We live in an incredibly polarized time right now, and people’s tempers get high when they feel that their personal moral beliefs are being challenged. Our goal at Hanaeleh is not to choose a political side, but to point out issues that affect animals- horses, specifically. Animal advocacy issues, however, are political in nature because of governmental institutions (Department of the Interior, BLM, etc.) or require laws (SAFE Act, PAST Act, etc.) to protect horses.
It is impossible to advocate for animals and ignore the people behind these institutions, and we would be remiss if we pretended that there are people out there who purposefully work against animal advocacy and who work against what is in the best interest of horses. As a horse rescue, we really do not care whether they have a “D” or and “R” or an “I” after their name- what we care is how they vote for the horses. We care whether they support issues that will help horses.
This means that we are not going to pretend that the previous head of the Department of the Interior was closely tied to Protect the Harvest, which is notoriously pro-slaughter and pro-puppy mill. We are not going to pretend that the BLM is needlessly rounding up horses. We are not going to pretend that Mitch McConnell has taken over $350,000 from the Big Lick Walkers. We are not going to pretend that the previous Republican-led congress refused to even bring a vote of the SAFE Act to the floor, even though we had a majority of co-sponsors in the House AND the Senate, and the bill would have certainly passed.
It is not that all Democrats are pro-horse or pro-animal. When Congress refused to pass an amendment that would defund the USDA inspector and keep the slaughter plants closed, we made sure to call out all of those individuals- Republicans and Democrats- who voted against the bill.
As the messenger of such information, we are often the target of a number of angry e-mails, messages, phone calls, etc. from individuals who somehow blame us for the fact that we are pointing out that their representatives are not supporting equine advocacy issues. We are told we are political because we actually point out how legislators vote. We are told we are political because we point out who is taking money from groups that actively work against equine advocacy.
If you really want the world to be better for horses, however; if you honestly care about horses, and your representative is not voting as you, his or her constituent, personally want, then the only person you should be contacting is your representative.
If you’re not certain who your representatives are, please visit the following websites and enter your zip code:
You can be assured that we at Hanaeleh will continue to work to educate the public about equine advocacy. We are going to continue to work toward ending horse slaughter. We are going to continue to work to stop soring. Our job as an advocacy group is to let you know how your representatives are voting, and who is- or is not- supporting equine advocacy issues, no matter what their political affiliation.
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