Horse neglect leads to slaughterhouse

It seems Clarence and Jean Rouse, an Independence couple, so love their horses that they would offer the, shall we say, unwanted among them the blissful respite of the slaughterhouse (“Horse owners need to have options,” Aug. 22). Yet the hardhearted among us would deny them the exercise of that last, best level of devotion. (Heaven forbid horse neglect and abandonment be treated as the crimes they are.)

They conclude, with the straightforward innocence of a child offering a Mother's Day wish: “We hope slaughterhouses for cattle, hogs” (the list goes on for a while) “and horses” (Of course! Of course!) “are allowed to continue.” Is there a dry eye in the house?

Meanwhile, shame on The Gazette for suggesting that irresponsibility is ever a legitimate pretext for profit.

Cindy Adhikari

Cedar Rapids