Post by pdevlieg on Sept 18, 2006 12:06:05 GMT -5
By Luck and Grace, 17 horses are no longer slaughter-bound
By Cynthia Hubert - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 16, 2006
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page K1
The horses saved from slaughter by the Grace Foundation and numerous donors have been brought to the foundation's ranch in El Dorado hills. Grace Foundation
They were "surplus" horses, bays and paints and even an Arabian, and they had been sentenced to death.
Then Beth DeCaprio and her posse stepped in.
Now the 17 horses, bound for an Illinois slaughterhouse last week, are grazing and galloping at DeCaprio's nonprofit Grace Foundation ranch in El Dorado Hills.
It took a herculean community effort to rescue them, said DeCaprio, whose foundation pairs "special needs" children with abused and neglected animals. Now she is working on finding adoptive homes for the horses.
Their story, DeCaprio said, illustrates the importance of a piece of legislation making its way through Congress. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act would ban the practice of killing American horses and selling their meat to foreign countries. California and other states have outlawed horse slaughtering, but it remains legal in Texas and Illinois.
"The idea that horses are being slaughtered for human consumption is something that most people can't believe even goes on in this country," said Debra Basaldua, a Grace Foundation volunteer. "People are shocked when they hear about it."
The horses now at the Grace ranch, on 600 acres donated by developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, came within a whisper of going to the slaughterhouse.
Last week, DeCaprio got a call from a worker at a feedlot in Nevada who told her that a large group of healthy horses was destined to become meat. DeCaprio could buy the animals for $7,500, the amount they would fetch at a slaughterhouse in Illinois. But she needed to come up with the money fast and find a way to transport the animals to Northern California.
DeCaprio, Basaldua and other volunteers sprang into action. They made and distributed fliers. They got cooperation from a local Starbucks, which collected donations from customers. They held a raffle.
Volunteer Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, 15, e-mailed her friends and family members, and came up with $585. Another youngster held a yard sale and contributed $76. A third donated her baby-sitting money.
But as the deadline approached, the fundraising effort was short of its goal. That's when a celebrity of sorts stepped in. Dominique Plewes, daughter of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, called and said she wanted to make up the deficit.
DeCaprio then found someone willing to transport the animals by trailer to the Grace Foundation ranch.
"We paid the hauler in $1 bills that we received from Starbucks," she said. The horses arrived in two groups on Wednesday and Thursday.
"It was so amazing to see them, knowing that we saved them all," Fitzgerald said.
The group includes a thoroughbred, eight young, pregnant mares and two orphans whose mothers were sent to slaughter.
"There's a beautiful black-and-white paint foal, three grays, a couple of registered quarterhorses," DeCaprio said. "They honestly are just gorgeous."
One small foal with an injured leg still had his "meat tag" attached to his rump, DeCaprio said.
"His leg was badly injured and never treated. When he came off of the trailer, there wasn't a dry eye around here.
"Later I turned around and looked at all of these horses, galloping around and eating their hay," DeCaprio said. "It was such a wonderful scene. I felt a great sense of joy and relief."
Now, DeCaprio and her volunteers are focusing on finding good homes for the animals. Those not adopted will work with children in Grace Foundation programs, she said.
"Forever their lives will have purpose," DeCaprio said of the rescued horses. "They're home."
By Cynthia Hubert - Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:00 am PDT Saturday, September 16, 2006
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page K1
The horses saved from slaughter by the Grace Foundation and numerous donors have been brought to the foundation's ranch in El Dorado hills. Grace Foundation
They were "surplus" horses, bays and paints and even an Arabian, and they had been sentenced to death.
Then Beth DeCaprio and her posse stepped in.
Now the 17 horses, bound for an Illinois slaughterhouse last week, are grazing and galloping at DeCaprio's nonprofit Grace Foundation ranch in El Dorado Hills.
It took a herculean community effort to rescue them, said DeCaprio, whose foundation pairs "special needs" children with abused and neglected animals. Now she is working on finding adoptive homes for the horses.
Their story, DeCaprio said, illustrates the importance of a piece of legislation making its way through Congress. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act would ban the practice of killing American horses and selling their meat to foreign countries. California and other states have outlawed horse slaughtering, but it remains legal in Texas and Illinois.
"The idea that horses are being slaughtered for human consumption is something that most people can't believe even goes on in this country," said Debra Basaldua, a Grace Foundation volunteer. "People are shocked when they hear about it."
The horses now at the Grace ranch, on 600 acres donated by developer Angelo Tsakopoulos, came within a whisper of going to the slaughterhouse.
Last week, DeCaprio got a call from a worker at a feedlot in Nevada who told her that a large group of healthy horses was destined to become meat. DeCaprio could buy the animals for $7,500, the amount they would fetch at a slaughterhouse in Illinois. But she needed to come up with the money fast and find a way to transport the animals to Northern California.
DeCaprio, Basaldua and other volunteers sprang into action. They made and distributed fliers. They got cooperation from a local Starbucks, which collected donations from customers. They held a raffle.
Volunteer Kaitlyn Fitzgerald, 15, e-mailed her friends and family members, and came up with $585. Another youngster held a yard sale and contributed $76. A third donated her baby-sitting money.
But as the deadline approached, the fundraising effort was short of its goal. That's when a celebrity of sorts stepped in. Dominique Plewes, daughter of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, called and said she wanted to make up the deficit.
DeCaprio then found someone willing to transport the animals by trailer to the Grace Foundation ranch.
"We paid the hauler in $1 bills that we received from Starbucks," she said. The horses arrived in two groups on Wednesday and Thursday.
"It was so amazing to see them, knowing that we saved them all," Fitzgerald said.
The group includes a thoroughbred, eight young, pregnant mares and two orphans whose mothers were sent to slaughter.
"There's a beautiful black-and-white paint foal, three grays, a couple of registered quarterhorses," DeCaprio said. "They honestly are just gorgeous."
One small foal with an injured leg still had his "meat tag" attached to his rump, DeCaprio said.
"His leg was badly injured and never treated. When he came off of the trailer, there wasn't a dry eye around here.
"Later I turned around and looked at all of these horses, galloping around and eating their hay," DeCaprio said. "It was such a wonderful scene. I felt a great sense of joy and relief."
Now, DeCaprio and her volunteers are focusing on finding good homes for the animals. Those not adopted will work with children in Grace Foundation programs, she said.
"Forever their lives will have purpose," DeCaprio said of the rescued horses. "They're home."