Letter to the editor of the Salt Lake Tribune in regards to the opinion "Banning slaughterhouses has hurt the horse industry and horses" by Donna Kunz (click here for more info on Dennis and Donna Kunz):

By all accounts, Donna Kunz and her husband Dennis are what 99.6 % of American horse owners who choose NOT to send their horses to slaughter would refer to as horse industry bottom-feeders.

Mrs. Kunz letter supporting horse slaughter is perhaps the biggest pack of lies ever written to date on this topic, and as a professional thoroughbred trainer for over 25 years, I hope you will give equal time to the real horsemen in our country who are fed-up by the dregs of the horse industry such as Donna and Dennis Kunz.

Because the Kunz letter was so full of inaccuracies and would take a novel of sorts to correct, I will stick to addressing her letter from my perspective as a professional horsewoman.

Mrs. Kunz stated of the Senate in passing recent legislation to protect horses from horse slaughter plants and dealers... "The Senate didn't listen to people who have horses; they only listened to people who don't have any knowledge about this", What? Excuse me Mrs. Kunz, but I am quite certain that our Senators are far more in tune to the American horse owner than you or your slaughter plant killer-buyer husband are. I am quite certain that our Senators have heard from millions of responsible horse owners over the course of the past three or so years since we began to lobby Congress for passage of this vital equine protection. I submit that it is you who has "no knowledge" of the subject at hand, because had you bothered to investigate the issue at all, you would have quickly discovered that this legislation is backed by some of the most respected equine organizations and humane societies throughout the United States, including the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Breeders Cup Ltd., Churchill Downs Inc., the National Steeplechase Association, the National Show Horse Registry, the National Horse Protection Coalition, the Hooved Animal Humane Society, just to name a few.

Lets be honest here for a minute, Mrs. Kunz, the only people who support horse slaughter in this country are the people who are profiting from it. The horse industry bottom feeders and foreign owned horsemeat packers who are involved with horse slaughter, are not people that the vast majority of us in the REAL horse industry would ever have any need or desire to associate with. Millions of us who are true horsemen are repulsed by the likes of the Kunz's for the callous and cruel way they treat these sensitive, intelligent animals.

I was further repulsed to read Mrs. Kunz accounting of how she and her hubby shipped horses to slaughter who " were so crippled that you could see the pain in their eyes". Mrs. Kunz, it is against the law to transport horses who cannot bear weight on all four legs and by doing so you and the Mr. have committed a crime(s), for which you could and should serve a jail sentence should you be proven guilty! What kind of warped sense of humanity does it take to consider that you have done a "kindness" to an already suffering animal by cramming into a cattle truck and shipping it thousands of miles in excruciating pain and agony to a horse slaughter plant where (if they even survived the trip) they will suffer even further during the terrifying and inhumane slaughter process? You must be kidding Mrs. Kunz...the only answer to the question
of what to do with horses who are suffering is to have them humanely euthanized. The fact of the matter is that you and your hubby ship these horses to slaughter to make a profit, and you couldn't care less how much these animals suffer in the process, so long as you can eek out a few bucks from their tortured lives.

The horse industry has no need for the likes of Donna and Dennis Kunz. Thank goodness that the U.S. Congress has listened to the overwhelming majority of horse owners who choose to treat their animals with kindness and compassion
and who are looking forward to the day that the single greatest cause of equine suffering, horse slaughter, is outlawed in our country.

My advice to the Kunz's and others in their 'trade" is to start looking for a new (and hopefully more humane) line of work. The U.S. equine industry has spoken loud and clear on this issue, congress has listened, we will not be denied the protection our horses need and deserve from those who seek to cause them suffering and pain.

Gail Vacca
Top of the Hill Farm
DeKalb, IL
 

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