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September 14, 2007

With lemonade, girls take a stand and save horse's life

Katie Curley

WEST NEWBURY — A group of local girls has brought new meaning to the phrase, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

After watching a YouTube video one night during a sleepover, the girls learned that horses in this country are still, to this day, being kept in “kill pens” for slaughter, and often sent overseas and across the borders for human consumption.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, 108,000 horses were slaughtered last year alone, an increase from 90,277 the previous year.

“We decided we had to stop this,” said Lydia LeDonne, 12.

So Lydia, and Emily Dresser, 12, of West Newbury; Carissa Fitzgerald, 15, Cara Shaw, 15, and Emma Kate Symonds, 12, of Groveland; and Madison Masi, 12, of Amesbury went about making their lemonade. Lots of it.

Through a series of lemonade stands set up over the summer and some other fundraising, the girls have raised nearly $1,000 to save a horse that otherwise would have been slaughtered. Instead, the horse will live a comfortable life on the LeDonne’s West Newbury farm.

To raise the money, the girls organized quickly, setting up a small, makeshift lemonade stand on Bridge Road in West Newbury. In just two days, the girls raised $100. After relocating to another spot, the girls netted $150 in two days, this time adding a wide variety of homebaked goods to their stand.

“They were only charging 50 cents a cup!” said Julie LeDonne, Lydia’s mother.

Growing up in and around West Newbury, each took horseback riding lessons and most own horses of their own.

Julie LeDonne, a horseback-riding instructor and owner of Jules’ Farm on Georgetown Road, put the girls in touch with Mary Martin, director of the New England Equine Rescue League.

“It’s really wonderful what they have done,” Martin said. “It’s especially wonderful that the donation is earmarked for a specific horse, and they know how the money will be used.”

Last Saturday, the girls participated in Groveland Day, selling painted horseshoes and rocks, bracelets and cookies, earning them $250. With so much merchandise left over, they set up a table in front of Food Mart, and reached their goal of $700 and kept going.

In the coming weeks, the girls will be waiting anxiously to see what type of horse will be arriving at the LeDonnes’ farm.

A representative of the rescue league will go to one of the largest livestock auctions in the country, located in New Holland, Pa., where “kill buyers,” employees of the meat industry, buy up several horses and bring them to a pen behind the auction house known as a “kill pen.”

Currently, there is no federal law barring horse slaughter, according to Chris Heyde, Animal Welfare Institute Deputy Legislative Director. Instead, it is up to each individual state to create laws against it.

People from rescue leagues frequently attend the auctions and attempt to outbid the kill buyers and save horses, Heyde said.

There is also the option of going directly to the kill buyer’s kill pen and negotiating with the buyer to sell you one of the horses he has bought to slaughter at a higher price than he paid, Heyde said.

Horses end up in the kill pen and ready for slaughter for various reasons, Martin said. Some are Thoroughbreds that are too slow to race, others are the byproducts of animal testing.

“It’s not all sick, crippled horses,” Martin said. “There are some really good horses in there.”

Though the girls still haven’t decided on a name for the horse, they are sure that they will keep raising money for care and supplies for the new horse and for possible future adoptions down the line.

“We want to stop this altogether,” Emily Dresser said.

The girls have also had petitions on hand at their booths for people to sign to urge Congress to pass legislation banning horse slaughter across the country, as well as the transport of horses out of the country for slaughter and consumption.

The girls will set up another booth to continue raising money this weekend at a horse show in Boxford.

Lydia LeDonne hopes that once the horse arrives at her farm, she will be able to use it to give lessons.

“It’s just great that the girls are being aware and proactive,” Martin said.

To donate locally to stop horse slaughter and help provide care and supplies, contact Jules’ Farm at 978-363-2422 or NEER on its Web site, www.newenglandequinerescues.com

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