The real problem is that these people went from doing a good deed to taking on the role of nemesis. You folk have pretty much ruined what was a story of heroic effort.
On a side note, is it just me, or does it seem a bit much that 250 posts an 'open letter' without a name on it, blasting a person (who does have a name) and then sees fit to close the thing to comments? I would have written the editors about this but i cant seem to find a way to do this, other than to bury it in the 'letters to the editor' section, which NO ONE ever reads.

I don't believe the group went from doing a good deed to being a nemesis. They put in more of an effort than the owner was willing to do and did it out of a sense of doing the right thing and seeing that the job was done fully.

Mr. Meisner provides this site to present the facts and the fact is that letter represented what may of us were thinking and I'm glad that it was printed. I would gladly sign my name to that letter. This owner committed a crime and needs to face the consequence.

Thats the nice thing about Opinion 250.
You are able to post your opinion even when making retarded comments about the people that saved the horses that do not want the previous owner to get them back.

A very heroic deed indeed.
Congratulations to everyone involved in saving these horses and may the previous owner never again see the horses he left to die.

Ah! I found the 'contact us' at the bottom. (gotta read teh fine print).
I suppose i am just not as well versed in the law as some others on this site. I dont KNOW that this person broke the law. I dont think the SPCA or their lawyers are as sure ofit as you are either howard. My point is that if you are proud to sign your name then write the letter and sign it. Then let us comment on it like any other letter. Mr Meisner does present us with the facts but thats not the same thing as making an exception in printing a scalding letter and then shielding the writer from comments. Or perhaps the editors were shielding us from our own inflammatory rhetoric. Or maybe they were protecting me from having to read 40 versions of 'they should string him up!'. Whatever, it goes against what i perceived as the best feature of 250. That is: open debate about news topics (which we could read about anywhere else).
By definition, those trying to ensure that the owner pays for his (perceived) ill deeds are trying to take on the role of Nemesis. Thats a vengeance type of thing. I am sure the SPCA, with their righteous zeal, will pursue this as far as it can go without the good citizens of mcbride swearing that justice will be done.
With all the suffering and starvation (people and animals) going on in the world i should think good samaritans and animals lovers time and money would be better spent saving the living than trying to punish a guy who made a mistake.

Thanks fo making my point lostfaith. I cherish my right to be retarded (as do you , obv.). They should have let me show my profound ignorance after the letter in question.

Thanks fo making my point lostfaith. I cherish my right to be retarded (as do you , obv.). They should have let me show my profound ignorance after the letter in question.

While perusing the falling star ranch site
I read some of the news coverage from other media and read this in the Dec 31st copy of the Globe and Mail.The following are quotes from the owner. The images of this man forcing Gatorade (WTF?) and oats down their throats makes me sick. There were 140 comments to that article and if anyone thinks that this man should own these animals let alone other animals I suggest they read a few of those comments.

“I let nature take its course. That was my decision. I left them to freeze to death and starve to death.”

Before leaving, he gave them oats and alfalfa along with eight litres of Gatorade, he said. He poured some of the flavoured sports drink into the food; he forced the rest down the horses' throats through a funnel attached to a hose.

“They were vomiting it up because they couldn't hold it,” Mr. Mackay said. Some came out of their nostrils.

I do not know a lot about horses so could someone explain to me how Mr. McKay could get in there to force feed these horses but he couldn't get those same horses out of there?

Quote[On a side note, is it just me, or does it seem a bit much that 250 posts an 'open letter' without a name on it, blasting a person (who does have a name) and then sees fit to close the thing to comments?]Quote

Are you talking about the open letter by Monika Brown???

It clearly had her name on it.

Scottish Lady, good point. Would he seriously go that far into Bear Country without a firearm. Something is wrong in his alibi.

Personally speaking, Mckay, should not be allowed to own any animals, inclusive of any family members allowing him to use the animals.

Scottish Lady

I think he he snowmobiled in, on Dec 3. At that time he deemed them to far gone and decided the humane way was to let them freeze to death and starve.

He could have done so much more. He deserves criminal charges.

Monika Brown's name was indeed attached to the open letter which appeared in the "Views" section of this site on January 1st. In fact, we had debated how best to ensure the letter was available for all to read. Letters to the Editor was the correct section, but you are right, it is not well read. We thought about pasting her letter in a comment section of a story on that theme, but in the end believed it was best to let it stand on its own strengths in our "Views" section. Her letter was open for comments for three days, so it would seem either people were too busy to write a response, didn't see the letter, or when they did, the three day window of comment opportunity had ended or perhaps there was a technical issue that didn't allow comments. Whatever the reason, there were no comments posted. Her open letter wasn't "buried" in the Letters to the Editor, it apeared on the home page according to the time it was posted, and for those who read "One Man's Opinion" it was posted in the "Views" section, it was clearly there for all to see.
We have not tried to shield anyone, however, if the matter was one of a technical nature in which you were unable to make a comment, I wish someone had contacted us so the matter could have been resolved. We do try to keep the lines of communication and the threads of debate,open. We are always open to constructive criticism as that is the best way to learn how things can be improved.
If you wish, I can re-open the window on that article for comment for one more day. Just let me know.

elaine@opinion250.com

Elaine Macdonald
Publisher

I read with interest “caranmaicil’s comments. Isn’t it most interesting and amusing that the person who chastises Opinion250 for trying to hide the story, which we didn’t, then hides behind a fictitious name so that their identity is not revealed to the public?
That speaks volumes about the writer.

I am sorry, but I must interject. I maight get booted, but so be it.

I saw the letter the first day it was posted. The text box at the bottom did not show. I thought I was not logged in. I checked. I was logged in. The text box still did not show.

I did not send an e-mail to bring awareness of this to the site admin/owners since I thought they had their reasons for doing so. I guess I should have written something.

As in every systems, glitches are possible.

"Would he seriously go that far into Bear Country without a firearm."

Why would he need a firearm?
Some peoples kids. Too funny

I've just gone back and re-read the article in the Edmonton Journal of December 30th and I'm astounded at the number of excuses he used. He reminds me of a whinny child. I'd have more respect for him if he just admitted he made a mistake and "I'm prepared to take my lumps". Feel sorry for the animals in the man's care.

This has been the talk of the valley since the story broke and something that erks me is that most people debating the issue seem to have missed the owners side of the story. I know I will get dumped on for my 2-bits worth but - what the heck.

I'm on the fence on this one. The owner is definitely guilty of something - but of what? He didn't maliciously drag his pack horses up the mount with the intention of leaving them to starve to death. He had these horses from birth (almost)and tended and raised them with the same care and atttention to the rest of his animals.

The horses got seperated from him and after making attempts to find them and then to rescue them he was forced to make the decision that he could not save them. Did he abandon them - yes! Without an avenue to humanely put them down he did what ever he could to get some form of nurishment into them and then returned home to Alberta. Should he have stayed and starved to death with them?

On his return trip home he rolled his truck and horse trailer and suffered personal injuries sufficient enough to keep him from personally returning to take up the challenge of locating and saving the horses.

Yes - he is guilty of abandoning his animals but the degree of punishment levied must weigh all the evidence. Most people commenting on this story would hang the guy without waiting to hear his side of the story.

If you loose your wallet and somebody else finds it - who does it belong to? If your dog wanders off and is found living 20 miles away with another family - who owns the dog?

He has also offered to pay all expenses of the rescue and to reimburse people for lost wages - sounds like a criminal to me!

There are extenuating circumstances here that need to be examined and this is responsibility of the SPCA.

Just as in human law we have degrees of guilt (1st and 2nd degree murder - manslaughter etc), I do believe that the owner will be found guilty of something but I wouldn't be at all surprised that he is not formally charged or punished.

"On his return trip home he rolled his truck and horse trailer and suffered personal injuries sufficient enough to keep him from personally returning to take up the challenge of locating and saving the horses."

Sorry thats nothing more than an excuse.
He could have enlisted the help of friends, family or whomever. He is now offering to pay everyone for their out of pocket expenses for the rescue.

He could have hired someone to rescue the horses at his expense right from the start and saved everyone, (not to mention the horses) a bunch of problems.

Seems the mistake he made was allowing these horses to be found.

Papa always said, "if your going to do stupid things, do them smart like, so no one catches you!"

I know the masses will jump all over me, but I tend to agree with opine. I have not seen or read anything that would lead me to believe the owner had any malicious intent, like a lot of people seem to imply.

He might have made some errors in judgment, but so has everybody. Let the SPCA do their investigation and see where that leads, and as opine said, there just might not be any formal charges that come out of this.

"If your dog wanders off and is found living 20 miles away with another family - who owns the dog"

TERRIBLE comparison. It would be more accurate if you said:

"If your dog wanders off and YOU find it living 20 miles away in the bush with no food and water and decide to just leave it there to die instead of bringing it home and after that fact, another person finds it and takes it home to bring it back to heath, who owns the dog?"

In that situation I woud say that you are the last person on earth who should have any sort of rights to that animal.

opine

There are so many stories out there now but I believe the original stated that the horses got stuck in a bog or muskeg and he just left them there. This article speaks volumes of what type of professional he is.

http://www.fitzhugh.ca/current/story2.html

Seems to be a lot of concern and effort spent on these two horses, and the extenuating circumstances.

To bad the same concern couldnt be made about the bombing of civilians in Gaza, with the attendent deaths, and mangling of bodies of adults and children.

I sometimes think that our priorities are totally screwed up.

I think there are some who show a lot of concern over what is happening in Gaza. I certainly am and I would think others on here are.

However, this site is about what is happening in the 00-1-250 area code not the 00-972-7 area code.

The only opportunity we really have is to talk about in the Friday free for all.

One can have many interests. This site deals primarily with reactions to local interests, not national or international issues. There are lots of other sites for that, as there are sites for model power boat enthusiasts.

That being said, I feel the same way, our priorities are most definitely screwed up.

In addition, as is so often the case with us humans, we often react emotionally rather than logically. We do not even know what the facts of the case are. There are several versions, even from what appear to be independent sources.

Leave it for the BC SPCA to figure out. It is their job and legal jurisdiction.

"To bad the same concern couldnt be made about the bombing of civilians in Gaza, with the attendent deaths, and mangling of bodies of adults and children."

Well, one reason for the difference is that the horses didn't bring this on themselves, whereas the civilian casualties in Gaza are entirely the fault of Hamas, the terrorist group that Gazans put in power. Israel would have had no reason to take action if Hamas had not engaged in multiple acts of terrorism every day (over 3,000 rockets launched since May), and civilian casualties would be few or none if Hamas were not so cowardly as to use civilians as human shields (also a war crime).

I would like it if someone/somewhere would co-ordinate this, so we can get together and back the people in McBride who did what truly had to be done. I would like to support them. I can't help but reminise about the good old days when a jerk like that would take his life in his hands to try a stunt like this. Does anyone remember when Paul Watson found he was not exactly welcome in Fort St John? Or when the game warden instructed a guy in McBride he couldn't shoot a moose that was charging his family everytime they tried to come from their home, or back into it? Said game warden ended up under his own car screaming for the guy to shoot the moose. His reply? "The game warden says I'm not allowed to!"

Anyway, I digress. If I can help the people who put their hearts and souls and a lot of hard work into the horses, please let me know how. henke@unbc.ca

caranmacil, are you related or friends w/ this disgusting excuse for a human being? How can you defend these hideous actions of obvious cruelty? This man could have done so much more than force gaterade down their throats. If he got up to where the horses were w/ alfalfa etc he could have taken them with him. He's an idiot!
Comparing these horses to Gaza? Are you kidding me??? What the hell do they have in common - ever heard of "apple & oranges"? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see how the great people who worked their asses off in McBride BC CANADA can help the people of Gaza...but they WERE able to help these poor horses in a desperate situation - Are you expecting they go to Gaza? What a ridiculous comment! How can people possibly critisize what people did to help? I suppose the ones that think negatively on helping 2 beautiful, kind living creatures out of a certain slow painful death also beat your dogs etc. Shame on you who dare critisize these hardworking, caring people!!! I wish I could have gone and helped...the man who left them should pay dearly as the criminal he is!

There is more to life and more to understanding situations than sending out rambling messages, and trying to pretend that you have great concern for all things.

I agree 100 percent with what the people did to rescue these horses, kudo's to them. The irony of the situation is that we will sit down at supper and discuss the situation over a T Bone steak, Pork Chops, or Chicken a la carte. So while we have concern for the horeses we eat the cows.

Just the fact that this guy has the audacity to say that he wants his horses back after he left them for dead says a lot about his character. He lost his rights of animal ownership right then and there...and I believe he should have his other 9 horses taken away too. He has no business owning horses when he treated these two so horribly.

The people of McBride went above and beyond, and gave these horses a second chance at life. To them I am so grateful, and this has definitely changed my views on what human beings are capable of. Frank Mackay, on the other hand has confirmed my views that some people just can't be helped.....

Posted by: Palopu on January 8 2009 5:38 PM
Seems to be a lot of concern and effort spent on these two horses, and the extenuating circumstances.

To bad the same concern couldnt be made about the bombing of civilians in Gaza, with the attendent deaths, and mangling of bodies of adults and children.

I sometimes think that our priorities are totally screwed up.
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Whats to really worry about Palopu?
Hamas has been launching rockets into Isreal for a very long time without reprisal.
Now that the hen has come home to roost you have a problem with payback?

The casualty toll means nothing in the big picture. If Hamas and the people that back them, (The Palestinian People)truly wanted piece there would be no rockets flying.

You stick your hand into a hornets nest and you will get stung.

Posted by: Palopu on January 8 2009 8:57 PM
There is more to life and more to understanding situations than sending out rambling messages, and trying to pretend that you have great concern for all things.

I agree 100 percent with what the people did to rescue these horses, kudo's to them. The irony of the situation is that we will sit down at supper and discuss the situation over a T Bone steak, Pork Chops, or Chicken a la carte. So while we have concern for the horeses we eat the cows.
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OMFG

All the time and resources spent they should of just shot the horses and fed the wolves.And maybe helped mankind.