This post will be my only comment on the unfortunate situation that only serves to demonstrate how quickly some can forget that their stated goal was to help horses - something this ugly infighting does not accomplish. To say I'm shocked and disappointed would be quite the understatement.
For
the past week, various Facebook pages have been full of wild claims and
speculation regarding the resignation of an EWA board member. We have
not commented on this resignation because it is our policy, like every
reputable organization, to keep board matters confidential.
We
have worked very hard to become a respected organization that provides
accurate information in an unemotional context. This is the reason that
we can now be accepted as a source at legal proceedings, in legislative
hearings and by the press.
We
have therefore stated only that it is against our policy to become
involved in any way with public attacks on other animal welfare
organizations or in supporting them against such attacks. It is our
position that these attacks, justified or not, serve only to undermine
the credibility of our entire movement.
We
have repeatedly been asked whether the requested resignation was the
result of our supporting AC4H. No, it was not, nor did it involve a
single incident.
Now
that I have been personally attacked for over a week, I have many
wonderful examples of why this sort of Facebook vigilantism is so
destructive to the image of our movement and to its cohesiveness. People
have speculated wildly and recklessly about a situation of which they
know absolutely nothing. They have been willing to believe that I would
suddenly, and with no justification, ask for the resignation of a board
member and then offered completely irrelevant material as proof.
For
example, a photo of me standing with Christy Sheidy was offered as
proof that I support her. A few posts later someone recognized that the
picture was from a 2008 anti-slaughter conference in Washington, and was
one of dozens of pictures of me and other participants standing
together. So the image proved only that Christy Sheidy and I had both
taken the time and effort to attend an anti-slaughter conference.
Furthermore,
publicly calling people names like Crusty Sheidy or Christy Shady is so
adolescent as to make me cringe. We do not need this kind of discourse
at any level, against anyone, and to imagine that it somehow helps the
horses is delusional.
The
posting of a public notice of a tax lien was given as the reason for
dismissal. Posting public documents is acceptable and commonplace.
However, I might mention that it was posted with a comment stating that
it proved AC4H had not declared income from its broker program - a
comment intended to invite controversy. That comment turned out not to
be true and is typical of the kind of thing that makes people question
the accuracy of other information being provided. Still, it was far
from the reason for this entire debacle.
Let
me put it bluntly. This kind of war is moronic and of utterly no help
to the horses at all. While a river of horses go over the borders,
countless hours are being wasted on a McCarthyesque witch hunt to see if
this person or that supports an operation that is already under
investigation by authorities and all but totally defunct. People I have
known and worked with for years have somehow lost all reason and joined
in this blood sport without asking "What is to be gained and what could
be lost?"
I
do see where some people have injected interesting facts such as the
point that I was one of the first people to question whether it wouldn't
be better to buy horses by bidding against kill buyers rather than
buying them from kill buyers and thus putting money in their pockets.
But
let me suggest we think deeper. We all regard the kill buyers with
disdain, but even if we bought every horse out from under them at
auction we would still be stuck with the problem because it would merely
enrich those doing the over-breeding and dumping the horses! We can't
rescue our way out of slaughter folks.
Finally,
I must point out that this former board member has decided to divulge
and embellish confidential board discussions in hopes that it would
embarrass EWA and add to her support. That is both unethical and
illegal, and speaks to the individual's understanding of the duties of a
board of directors.
Now
having read this, each of you are free to go back to banging out
useless flaming posts in hopes of collecting "likes" (whatever they are
worth) or working with us to end the slaughter and abuse of American
horses. Which will it be?
John Holland
Related articles
Horse Slaughter Falls Flat in the Year of the Horse(nackpets.wordpress.com)
Video: Understanding the Forces Behind Horse Slaughter(rtfitchauthor.com)
Experts Calling for Slaughter Ban In Wake of United Horsemen Summit Cancellation(goldendays-suzanne.blogspot.com)
A New Year's Message from Equine Welfare Alliance(habitatforhorses.org)
A message from EWAs president, John Holland(habitatforhorses.org)
