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| HotShot is our featured rescue horse in Dec & Jan. Please help sponsor him if you can. Thanks. |
Twas the night before Christmas several years ago.
The humans were taking care of the animals, getting ready to go
to the City to relatives for presents and food.
Who knew that HotShot's face was about to come unglued!
HotShot and the old black Lab Sam were sharing a grain pan.
OK with HotShot, but not OK with the Sam man.
When what to our wondering eyes should appear
but a Black Lab flying through the air, oh dear!
Sam (with his teeth) had grabbed HotShot's nose
And HotShot's massive neck and head quickly arose
With Sam still attached, well for a while
Until the teeth lost their hold, and then Sam flew for a mile.
Well not quite a mile, but he did go up in the air
and then down to the ground without much of a care.
Sam was fine, went back to eating HotShot's grain.
HotShot, with a ripped & bleeding nose, was in some pain.
Great, an emergency Holiday Vet call
That bill will not be fun at all.
The Vet soon arrived, and sewed HotShot up.
HotShot, big and kind, was not even mad at Sam the naughty old pup.
In his stall with his herdmates, HotShot got some extra grain that Xmas eve night.
And Sam got to go back in the house if he promised not to fight
with anyone else, no fighting on Christmas Eve.
And the humans were just a little late when they finally got ready to leave.
For the city, to join relatives for presents and food.
And to share their new story, about how HotShot's face came unglued!
ha ha! that is a true story. Happened quite a few years ago. Sammy lived to be 14 or so. HotShot of course is still here with us; he'll turn 25 next year.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all "be careful with whom you share your grain pan."
Now, here is a less happy Xmas Eve story.
It's the story of our Saint Nick. And it happened on Xmas Eve a few years ago.
My sister Mickie shared this rescue with me.
She is on her way here right now, from Rapid City.
And while I love helping these poor babies like Saint Nick, I'm very thankful we don't have anything like this going on this year at Xmas time.
3-year old Saint Nick, dumped in the ditch a couple miles from our shelter, a few years ago on the Eve of Christmas Eve. Here is a link to the story. scroll down below several other stories at this link to find Saint Nick's story. http://newhopehorseshelter.blogspot.com/search/label/Saint%20Nick
Please spay and neuter your dogs and cats, and please do not allow your already neglected horses to reproduce. That is the case with Saint Nick. And while the owner was found guilty of inhumane treatment, the Judge did not understand the importance of ending the cycle of cruelty and irresponsible breeding that was going on where Saint Nick came from. And we know that irresponsible breeding is the main cause of animal cruelty. in cats, dogs, horses . . .
Please support sanctuaries and adoption organizations that understand this. Please support organizations that spay, neuter and castrate before they adopt the animals out. And that do not allow these animals to reproduce. The way it works with horses right now, if people cannot sell the babies for thousands of dollars, there is no financial reason to be breeding. Just think about that as you read through all the ads where people are trying to sell their young horses (that they caused to be born) for anything under a thousand dollars. All of those people should not be breeding. That alone would do wonders for the horse market. There would be fewer horses born every year, and so their value would increase. The horse breeding industry is one of the few industries to not yet have this figured out.
This is what I want for Christmas: for all of the irresponsible breeding to end. It's sad that our local humane society has to expand. More people moving in should mean more potential adopters, not more irresponsible breeders and neglectful pet owners. Is there more education that could be done? Maybe every time there is a news story about the need for bags of food at human societies, maybe that could be viewed as an unfortunate thing, not so much as a "kitten season celebration." Perhaps the main news story could be more info. about how/where/why to spay & neuter & castrate, and then at the end say "but until all animal owners are on the same page with this, there will be pet overpopulation and thus there will be a need for food donated for the new litters coming in. And hopefully next year there won't be as many, as residents continue to spread the word and educate each other on this issue." Animal population control (by means of less breeding going on) really needs to become the number one priority. No more celebrating "kitten season." That is nothing to celebrate. And yes baby horses are cute too. But when their owners cannot afford to care for them, the cuteness disappears pretty fast. Take a look again at Saint Nick. This is what happens when people have more animals than what they can care for.
Now go on and have a joyous Christmas. We shouldn't have to think about these poor animals around Christmas time. But when the Holidays are in the past, and you start to think about new things for 2014, try to think of some little way you can help promote the idea of animal population control in our area. Mainly, that would be dogs, cats and horses.
If you don't feel you have time to really do anything like that, then please consider donating to an organization such as ours who has this as a mission. We have 14 horses, 17 cats, and 2 Labs here who were "other people's animals" before they found their way here to our shelter. These are not animals that we brought into the world. Other people did. And then they didn't take care of them and/or didn't take the time to find them good homes. So somehow the animals ended up here. Each story is different. And they are here now. They are home here. But we aren't embarrassed to ask for donations to help care for them. That is what 501c3 nonprofits do. They accept donations.
Send checks to DoubleHP, 25337 470 Ave, Crooks SD 57020
paypal to doublehphorses@aol.com
or use the Donate button at the top of this blog page.
thank you, and enjoy your Holidays with friends and family and the furry/hairy 4-legged beings in your life too. Hopefully, unless they are world champions and making you a whole bunch of money while at the same time being very well cared for, hopefully, your furry/hairy 4-legged beings are spayed/neutered/castrated too.
