We need you! The animals need you!
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Dear Friends & Supporters,
An urgent and time sensitive issue facing Animals' Angels forces us to make a heartfelt plea for your help. As many of you already know from our previous newsletter, our investigators are facing bogus trespass charges in court due to our tireless work at the Presidio Export Pens in Texas.
As we have documented so many times, the management of these pens, which are only a stone's throw away from the Mexican border, is simply deplorable and the horses kept there are held under truly atrocious conditions. We have tried for years and years to get law enforcement to file cruelty charges against the pens, and despite ample evidence, nothing has ever been done to hold these violators accountable.
Animals' Angels has conducted six full investigations at the Presidio export pens since August of 2011. We have not witnessed a single positive change regarding the attitude or care shown towards slaughter-bound horses. Abuse, neglect, and indifference are such a common theme that they have become pattern. The landfill still receives an average of 40 dead horses a month and the horses in the Brito and C4 pens hardly ever have enough food, water or shelter. They are consistently crammed violently into trailers which are not suitable for transportation and are still left parked in the full sun for hours.
In fact, on our most recent investigation at Presidio last fall, our investigators witnessed a transport truck from the Presidio Pens waiting to cross at the border with two horses down and being trampled by the others who were packed into the trailer. Words can't describe and pictures can't show what these poor animals were going through -- to this day this horrific scene haunts us. The horses were desperately trying to get up, but there was simply no room. Within seconds, the hooves of the horses on top left bleeding cuts all over their bodies. Due to our quick action, this truck was turned away at the border and forced to return to the pens - which prevented these horses from dying a slow, gruesome death en route to the plant.
We followed the truck back to the pens and informed one of the pen workers about what happened, we wanted to be absolutely sure that these horses would be unloaded immediately and receive veterinary care.
In retaliation, Ruben Brito, the manager of the pens, reported our investigators for trespassing -- an outrageous, false allegation that should have been seen by police for what it truly was: an intimidation tactic. The police refused to listen to our investigators' side of the story. They were not interested in the fact that we were clearly not trespassing. They were not interested in the two horses that would have been trampled to death in transport were it not for our intervention at the border, a violation that should have fallen squarely on Ruben Brito. In fact, the police were not interested in anything we had to say. Investigators have repeatedly witnessed a personal and friendly relationship between pen owners and Presidio County law officers. We can't help but wonder if this relationship is what allows the pens to operate above the law.
We are determined to fight these charges but we need your help! The legal expenses incurred contesting these ridiculous charges have taken much needed funds away from investigations. However, it is imperative that we are heard in court and that the actions of Ruben Brito and those of the police are brought out into the open. We need you now more than ever - the animals need you. We cannot allow these abuses to continue.
Please stand with us against these grave injustices - please donate to our legal fund today!
Yours truly,
Sonja Meadows
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
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