Rebekah Keat and Siri Lindley—highly vocal (and highly effective, as it turns out) advocates for ending horse slaughter—recall a pivotal horse, Savannah, who served as a catalyst for their advocacy. 
Lindley remembers having some of the equipment for a horse, and the inclination
to rescue one, before Savannah entered her life. But it was a simple, salient question this experience spurred Lindley to ask herself: What are these horses being rescued from? Seeking to answer that question placed Lindley on an online research path that landed on a horrific, graphic video depicting horse slaughter. Lindley was traumatized by this video, including what was apparently a blood-curdling scream—which, naturally, sent Keat racing to her wife’s side, to see what had happened. Keat watched the video, too, had the same reaction, spawning two instant, and fervent, anti-horse slaughter activists. Some of their next steps included founding Horses In Our Hands, a nonprofit involving a broad coalition of 
experts and high-profile figures who are committed to halting horse slaughter. Their activities have ranged from
personally saving 187 horses, to far broader efforts to educate legislators and the citizenry at large about the nefarious and downright barbaric realm of horse slaughter. As we touched on in the interview, these two are world champion triathletes, so when they set a goal—like trying to halt horse slaughter—you’d best jump onboard, because nothing, or no one, is gonna get in their way! For example, they harnessed the power of social media, reaching some 10 million people through their posts. They say they facilitated the sending of 210,000 letters to legislators, and as many as 1700 Letters to the Editor. Not surprisingly, then, they indicate they were the first organization to meet with Congressman Frank Pallone, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has the purview of HR 3355 SAFE (Save America’s Forgotten Equines) Act—the proposed bill to end horse slaughter. Keat and Lindley recall what happened at a May 26 Committee hearing, and what needs to happen next for the bill to advance, without amendments being added that could derail its success. (https://www.horsesinourhands.org/, https://www.facebook.com/horsesinourhands/, https://www.instagram.com/horsesinourhands/, https://twitter.com/HorsesInOurHand)
ALSO: I spoke briefly with Amy D’Andrea, owner of a company called Pet Emergency Education, which offers pet health-related classes, including a Pet CPR and First Aid Certification class that was scheduled to be taught June 4 in Brandon. D’Andrea discussed what prompted her to start the company 10 years ago—as a vet tech, she realized that pet owners often brought their ill or injured animals in too late for the best outcome toward recovery and figured that taking these sorts of classes would help the owners more swiftly and accurately determine their animals’ condition, improving their prospects. In response to my observation that cats are notoriously stoic when ill or injured, D’Andrea agrees, noting that owners who’ve gained the knowledge offered in these classes—for which they receive certification—are more attuned to medical issues in their animals, even when there are no overt symptoms. Also, she said this sort of training can be valuable—required, in many cases—for those who run or work for dog walking businesses, animal day care/boarding operations, and the like. (https://petemergencyeducation.com, https://www.facebook.com/petemergency, https://www.instagram.com/petemergencyed/)
COMEDY CORNER: Joe Zimmerman’s “Pet Snakes” (DS edit) (http://www.zimmermancomedy.com)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: The Beatles’ “Dig A Pony”
AUDIO ARCHIVE:
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