is capable of setting up a safe jump course or training students to ride safely.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think it speaks volumes that when she asks her readers to describe horses they have fixed. almost all of them are issues on the ground. She and parelli have that in common they thrive off the community that rides their keyboards more than their horses.
ReplyDeleteDifference is that Pat can really ride a horse.
ReplyDeleteI have always been suspicious when someone, describing a problem and its fix, makes it sound so simple and easy any fool could do it. The June 29 post sounds like a late night commercial on a paid cable channel ("Come on, anyone can do it so why don't you try!)
ReplyDeleteI conducted a poll of the farm kids I know. General consensus...they feel sorry for the kids who never learned how to do cool stuff like driving tractors, riding horses, and bucking bales. Usually said with a disdainful sniff at the incompetent 'city kids.'
ReplyDeleteWIHAH, you said it! And don't you wonder if the horses stay 'fixed'?
Guess it's fairly obvious that Cathy Atkinson wasn't raised in the Country and has no knowledge of today's Farm Families..But since when has a Lack of Information stopped her from stating an opinion?
ReplyDeleteHorsey: How are you? Did the Hurricane affect you or yours?
Cathy Atkinson was raised in an upper middle class suburb. As an only child by a single mother who had a very good job. She knows nothing at all about living on a real farm or having a real family.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen! We are fine, just lots of rain but nothing out of the ordinary. A "good" side effect is that Hurricane Alex broke up a huge oil plume headed toward Grand Isle. We are usually more affected in August and September.
ReplyDeleteYeah, did you check out the Canada Day post? Love the first comment. "Are Canadians are still killing baby seals, with white coats?" and good old Cathy Atkinson says "Yes, the HSUS is still trying to stop them."
ReplyDeleteAccuracy FAIL.
Truth, FAIL.
Oh, well. It's only the internet.
GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.
"Yes, the HSUS is still trying to stop them."
ReplyDeleteWell, the HSUS is still trotting out pictures and old video to get money out of soft-hearted people under the GUISE of "stopping them." I suppose CA is right there. There's no law against trying to stop something that has already been made illegal and is enforced fairly strictly.
That poster seemed a bit whack..."baby seals gazing up with trusting eyes"...a seal would just as soon crush you to death as look at you. Not to mention the fact that the seal hunt goes on in places where seals are INFESTING the local ecology. If we didn't hunt them, Fish and Wilflife would have to cull them.
Logic doesn't work on people like that though...they'll see one person willfully disobeying the law and then attribute nefarious intentions to all Canadians.
Note to poster: MOST CANADIANS WITH HALF A BRAIN OPPOSE POACHING, AND THAT INCLUDES KILLING BABY SEALS.
The vegans of the world never seem to think about consequences. For instance...if the whole world went vegan, we'd have to plow every marginal piece of ground, use lots more fertilizer, and do mono-cropping to the extreme to produce enough plant based foods. That lovely wheat field crowds out ALL the native plants. Without careful balancing of their diets their children, and they themselves, risk malnourishment and all it's inherent problems.
ReplyDeleteIn our area, Mr. cow tromps out into the forest and plains, eats grass, and carries it back to us as complete protein on the hoof. The native vegetation and biological diversity are maintained. Most ranchers are generational caretakers of their land, and do not overgraze their heritage and livelihood.
I follow Humanewatch on Facebook. It is very interesting. There was also a good article about HSUS in my latest Covertside magazine.
ReplyDeleteTalk about the ultimate Spin Doctors!
That article and all the comments tha followed about farmer having ten kids for cheap labor and oh well, if you lose one no biggie since you have nine others really infuriated me! Obviously coming from people that have no children. No matter how many children you have, you cherish every one of them. Read a journals from people that lived back in the time when children had a high risk of dying in infancy and you will see that no one is immune to the pains of losing a child. That really pissed me off as a mom!
ReplyDeleteI'll take the farm kid that knows what it takes to work and survive over the spoiled city kid that couldn't feed himself if he needed to. It's not cheap labor, it's called building work ethic. If Atkinson ever worked in the real world she would have come across these two types of kids and seen the differences!
snicker..
ReplyDelete"There's no law against trying to stop something that has already been made illegal...".
That was funny, S&B, gawd...
It makes sense to Canadians, of course. We are the masters of it, truly.
But shouldn't there be a law against trying to stop something that has already stopped, and also making money from it?
I deleted my comment about farm families because it was too danged vapid, even for me.
I'm kinda strung out right now, with a reality based chicken, I mean..
We need to improve animal confinement laws.
Opinions?
Jst read FHotD anti 4 of July essay. Geeze. For someone who espouses libertarian ideals, she sure wants to control everyone else's life. What happended to the less government intervention is the best government? It's a two way street ya know.
ReplyDeleteYes I do know that fireworks frighten many animals, where is the personal responsibility that Cathy keeps talking about? It seems as if most of those accidents that happened to animals could have been prevented by fore thought and action, not trying to control everyone elses's behavior that inconviences you. I put my very large dogs (225 lbs+ 34 inches at the shoulder) in their kennels during 4th of July, Basket ball games, foot ball games,(the glory of living next to a major college basketball team) halloween, (see above) visits of small children, older folk, folk who are scared of dogs, etc. The kennels I have because I am a responsible dog owner. My cats (all six of them) can run around like mad in our house. They NEVER go outside. The snakes, tarantulas and scorpions don't seem to care much.
Ya know, my animals don't seem to like my blue grass band either (they howl, perhaps they are trying to join in) neither do my neighbors. But, I don't particulary like Bing Crosby, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra, or Rap in general. But I shouldn't be able to stop folks who like it from playing it.
FHotD has a VERY short comment list. Wonder how many comments were not posted because they were resonable and disagreed with Cathy. It's not like her readers to sit back and let her slam a holiday.
ReplyDeleteMost fairgrounds have a fireworks display, so if you are showing it is a good idea to desensitize your horse...just like you have to desensitize them to bicycles, kids, crowds and everything else. Outlawing everything that would scare an animal...bwahahahaha!
ReplyDeleteNow that Cathy Atkinson is embedded in HSUS's ideals, you can bet they'll try. Not because they love animals, but because there is a lot of money to be made. Those donations just keep rolling in, and the money is not being used to do one useful thing for animals. It sure does enable their staff to live 'high on the hog' though!
I'm sure Cathy Atkinson is the HSUS's best advocate because she identifies with them so closely. Flap your lips and try to control everyone's thoughts and beliefs with propaganda, and don't actually DO anything yourself, just pay others to do it, or even better take credit for other people's work rescuing animals.
ReplyDeleteI'm entirely sure she is trying to get hired on there as their spokes person...
Thanks heaps, anon 1:28..Now I have this mind picture of Cathy Atkinson/Fugly, sitting at a conference table with Purcelle and Michael Vicks, discussing 'Morality' :)
ReplyDeleteIn NC a bill regulating puppy mills didn't pass because it was sponsered by HSUS. <a href="http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/03/563609/puppy-mills-escape-again.html> article </a>
ReplyDeleteKaede's Article
ReplyDeleteSheeesh, kaede, ya forgot a "
That article points directly to animal confinement laws.
I suppose it is more fun to name names, though.
As long as farm animals never have to leave their cages, neither do dogs, nor cats, nor chickens, nor horses..
Keep 'em clean/fed/watered? You can keep them in jail for all of their lives.
really.
It's the law.
I lit fireworks for the first time around my spook monster. You wanna know what he did? Looked up and started moving around to look. He then hid behind the wall of the barn being built and hid there for the rest of the night. Frankly, he took to that 100% better than he does trash bags. Those things are Satan and will gnaw his hooves off. Fireworks? Eh. He doesn't like them, but he isn't flipping a nut, either.
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends on FB got in a huff about her finally getting her baby to sleep and the neighbors started some fireworks (this was the 3rd) calling them stupid rednecks. Uh, hun, you are not going to stop a holiday just because you decided to have a child that you know will exhaust you senseless because it's an infant.
Thanks Golightly. I just thought it an interesting article, the whole bill went kablooie because HSUS sponsered it, not because it was good or bad law. In NC most of our state legislators really are citizen legislators, running small to moderate business. They are suspicious of HSUS and their declaired goal "One generation (of domestic animals) and out". Which law will be the camels nose under the tent? Which bill the HSUS sponsers will have unintended (and harmful) consequences for their constituents?
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why humane laws are at an impasse.
ReplyDeletePuppy mills are A-okay, as long as you keep them clean, ya know.
Dogs never do have to leave their cages.
Feed 'em, water 'em, shelter 'em from storms, and your responsibility ends, there.
You know, I watched a speech Wayne made, I think I put a link to it up here, a while ago.
That "One generation and out" quote has caused outrage, and yet, I do NOT think that is the message Wayne was trying to convey.
jmo.
SpinDoctors and poor media "translations" can really screw things up..
For the animals.
I may not be typical, but I've never considered HSUS to be a Rescue Organization. I've always thought of it as a political group, and I've been avid supporter in their efforts to get Our Bills passed and as long as they had the chance to do that I was content... When I sent my donations, I did not care whether the money went to huge salaries or bribes, or whatever - My focus is on stopping the transportation of the Horses, so we can start working on the other problems..One step at at a time, fixing one mess at a time, then moving forward. But when they decided to include Michael Vick in their program they connected their name forever with someone who is totally detested by the Public, Like PETA and the bombings and Cathy Atkinson/Fugly, with the dead OTTB's and her attacks on children..In the end it won't matter what they planned or how much 'Good' they could do...All that really matters is the results of their publicity. When the public thinks of HSUS, they will think of Michael Vick and all the greatest press in the world is not going to convince the public to support Michael Vick. And we all know who is going to be left to support HSUS when the public turns away from them..They'll end up like PETA, lots of noise and publicity but no real power to make any changes..Or , maybe I'm wrong, and with all the millions of dollars being poured into advertising, they don't need the small donations of the House-wives who just want to 'help'..I just know that I will never send another penny to them and I'll never post another link or 'gather the forces' to sign another one of their petitions - and yuppers, I know it won't make any difference to them, but I'll feel better :)
ReplyDeleteHey, BHM (and everyone) I have a video from youtube that I found that I think deserves a good watch. I'm tempted to do another post for it, but who knows. I just thing the first part of it before it gets into talking about jobs is just something that needs to be screamed to the world.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-udsIV4Hmc&playnext_from=TL&videos=aQL6RNtFWz8
I have no clue how to hyperlink, and I have a program that turns text into links on my browser so...yeah.
I admit I'm suspicious of HSUS. It's not because they are a political pressure group, lots of those running around. Think of the dairy associations, big pharma, and snack food groups. All political pressure groups. My concern is the bait and switch tatics used by HSUS. I'm all for humainly raised food. Lets treat the farm workers well too. Lets START with the farm workers. When I start reading HSUS sponsered bills, I do wonder how the the clause for "adequate" space and "clean" litter and water be interpreted. There is a type of bedding out that is 99.0 % dust free. It's very expensive. It's intended for small rodents kept in the house, will that litter be considered the definition of "clean"? Once a horse poops in his stall the bedding is no longer clean. Do I have to have the entire bedding replaced? Do I have to have folk standing around with pitch forks waiting and watching? What about water? One horse I know likes dunk his hay into his bucket. Is that water clean after he dunks his hay? Don't laugh. The rules legislators make have to be enforced. The people who enforce the laws have to have guidelines. It's not that common sense is rare, but laws have to be enforced equally.
ReplyDelete"Is the water free of debris? .... yes no"
"Is the stall free of feces? ..... yes no"
I wish to heck we could get the junk food industry out of our public schools. Selling Lil' Debbie snack cakes (During LUNCH!) to support salad bars and "enrichment"(band,theater and art)classes is obscene.
I just plain don't trust HSUS or PETA. There are far too many reports of HSUS showing up at animal disasters and spending more effort (and money) on publicity than on the animals. And PETA? PETA has been outed multiple times for the abominable track record of their animal shelter, never mind the absurdity of calling fish "sea kittens" in an attempt to get people to think of fish as something cute and cuddly, or the horribly grotesque stunt of comparing pig slaughter to Hitler's ovens.
ReplyDeleteHSUS pretty well thinks the know what they are doing, then takes people who know very little, then twist the view to their side. Like how swine couldn't be in the crates. Now in states where the law passed those same sows crush babies, eat them, etc. Yeah, that's a much more awesome life. Luckily other states are trying to stop them in their tracks. Did anyone see the airline fiasco with the turtle? The mother contacted PETA. Basically expect a PETA funded ALF attack soon because you know they are nutty enough to do it.
ReplyDeleteI see Fugly is using the tragic accident involving a carriage team to once again promote her idea that horses don't belong in the city. This makes me particularly hot because I have friends who own and drive carriages in NYC. At least this time Fugly actually admits to not knowing shit about driving, not that she let that stop her from vomiting up the views of the HSUS. Yes, this whole thing was tragic, but the thing wasn't a result of horses in the city, it was a result of the driver not paying f*cking attention to the fact that his horse was rubbing it's bridle off. If the driver hadn't been on autopilot, noticed his horse's shenanigans, and hollored at his horse to knock it the hell off, ta da, no accident.
ReplyDeleteI did not hear the turtle story! Tell!
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of problems start with people anthropomorphizing their animals. Note, I did not say that animals have no emotions. They have needs appropriate to their own species, not ours.
I haven't read FHotD essay on the driving accident. Driving is MUCH more dangerious than riding. I've yet to see a riding accident at a saddlebred show. I've seen several driving accidents.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't Cathy get all up in arms about trailering horses? I bet more horses and people are killed during trailering accidents than parade accidents. Or do you think she is skipping that one because it would hamper her desire to win a ROM for BYC? To say nothing of people trailering their mares to him.
This just came to me, does it seem to you that Cathy wants all horses to live the life of a pasture pet? Hanging out in the back 40, (plenty of shade trees and clean running water) until his little girl comes out to brush him and hop on his back and lope around the field for a few minutes? Sort of like Lassie?
ReplyDeleteKaede - bingo! Here horsey, horsey, horsey! Did Timmy fall in a well? Stomp 3 times if he did.
ReplyDeleteFugly actually made a comment that every horse should have a nice warm stall...I know of a lot of horses that HATE stalls.
ReplyDeleteWIHAH, heeeheeee... isn't that the truth.
The driving accident was exactly that. An accident. Could things have been handled differently? Probably, but hindsight is 20/20. There have been people run over by parade floats, too. should we ban parades entirely because someone might get hurt? Some people wreck cars, too. When you look at the number of horses that handle traffic and commotion just fine, the random wreck is put in better perspective. It's all about perceived risk. The number of parades with horses in it that have no mishaps at all make an episode like this one national news.
Kaede, I'm with ya on trailering, I've seen some horrendous wrecks. But then, I've also seen horses develop strange symptoms and die in the pasture.
Weird stuff happens, sometimes people and horsed die from it. Back when I was a teen, my hunter got bit my a timber rattler. We were hacking home from a hunt. It was WINTER! All rattlers were SUPPOSE to be hibernating. True, it was a warm day, but still. Yes, the horse survived, stocks make wonderful constricting bands. Which was their original use. Try to prevent that accident by planning and forethought.
ReplyDeleteWhy hasn't Cathy been on a rant about snake bite on the trail? I thought that trail rides (short easy ones anyhow) were one of the things she supported horses actually doing.
WP people, I have a style question, Cathy mention that BYC likes to shake off his throat latch less bridle. BYC bridle seems to only have ear pieces, not sure if it is one or two ears. Cathy ties the bridle on with fishing line. Is this Kosher? Would it be better for BYC to just use a different kind of bridle? Or is a throat latch less bridle used to show that the horse WON'T shake of his bridle?
ReplyDeleteKaede-The one ear...or as is now popular the two ear headstalls are mostly used for showing because they do have a tendency to make a horse's head look 'neat'. I would have to say that if her horse can shake his headstall off that easily, it probably doesn't fit right as I use one eared headstalls all the time and don't have problems with my horses shaking them off that easily.
ReplyDeleteHorses can shake or rub the headstalls off if they are persistant and I did have a mare that was pretty handy at removing a one ear headstall if I looped her to the fence. But a well made, well fitting one ear shouldn't just fall off if a horse happens to shake their head.
I read the Parade accident post and can't help but wonder...
There were probably 10's of thousands of 4th of July Parades this last weekend and ONE accident is supposed to make everyone decide that having horses in parades is not safe?
Yeaaaaa...that just screams HSUS and PETA rhetoric to me.
I am really sorry for the people who were hurt and died during the accident. As Kestrel said hindsight is 20/20 and hopefully they can put additional safety precautions in place. The same has been done here during the Mardi Gras parades but the key is that the safety precautions are followed by all. We will not cancel parades due to people's carelessness - usually the police on patrol catch a lot of that before the accident happens. But accidents do happen.
ReplyDeleteWhat Cathy Atkinson does not seem to get is that crossing a street can get you hurt. Where do you stop? If I remember correctly, this is the first time in many years that they have had an accident with that parade.
Thanks BEC, I had wondered. Now that BYC has learned that his show head stall fits improperly if he is "ruined" for showing forever.
ReplyDeleteThat one driving accident and the horse is ruined is perposterious. An accident is an accident, think how many eventers fall and aren't ruined forever.
Cathy trainer reminds me of that old joke, "Care repairs. We specialize in all makes all modles." Her intro that her parents realized her special bond with horses happened early. Rather than "wasting" their money on an education, bought her horses and kept her showing."
Huh. Who knew that I've been on so many ruined horses! I rode a horse named Crash. He was in a trailer that broke loose from the truck, careened across traffic, and landed in the ditch. When the owner got over there he expected a dead horse, but the horse was just scratched up! Miracle...and the accident did not scare the horse away from trailers at all. We thought it might make him afraid of trailers, but maybe it happened fast enough that he didn't connect the trailer and the wreck.
ReplyDeleteTying a bridle on with fishing line sounds comepletely unsafe to me. Fishing line can cut skin and muscle like a knife, and if you are using light enough line that it will break before it cuts... it would defeat the purpose. Using an unsafe bridle and tying it on with fishing line sounds like a column about stupid vanity to me! If the BYC rubs off a one ear bridle, use a bridle with a throatlatch instead.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Yelm-WA/Cedar-Hill-Training-Center/176069282617?ref=ts&__a=44#!/photo.php?pid=149404&id=100000711918292
ReplyDeleteThis is what she shows him in Gah!!
Thanks anon at 9:14 for the link. I thought that BYC was to be a HUS. That's why he has his balls, because there are so few 16.3 buckskin QH HUS horses. I'm positive there are loads of buckskin WP QH stallions.
ReplyDeleteHmm, remember what I said about Cathy wanting horses hanging out in the back 40, (plenty of shade trees and clean running water) until his little girl comes out to brush him and hop on his back and lope around the field for a few minutes?
ReplyDeleteQuoting Cathy at 7/6 11:32 AM "I don’t think it’s unrealistic. If you have horses at home, you have a field to ride in, or you can put them in the trailer and drive them to horse trails – that’s what most people do."
Can't do that where I live. Trespassing laws and cotton/peanut/tobacco farmers with loaded shot guns discourage riding through strangers property.
I do want to commend FHotD readers who are expressing sympathy to the injured people.
I did like this from Cathy 7/6 11:28 Am"Think about it, even at shows, there’s a fence between the spectators and the event with the horses." Umm, I have seen jumpers hop over the ring rail. Rider comes off or looses control and POP over the rail. People, no people, they don't care, they have been taught to jump odd things. Doesn't happen often, but neither do accidents like the one under discussion. That's why it's news worthy.
Wait a minute...Cathy doesn't have a pick-up and trailer, who is she to tell other people if they want to get to the trails...they need to haul there? Oh wait, that's right...she doesn't trail ride because it is too scary.
ReplyDeleteI grew up riding horses around town....Yes, it was a very small town and still is, that's why my daughter got to ride all over town as well.
Now, we live in a rural area, considering where I am from I consider it populated, but there are several of us that ride our horses along the roads for miles in any direction. There is always some jerk who can't be bothered to slow down or has to honk their horn, but for the most part people are really good about slowing down and moving over to pass us.
Honestly, I have always thought of it as just another aspect of getting a horse broke. Not arena broke. Not broke as in 'I can ride him as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens', but BROKE, as in, a horse that is safe for pretty much anyone...even someone as chicken-shit as Cathy Atkinson.
And that is a very cheap looking headstall on her stallion. Ebay...$9.99!!! LMAO
No wonder he can shake it off so easily.
It sure looks like the ugly eared bridles are the current fad! They look pretty unsafe to me, and seem to sit too close to the horse's eye to me. I still can't get over the fishing line...now that is a wreck waiting to happen!
ReplyDeleteI've seen horses go over and through fences, and I've also seen a monster truck go through a fence, tires roll away off race cars, and some pretty random every day life accidents. Life happens!
There seems to be no room for a real working horse in the 'unicorns farting rainbows' crowd. I mean, showing is a lot of fun and all, but it started out as a way to show off your horse's real life skills. There are still a lot of horses that are used for ranch work, trails, carriages, therapy, packing dudes and gear into the wilderness, and even some logging teams out there. The public seems to be appreciating them more, and I see many newcomers to the horse world lately that want nothing to do with the 'show crowd.' We need both types of horse, and the infighting and snobbery is not helping horses at all!
One wreck and they are ruined?
ReplyDeleteThat's often true, especially with chuckwagon horses (apparently.) Wrecks with hitches aren't the same as wrecks with small pleasure vehicles, like you'd see at a saddlebred show. Also, a "wreck" isn't the same as a runaway or a small accident...wreck is a WRECK. I am sure that some horses survive big-hitch wrecks and go back fine, but I do know that lots of 100% sound chuckwagon horses are retired after a wreck because they are mindblown. Could be fine for a new job though.
On the fishing line, it isn't really a new thing...Arabian show halters usually come with the option of a very thin wire throatlatch or fine chain. It's fashion...it also sort of keeps those flimsy cable halters on, some horses just seem to be built to hold them in place, others just seem to look down and they fall off! I haven't heard of any Arabians decapitated by their show halters, I don't think it is that big a risk. Those WP bridles are a pain in the butt, especially the ones that have the silver or beaded ear holes...they wouldn't stay on my Trak. for love or money!
I know nothing about driving in chuckwagon races. But Cathy wasn't talking about chuckwagon races, she was talking about show ring driving,from the trainers website, it sounds like saddlebred fine harness driving.
ReplyDeleteArabian show halters aren't WP bosals and hackamores. I spent some time yesterday looking at bosals/hackamore combos after seeing BYC in his show rig. If the rig doesn't fit right it doesn't work. Why doesn't Cathy put on a fiador? Isn't this what she complains about? Show people using short cuts?
I have a tack question.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any experience with the Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridle?
I have been thinking about trying it on one of my geldings. It sounds wonderful on paper, but we all know how that is. I would rather base my opinion on what people who have used it say, whether good or bad.
Thanks for any input.
The latest from Fugly
ReplyDelete"Come on, it’s not THAT hard to figure out how to responsibly rescue large animals. You could learn just by reading this blog."
Krist now she really does think she is the cats ass doesn't she ?
Often wrong , but NEVER uncertain!
ReplyDeleteFern
ReplyDeleteYou can learn LOTS of things by reading FHotD. Not everything someone learns is desirable. In the information biz this is call "bad" information, it leads to bad decisions.
Pics of BYC? I've been looking for them, but haven't seen any. Got a link?
ReplyDeleteBYC in a bosal and hackamore
ReplyDeleteEven funnier than the "you can learn a lot statement", from the same blog post: "By the way, I have used Dr. Best as a vet and I think he’s great so when he says the horses were not in need of euthanasia, I’m pretty sure you can trust that."
ReplyDeleteSo, she's also an expert judge of a veterinarian's skills? Wow...I had no idea.
Oh, Fern, you know that blog isn't good for your serenity..
ReplyDeleteWhy is BYC's head so low?
just kidding.
I already know.
I do think a wreck can cause lasting damage to some horses. Not all horses. Some can "take" it, some can't.
But with a horse's narrow, almost perfect memory, it's pretty crucial to be a "perfect" trainer, to sort out the poor beast's head.
My idiot-stick barn-owner, that KNEW a particular horse could not be trailered in a two-horse, went ahead and did it anyway.
Horse just about killed himself, managed to half-climb out the front man-door, while the trailer was moving...
shudder...
I plowed GoLightly into several impossibly deep spots, to four foot oxers, rails flew. Lightly said, meh, what an idiot you are, let's try again, and ride me forward out of the corner, silly woman..
Some horses can forgive and forget, with the right training, some can't, no matter what.
Depends on their horse-inality.
You said it much better than I did Golightly. I was wondering if you has seen loose horses jump fences, too.
ReplyDeleteAnybody know why the horse Broadway hasn't been adopted yet? It it the horse, the rescuer, or a combo of both?
ReplyDeleteMaybe cause she is 10 years old and track broke??
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry but that "Broadway" horse has no charisma, is not a spectacular mover and is just kind of blah. If there are ribbons in her future, they are definitely not blues.
ReplyDeleteI usually don't bother to watch the videos of the rescue horses unless someone points something out. After watching the video of Broadway, I have to agree with the last two Anons...I just don't see anything all that 'cute' about that mare.
ReplyDeleteI'm not an English person, but even from a Western perspective, she is not a great mover. Maybe with a lot of work, she would improve but she is really, really quick-legged and isn't using her back.
Does this rescue continue a horse's training or do they just throw up videos of what they are at this point and hope that someone else wants to invest the time on them.
Geez-That last sentence was supposed to be a question.
ReplyDelete...Cause heaven forbid a person give the grammar police a reason to diss a person's intelligence or level of education by making a spelling error or punctuation mistake-LMAO.
? - There...
I have watched the video of Broadway as well.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wish they had video of her under saddle with a more experienced rider. The person who is riding her is making alot of mistakes and since the mare is pretty green, she could be reacting to that.
Today FHotD essay is about rare blood lines and rare breeds. I know nothing about arabians. I even thought at PF Eqyptian Walking Onions were an subtype of Arabian. So what is the debate all about in perserving rare bloodlines in Arabians? Just because a current type of horse is commercial doen't mean that it is the best representative of the breed as a whole. I've always seen value in keeping rare breeds a a sort of genetic ark. Can the same arguement be made for rare bloodlines?
ReplyDeleteBHM and CS this might make a topic of it's own.
Dr Cook's works quite nicely on a lot of horses. 2 lesson horses where I used to ride wore them (legal for Jumpers around here, not Hunter) because they had hard-to-fit or previously damaged mouths.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that they aren't sidepulls, you CAN get harsh with them because they cross under the jaw, but all in all they are well made and it doesn't take much for a horse who is used to a bit to figure them out. I made the comment about harsh because some people figure it is a super bridle for beginners, they can just ignore their hands, which isn't true.
I don't know why you are considering one, but there's also always the hack option...I'm not sure that the Dr. Cook's is REALLY all that different, and most Hackamore nosebands distribute the pressure over a larger area. The leverage mechanism is just different in the two. The Dr. Cook's looks more traditional, I suppose.
SB, thanks for your input.
ReplyDeleteI am considering it for Wizard. Unfortunately, he was used as a school horse for several years when he was young and he HATED it. He just doesn't have the personality or mindset for that kind of a job. His mouth is somewhat trashed from that experience. I was thinking that maybe the bitless bridle would be something he would like more than a bit.
My boy loved not having a bit in his mouth, he responded really well and picked up the queues from the cross-under really quickly.
ReplyDeleteHowever it doesn't seem to have a quick enough release which a different style like a sidepull would.
Bwahaha! Fugly got spanked for dissing Arabs. Her comeback was..."it's my opinion and my blog." Why does she bother to enable comments then? To post the rah rah ones so she looks good?!
ReplyDeleteThe bloodlines are truly an ark, Kaede. Sometimes the things that look good to the human eye are NOT what works for a species as a whole, and the rare strains that are kept separate from the mainstream may very well be incredibly important. The old style quarter horses are popular because they are not polluted with the HYPP gene, for instance. There are several 'nicks' that invariably turn out great animals, that are a composite of two separate strains.
Look at the heirloom vegetable strains that turned out to have important characteristics.
I find the prospect of deliberately causing 'unpopular' strains of anything to dwindle to extinction kind of creepy and a lot short sighted.
It's standard practice for someone who's trying to "repair" a problem to seek out old lines - be it vegetables, horses or dogs. It's why there are genetic arks of seeds scattered around the world.
ReplyDeleteI would hate to lose the compact, quick, sane quarter horses because they're not 'popular' this decade. I remember back when I was a horse-crazy little girl (as opposed to horse-crazy middle-aged woman) hearing that QH's were rarely taller than 15h and were known for quickness and stamina. Coming into the horse world now and seeing 16h+ Western Pleasure QH's that plod along, or small, quick barrel racers that can only do that one thing...(shakes head)...I just don't get it.
There are still people out there breeding very nice QH's. The good news is that people like Cathy can not afford them!
ReplyDeleteSweetAsItGets says:
ReplyDelete“I have honestly been on the verge of tears all day with guilt because my tried-and-true bell boots rubbed a small raw spot on the front of each of my mare’s cornet bands last night. ”
fhotd says:
Yeah, I am the same way. If anything happens that could REMOTELY have been my fault, it deeply disturbs me.
I cant believe you are ever disturbed Fubbs as hateful as you are. And how the hell would you know what your horses are doing or if they are OK when you have them farmed out in 3 states
Gahhhh my eyes are bleeding!! And Im back to not reading the queens blog after these gems
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe I say this to a long term reader but:
This blog is my opinion. That’s it. I get to have ANY opinion I want on MY blog.
"I’m merely observing that a Ferrari is going to sell a lot better and typically get better maintenance than a Kia. "
Cathy Atkinson your a self centered snobby bitch! In case you havent noticed, you haven't got a pot to piss in. If I ever run into to you Im gonna knock that slightly askew tiara right off your brainless head!
Justsayin, you must learn to take that blog for what it is worth, which, generally, is not much.
ReplyDeleteI find it terribly amusing that CA got badly spanked by SunValleySally because Fugnoramus voiced her uninformed opinion on Arab bloddlines. It was even more amusing that the best Fugnoramus could do was come back with it is MY opinion and MY blog, so there. Can you say LAME!
Why does she think it is okay to blog about things she has minimal or even no knowledge about? And believe me, just cause you can Google something, or know someone who knows someone, or read magazines and books, that sure as hell doesn't make you knowledgeable or an expert about anything.
I have a full Percheron, but that does not make me an expert on draft horses. I have a Quarter Horse, but I am not an expert, etc....
Yeah, good old FHOTD, her lame-assness is definitely showing. "What GOOD are those old lines?"
ReplyDeleteThey don't WIN in the ShoW rINg.
What a forward thinker.
NOT.
If she doesn't get it now, she never will.
Amazing, really, it's like saying "Oh, those Good Twist lines are SO out of date. Too OLD."
whut??
BHM, did you survive the EQ, the G20 and the power outage?
Gettin' a tad worried, here.
Sorry guys for asking...I'm trying to keep my 'head down'...But I've 'Lost track' of Fritz, and I'm fretting..He was purchased by R.A.C.E., then everything exploded ( not even going to stick my foot in that bear-trap)... I can't find him listed anywhere..Does anyone know where he is, and is he Okay?...Stupid, I know, to care about one horse, but I don't like to 'lose track'..and he's 'One of Ours'..No pressure, just want to know he's safe.
ReplyDeleteBHM: Could you please update this blog with a response to Fugly's latest tirade about how she could do a great job training a head-shy horse to be bridled by using treats? I disagree with Parelli's methods, but that self-described 5'3" "girl" doesn't have much more to offer the horse world. Crikey, her ego keeps getting larger and larger.
ReplyDeletehls I loved her colic comment she cured it by dragging and growling at the horse!
ReplyDeleteAny luck finding Fritz Helen?
ReplyDeleteNo luck finding Fritz..It's probably silly but I don't have a lot of faith in 'warehouse' rescues, in my experience, they almost always end up with too many horses in too small a space with too few volunteers to care for the basic needs of the animals.But, as I said, that's just a personal predjudice of mine and not neccesarilly true of all of them..It just seems 'odd' to me that R.A.C.E. made such a 'big deal' out of 'rescueing' Fritz and now he doesn't seem to be listed anywhere. I'm hoping he was adopted quickly. He's a very nice horse.
ReplyDeleteAck. Went on a last minute vacay. I'll try and get a blog up if BHM doesn't get to it.
ReplyDeleteAfter raising such a huge public stink about Fritz, I'm amazed that they are not crowing about a forever home for such a nice horse already...and if a horse like that hasn't been placed it's not boding well for the usual "rescue type" horse. Has anyone else noticed that the market is rather saturated with lame pasture ornaments with bad temperaments?!
ReplyDeleteI bet the original owner took the horse back. She was very upset at what happened and was actively looking to figure out how he wound up where he was (if I am thinking of the wrong horse, please correct me - sometimes I get the dramas mixed up!) If that is the case, no "celebration" for a forever home - why give a responsible original owner kudos!
ReplyDeleteWhy give kudos: Because such owners are rare?
ReplyDeleteAnon - that is not the spirit I meant it. I was trying (very unsuccessfully) to be sarcastic. I believe there are MANY good owners who try their best and do good. I will acknowledge there are bad owners who don't give a crap. I just wish there were more stories about the good owners - but that does not seem to prompt the comments and drama.
ReplyDeleteIt is very much like the 6 pm news. Why tell all of the good that there is out there when destruction sells?
I have heard the owner of Fritz is paying Lanne to keep him so I dont see her adopting him out anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is also why she had a falling out w/ Katie of Second Chance Ranch. Katie wanted a cut of the $$
Oh or maybe it was the IRS inquiry LMAO Remember when your trying to destroy others watch your back.
This goes for you too Cathy Atkinson better clean your own backyard before you shit in others.
All the crowing over Herc and Fritz like they were a badge to fubbs and now nada on updates Isnt that one of her strict rules?
ReplyDeleteHelen call TractorCo in Ellensburg that is where Lanne keeps him.
I won't bother Lanne. Once Fritz was sold to her he became her responsibility and I have no right to meddle. But Thank You big-time for easing my mind...I recieved a rather 'disturbing' report from the 'usual anonymous' source, I suspect, to toss me into a dither and, hopefully urge me to start a false rumor..deep sigh...there are some really stupid people in this world and all this silly drama makes me dizzy :)
ReplyDeleteIt sucks to get old...I logged on to ask Horsey how the new cap on the oil well is working and if 'Things' are looking better, then I was distracted by the 'Fritz' thing...How are you doing Horsey? Any updates?
ReplyDeleteAs far as we can tell the cap is working. But the damage has been done; the oil made it into Lake Pontchartrain and too many other places. The mood reminds me of November after Katrina, totally worn out but knowing we have many years of work ahead of us. Thank you for thinking about us Helen.
ReplyDeleteHorsey, my dd t here in NOLA helped with the bird rescue in Port Sulphur before they were relocated . She is exhausted. I had no idea it make it into Pontchartrain!
ReplyDeletePad, she deserves many hugs for her work!
ReplyDeleteHey Horsey, you are 'On the Ground', and you see who is 'doing what' while the rest of us are only seeing the 'Rainbows and Unicorns', or the 'Dissenters', just'Spouting Off'...In my experience, the 'little' groups are the most effective, and these are the folks who need the support..So who is there, doing the work?...And how can the Rest of Us Help?
ReplyDeleteWARNING: LONG post ahead.
ReplyDeleteLocal news sources:
http://www.nola.com/
http://www.wwltv.com/
http://www.wdsu.com
With these, I would consider who they are quoting.
The who: the face of this for us is Billy Nungesser, Plaquemines Parish President. He is the one to follow as far as the progress goes. He really drove it home about the BS between the federal govt. and how the locals were being left out. Early on, one of the emergency planners, Deano Bonano (yes, we have GREAT names down here), literally commandeered boats BP was paying but were told to wait. This morning, Billy said that we are now seeing the boats working constantly and he feels there is improvement in the cleanup effort. I listen to him first before I believe anyone else.
I am worried our governor, Bobby Jindal, is going to have a heart attack as he has lost a ton a weight and is working like crazy to cut through the red tape. I personally believe that had they allowed the dredging and rocks, then the oil would not have made it up to Lake Pontchartrain. We spent decades trying to get it clean. It does not seem to be too much but my heart sank when I saw the news of the tarballs in the lake. He is another source I trust.
BP? Well we have a new saying down here. We got BP'ed. They are NOT disclosing information in a timely manner and even their little lapdog, Admiral Allen, was upset because they did not disclose immediately when they discovered a methane leak around the newly placed cap and potential oil leak from the seabed. Yup, the well integrity might be compromised. More tests but I only trust the sources I listed above.
The help part, this is the frustrating thing for me. Please understand I spend my time helping to plant marsh grass, plant trees and participate in cleaning the lakefront and other areas as much as I can. I take my son (11) and his cub scouts with me so they can learn. But in this case there is nothing we can do. The stuff is toxic so unless you are working for BP, you can't help clean. Oh, BTW, Admiral Allen has made it a FELONY to enter the clean up areas if you are not part of the group. Yuppers, only their media people can release photos, blah, blah, blah.
If you are interested in animal welfare, the LA SPCA has set up a good page of what they are trying to do as they are becoming inundated with animals that people can no longer take care of: http://la-spca.org/Page.aspx?pid=469 Click on the Animal Care Relief program.
If you are interested in helping people, I would contact faith based organizations in the area. Post Katrina they were a god send to the region. They will know precisely what is needed for their specific area. If anyone is interested, let me know and I will see if I can come up with contact information.
When you are seeing both extremes (the "Rainbows and Unicorns" and the "Dissenters"), the truth most likely something else completely . The emotional roller coaster is similar to that of Katrina so the screamers just need to shut up.
Thanks for asking - sorry for the rant - and this has gotten me out of my funk about feeling helpless - thanks Helen!
WIHAH, thanks for the info. It's so hard to find the truth in the slanted (in either extreme) news stories.
ReplyDeleteHi all. I have been playing catch up, on reading posts and no time to post anything it seems. Great topic CS. WIHAH, didn't take your post as any kind of a "rant" - you provided lots of good info and it's far more helpful and informative to get news and info from local sources such as yourself. I will be checking out your links, esp the ASPCA. Am hoping that that have some sort of fund that helps owners keep their animals thru these hard times, providing owners help with food, vet etc. I find the thought of people having to make that choice particularly heartbreaking. Though some might say that there are far more important needs to be met (and I know there are), I think that in
ReplyDeletemany cases, having to give up a beloved animal companion on top of everything else can be especially devastating.
So much good info and exchang of ideas here - you guys are great.
Thank You WIHAH. I tried to post yesterday but it wouldn't 'stick' :) Like Snowponies, I feel the optimum solution to 'hard times' is to try to keep the Critters in their own homes and offer support to the Owners. If Cathy Atkinson had ever stopped to actually 'talk' to some of these Owners she would have learned that many of them are selling their horses or 'giving them up in other ways, because they see no other alternative. Jobs are lost, homes are lost, divorces happen - 'Stuff' in general happens to all of us. And we've all experienced times during which we could use a bit of help. But who is even going to ask if they've seen the flood of venom Cathy Atkinson ( and her ilk) spews ? And it's all for nothing, because the people who habitually 'dump' their animals, just 'shift' them into another lot or sell them with a NR order, so no one ever sees them. The Animals die, the 'dumpers' aren't affected...And Cathy Atkinson goes on claiming to be some kind of 'Crusader' ( I just haven't been able to figure out what she is 'Crusading' 'For' :))But, while the experienced 'dumpers' are immune, the average person is terrified to approach a rescue to have their name and phone number blasted all over the net. I cannot tell you how many times I have, personally contacted people, to offer a list of emergency services, feed,or support, only to have them yell at me for being a 'Rescue Nut'. 9 times out of 10, they hang up before I can even say I don't represent a Rescue...Sorry for venting, this very thing happened just this morning so I'm feeling a bit sore...An Owner in trouble, resources at hand and no way to 'connect the two'...I'll wait a couple of days and send an email, with the list and pray it's not too late..Pfft, I'm doing it again,...I logged on to say that the la-spca, does have a wonderful support system for helping owners keep their beloved pets in their own homes and even better, they are providing a companion program offering spaying and neutering at the same time. The 'bright spot' in my morning was 'closing down' my schedualed donation to HSUS to send it to them. These guys are working against enormous odds and doing a great job ( I know 'cause I checked them out)Bless 'Em, they deserve all the help we can give them ( IMO)
ReplyDeletetoday Cathy Atkinson asks, "Who ARE these people who do not check on their horses for a month? It just boggles my mind."
ReplyDeletewell, for openers, Cathy, you're one of them!
Yes, think of poor Soot. Going through fences, injuring her RH again and where was her owner?
ReplyDeleteCathy Atkuntson said....You checked the halter a MONTH ago? A MONTH ago? Most of us look at our horses EVERY DAY.
ReplyDeleteNo Cathy... WE check our horses everyday so drop the us. You are waaaay to important to even live in the same state as yours!
And yes please do tell us what happened to Soot as TDR's Amy Jo is sick over it. How did you talk her into giving her to you?
sigh.
ReplyDeleteHere's some good thoughts for the people bordering the Gulf, and an extra hug for BHM.
At least it's been reported, that horror story. At least someone reported it.
To that poor colt. At least, he's far away from pain now.
Hey Fugs, see you have learned about feral horses! Guess you do read what is posted over here.
ReplyDeleteFubby said....What is Lutalyse and when is it used?
ReplyDeleteThen since she learned a new word...
And if you HAVE accidents, GIVE THE MARES LUTALYSE. Why were unwanted foals brought into this world? C’mon, if you are a reputable breeder, you know Lutalyse exists. She has a good vet. I know her vet.
Im so surprised as a Stallion owner she is planning to breed she doesnt know the basics.
On the Serenity subject Kudos to Wa Hobby Farmer for standing up to Cathy! She will be shown the delete button soon. After all Cathy cant look stupid on her blog after all.
I wonder if Patricia bought ad space on her blog if she would stop the witch hunt? Defending SOS Equines again Cathy? Go check their website in the contact section. People are complaining they cant get approved and they cant even adopt a horse when approved! A simple call back is too much for Shawna I feel sorry for her volunteers who do ads when she cant be bothered. Id do a site check of that hell hole quick!
Actually, while WAHobbyFarmer is right to ask, Serenity really has had problems for most of its history, and most of those problems can be traced directly to Patricia Clark, the founder.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the particular question about oops foals: There have been at least three and probably four unplanned foals conceived there. Three out of rescue mares, and one potentially by a rescue stallion. And you might notice that Cathy/Fugly didn't start the Serenity thing this time.
I used to be a very staunch defender of Serenity, even took a good bit of abuse on the Fugly Blog for it. Sadly, while some of the accusations about Serenity that show up on Fugly are incorrect, there are many more that are only now showing up. A group of former board members finally got fed up enough to speak up. I'm one of them.
That would be a good idea. To do a site check on the other hell hole.
ReplyDeleteWell Cathy shouldnt hold SOS as an example of a good rescue Shawna has no job, horses there that have no training or handling let alone the threats to her volunteers to raise money or else.
ReplyDeleteA site check is an excellent idea
"...while some of the accusations about Serenity that show up on Fugly are incorrect, there are many more that are only now showing up. A group of former board members finally got fed up enough to speak up. I'm one of them."
ReplyDeleteWell then, speak up here. We'd like to know what these accusations are. I have no dog in this but I'm curious to see if the accusations against Serenity from former board members are indicative of accusations against rescues in general (meaning they are common), or if they are unique to Serenity. So, elaboration is requested.
Also, I highly doubt that anyone would do a site check on SOS. After all, she seems to be a favored so called rescue who will get the "protection" from prying eyes and ears simply because she is friends with Fuggles. She has gotten away with all the things Sam got away with and will continue to do so. As in the case of every other scum bag outfit that calls themselves a "rescue", people need to just make their own choice whether or not to support these leeches, Shawna being one of them in my own personal opinion of course. Why people put up with her meanness and demands for money is puzzling.