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I would like to share this story with everyone
I can. It's a tragedy, but there are so many heroes who put their souls on
the line to make people aware of what's going on. Anne Russek, I am very
proud to say is my friend, I am honored to know her. What she has done
will have the most meaning if you share this with everyone you know and her work
makes you take action to end this needless suffering.
Many
others were involved in getting this story out and they are also heroes, but the
real heroes are the horses. At the end of Anne's writing there are
descriptions of these horses who are in need of homes. If you can't bear
to read this entire story, please go to the end and take a
look at these thoroughbreds who were saved. They have all been placed in
wonderful homes. Please share this with everyone you know.
~Kim
Read the behind the scenes story of the HBO documentary
and No Day Off.
How Luck and a Village Saved the Sugarcreek Six
by Anne Russek
The following is my account
of how the Sugarcreek Six were saved from slaughter. It is a difficult story to
tell, but all of you who helped contribute that day, and afterwards, deserve to
know what a wonderful thing you did.
Several weeks ago I was contacted by an assistant producer of HBO who was
considering doing a documentary showing the pipeline from the racetrack to
slaughter. I offered to help in any way I could, and a tentative time frame was
established. The project was focused on following specific horses from the
track, to Sugarcreek Auction, and then to the border for transport to slaughter.
The most difficult aspect of this investigation was that I did not know if I
could endure the pain of documenting these horses knowing that I could not
intervene in their rescue.
I drove to Mountaineer Park on Wednesday from my home in Virginia. I left at 2
AM so that I would arrive at Mountaineer during training hours on Thursday
morning. Once I arrived, I was notified by phone that HBO had changed the
schedule, and could not come, but since I was already there, I decided to
conduct a trial run.
It is a well known fact at Mountaineer Park that Dick Rudibaugh is the "meat
man" and picks horses up on Wednesday or Thursday. I arrived at the track around
8:30, which is break time, and spotted Rudibaughs truck and trailer parked
outside of the stable area. I knew it was his rig because Becky Care, a former
groom at the track, had given me lots of valuable information regarding the
track to auction pipeline. I kept an eye on his truck while I wandered through
the stable area, blending in with the morning training activities.
I feel it is important to note that the Mountaineer Park stable area is a dump.
The barns are very long, with plastic nailed to the windows to keep out the
winter air. The entire stable area is wall to wall asphalt, not a blade of grass
anywhere. The horses actually cross a paved parking lot to get to the track. The
barns are all in various stages of disrepair, broken windows, sagging roofs,
makeshift "bridges" over drainage ditches so the help can get into the barns.
The barns are long and the further you walk down the shed-row, the darker they
are. The horses in the inner stalls have no view of the outside, and I imagine
very poor ventilation. Most of the horses appear small because their stalls have
not had any new dirt added to them in years , and the horses are standing in
holes. The barns are cluttered with bales of hay and straw, and since several
trainers share a barn, it is, for the most part, organized chaos.
Most of the horses I saw look very stressed. They are thin, dull coats, poorly
groomed, and have the appearance of being over-raced. I feel qualified to offer
this opinion because I have worked on the racetrack for over thirty years. The
horses at Mountaineer are not indicative of horses at the better tracks. The
lack of care and inept horsemanship is obvious everywhere. This is especially
ironic because Mountaineer is a racetrack that has gaming. The slots and casino
provide the horseman with increased purses, but it is obvious that management
has spent no revenue from the gaming enterprise to improve the conditions for
the horses or horsemen. It is also apparent that many trainers who are
benefiting from increased purses are not spending any additional money on the
care of their horses.
Around 9 AM I saw Rudibaugh get into his truck and pull around to the stable
gate to enter the backside. There was no guard at the gate , and so Rudibaugh
merely got out of his truck and opened the gate himself so that he could drive
his truck and trailer in. Once inside, he slowly weaved his way between the
barns to his first stop. He parked his rig and entered a barn. Shortly
afterwards, he appeared following a groom who was leading a bay horse. (Cinema
Star) Rudibaugh opened the back door of his step up stock trailer, and the horse
loaded quite easily. Once inside the trailer, the horse appeared nervous because
the stock trailer was very loud. Rudibaugh tied him sideways in the trailer.
Rudibaugh then drove to another barn and parked. This time he took longer. I
heard pieces of his conversation with a groom. It seemed that there was some
discussion about which horse was supposed to be picked up. The trainer had not
bothered to show up to load the horse, and Rudibaugh said he knew it was a mare
and that she had a fleece noseband on her halter. Rudibaugh and the groom
entered into a barn, and came out leading a bay mare. (Elegant River) They
loaded her onto the trailer with the gelding, once again the sound of her hooves
on the metal floor was very loud. The gelding nickered at her nervously.
Rudibaugh then drove out of the stable area and left.
(I had been told he keeps the horses at his farm overnight and then takes them
to the auction on Friday, but that proved to not be the case. I did not learn
that until my next trip one week later .)
I learned the identity of the two horses Rudibaugh had picked up by going to the
stable gate and looking at the sign out sheet that every trailer driver must
complete. Next to Rudibaughs name were the names of the two horses he had picked
up. I called Gail Vacca, gave her the names, and she later phoned back with
their race records and tatoo numbers. Cinema Star had been a very good
racehorse. He had been claimed and reclaimed over ten times in his career, which
means that he was a very popular horse. Elegant River was not fast at all, in
fact she had never won a race. Horses that are too slow are usually sound
because they don't run fast enough to hurt themselves.
Gail also told me at that time that she had been contacted by a trainer at
Mountaineer Park who knew of a seven year old horse that another trainer had
made arrangements for to be sent to Sugarcreek. His name was Kannapolis, and was
supposedly a barn favorite with the nickname "Lurch" because he was so big. Gail
told the trainer we would try and find him at the auction and rescue him if we
were able.
I was very tired the night before the auction, but it was not easy to fall
asleep. I had no idea what I was getting into, and I worried about finding
Cinema, River and Kannapolis at the auction the next day.
At 6 am Becky met me and we drove her truck and trailer to the Sugarcreek
Livestock Auction in Ohio. Becky wanted to arrive early so we would have plenty
of time to see every horse as it arrived. We already knew that Leroy Baker(
auction owner and known kill buyer) had a son who would be bringing the horses
to the auction sometime before the sale started. This was when I figured out
that Rudibaugh takes the horses directly from Mountaineer to Bakers farm which
is about twenty miles from the racetrack, and 40 to fifty miles from the
auction.
We arrived at Sugarcreek at around 8:30. The first thing I noticed was the
double deck trailer owned by Baker parked in a corner of the empty lot. There
were two or three Amish men sitting around the unloading area waiting for the
horses to arrive. Becky and I passed by them to go into the auction, they didn't
acknowledge us and I was more than happy to ignore them.
Before we went to see the handful of horses already there, Becky showed me the
layout of the facility. The auction ring itself is very small. The horses are
herded in one small door, a quick step or two past the auctioneer booth, and
then a step or two out another door back into the holding pen area. A row of
bleachers, amphitheater style, surrounds the ring. You can enter the auction
ring area from the pens, or from the top row of bleachers.
There is an office area for registering to bid, you only need to show a drivers
license. If you leave the office to go into the pen area, you are on a catwalk
that runs the length of the holding pens. From the catwalk, you can see every
pen. Becky and I walked the catwalk and then went downstairs to start looking at
horses. It took me a while to figure out why certain horses were in certain
pens. Any private horses, usually sound riding horses, were placed in private
pens. All others were randomly distributed throughout the auction. There was no
method to the madness. Some pens, as the day went on, would be packed with
horses so tightly they could barely move. Other pens would have only a few
horses in them. Some pens had hay and water, other pens had nothing. Even in the
pens with hay, very few horses were eating. The main reason was that dominant
horses refused to let any others near the mangers. Many of the horses appeared
too shell shocked to even attempt to eat. I couldn't help but notice the way
certain horses would group together as if they had formed a temporary herd to
offer each other comfort. One group of yearlings was especially tragic. There
were four of them, all chestnut, all very thin and with various degrees of
snotty noses. They stood side by side, sometimes one of them would rest their
head on the back of the other. They were so young, and so scared and I began to
realize the hopelessness of how this day was destined to turn out. Their image,
and the image of so many other horses that day, were permanently implanted into
my memory.
Early on in the day, the weaker and sicker horses were very noticeable. There
were many horses who obviously should never have been brought here. Some were
very, very old. Others were very thin and very weak. It was impossible to
imagine them being loaded onto a trailer and shipped thousands of miles to
either Canada or Mexico. whoever had brought these horses to Sugarcreek, should
have been charged with animal abuse.
The worse part of the day was the constant sounds of dominant horses kicking
weaker horses. The Amish would put mares in heat in pens with geldings which
would incite many battles. Any attempt by us to separate the fighting horses was
useless because the Amish kept moving horses from pen to pen. Once off the
catwalk, you must be very careful because at any moment, the Amish will open a
gate and drive a herd of horses at you to get them to another area. The Amish do
not" herd" the horses but rather they "run" them down the slippery aisle-ways
into the pens.
Throughout the day I
witnessed young Amish boys beating the horses with long whips, and kicking the
horses repeatedly in the legs and stomachs if they showed the slightest
hesitancy. This was especially apparent when they were trying to squeeze horses
into already overcrowded pens. One young Amish boy was very aggressive with his
feet. I had followed him while he was leading a horse to a pen, and when he
attempted to put it in a corral that was already full, he proceeded to slap and
kick the horse trying to force him in. The horse absolutely could not fit. I
walked up to the boy while he was still kicking the horse and I asked him, "
Were you born mean or did working in this place make you mean?". He stopped for
a moment and gave me a blank stare, but he did take that horse back down the
aisle to another pen with less horses.
The draft horses are very sad to see. For the most part, they appear to be in
very good health with good weight. They truly are "gentle giants". They also
seem to be targets of abuse from the Amish. I never noticed any of the drafts
being anything but compliant, and yet they were smacked , yelled at, pushed and
beaten into too small corrals. It was incredulous to see three giant drafts in a
pen that measured maybe 10 X12.
Once when I was at the unloading area, a stock trailer pulled up with five
drafts on it. They were all chestnuts with flaxen manes. They were truly
beautiful. When the trailer door was opened, one of the Amish men would poke a
lunge whip through the side slats of the trailer and start poking and hitting
the horses to unload them. The drafts would not budge, it was as if they knew
that their safety depended on them not leaving that trailer. The racket from
their giant feet scrambling in the stock trailer was unbelievable.
The longer they delayed
leaving the trailer, the more the Amish yelled, whistled and jeered. I am not
exaggerating when I tell you that there is a sadistic look of pleasure on the
faces of these men. Tormenting these animals is their pleasure. Finally one
draft leaped off the trailer, followed by the others. They were driven down a
short alleyway and then herded into a longer aisle-way that was gated at both
ends. Then they were separated and placed into smaller corrals with other
horses.
The ponies are another pitiful sight. For some reason I could never figure out,
the trailers that arrived with the most horses crammed into them, always had the
ponies stuffed in the front. Just when you would think that there was no way any
more horses could possibly be on a certain trailer, one or two ponies would come
running off. The ponies would be crammed into one pen, unless it was a stud
pony.
These poor animals get the
absolute worse of the auction experience. They are placed into very small, very
tight, straight stalls. They absolutely cannot move. They may as well already be
dead and packed as processed meat. They stand in these stalls for hours. It is
impossible not to see the torment they are enduring in their eyes. I had the
great misfortune of watching an Amish man kneel down next to one of the straight
stalls, reach his hand through the board slats, grab hold of one ponies
testicles and make a joke about their size to another Amish man.
As the day progressed, more trailers arrived. I spent quite a bit of time
watching the offloading process. Trailers would pull up, the driver would walk
to the head Amish attendant who would write down his name, ask him how many
horses he had, what type, and if he had any colts. Then he would hand the driver
a yellow slip of paper. The horses would get off the trailer. As they exited the
trailer, one of the Amish would slap a hip numbers on each side of the horses
rump.
If they had halters, the vet, Melissa Reddick, would draw their coggins
immediately. If they did not have halters, the Amish would drive them into the
long aisle-way corridors I described before. Since several different trailer
loads of horses would be crammed into these aisle-ways, horses were constantly
kicking each other and scrambling to find a safe place to stand. It is unnerving
to watch this hour after hour.
It became apparent to me very quickly that most of the horses that got off the
trailers did not have halters. This is because these horses are destined for
slaughter. Without a halter, there is no way for a buyer to examine or look at
that horse. Sugarcreek is not an auction for horses to find new homes, it is set
up for the convenience of the kill buyer .
The next time someone from
the pro slaughter side tells you that these are unwanted horses, don't believe
them. These horses never have a chance to be re-homed. It is almost impossible
to keep tabs on a horse once they come off the trailer. The Amish go out of
their way to keep the horses moving so you cannot inspect them. Once they are in
a loaded pen, you truly are at risk if you attempt to enter that pen.
After a few hours, Becky and I were focused on trying to find the three horses
from Mountaineer. I was confident that Cinema Star and Elegant River had not
arrived by 12 pm, but we had no way of knowing when Kannapolis may have arrived.
All we knew was that a man named Langley would be bringing him. Becky and I went
from pen to pen trying to identify the horses we thought looked like
thoroughbreds. At one large crowded pen, I spotted a large bay that looked the
part. Becky and I went into the pen, cautiously sliding between horses, anxious
about getting our brains kicked in, until we reached the bay. Fortunately for
us, he stood still and allowed us to lift his lip to read his tattoo. While in
the pen, we read the tattoos of a few other horses. This is no easy job since
the pens are quite dark. Becky read off a number while I wrote it down. We
squeezed back through the horses and climbed out of the pen.
Once we were safe, I called Gail on my cell and gave her the numbers. About
twenty minutes later Gail called back. She was very excited, " You found him,
she shouted, you found Kannapolis!". Gail was surprised that I hadn't already
known that since I had his tattoo number with me. The only explanation I can
offer is that my mind was not functioning the way I am familiar with. The horror
that was all around me was numbing.
There wasn't a single horse
that wasn't experiencing their worse nightmare that day. The atmosphere was one
of complete despair and sadness. Every horse I looked at reminded me of my past.
The ponies reminded me of the time my father took me for my first pony ride. The
grade horses reminded me of the many Saturdays I spent at a local "pay to ride"
stable. The drafts reminded me of the Super-bowl commercial after 9/11 when the
Budweiser horse kneeled in front of the Statue of Liberty. Every horse made me
wonder who had loved them first , and who had been the last to betray them. I
was in hell.
About the time Gail told us we had found Kannapolis, Rachel Paris and her mother
Kathy showed up. Rachel is a beautiful young woman who has saved many horses
from Sugarcreek over the years. I was very thankful that she had managed to come
today and help us. I know now that without her help, this rescue would not have
been possible.
Rachel quickly advised us that we needed to get Kannaplolis out of the crowded
pen and move him into a single pen. I wondered how we would accomplish this
since he did not have a halter. Rachel simply walked over to a pen and slipped
the halter off another horse who still had his. I went back into the pen,
haltered Kannapolis, and led him to the gate.( Fortunately he was very close to
the gate at the time.) Rachel told us that anytime you found a horse you wanted
to buy, you could put them in a smaller pen if you could find one not being
used. She said it was common knowledge at the auction that if you found a horse
you wanted, you would try and protect it from getting hurt by the other horses.
We placed Kannapolis in a pen by himself and I pulled some hay from a manger and
gave it to him. Of course, other horses around him saw the hay so I went back
and pulled more and gave it to those horses also. What a pathetic attempt on my
part to make amends to these horses for what they were enduring.
Kannapolis was now in a pen that backed up to a pen that held a huge draft. The
draft hung his big head into Kannapolis' pen in an attempt to make friends.
Kannapolis was happy to oblige and soon they were grooming each other. It was a
bittersweet moment because I knew that Kannapolis had a chance to be rescued,
but the draft was doomed.
We continued to await the arrival of Bakers son with the thoroughbreds from
Mountaineer. Rachel was convinced that the son would arrive shortly before the
start of the horse sales at 1 pm. While we were waiting, we got the tattoos off
several other thoroughbreds. One gray in particular was very striking. He was in
the same pen that Kannapolis had been in, and he positioned himself in a corner
that allowed him to hang his head into the aisle-way we were standing in. His
eyes begged us to do something, and we got his tattoo and hip number. One woman
actually asked one of the Amish to take him out of the pen so she could look at
him and we hoped she would buy him.
We went back to the pen that had the four yearlings, they were still together,
and we found several more thoroughbreds. We read their tattoos and phoned Gail.
Rachel went to watch the trailers for Bakers son while I continued to pull hay
for horses.
There was one pen that had some cows that had been leftover from Monday's
livestock auction. I noticed a small brown calf laying by himself. I went into
the pen to have a closer look. I touched him to see if he was alive, and he was
barely breathing. I lay my hand on his head for a minute or so. I wanted him to
feel the touch of someone who cared, I wanted to let him know I loved him even
though he had no idea I was even there. I wanted him to forgive me. I wanted God
to forgive me for not being able to stop the cruelty that was all around me.
There is nothing more difficult than knowing you can only save a few from so
many. I hated myself because I was not rich and could not save the animals that
were here. I hated the people who had sent their horses here. I especially hated
the pro slaughter groups who continue to fight against the AHSPA who have
absolutely no idea how horrific these auctions are.
About this time I heard a lot of commotion coming from one of the aisle-ways
packed with horses. I left my dying calf to investigate. I walked up to the
noise and I saw Dr. Reddick and the Amish men attempting to draw blood for
coggins from the horses that had no halters. The technique they used was absurd.
Two Amish men would whip and drive the horses up and down the corridor until
they were able to separate a single horse from the herd. Then they would beat
that horse to the end of the pen where they would swing the gate around so as to
pin the horse between the gate and the wall. Then Dr. Reddick would climb up the
fence, reach over, and stick the horse with a needle to draw blood. Needless to
say, the horses would either freeze in terror, or else they would try and leap
over the gate. The more they struggled, the more they were beaten. Once the
coggins was drawn, the horse was let out of that pen and herded into another
overcrowded pen. This process in insanity was repeated over and over for fifty
or more horses.
Just before the horse auction was about to start, I was back at the unloading
area. A trailer pulled in and I immediately noticed that all the horses on the
trailer already had hip numbers on. I mentioned this to a man standing next to
me and he told me that this trailer belonged to the auction owners son. I now
knew our trailer had arrived. The trailer door swung open , but none of the
horses came off. An Amish man started poking the horses through the side of the
trailer, but they still wouldn't get off. I walked to the back of the trailer
and when I looked in I saw the problem. The trailer was very dirty, covered in
cow shit. Although the trailer could easily hold six to eight horses, all of the
five horses had been crammed into the front of the trailer behind a gate. The
gate had a door opening in the middle, which appeared to be designed for a
person to walk through. The Amish were beating the horses to make them go
through the opening single file, but because they were packed together so
tightly, they could not maneuver themselves to get through the opening. Finally
one thoroughbred got through, and then Cinema. When Cinema got to the edge of
the drop off, he stopped, and then I saw Elegant River squeeze through the door
. When Cinema saw that it was her, they jumped off the trailer together. It was
as if they were watching each others back.
Because they had no halters, they were herded into a pen closest to the auction
ring. We immediately tried to get their tattoos but they couldn't stand still
because the Amish kept moving them back and forth in the pen. They were
absolutely in a panic about where they were. While trying to get their tattoos,
another vet I had not seen all day, informed me I needed to get out of the pen
because he needed to draw blood. I told him that I needed to get a tattoo. I
won. We confirmed that Cinema Star and Elegant River had arrived at Sugarcreek.
Shortly after, Cinema Star and Elegant River were forced to endure the "gate"
method for drawing coggins. Cinema Star was trying his best not to leave Rivers
side but eventually he was beaten into the "gate trap". After all the blood was
drawn, one man put River in one pen and shut the gate before Cinema could get
back to her. I was going to intervene but then the Amish man turned his back to
Cinema to open the gate for a different horse to get in the pen and Cinema
seized the window of opportunity and slipped into the pen with River. It was
amazing to witness.
I called Gail and told her that the three horses were here and the auction was
ready to start. Gail said that the money was there for Kannapolis, Cinema Star
and Elegant River, but she was going to try and get additional funds to rescue a
few others. I went into the auction and was surprised that within minutes, the
horses brought to the auction by Bakers son were the first ones in the ring.
When Cinema Star was being let in, he hesitated at the door. Despite being hit,
he refused to come into the ring alone and sure enough, Elegant river bust
through the door with him and they were auctioned off at the same time. The
bidding process takes less than thirty seconds. Kill buyers rule. They are
allowed to stand on the auction floor when the horses pass through, and the
auctioneer keeps eye contact with them. Fortunately Rachel was able to bid
against the kill buyers, and she purchased both Cinema and River.
At this point I was emotionally and physically finished. I was elated beyond
words that Cinema and River were rescued. Gail had called Rachel and told her
that an anonymous donor had pledged enough money to save three more horses.
I walked outside the auction and called Gail. I thanked her profusely and told
her I was going to leave and start my six hour journey home. I did not want to
watch the horses being loaded into the trailers of the kill buyers. I had had
enough.
About an hour into my trip, Gail called and gave me the good news, six horses
had been saved, including the gray gelding. I told Gail she had done a wonderful
thing, and that everyone who had pledged would never know what a remarkably
wonderful deed they had done. And then I cried. I told Gail that I was
completely demoralized. I told her that I was sure I would never recover from
this ordeal. I told her that if I had ever really realized what happens at
auctions, every week, year after year, I would not tolerate the fact that the
AHSPA has not been passed.
I implore all of you who have supported the AHSPA for many years to please find
the energy and the resolve to do everything you can to push for the passage of
this bill. You must never feel that you have already done enough and that it is
out of your hands. We must force our legislators to pass this bill. The pipeline
to slaughter that our horses endure is beyond despicable. It is under-regulated
and under the radar. The kill buyers operate with total disregard for any
federal laws and take pleasure in the abuse of our horses. If you ever wondered
about the Serenity prayer and what it meant, trust me, horse slaughter is
something you can change, it is not an issue you should accept.
If every horse at every auction across the country had one voice willing to
speak up for them, we could pass this bill. Please be that voice for that one
horse ,standing alone , waiting to be slaughtered.
Sugarcreek Six Postscript
by: Gail Vacca
As Anne established early on in her account of
the events at the Sugarcreek Auction on April 11th, thankfully, due to a change
in plans on that particular day the inital work scheduled to take place was
postponed, which immediately launched us into a frenzied race against time to
save as many Thoroughbreds as we had funds and space to save.
The first order of business
was to secure the safe purchase of 3 horses that we knew had been taken to the
sale via Dick Rudibaugh and Wilson Langley. To that end, I contacted Chris Heyde
at the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), who then agreed that AWI would facilitate
both the purchase and tranpsort of the Mountaineer horses to a foster farm in
Virginia that had earlier in the day agreed to care for 3 horses. Our heartfelt
thanks goes out to AWI for securing the safety of these beautiful horses.
During the day Anne had also
sent me several other lip tattoo numbers which I quickly sent in for
identification. It was then that I posted an urgent plea on the Alex Brown Forum
asking the Fans of Barbaro (FOB's) to help us raise the funds needed to secure
the purchase of 3 more horses. From there, Lisa Amarino contacted one of our
long-time supporters who has long been one of our most generous benefactors, who
agreed to put up the funds needed to purchase these very lucky horses! Many
thanks to Lisa and our "anonymous" supporter!
Rachael quickly got to work
bargaining with the kill buyers to purchase Ollie, Belle, and Yourgie, meanwhile
the FOB's frantically worked their magic raising the necessary funds to get
these 3 sweet horses transported to another foster farm in Virginia and also
raised enough funds to provide for their follow-up care once we got them home!
Our deepest gratitude goes out to the FOB's for once again stepping up to the
plate for horses in need! Without their support, we would not have been able to
transport and care for these horses, and we would have had to let them go! We
also wish to express our sincere appreciation to Rachael Paris for without her
vast experience and knowledge of the "workings" at Sugarcreek, none of this
would have been possible. Rachael, thank you for all that you do You are one
incredibly amazing lady!
A special thanks is also
owed to Bob MacIntosh for literally dropping everything at a moments notice to
make the 600 mile long round-trip drive from Virginia to Ohio in order to
transport our "gang" safely back home to their Virginia foster homes. Bob
actually made two trips for us. On Friday he transported Kappy, Ellie, and Star
to safety, only to turn right back around the very next morning to make the same
long trip once again to bring Ollie, Belle, and Yourgie safely home to Virginia.
Our most profound
appreciation is reserved for our wonderful foster families who on a minute's
notice and without hesitation opened their hearts and farms to provide the
Sugarcreek Six with love, care, and safe harbor. To Diana McClure and her
husband Mike Cooney for taking such wonderful care of Ollie, Belle, and Yourgie
and to Sheila, Karl, and, Caleb Kanopa for their incredible generosity and
wonderful care of Kappy, Ellie, and Star, we sincerely thank you from the bottom
of our hearts!
And now, the answer to the
questions that everyone has waited so patiently to learn..."who are the
Sugarcreek Six and how did they end up being sold as nothing more than meat on
the hoof at Sugarcreek?"
The
original three Sugarcreek horses whose rescue was facilitated by the Animal
Welfare Institute:
Kappy - registered name:
Kannapolis.
Kannapolis
was sent by Mountaineer Park trainer, Gary Bowersock and owner Paul M. Brown
Sr., from his Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek. Another
Mountaineer Park trainer and part time backstretch meat-man, Wilson Langley,
transported Kappy to Sugarcreek. The fact that Kappy had raced 45 times winning
12 races and over $94,000.00 clearly meant nothing to his connections. Lame and
painfully thin, they tossed him away like yesterday's garbage. Outbidding a kill
buyer, we paid $550.00 to save Kappy's life. (Kappy has already found his
forever home with Carol Hodgeman where he will enjoy his well earned retirement
as a companion to Carol's sport-horse Max!!) The picture to the left is of
Kappy in his new home. I do not know who took the picture, but I think it
tells what happened to this horse because of these efforts.
Star - registered name:
Cinema Star.
 Cinema Star
was sent by his Mountaineer Park trainer and owner, Loren G. Cox from his
Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek. Star was transported off the
backstretch by the well-known backstretch "meat-man" Dick Rudibaugh. Cinema
Star, a son of Silver Charm raced 43 times winning 5 races and over $147,000!!
In 2002 Star sold at the Keeneland Yearling Sale for $260,000. Lame from what we
would later be diagnosed as a basal sesamoid fracture, the brave and regal
Cinema Star was tossed away like nothing more than used chewing gum. Outbidding
a kill buyer, we paid $525.00 to save Star's life. (According to our
veterinarian, Star will be sound for use as a light riding horse, following a
brief 60 days of pasture rest. Star is currently available for adoption).
Ellie - registered name:
Elegant River.
Elegant River
was sent by her Mountaineer Park trainer and owner, Edward Clouston from her
Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek, via backstretch meat-man Dick
Rudibaugh. Ellie raced 19 times winning only once with earnings of nearly
$15,000. Her only "crime" being that she just wasn’t very fast, Ellie too was
tossed away like a pair of old shoes. Outbidding a kill buyer, we paid $525.00
to spare her life. (Ellie is sweet, beautiful, sound, and quiet to ride. Ellie
is currently available for adoption)
The additional 3 Sugarcreek
horses whose rescue was facilitated by a most generous anonymous donor (you know
who you are!!) along with the Fans of Barbaro (FOB's)
Ellie the day her new owner
picked her up to take her home.
Yourgie - registered
name: East Over Baghdad.
East Over Baghdad
was purchased by kill buyer Fred Bauer for $425.00. We later paid $525.00 to
purchase "Yourgie" from Bauer in order to spare his life. We don't know exactly
how Yourgie ended up at Sugarcreek, but we do know that he raced 26 times
winning 3 races and over $52,000. Having last raced at Charlestown racetrack on
12-23-07 for trainer Angelmarie A. Dwoskin
and
owner, River Rock Stable. This
stunning 16.3 hh, very sweet gray gelding also was thrown away by his
connections to be sold as meat-on-the-hoof. (Yourgie has an old attached
bone-chip in his knee which the vet feels is a non-issue. He is currently
re-cooperating from a slight ligament strain, and it is believed that he will be
sound for most riding endeavors following a brief period of rest. Yourgie is
currently available for adoption).
Belle - registered name
Bam Attack.
Bam Attack
was purchased by Sugarcreek Auction owner and kill buyer Leroy Baker for
$475.00. We later paid $525.00 to purchase Belle from Baker in order to spare
her life. We don’t know who brought our beautiful Belle to Sugarcreek, but we do
know that she raced 50 times, winning only 2 races and just over $18,000.
Clearly Belle also committed the ultimate horseracing "crime" of just not being
very fast. Bam Attack last raced on 1-29-08 at Beulah Park for trainer, Jack W.
York and owner, Robin Harvey. (Belle is a beautiful, sweet, sound, and quiet
girl. She is easy to ride, and is currently available for adoption).
This is Belle in her new home, with a wonderful future
ahead of her.
Ollie - registered name
Zagor's Deco Due.
Zagor's
Deco Due was also purchased by
Sugarcreek Auction owner Leroy Baker for $370.00. We later paid Baker $445.00 in
order to spare his life. "Ollie" is the oldest of our gang of 6 having been
foaled in Illinois in 1995. At 13 years old, I’m certain that Ollie would have a
LOT of stories to tell us if he could only talk! During his racing career, Ollie
raced 88 times, winning 8 races and over $57,000. He last raced at Beulah Park
on 5-7-05. If anyone out there can help us fill in the blanks as to where
Zagor's Deco Due has been all the years since his last race, we would love to
hear from you! (Ollie is a sound and kind boy. He is blind in one eye due to an
injury that was left untreated. Ollie is adjusting to his recent loss of vision,
and is sound and quiet to ride. Ollie is currently available for adoption).
It is with a heavy heart
that I feel I must mention those who we were unable to save on April 11, 2008.
May their sweet and gentle souls forever rest in peace. We will forever remember
you. Please forgive the inhumanity of man, and know that you did matter to us
and that each and every one of you were very much loved.
Miss
Fancy Gold - 2004 Dark Bay or Brown
Filly. Raced 23 times winning 1 race and earning nearly $18,000. Miss Fancy Gold
last raced at Beulah Park for trainer Edward J. Harvey and owner Karen L.
Harvey. Miss Fancy Gold last raced on 4-7-08, only 4 days prior to being sold to
slaughter.
All Be At Once
- 2002 Bay Horse. All Be At Once raced 6 times never winning a race and earned
just over $1,000. His last racing start was made at Fairmount Park in Illinois
on 6-26-07 for trainer John K. Witthauer and owner Daniel E. Beard.
The killers got their share
that day at Sugarcreek, they always do. I hope that the story of the Sugarcreek
Six will encourage everyone to work harder than ever to work towards passage of
the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 & S.311) and that folks
will give generously of their time and resources to the many wonderful equine
rescue groups who are out there in the trenches saving as many lives as they
can.
I also hope that
responsible trainers, owners, horseracing fans, and everyone who loves horses
will let the racing industry know that the slaughter of even one more
Thoroughbred racehorse is unacceptable. For far too many years, irresponsible
owners and trainers along with lower-end racetracks have been casting a black
cloud over the racing industry and have grossly diminished the integrity of the
sport. There are many, many good horsemen, and good racetracks who genuinely do
care about the welfare of their horses, however, immediate and comprehensive
changes must take place in order to protect ALL racehorses from the heinous
cruelty of horse slaughter. The dispassionate, greedy, bottom feeders within the
industry that are feeding the supply of Thoroughbreds to slaughter must be
stopped at once. Racing industry leaders, and the racetracks themselves must
immediately take steps to fully fund Thoroughbred retirement programs, and they
must make it perfectly clear to owners and trainers who ship their horses off to
slaughter, that their callous cruelty will no longer be tolerated. Trainers and
owners who send their horses to slaughter should NOT be allotted stalls at
racetracks, and should have their licenses immediately suspended. Access to the
backstretch by the local "meat-man" must end. The Sport of Kings can and must do
better for the horses.
In response
to
the HBO Documentary "Running
For Their Lives" which airs throughout the
month on HBO, everyone should call their
Senator and demand they co-sponsor Senate
Bill 311 and AHSPA Act to Prevent Horse
Transport for Slaughter. They have to
record every call they get in support of
this bill.
The Virginia
Senators are:
The Maryland Senators are:
John Warner
202-224-2023
Benjamin Cardin 202-224-4524
Jim Webb
202-224-4024
Barbara Mikulski
202-224-4654
If you live
in a different state, go to
AWI website to find your Senator.
If you want to help end slaughter:
Please
everyone follow the link and
sign up it will only take a
second! Please send to everyone
on your contact list too!!!
Please put this on your
websites!!!
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