Posted on 04/27/2005 6:44:00 AM PDT by blogbat
Animal neglect true reason for death of horse on movie set
CNN reports,
The horse was killed Monday during filming at the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center in the San Fernando Valley.
According to the City of Los Angeles' Department of Animal Services, which conducted an investigation, the horse was running when it stepped on its own lead rope and broke its neck. Animal Services is ruling the death an accident.
As someone who has owned and worked with horses his entire life I must tell you this case is most likely not an accident, but rather the result of cruel and tragic negligence.
Unless this horse untied his own lead rope and ran off, the handlers of this horse broke one of the cardinal rules of horsemanship and one of the first things you teach anyone working around horses: do not allow the animal to wander freely with the lead rope still attached because if he steps on it while either walking or running there is a good chance he will panic or trip and break his neck.
The City of Los Angeles’ Department of Animal Services should be ashamed of their shallow, perfunctory investigation. Any such agency worth its name would have cited the handlers for not taking the very simple steps known to avoid something this avoidable. The ineptitude of both parties is beyond me.
20th Century Fox should likewise be ashamed and should fire the parties involved. The Department of Animal Dis-Services should also fire anyone involved in the decision to label this an accident. If neither of those two will do that then obviously we need to find some political accountability somewhere.
The movie being made was a remake of the 1943 classic, “My Friend Flicka”. Friend indeed.
I really don't see what a more intense investigation should accomplish. They have remorse for what happened, and they've already changed their methods that will be used for the rest of the film. Everyone is on notice. What more would you like to see happen?
My problem is that this was not a human being, it was a horse. Inquests are not held in the deaths of livestock.
Right now, today, wild mustangs and burros are being rounded up and slaughtered for dog food because they are destroying the open range through overpopulation.
Should inquests be held in the deaths of all these animals?
Nobody killed the horse on purpose. Other than the accident, it was probably extremely well cared for.
You want to punish people who were taking care of the horse when an accident occurred, when thousands of horses are being killed every year because there is no one willing to take responsibility for them.
Your lack of common sense and a sense of proportion is troubling.
I like your arguements.
An inquest is nothing more than a "proper investigation."
You have a lot of growing up to do.
There was a lot more risk of harm both to people and animals, because nobody had time to be super-careful. More importantly, horses weren't handled exclusively by folks who like and care for horses, but just by anybody who needed to go someplace. Especially in the case of cowboys, who might need to catch and saddle 4-5 half-broke cow ponies just for their own transport in the course of a day. Just think how some people treat their cars, and you'll have an idea of how folks in the old days treated their horses - unless they had a valuable horse or were particularly humane people.
A lot of old time cowboys left a lead on horses in the remuda because it made 'em easier to catch in a hurry. And if the horse broke its neck, well, it was just a horse. They weren't valued or trained as intensely as we train our horses today - unless it was a special cutting or roping horse like Bill Pickett's Spradley (in which case it wouldn't be loose in the remuda in the first place).
The cowboys are going to be the very last ones to get with the "new thinking" - because they are still working with unbroke and half broke mustangs with little if any monetary value except for dog food.
"You have a lot of growing up to do."
Your personal attacks I think reveal quite something else.
All the folks who use ground reins or stake out their horses are taking the same risk. I have seen a bucking horse get his front foot through his HALTER and throw himself down (completely unharmed). Even a horse that's been trained to ground-tie will occasionally step on his reins and hoick himself in the mouth. A broken neck is just a very, very unusual consequence.
These folks I'm sure are sorry that this horse broke his neck, and it sounds like a freak accident to me. I agree that you're "feeling strongly" about this, but I'm not sure you're thinking clearly.
Just curious, how much day to day experience do you yourself have with horses? It seems to me that you don't have a realistic view of the risks inherent in the trade.
I'm sure I'm late getting into this argument.
As anybody who has worked with horses knows, accidents are inevitable in the best of circumtances. My own mare nearly killed herself in a trailer by freaking out --- over what, God knows --- and nearly severed her leg. Took a year to heal up.
Another friend turned a young gelding loose in an arena, after its having been kept in a stall for days because of rain and mud, and he went galloping and buckling around the arena and flipped over and broke his neck. No halter, just running free. I think he crossed his forefeet.
Nobody was being cruel to either of these animals.
But the fact remains that half-broke mustangs are simply not treated with the care and attention that my highly-trained three-day-event horse gets. Cowboys haven't got enough time in the day, and they've got more than one horse to tend to plus a job to get done.
You might as well gripe to a fellow who earns his living training hunting dogs that he doesn't have soft pillows and pink ribbons for his dogs like the lady with the Teacup Poodle. And hunting dogs ARE at greater risk for injury and death than that spoiled lap dog . . . they cut themselves on stuff, get tangled in decoy lines (we had to wade in and rescue a dog at a hunt test three weeks ago who did just that - he might have drowned if we hadn't gone in and extricated him), encounter porcupines, and God forbid occasionally get shot when they break on a point. But you can't eliminate the known risks -- and still get the job done.
All of us are sad that the horse was so tragically injured. But your rant against the horsemen involved is so strong that it does not allow for us to grieve the horse, only work to calm you down from this blood lust you have for the cowboys involved.
I know a lot of horsemen and very few real cowboys, but I know some handlers who are less humane and less careful than myself. Still, none of us who are involved in horses need people screaming for our blood when freak accidents happen with the training, exhibition or handling of horses. Outright cruelty yes... But this hasn't been shown to have crossed that line.
If this scenerio was part of the plot, it would be easy to make a breakaway rope, just as props people make breakaway glass.
You did not set any "qualifier" for an accidental occurance, only for the horse untying a lead. Your "emotional" call for heads to roll coupled with your incredibly condescending tone has brought out my most sarcastic demeanor, but emotional I am not. In fact, your emotionalism reminds me of those on the left. And you further that impression with your insulting tone to anyone challenging your premise.
The exclamation points in my previous post were designed to throw the B.S. flag at your statement that I had not read the article. You have not sufficiently answered the questions, nor have you supported your cause in a logical manner. You are the weakest link, goodbye.
P.S. Horsemeat is pretty good, I wonder if they are going to let this big ol' steak go to waste?
Now you're just yankin' his lead rope ;~D
You just made up that word, didn't you? ;~D
Well, this here three ring rodeo of disagreement was galloping towards some insults, so I thought to lighten the mood a tad. Although, you probably appreciated the humor more than some.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.