Do Something

Incase you haven’t tuned in lately to happenings in the desert, the horse slaughter saga in Ahmadi continues – and probably will continue until someone higher up champions the case.

Do you (yes you, reading this) want to do something about it? You can help. Make your voice known. Write to newspapers. Send a letter to the Emir. Write to the ministers in any ministry in Kuwait. Write to animal rights organizations around the world. Damn - write to Oprah! All of the contact information is available on the web through a simple search. Get the word out. Public pressure gets things accomplished - especially here where "face" is the name of the game. It is a national disgrace to Kuwait!

Arabs and horses have been together throughout history. Horses are part of the culture, the civilization, the folklore of the Middle East. They are beloved animals. Why are we turning a blind eye while a small group of people cruely slaughters them right here??? 25 minutes (without traffic) from downtown Kuwait and 10 minutes from the largest US base in Kuwait, Arifjan?

Here is the story: At the Ahmadi Governorate Equestrian Club (AGEC), horse owners are running the horses to win prizes - sometimes as large as cars. The horses are often not trained or conditioned for racing. They might not even be race horses, but these guys think that if they whip them hard enough, they'll win a race and they'll get something out of it. As for the horse - it runs like hell, often injuring itself or just collapsing from exhaustion.

Then, these prize-crazed barbarians (who can often be seen in the paper, smiling with their honorary plaques, all happy with themselves) either shoot the horse in the head (which is actually the more humane solution as compared to the alternate) or inject it with a combination of drugs which has been banned in the US called T-61. T-61 shuts down the heart and lungs, but the horse remains conscious, and drowns on its own blood. That is why many of the horses found dead outside the Ahmadi Governorate Equestrian Club (AGEC) have their hooves tied because the horse will struggle to live. T-61 has been banned in the US as inhumane. The horses are sometimes walked out to the field among other carcasses (although most have been recently removed) to suffer its own death, slowly and in agony.

As per the Arab Times article of Saturday, January 13, the chairman of the Ahmadi Equestrian Governorate Club, Haif Al-Howaila, denies that his club has anything to do with it; odd, because it is happening not 100 feet from their club. As he stated in the paper that members of the club didn't notice these carcasses immediately, "we usually come to the culb after sunset when it is difficult to spot them." Where do these mysterious horses with their ankles wrapped for racing endurance come from, pray tell?

I don't think that anyone trying to go to a party 2.5 kilometers into the desert on a night with no moon has any problem finding a tent (stone cold drunk even), and yet these guys can't see 14 dead horses left there for years right outside their premises? Come on, give me a break!
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Are their blinders to blame?

It is interesting that the Chairman of AGEC's board of directors didn't see the carcasses of dead horses, not 50 feet from the side of the road and not 200 meters from their own front driveway; regardless of the time of day. Further, as Mr. Haif Al-Howaila states in your front-page article of January 13th, "some of the carcasses found dumped outside the clubs are Arabian breeds while the horses within AGEC's stables are thoroughbreds." It is interesting because in the same paper on January 13, on page 41 in the Sports Section, under the heading "Ahmadi Equestiran Club hosts weekly horse race", the photos of the horses running are not all thoroughbreds! Further, many of the carcasses I personally saw in that field on January 8 had ankle/hoof bandages similar to those used on racing horses for endurance.

Carcasses of large animals do not decompose overnight. I have heard this week from people who have passed by these same carcasses for the past several years - not weeks, not months. How is it possible that they could have been overlooked? And if one chairman doesn't see them - right outside the gates - is he not responsible for the workers in his charge? Has everyone at the club turned a blind eye?

Further, if people in camps in the surrounding areas are indeed dumping horses right next to their club, why isn't the club doing something about it? Why not post signs? Put up a fence? Notify authorities? Why would a group of people who supposedly love horses not want to do something about this horrific situation; especially if -as they claim - it is coming from an outside source? Why did the media have to bring this to public attention?

Why not take responsibility and see that it doesn't happen again? Why is it that some people find it necessary to "pass the buck" and not just do the right thing? Acknowledge that there have been and continue to be problems, and do something to resolve it and make it better for everyone - especially the horses. "Not our problem" is never the answer.