Horse Rescuers Given Honours

Friday, February 20, 2009 03:42 PM

l-r Joseph Rich, Deputy Premier Shirley Bond, behind her are David Jeck, Ray Long, Rod Whelpton, Premier Campbell, Birgit Stutz and Marc Lavigne

click on video icon for a short clip

Prince George, B.C.- Six of the eight core members of a group which has come to be known as the "horse rescuers" were given a certificate of recognition from Premier Gordon Campbell today in an effort to say thanks for their unselfish acts over Christmas to save two horses stranded in the Renshaw recreation area near McBride.

In her lead up to introducing the Premier,Prince George-Mount Robson MLA Shirley Bond was beaming with pride over the accomplishment of her constituents "For me, it's much more than about the horses, it's about the people. They are tenacious. Even through very very difficult circumstances in the Robson Valley, and we have had our fair share of them, there is a sense of spirit there where people join together and simply make a decision to do the right thing." In this case, the right thing was to hand dig a trench two kilometers long in bitterly cold weather just before Christmas, to lead two abandoned horses to safety.

While there were only half a dozen on hand to be officially recognized for their efforts, Bond said there were many in the community who did whatever they could, whether it be picking up a phone and making calls , to providing a meal, the rescue of the Renshaw horses was a community effort. But it was the group known as the "Shovel brigade" which, day by day dug that two km long trench, was honoured today.

The Premier also noted the "Northern spirit" saying the McBride Horse rescuers are a reflection of a Northern and rural spirit that we should never lose track of "This is absolutely what defines us. It's not about the economy, its about communities, it's about people reaching out and working together."

The certificates handed out read:

The Province of British Columbia gratefully acknowledges the selfless contribution made by (name) to the December 2008 Renshaw Horse Rescue.

Your compassionate actions are an example of the spirit that truly makes British Columbia the best place on Earth.

Signed: Gordon Campbell , Minister Shirley Bond

The Horses, Belle and Sundance, will soon be placed in their new homes. Both are recovering well and putting on weight. As for their previous owner, the Crown has yet to decide if formal charges will be laid.

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Posted on Friday, February 20, 2009 03:42 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: dirtcheap on February 20 2009 4:35 PM

Why does Gordo have to ruin another picture.Did he have to come all the way from his castle in Vancouver to hand deliver a certificate!!!What a joke! That must be why he is smiling so much (the jokes on you taxpayer)

Posted by: diplomat on February 20 2009 4:51 PM

Three cheers for the kind people who rescued the stranded and starving horses!

They are happy, smiling and positive! It's a wonderful picture!

Glad the Premier took the opportunity (on the occasion of his visit to the Airport) to honour these fine people!

Posted by: dirtcheap on February 20 2009 5:24 PM

The picture would be fine if someone had used Photoshop and erased that lie through your teeth slimeball.....

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 20 2009 6:37 PM

Campbell and Bond...do they ever miss a photo op?
Oh wait,election coming!

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 20 2009 6:44 PM

A couple of regular fashion plates those two!
Gordon Campbell in what appears to be a yellow tie and a black suit and Shirley Bond wearing a...well,it's a...um...Shirley,what were you thinking??
:-(

Posted by: diplomat on February 20 2009 6:47 PM

Of course they could have given these award certificates through a small hole in the wall, I guess.

Bizarre. OMG.

Posted by: trudy on February 20 2009 7:10 PM

And if the horse rescuers had been ignored, you would all be complaining about that! I for one think this was the right thing to do, these people are Shirley Bond's constituents, and the leader of the Provincial government
(regardless of political stripe)delivered the message. How you can be so negative about what should have been a pat on the back for a job well done, is beyond me.... These people deserved to be recognized, deserved to have someone say you made us (as residents of B.C.)proud... Would it have been more acceptable if the recognition came from Carole James? Not likely....someone would be complaining about that too. Is it possible, that for one moment any of you can leave the politics out of this, and say, gee, nice gesture....?

Posted by: hammy on February 20 2009 7:20 PM

PROUD OF YOU ALL! BE PROUD OF YOURSELVES!
YOUR A WONDERFUL GROUP OF PEOPLE.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on February 20 2009 7:30 PM

diplomat&trudy...we are VERY proud of the people who dug those horse out and they do deserve to be recognized bigtime!
We are damn proud of them all!...but Campbell and Bond... not so much!
Would Campbell have personally showed up if there was no election coming?
I sincerely doubt it.
Congratulations to all the wranglers for doing such a fine job!
It is people like you all who make the north what it is....a great place to live!

Posted by: diplomat on February 20 2009 8:51 PM

"We are damn proud of them all!...but Campbell and Bond... not so much!
Would Campbell have personally showed up if there was no election coming?
I sincerely doubt it."

Well, you don't know and it doesn't make any difference whatsoever.

Once you let politicians get so totally under your skin you've put yourself on a never-ending hate trip.

It's not very healthy and it doesn't make sense.

Posted by: Palopu on February 20 2009 9:28 PM

Well they had to drive 250 miles to get this certificate from the Premier and Bond. One would think that if this was a Mcbride, Robson Valley story, that the certificate and kudo's would have taken place in Mcbride. Gordon wouldnt want to drive to Mcbride and back, and therefore 6 people had to drive to Prince George. I think if it had been me, I would have stayed on the ranch, and let them keep the certificate.

Posted by: NMG on February 20 2009 10:59 PM

"Well they had to drive 250 miles to get this certificate from the Premier and Bond"

They had to or they chose to? Seems to be a rather large difference . . .

Posted by: gus on February 21 2009 12:27 AM

Campbell was in town for a dinner. I would think he took advantage of being here to get some other things done instead of sitting around on his hands.

He not the only party leader who we see more of these days as election time starts closing in.

Wanna change the system?

Posted by: beesknees on February 21 2009 6:34 AM

I think the award would have had more significance had Gord and Shirley dug their way through 2 km of snow, in freezing temperatures, to hand deliver the certificates to the group.

That would have been a NEWS story. This is just another sound bite.

Next time someone needs a publicist to get themselves noticed, contact me. I know how to make a splash.

Posted by: gus on February 21 2009 6:47 AM

Doesn't sound like you have any sense of realism to me.

What is the story on those two or any others who were not here to be "recognized". Maybe they just gave of themselves without wanting recognition? That would be nice, wouldn't it?

Why are we second guessing the optics and why can't we just accept it for what it is? Who cares what motivates people.

Let's just take it for what it is, someone in a position of reponsibility recognizing a group of people who went beyond the norm.

Posted by: heidi1555 on February 21 2009 10:40 AM

It's nice to see people of all ages coming together and getting the job done.

Shirley Bond is such a nice lady.

Posted by: woodwoman on February 21 2009 7:35 PM

It would have been allot better to give $$ to those who rescued the horses instead of a piece of paper - it is better to drive to PG - gas + carbon tax for Gordo - more $$ for the Olympics.
AND Shirley Bond is such a nice lady - I don't think you know her heidi1555 - ask those who have known her for years and years. Maybe she so nice is that her bread has been buttered with union $$ before she went into politics - and is still buttered with union $$ .

Posted by: opinionated on February 21 2009 9:11 PM

Shirley Bond is a very nice lady with a passion for BC. She works very hard.

Kuudos to the folks in Mc Bride. I am sure the BC SPCA will do something to reconize these folks as well.

Posted by: Nowicki on February 22 2009 6:26 PM

Regarding Shirley Bond, It is time to put a new face from PG in the parliament who is ready to meet with the voters from PG and is not hiding behind her secereteries and avoiding meeting her constituencies and resolving their problems in PG. Rescue those house owners in PG who are losing their jobs, houses, horses ....