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Blood in the Streets, Part II
Alright, folks, this will be the second-to-last post about horse blood. Promise.
As I mentioned in the last follow-up to our show about horse slaughter, I'd made some calls looking into the case of the now-closed rendering plant in Kaufman, Texas. Among the statements I was hoping to fact-check were these, from the Humane Society of Oregon's Scott Beckstead:
Business refused to come to Kaufman not just because of the unclean and unhealthy conditions there, but also because people found it so distasteful that the town very quickly took on a very negative stigma.
I thought that Lee Ayers, the executive director of the Kaufman Economic Development Corporation, and a longtime member of Kaufman's Chamber of Commerce, would be a good person to run this by. So I left him a voicemail, reading the above sentence. He called back, leaving a message of his own, and called the whole thing "BS." In the most genial way possible. Here's his voicemail (mp3), which he said I could post on our site.
The last piece of the puzzle is Paula Bacon, the ex-mayor of Kaufman. She and I are still playing phone tag. Once we talk, I promise you'll never hear another word about horse blood from me!
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Sally,
As I mentioned in a previous post, I first talked to the director of public works in Kaufman, to get a sense for the situation in town (and in particular, if blood came out of toilets, or ran through the streets, as was asserted on our show). You can listen to our short conversation here.
And I'll be talking with the mayor — who was and continues to be very anti-slaughterhouse — in just a few minutes. We've played phone tag for a week, and it's taken us a while to actually find a time that worked for both of us, but I definitely want to get her take on record.
I never intended for Mr. Ayers's views to be seen as definitive, or representative of the whole town.
I hope this clears things up.
Best regards,
Dave
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Comments are now closed.
Mr. Miller, with all due respect, you have asked an economic development company (read: pro any business, any at all) about the story and you have not asked other residents or other businesses local to that area which may have been hurt by the slaughter business and you have not asked for personal eyewitness accounts of anyone dealing with livestock other than those wanting them slaughtered. Just a tad bit of poor journalism there, in my opinion. OF COURSE an economic development company is going to paint a rainbows and butterflies picture here. Would you expect less from a Chamber of Commerce clone? I really think you need to dig a little deeper and stop drinking the kool-aid provided by big business interests.