greed is the heart-killer...

[lagilman]

All right, I'm making a wild assumption here, not any sort of judgement or legal evaluation. But there are certain things that scream 'arson' to me (and probably anyone with even a slightly suspicious mind) and this has all the markings.

Sometime around midnight last night, a fire started in, and ripped through, Peretti Farms.

For those of you not of an equine interest, Peretti Farms is the largest NJ breeder of Standardbreds, which are best known as the breed used for harness racing. They have half a dozen stallions of note, and a couple-hundred brood mares, and are always well-represented at the yearly auctions.

They're not Thoroughbreds, so they're not as 'sexy' or well-publicized, but Standardbreds are muscular, handsome beasts.

Twenty-four horses were reported killed in the fire. Twenty-four innocent animals, whose only crime may have been that they were heavily insured.


I hope I'm wrong. I pray I'm wrong. I'd rather have the owners be heartbroken than malicious. But I've a suspicious mind.

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

How tragic. I can't imagine the heart and mind of people capable of such atrocities.

[threeringedmoon.livejournal.com]

I don't know why, in a world in which so many atrocities occur against human beings, horse murder bothers me so much, but it does. It makes me wish I believed in Hell.

[lagilman]

I don't know why, in a world in which so many atrocities occur against human beings, horse murder bothers me so much, but it does.

Cruelty against humans you have a reference for -- we've all gotten angry or hurt enough at one point or another in our lives to wish someone harm, although few of us (thankfully) ever act on it. To wish something like that against an animal (or, worse to my mind, to do it for cold-blooded reasons) is less understandable/excusable, and shows a total lack of compassion or empathy (probably not a coincidence that torturing animals is one of the early warning signs of a serial killer in the making).

A creature like a horse is defenseless against us -- they have teeth and a kick, yeah, but no fangs, no claws, no real defense except running away. We domesticated 'em, we're their keepers, we have an Obligation. Harming one is the ultimate transgression of that implicit contract.

The only thing worse IMO is to harm a human child, because that goes against both the stewardship contract and overal genetic survival.

[lagilman]

(I should amend this to say that no, I'm not a vegan. But I try to adhere to the stewardship precepts even so -- if we domesticate an animal for food or other product, it is our responsibility to ensure that their lives and deaths are done as humanely as possible. And I don't deny where my food comes form, unlike some folk I've known, who would prefer to pretend that it's all created in a back room in the supermarket, of no actual organic origins...)

[vibrato-light.livejournal.com]

When I began to read this, I thought something different than the conclusion you fear. I thought that someone outside of the farm party had set it ablaze because they are prize-winning horses. I have known of people shooting prize-winning cattle because of jealousy. I actually wrote a short story on the subject. Cheating is rampant in animal husbandry, and arson isn't that far from the same tree.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Somebody deliberately burned horses to death. Somebody is cruel and evil.

[phatgirly.livejournal.com]

Oh dear lord, this is threatening to make me cry. If your suspicions are right, there will definitely be crying. Throwing up will follow.

[e-conard.livejournal.com]

What you're describing is an over-all symptom of humans viewing animals as "things/property" instead of members of the community-at-large and members of the family. Greyhounds and racehorses are only worth their speed and genetics to the racing community. It's a sad truth that they become disposable once they lose their usefulness. The greyhounds not sent to rescue groups end up in animal testing facilities and the horses end up at slaughter houses. The whole philosophy disgusts me so much that I refuse to attend *any* event that involves gambling on animals.

[going-not-gone.livejournal.com]

Some reassuring news here. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/brf_horse_farm_fire;_ylt=AnUaa7Tn_qHVJtJGpyzJGP6s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--)


The fire at Perretti Farms apparently was caused when an electric line that keeps water in the wall-mounted troughs from freezing ignited a center stall about 1 a.m., State Police investigators said.

So it's still a horror, but doesn't seem to be deliberate cruelty.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

I would be inclined to think not, because arson isn't sufficiently precise as a tool for that kind of insurance fraud. If you're killing horses for insurance, you want to kill specific horses--the ones you own. Arson may or may not do that (and may kill a bunch you don't own). There are easier ways. Fortunately, most of those ways have been identified, and when a heavily insured horse dies for any reason these days, an investigation ensues.

Barn fires are horrific, but alas, not that unusual; there are a lot of ways they can happen. That doesn't mean that a barn fire becomes a convenient tool for killing horses, though, because now you not only have investigators from the equine insurance companies, you have arson investigators as well. Not worth it.

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

Heartbreaking. And it's a tragedy that the standardbred industry (as well as the thoroughbred industry) have come to things like you fear.