See Jen’s post here.

It never ceases to amaze me the disregard that people show towards animals when push comes to shove. What is said and what is done is commonly totally incongruous; in short, the talk is talked, but there’s no walk. Well, talk is really cheap.

For the last six years, I’ve been working at summer camp for people with mental and physical disabilities. There, I’ve been taking care of the horses, training them, feeding them, and teaching the campers to ride and connect with the horses. Jennie, and another friend of ours, Anna, worked there as well, but both recently quit, and I sure don’t blame them. In the eyes of the camp director, the horses are nothing but a means to profit and are worth little to no care and only occasionally merit any form of attention. While I’ve phased out my role at the camp to only working there on the weekends, I’ve remained to keep an eye on the horses, because I simply don’t trust any one else with them.

Today, I got a phone call from one of the new employees informing me of several matters concerning the horses, and oh, just FYI, that they were planning on euthanizing one of the horses on Friday; for no other reason then he’s old and arthritic. Yes, he’s old, he’s 32. Yes, he’s arthritic. But he’s also been that way since I began working there and his condition is no different other then the fact that he’s six years older. So after I cried for a good 30 minutes after receiving this phone call, I called Jennie to see what her take on the situation was. She felt the same way I do about Charlie’s condition, and between her and Anna, there’s no one’s opinion on horses that I trust more.

Since all three of us had recently seen Charlie and knew he was in fine condition for a horse his age and absolutely did not require an untimely murder (I refuse to use the word euthanasia here because there’s nothing compassionate about the decision to have him put down unnecessarily), we decided I’d call the new employee back and find out more information. And fight this thing as hard as we could.

Upon talking to the employee again, this time while not sobbing hysterically, I learned that the vet she said had recommended euthanasia, acutally suggested it as something we may need to consider in the future for Charlie, and he did not, as I had been led to believe, required euthanasia immediately. He had simply said that because of Charlie’s age, his death would be something that we need to remind ourselves could happen at any time. He never provided information saying Charlie’s immediate euthanasia was imperative. I then also learned that the other people the new employees had examine Charlie was someone who is not qualified to make decisions for them, especially decisions of such magnitude.

It is amazing to me the callousness with which people treat animal life. The new employee said she left the final decision regarding Charlie’s fate with the camp director, who of course, decided to make an appointment for euthanasia. His regard for the horses is meager at best, and since Charlie is too old to be ridden, all the director sees in him is the financial drain and responsibility of keeping Charlie alive. Admittedly, the employee I talked to did not want Charlie to be euthanized, however, she saw no reason to fight this decision.

I then collected my thoughts and spent the next hour on the phone with either Jennie or Anna to decide what to do about Charlie. We all decided to do whatever we could to keep him alive. The choice was obvious: we’d split board for him three ways and move him out to pasture at the stables where both Anna and Jennie have their horses. I then called the camp director and explained to him I didn’t agree with his decision regarding Charlie and that I would like to take Charlie off his hands and try other forms of treatment for his arthritis to improve his quality of life. He agreed to let me take Charlie off the property. Thankfully, Anna found someone to pick Charlie up, but of course the camp director won’t cancel the euthanasia appointment until Charlie is actually off the property.

I want to make something very clear here. If Charlie genuinely needed to be humanely put out of his misery, I would accept that as what is best for him and recognize that it was time for him to go. Compassion is important in life and death, and Jennie, Anna, and I all realize this. None of us would want to keep Charlie around if it was painful and trying for him. Our desire to have him in our life is strong, but not selfish in the fact that we’d want him alive just to keep him alive and enjoy his company when he was in too much pain. We just want what’s best for him. And we all believe he’s still got a lot more life to enjoy with plenty of horse buddies out in pasture.

I’m still incredulous to the blatant disregard which was shown towards Charlie regarding his life! It sadly illustrates just how people regard animals in this world, as things that can come and go at our convenience, mere objects that we can cease to be considerate of once they become hard to take care of. I know I can’t save all the animals in the world, but I feel like Jennie, Anna, and I have made a difference in one very special horse’s life. A life that will continue to be in this world and I’m so grateful to Jennie and Anna for caring infinitely more than many others would in such a situation.