Horses are companions, not food; Boulder gave to those in need

Rebekah Keat: Animal welfare: Horses are companion animals and healers, they should not be slaughtered

My wife and I are World Champion triathletes, coaches and most importantly animal lovers and advocates!

Our mission is to save and protect horses from abuse, neglect and slaughter! We have personally saved over 250 Colorado horses from the slaughter pipeline!

We own and operate a horse rescue ranch in Longmont, Colorado, where we have 35 rescue horses here at the ranch that we saved.

Many of these have gone on to heal humans through equine therapy programs helping veterans, cancer survivors, children and more!

Every week we are the boots on the ground rescuing horses at Centennial Auction from the hands of predatory kill buyers. These kill buyers push up the prices, taking horses away from perfectly good homes like ours and other rescues and private homes, who could otherwise give these horses a safe forever home and safe landing.

Once bought by kill buyers, the horses are crammed into overloaded livestock trailers and suffer the long and horrific trip to Canada or Mexico with, to our knowledge, no food, no water and NO rest! Those that make it alive are then brutally slaughtered! The captive bolt method used for cattle doesn’t work for horses due to their flightiness and long necks, and, according to some sources, they can be dismembered alive!

No sentient being deserves to be treated this way! This must end and as Colorado constituents, we must urge our legislators to vote YES on s23-038 to end this barbaric practice!

Horses are not bred for human consumption, Americans do NOT eat horse meat! Horses are companion animals, healers of addiction, PTSD, illness and more!

We must treat them with the respect, dignity and love that they so deserve!

Rebekah Keat, Longmont

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Lizette Miller: Samaritan’s Purse: Boulder​​​-area residents shared true meaning of Christmas with kids in need

I am writing to thank Boulder​​​-area residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season.

Generosity throughout contributed to a successful shoebox gift collection season at drop-off locations for the Samaritan’s Purse project Operation Christmas Child. Across the U.S., the project collected over 9.3 million shoebox gifts in 2022. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2022, the ministry is now sending nearly 10.6 million shoebox gifts to children worldwide.

Through shoeboxes — packed with fun toys, school supplies and hygiene items — Boulder​​-area volunteers brought joy to children in need around the world. Each gift-filled shoebox is a tangible expression of God’s love, and it is often the first gift these children have ever received. Through the continued generosity of donors since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has collected and delivered more than 209 million gift-filled shoeboxes to children in more than 170 countries and territories. This year, Samaritan’s Purse delivered its milestone 200 millionth shoebox, which was packed on a country-wide tour and then hand-delivered to a young girl in Ukraine.

Across Colorado​​​, shoebox packers often shop for deals on shoebox items throughout the year, and many serve at a deeper level by becoming a year-round volunteer. Information about ways area participants can get involved year-round can also be found at samaritanspurse.org/occ or by calling 303-745-9179.

These simple gifts, packed with love, send a message to children worldwide that they are loved and not forgotten.

Lizette Miller, Samaritan’s Purse, Boone, North Carolina