01/18/2008
from the Kennebec Journal
Sport of Kings
New Medicaid billing system inspires doubts among some
Christmas spirit
Guidance counselor: Dismiss complaint based on criticism of same-sex marriage
CHELSEA: 'Practice burn' provides thrill for 9-year-old
Trust eyes orchard purchase
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Bonenfant rises up Cony ranks
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
YES ON 1 BACKER REBUTS CLAIM
New system for Medicaid payments worries providers
After petition drive, Clinton police force budget will go a third time before voters
A rock musician makes trip home via Black Taxi
MADISON: After revaluation, abatement requests reviewed
Parks to have facelift
GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Sweet does job for Madison
YOUTH SOCCER: Local team gives 'care package' to children in Afghanistan
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
He will never be able to thank Priscilla Presley for adopting him and giving him a new home.
Then again, Max is a 3-year-old bay horse.
Max and his brother, Merlin, a magnificent chocolate-colored creature, were scheduled to be slaughtered -- along with four other horses in their family in QuŽbec -- last summer.
Naser, who has had horses of her own since she was a child, stepped into action and bought all six horses just days before they were to be taken to the slaughterhouse.
"If we hadn't done this when we did, they'd all be long gone," said Naser, of Palermo. "They would've been (killed) in QuŽbec."
Naser and her friend Cathy Cleaveland found out soon enough that it wasn't easy -- or cheap -- to care for six horses. So they decided to start fundraising.
"We sent T-shirts to celebrities we knew were passionate about animals," Cleaveland said. "We requested they autograph the shirt, then send it back. We were going to auction them."
Country crooner Alan Jackson, former Catwoman Julie Newmar and "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" host Ty Pennington, among others, signed and sent back the shirts for auction, Naser said.
Nothing, however, prepared Naser or Cleaveland for the phone call that would change Max's and Merlin's lives.
"I answered the phone and Priscilla Presley was on the other end," Cleaveland recalled with a laugh. "I didn't believe it at first."
Yes, that Priscilla Presley -- former wife of The King, Elvis Presley.
An animal lover, Presley told the women she wanted to adopt Max and Merlin to give them a permanent home at Graceland, the nearly 14-acre spread, 23-room mansion in Memphis that Elvis shared with Priscilla and their daughter until the couple's divorce in the early 1970s.
"I have always had a bond with horses," Presley said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "Elvis gave me my very first horse. It was the horses that made Graceland home to us."
Presley, who called herself "the kid who had to rescue all the animals" growing up, said that when she received the T-shirt from Naser and Cleaveland, the story of the near-slaughter struck her.
"It haunted me," Presley said. "I couldn't sleep because I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to do that."
Presley and Naser stayed in close contact over the next several months to work out the details of the horses' arrival at the national landmark.
"(Presley) is smart when it comes to animals," Naser said. "She knows the kind of care these horses need. She really gets it."
Max arrived at the estate Jan. 10 -- two days after what would have been Elvis Presley's 73rd birthday, Naser said.
Merlin will follow in the spring.
Presley, who called Naser's saving act "an unbelievable labor of love," said it is her desire to educate people about horse slaughter, including spreading the word about a national call-in day Tuesday to permanently ban the practice.
"I know the bill (to ban the practice) is stalled right now and I have no idea why," Presley said. "I would urge everyone to call their senators and U.S. representatives about this."
For Naser's part, she hopes people would view the equines as more than just standard farm animals.
"(Max and Merlin) are a symbol of horses who escaped the slaughter," she said.
Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811 Ext. 431
mmalloy@centralmaine.com
Reader comments
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My background includes work in the area of animal welfare investigations into horse slaughter. In Maine, unwanted camp horses, Quarter Horses, work horses and others are quickly transported to the Richelieu Quebec slaughter plant in less than 5 hours. The plant slaughters on Monday mornings, so we see the trucks transporting horses through Maine on Sunday afternoons. The method in which horses are trnaported and then killed is just horrific. There is nothing humane about this sort of death. Horsemeat is shipped to Europe and Japan. Currently, there are no horses slaughtered in the U.S., however, the Illinois plant may reopen. The public has no idea about the reality of horse slaughter, and anyone who justifies the practice is in denial regarding the great cruelty involved. Or making fast money on these innocent animals. There is also little connection between starving horses and this industry, for the slaughter dealers look for well fed horses, not thin animals. If you have ever sold a horse to a dealer or taken one to an animal auction, the oddes are high that your horse was taken to slaughter. We are trying to pass the bill mentioned by Priscilla Presley, the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act. It languishes in Congress. It is up to the American public to decide the future fate of our horses. In essence, it is up to you. Thank you.report abuse
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