“The greatest deterrent
to freedom are men and women of zeal, well-meaning, but
without knowledge or understanding.”
~Justice Louis Brandeis~

"People are so quick to defend their own agendas, but they so often fail to realize we must protect the rights of all if we are to continue to have any rights of our own."
~Jenqu~


Ranch meaning, in general, any real world dwelling probably not involving full care board. Kind of a rural voice of real horse owners, trainers, traders, auction owners, rodeo contractors, etc.. all of us who have taken a verbal beating and called greedy ass hats. Back at the Ranch contributors, moderators, subjects, and so on, are pro-horse, pro-owner, and pro-slaughter.
Back at the Ranch was formed by a group of like minded horse / livestock owners. It is a place for us to try to educate, a place to vent our frustrations with the current equine industry, a place to share humor and snark, and in general try to open the eyes of the public who seem to be anti-agriculture.We do have a section for comments of course, and if you would like to email us you can do so directly or through the contact us form. We like to hear from our readers. I hope you enjoy reading our blog as much as I enjoy managing it.
Sincerely,
Ranch Manager
manager_back_at_the_ranch@yahoo.com

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Pay Up... Or Not...?


Maybe this is another one of those things we all need to just shake our heads at. If I am reading this correctly, and I believe I am, Mary O'Brien is getting off pretty lightly. Even though being ordered to pay restitution, and being encouraged to do so, there is no legal standing to force her to? Let's all have a show of hands from those who feel that this woman is going to do the right thing. Yeah, I thought so. In five years, she can start over again. In case anyone is paying attention THIS is one of the things seriously wrong in the equine world today. These rescues make me ill, and the people who enable them should really start taking a good look at who they are supporting. I know many feel a horrible rescue is always better than slaughter. They haven't learned that to a horse, a slow death by starvation would not be the choice the horse would make if they could speak for themselves. Mary O'Brien no doubt will move on and do nothing to pay off this money to all of those who stepped in and cleaned up her mess. And the restitution represents only part of the amount. A very wise rescue chose not to even ask for Mary to pay them back. I suppose they feel dedicating themselves to working for the good of the horses is time better spent than asking someone like Mary to pay them back for animals she obviously could not care for properly when she owned them. Fortunately, we DO have some bona fide rescues around to clean up after the ones like Mary O'Brien's.

By R.H 2

also related-