Jessica Lakritz, 13, of Chester rescued Spirit, a 10-year-old thoroughbred, from slaughter last July. She nursed him back to health and is now looking for a permanent home for the horse. Photo by Johanna Ginsberg
May 29, 2008
Jessica Lakritz pats Spirit on the nose, then brushes his mane for a photo. She shows off a trick she has taught him, watching as the 10-year-old thoroughbred nuzzles his nose into her palm, choosing the closed fist that holds his treat.
Spirit, a former racehorse, was destined for the slaughterhouse last July before 13-year-old Jessica got involved.
A seventh-grade student at the Black River Middle School in Chester, Jessica made it her mitzva project for her March 29 bat mitzva to save Spirit from being “discarded” now that his racing days are over.
“I’m obsessed with horses,” said the Chester resident. Clay equine figurines decorate her room, she’s been riding for three years, and she goes to horseback-riding sleep-away camp every year.
She thought she would raise money for a rescue organization perhaps by giving pony rides for a fee. Then she started doing research into the fate of past-their-prime horses.
“When I learned how horrible it was” — she discovered that about 90,000 horses are slaughtered in foreign-owned slaughterhouses in the United States every year — “I knew I wanted to do more than donate money. I knew I wanted to rescue a horse,” she said.
The meat of the slaughtered horses is exported for human consumption to Europe and Asia, where it is considered a delicacy. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, most of the horses bought at auction for the slaughterhouses are neither old nor sick but are actually in good condition. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, designed to prevent the killing of horses for human consumption, passed in Congress in 2006 but stalled in the Senate.
Jessica’s parents agreed to put up $700 to buy a horse at auction; she would be responsible for everything else.
When she met Spirit at an auction, he was malnourished and suffering from an abscess on a hoof and a bleeding sarcoid on his leg “the size of a softball,” she said.
During the months of preparation for her bat mitzva, Jessica visited the horse three-four times each week, nursing him back to health with medicine, food, and love. She launched a public relations campaign to raise the thousands of dollars she would need for board, medicine, and food. She set up a nonprofit organization, Runningfree.org, to collect funds.
She got lucky when The Star-Ledger ran a story about her effort last July. Letters and money started pouring in. She raised just under $10,000, enough to take Spirit and board him at Serenity Farms in Chester.
Today, the abscess on his hoof is healed, he is well fed, and the sarcoid is much smaller and nearly healed.
Now that Spirit is well, Jessica is looking for a permanent home for him.
“It was never my intention to get a horse — just to save a horse and keep him alive,” said Jessica, who together with her parents, Alane and Gary, and sister Sarah, is a member of Temple Shalom of Succasunna.
“Now he’s as good as he’s going to get,” she said, rubbing Spirit’s side. The chocolate brown horse has only standard veterinary needs although it appears he will always be lame. He gets shod every seven weeks.
“He’s kind and gentle. He has no emotional problems. He loves attention and gets along well with other horses,” Jessica said. “He’s happy outside and inside.”
She would like to find someone local to adopt Spirit, so she can visit him from time to time.
And what’s next for Jessica? Well, her summertime stay at a camp for horse lovers, of course. And when she returns?
“I want to rescue another horse,” she said, shooting a look toward her mother for approval.
For information about adopting Spirit, contact Jessica at runningfree98@aol.com.
--TOP--
- Comment: comments@njjewishnews.com
