So Jason Meduna has been found guilty of multiple counts of animal cruelty for his “care” of unwanted horses. From what I’ve seen this is a good result. ‘Not because he is a malicious or evil man. Meduna appears to be a well-intentioned but generally ignorant and stubborn man with a surplus of fantastic theories—character traits that if anything qualify him for a leadership post in the GOP and/or the Religious Right.
But the exhaustive (at least by the standard of “news” coverage here in Wyobraska) coverage of the “horse neglect trial” has been interesting. Is this some watershed event in Wyobraska consciousness about the treatment of non-human animals? Perhaps. But I suspect it has much more to say about the ongoing power of cowboy mythology and “culture” around here.
Cruelty from neglect does seem to legitimately pull at the public heartstrings. But with the exception of extraordinary cases like animal blood sport, other much more common and routine forms of animal cruelty are routinely ignored. Indeed they are sanctioned and trumpeted as part of our industrial food system.
Non-human animals do indeed suffer from our neglect far too often. But the majority of non-human animal suffering comes not from our neglect, but from our well-intentioned but misguided attention. Had Meduna focused his energies on meat/dairy animals raised in CAFOs, where animal treatment of virtually any kind is hidden from prying outside eyes, he would have been much better off. Cruelty from overcrowding, sickness and horrific conditions generally would have had him toasted by the local chambers of commerce (particularly in “livestock-friendly” counties like Morrill) rather than sweating over jury deliberations.
But it’s John Wayne and not Peter Singer who call the shots around here. Meduna’s conviction and sentence will be a small strike against animal cruelty. But the big picture—a picture undeniably one of large-scale non-human animal suffering—will change little.
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