Attention Alberta. Genocide is not acceptable. Stop culling wild horses!

Did you know that anytime November 1st, the Government of Alberta can issue capture licenses to horse trappers? Did you know that 99% of the horses captured go to slaughter, and are sold for their meat?

Alberta has more cowboys than any other province in Canada. And apparently, many Albertans hate horses.

Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition

The Past and Present of the wild horse in Alberta:

• Around 1630 the first horse was brought back into what is now Alberta by the Blackfoot Indians. Through wars with other bands, these horses began to roam free throughout the prairies in ever increasing numbers.
• The Cree, from the foothills and north, the Kotenai, from south-eastern British Columbia also began to obtain horses through raids on the Blackfoot or capture of the wild horses. By the 1800 hundreds horses were a common sight and important part of the Native culture and that of the White man coming to explore and settle in this area.
• John McDougal, a missionary, in his journals, dated in the 1850’s, documents wild horses and moose being preyed upon by wolves in the areas between the North Saskatchewan and Oldman Rivers. The North West Mounted Police, upon coming to this area to bring law and order, estimated there were thousands of wild horses in the areas that they settled.
• The horse became an important animal in helping settle and open this province. Canada's entire western culture and heritage focuses around horses and the chores that they performed for us. The horse broke the land, hauled produce and helped harvest  forests and crops. They helped the ranchers in the operation of their cattle ranches. They were an important part of the everyday life of the early Albertans being the only means of transportation.
• As late as the 1950’s, horses were still being used in various parts of the province in the same fashion. In more remote areas, coal and water would be distributed to farms by horse drawn wagon. 
• Any museum depicting early life in Alberta will include horses in almost every aspect and or picture. They are a fundamental part of Canada's western heritage, and of the heritage of the First Nations people. First Nations elders and the old timers who settled in this area, they will tell you stories of there always being horses running free and wild in this part of Alberta.
• As late as 1985, there were estimated to be over a thousand free roaming wild horses in the foothills of Alberta. Today less than 300 hundred remain.
• Contradicting history, the government now describes wild horses as feral, stray animals, which do not don’t belong in this area. 
• They may have been so at one time, but over the centuries, these horses have adapted to survive their environment. Their physique is unique to them: their hooves are large to carry them over the muskeg and to help them paw through the snow for feed. Their legs are short and thick for strength which carries them swiftly through deadfalls. Their bodies are short, stocky and very muscled for strength and endurance. This allows them to travel up and down steep hills and through forests with ease and grace. Their nose which we call, roman, is to assist them in their forage for food in the under brush and through the snow. This did not happen overnight. In nature these physiological changes in animals to suit their habitat, take long periods of time.
• If you study these horses and watch the way they interact as a family group, the way they flee predators and the way that they blend into ecological system in these foothills, you can have no doubt that they are truly wild animals.
• To watch how a stallion will sacrifice himself to protect his herd, to watch the older mares take care of injured herd member or the foals of herd, one can’t help be kept in awe of this. These horses are fighting a desperate battle for survival.

They are still being chased for sport, shot and killed for bear or wolf bait or for no reason at all. They are snared, roped , corralled and sent to slaughter. These last wild horses are on the run for their lives. We can help.

Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition


Please take the time to educate yourself on this issue. Some links are included here, and there are many more to be found:
http://www.albertaprimetime.com/Stories.aspx?pd=3669
http://canadianhorsedefencecoalition.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/record-number-of-alta-wild-horses-caught-many-slaughtered-for-meat
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/alberta-wild-horses-captured-record-numbers-205001031.html 
http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/tv/videos/video_description.asp?showNumber=23035
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/04/05/kevin-libin-mystery-surrounds-horse-kills-in-alberta/
http://northernhorse.com/wildhorses/index.php/photos-of-wild-filly-found-shot/
http://galileonetwork.ca/wildandfree/?q=node/101

And please, tell Alberta that genocide is not alright. Stop the Cull of the Wild horses of Alberta Petition | GoPetition

The Reconciliation Chicken

Many families have recipes that are handed down for generations, with each generation adding its own unique perspective. A tweak here, a soupcon there, a dash of this, a pinch of that, these recipes offer family members a rich patois of ingredients and family narrative. 

The story of the reconciliation chicken is a new recipe future generations can enjoy. Although young in terms of history, its roots lie in a story as old as man - a story that wallows in the complexity of human relationships. And of course, in the magical, restorative, and curative properties of the chicken.

It's the holiday season, a time of family, friends, and brotherly love. For some brothers, a bit more love than is necessary. And so, the story goes something like this:  Brother meets girl. Brother becomes infatuated with girl. Brother, who is staying with mother, borrows mother's car to take girl away for a weekend. Brother and girl disappear for an extended period of time. Possibly for much more than a week. Incommunicado. With car. Mother is housebound in the snow. Mother becomes annoyed and hungry. Living in a different city. She MUST HAVE CAR! Goodwill of daughter is invoked. Acrimonious and angry conversation ensues, in which mother vents at daughter because son is unavailable. Because he is incommunicado. With the car. The gist? Sister must speak harshly to brother, who should be cast into an outer darkness, where there is a wailing and a gnashing of teeth. Repeat. Repeat. First, daughter must come immediately to fix.

At the 11th hour, brother re-appears with car and a large roaster in tow. Complete with fixins. Chicken is roasted, and a reconciliation meal takes place between mother and prodigal in which all is forgiven. The clouds part, the sun shines, and all is right with the world.

The reconciliation chicken is born.

After all, how can anyone ever be unhappy with a chicken in their teeth?

RECONCILIATION CHICKEN
Lg Roasting Chicken (organic is best for flavour and for soup)
4 lemons, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
I head garlic, separated into bulbs, skin on
1 clove garlic, diced or crushed
2 or 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Small potatoes, or quartered yukon gold potatoes
Fresh rosemary
Pepper & Salt.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

1. Remove giblets etc (if any) from the chicken, and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Pat dry.
2. Take the juice from one lemon and squeeze into a bowl. Add the olive oil, and one crushed or diced garlic clove, pepper and salt. Mix and let sit.
3. Take the remaining lemons, and squeeze juice into the cavity of the chicken. Insert the lemons (once squeezed) into the cavity. Add several whole garlic cloves. Place the chicken in the roasting pan and, with a thin knife, slit the skin of the chicken in various strategic spots. Insert the garlic slivers. Rub the chicken all over with the rosemary, then with the lemon and olive oil mixture. Flip the chicken (so the breasts are down in the pan). Add potatoes, remaining whole garlic cloves, and any remaining lemon and olive oil.
4. Place the chicken in the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes, basting once. Then, turn the oven down to 375 degrees and continue to roast until the chicken is done (about 20 minutes per pound, less 10 minutes of the total cooking time. Baste repeatedly. For the last 15 minutes or so, flip the chicken over to brown the skin on the breast.
5. When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and let sit for 15 minutes, covered. You can remove the potatoes and garlic and plate them (covered with tin foil), or let them sit until its time to serve.

Reconciliation chicken is best suited to a Chardonnay, but wine is not critical to the chicken's success. I am told that the preparation, while easy, can be tense, awkward and uncomfortable, but that by the time the chicken has roasted for about 30 minutes, the house begins to fill with the heady aroma of garlic, chicken, and forgiveness. Conversation eases, and laughter can be heard. By the time the chicken comes out of the oven for its last basting, the atmosphere is warm and thick, a soupy pastiche of love and joy. As everyone sits down to dinner, family is convivial. All is forgotten, grievances are forgiven, and the moment of reconciliation is at hand.