It was a scene right out of a movie. I couldn't tell if we were
extras in a Comedy or Drama, but it was definitely a Horror. And
this time there aren't any golden awards.
Horror is
a fascinating thing for most of us, especially when it's happening
to someone else. The twist on this particular story is where the
whole thing was taking place - and the cast of characters. Who
would think a rural farming community would treat its horse loving
neighbors with such disrespect?
Perhaps
things in rural America are out of control. New residents in small,
but swanky, developments carved out of a former cornfield are
"upset" because the man on a 70 acre property a half
mile away raises dogs. Never mind that they can't see the building
from their places without looking out an attic window. Never mind
that his farm is clean and neat. Never mind that they don't hear
dogs barking or that none of them has ever been inside his kennel
building. They're "offended and something must be done!"
Remember
the story about the woman in Puritan days, scorned for her love
affair? The one who had to wear the scarlet letter "A"
sewn onto her clothes identifying her as an adulteress? Well,
the letter that went out to kennels in the township wasn't scarlet
in color, but behind it was a woman with a temper. She had moved
into one of those fancy houses a year or so ago, lost her job
at a lawyer's office and was filled with rage. "It's those
dogs!" she told her husband about country smells as they
drove around. In truth, it was pig manure. One would think a real
horsewoman would know the difference.
At her insistence,
a letter was issued by the zoning office, informing seven state
and federally licensed kennels in the township that they were
breaking the law. "What law?" the kennel owners asked,
from miles around. "The one we made about ten years ago,"
they were told. "You need special permission." Kennel
owners had to pay $400 each for the right to present their cases
and ask for "variances" to be issued for their properties.
Hearings were set.
As the quasi-lawyer
woman looked on with satisfaction, case after case was heard over
the next several months. Pleading for their livelihoods before
a panel of judges, dog breeders answered invasive questions and
fielded high-handed remarks from an attorney, a zoning officer
and three commissioners as a gentle stenographer clicked away.
Comments directed to them from the crowd and letters to the editor
were rude, disrespectful and inconsiderate as they pressured the
zoning board to make the "Ethical" decision. Interesting
catch-phrase, "Ethical treatment." It's got a familiar
ring to it, doesn't it?
How does
this relate to horses? It relates because, while we are busy enjoying
our horses and all that they mean to us, organizations pretending
to be "pro-animal" are flocking to our legislative authorities
with all kinds of complaints using people like the out-of-work
lawyer wanna-be.
What's it
all about? In the long run, who knows. But, according to the National
Animal Interests Alliance (N.A.I.A.), various states around the
country are catching on. If you think Al-Queda is the only terrorist
group out there, check out the N.A.I.A. website and think again.
After that, there should be no doubt in your mind that organizations
founded for the protection of our animals have been infiltrated
by militants out to break down our animal-related sports and industries.
But, after more than twenty years of "gorilla attacks"
on private breeders, farms, stables, research projects, racetracks
- you name it - state and local governments are taking a new look
at such interference and finally calling it what it is: Terrorism.
Those hearings
for the kennel owners? Too bad the zoning officials didn't have
a copy of the "mobster list" from the N.A.I.A. website
(naiaonline.org). Scattered among the crowd, their insulting remarks
being written into the public record, were animal militants who
don't even live in the township and have never set foot inside
those kennels. It's interesting that none of the "judges"
sitting on the panel have, either.
I should
know: One of those kennels is my own.
