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Tell Texas A&M to Stop Abusing Horses and Selling Them to Slaughter

A whistleblower from Texas A&M University—Commerce (TAMUC) leaked information to PETA that a former racehorse named Oasis Storm, also called Tina—who was used in the school's agricultural equine program—was lame, denied veterinary care, and then killed. After a lengthy fight with the university, PETA obtained documents showing that Tina suffered for many months from an excruciatingly painful condition called laminitis. She was never provided with proper veterinary care or adequate pain relief, and when she was five months pregnant, she was shot to death by the farm manager—who is not a veterinarian—at the school. The foal was then cut out of his mother's body and used in the school's equine-reproduction course.

The university's investigation report revealed that Tina "was in a condition of severe distress," and that "[t]he breeding of this mare in her lame condition was a severe violation of veterinary care standards and is evidence of profound neglect by the A&M—Commerce animal care staff, attending veterinarian, and [oversight body]. … [Tina] should have been diagnosed and provided treatment several months prior to [the shooting]." An "internationally-recognized equine practitioner" determined that Tina's "severe chronic laminitis" was so bad that the pedal bones in her feet had "rotated through the soles of her feet," causing "debilitating pain."

PETA is calling on the Hunt County district attorney and the Hunt County sheriff to investigate this apparent act of cruelty and to press charges.

Records obtained by PETA also reveal that horses younger than 1 year old have been sold online with a surplus equipment sales site and are taken to Emory Livestock Auction in Emory, Texas, where horses can be bought for slaughter in Mexico or Canada and were sold for as little as $50.

Please ask TAMUC to stop mistreating horses in its equine program and selling them to slaughter.

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Subject: Justice for Tina: Please stop mistreatment of horses at TAMUC

I was shocked to learn that a 10-year-old broodmare named Tina (also called Oasis Storm or Sangria) was so profoundly neglected at Texas A&M University-Commerce that she suffered from severe laminitis and rotation of her pedal bones into the soles of her feet. In spite of her compromised health and poor condition, Tina was impregnated, which exacerbated her debilitating pain. Five months into Tina's pregnancy, TAMUC's then farm manager, accompanied by a TAMUC professor, shot the horse to death and cut out her foal for use in the professor's equine-reproduction class.

According to a whistleblower who contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and an internal university report on the matter, the university failed to provide adequate veterinary care to this horse for an extended period of time. The university's report concluded that "[t]he breeding of [Tina] in her lame condition was a severe violation of veterinary care standards and is evidence of profound neglect by the A&M-Commerce animal care staff, attending veterinarian, and IACUC [Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee]."

I was also stunned to learn that TAMUC sells foals online and at a livestock auction frequented by "kill buyers," who sell horses for slaughter. I urge you to implement a zero-tolerance policy for mistreatment of horses in TAMUC's equine program and to stop selling horses online and at auction.

[Your comments here]

Sincerely, 
[Your name]
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