I found 'letter to editor' below on internet and I believe writer is 100% honest about horrific treatment of horses by Amish.
Our tear and anger never stop animal torture by Amish.
I am not saying all Amish are wicked but animals are nothing but tools to Amish people and not as living feeling creatures.
They are different and they do not view animals same way most of us view.

<<<Let me preface my remarks by noting that while I have not lived in this area for nearly thirty years, I grew up in Southern Lancaster County, where I lived and worked on my family’s dairy farm from the time I could help until I left for college in 1980. I also rode and showed horses during my junior high and high school years. I know the challenges of farming and that sometimes animals can be contrary and uncooperative, requiring humane correction. Let me also emphasize that I am not a member of PETA. I am not a vegetarian. In short, I am not what many Lancaster Countians would label an “animal rights’ wacko.”

That being said, I was appalled and sickened, as I believe anyone with an ounce of compassion would have been, at the scene that greeted me in the early afternoon of July 12 as I turned onto Pumping Station Road, en route back to my brother’s home near Kirkwood. I saw an Amish buggy stopped alongside the road, the horse drawing it fallen on the ground and clearly in distress, and a team of draft horses with some sort of conveyance behind them in front of the stricken horse. A rope attached to the conveyance was also attached to the fallen horse’s bridle. I assumed that the injured horse had been struck by a vehicle, but no, the young Amishman and the pre-teen Amish boy who were there casually informed me, the horse was a “balker” and had fallen to the ground after their attempts to yank him forcefully along behind the draft animals. This horse was clearly injured and in distress; he was bleeding from both his front and rear legs and from his mouth. He was also terrified; his neck was twisted at an awkward and painful angle, and he was still attached to the buggy, finding it very difficult to move. When I asked if he had broken a leg, the Amishman nonchalantly replied, “No, just a stubborn horse,” and proceeded to viciously kick this horse in the head to try to get him to stand up. They finally got the buggy removed from him, at which point more brutal kicking was delivered to both his head and hindquarters. Though the horse tried to get up, he had fallen on the road and thus had no means of traction and fell to the ground again. At this point, the Amishman suggested that I could be on my way. With my hands bloodied from where I had touched the horse’s head to try to calm him, I managed to utter in my disgust that I seriously doubted that beating the horse was going to accomplish their goal. I seemed to have little choice but to drive away, though I was tempted to call the police. As I looked in the rear-view mirror I saw another round of blows delivered to the horse’s head. It was one of the most brutal cases of animal abuse I have ever witnessed. Perhaps I should have tried to do more; perhaps making this incident public is the best I can do.

This is not the first time in my years living here and then visiting at least twice a year since I left that I have observed Amish cruelty to animals. Workhorses and mules can be seen even from the road as they are grazing with open, untreated collar sores. I’ve seen Amish families driving lame horses at a fast trot, and who hasn’t seen horses and buggies tied for hours in the hot summer sun? And we all know that some inhumane Amish breeders are key players in Lancaster County’s dubious distinction of being the puppy mill capital of the United States. Now granted, the Amish have no corner on the market of cruelty to animals. Recent stories during my visit about dog and cock fighting and alleged guinea pig abuse are testament to that. There are horrible cases of animal cruelty throughout this country. Nor, I imagine, are all Amish abusive to their stock. However, here’s the rub. The myth of the Amish is that they are a deeply religious, Christian, meek, gentle, pacifist people. As I watched that Amishman brutally abuse that injured and terrified horse, I could not help but think how such behavior flies in the face of all they profess with their faith. Yes, their Biblical injunction gives them dominion over the animals, but somehow I just can’t see the God nor the Christ they claim to worship looking down on this scene with approval. It is sheer hypocrisy. Certainly most reasonable people would agree that this brutality was a much greater sin, according to Christian theology, than having a telephone in your house.

Few in Lancaster County want to criticize the Amish because, of course, they are economic bread and butter to the region. The money depends on the mythology. I have plenty of opportunities where I now live and where I travel to answer questions about the Amish, which are always forthcoming once people find out where I’m from. They are curious about this group of people and their traditional ways. One thing you can be sure of: when asked, I will be offering the straight story – a fair one, but one that is not marked by some romanticized, false view of a gentle, consistently nonviolent people.>>>>


http://www.lcanimal.org/cmpgn/cmpgn_pasecret.htm
Animals are nothing but tools to Amish people therefore they get rid of sick and injured tools by killing and get new tools.
I cannot wait for day when we can buy Amish products with clear conscience and not necessary for us to worry about our health.

Rock on.....Barbaro has got your back!

That right there was her problem. If this was obviously a case of animal abuse, why didn't she call the police?

Religion is never a reason to expect tolerance or rational behavior - it's more of a self-induced mental disorder. I admire the Amish for their discipline, yet cringe from the reasoning behind it.

__________________
"He taught by example that part of respecting another person is taking the time to criticise his or her views."

--Melissa Lane, The Guardian; obituary for philosopher of science Peter Lipton.

Farewell Eddy Arnold...Make the World Go Away...

MAGIC THEATER
ENTRANCE NOT FOR EVERYBODY
FOR MADMEN ONLY!

Are Amish true Christian???
If they are, why they torture animals to death without any shame?

http://www.pixiedustpapillons.com/am...ppy_mills.html

That was the first thing I was going to say.

So, the cruelty to this animal bothered her so much that she did ... nothing.

If she wants to chastise about right and wrong, in most schools of thought she is actually more in the wrong for walking away from a situation where she thought an immoral act was taking place.

__________________
Czar of the 26th Ward.

Exactly.

Bloosum, you are worse than the animal torturer. How can you look in the mirror....

I thought people can read English but towelie and few other people cannot.
I wasn't there when horse was beaten and tortured by Amish but lady who wrote letter to editor was.
People need to read from beginning to end carefully to avoid making fool of yourself.
I did not write a letter to editor and I did not see brutal treatment of horse by Amish but people who are involved in Animal Welfare/Animal Rights know very well aware about cruel treatment of animals by Amish.
That peaceful images of Amish on post cards are just for tourists.
Animals are nothing but tools to Amish and not as living feeling creatures who are capable of feeling pain and suffer.
Are Amish just different or cold blooded barbarians toward animals?
No matter how you view Amish, one thing is sure, God is not smiling when animals are beaten, kicked, and starved by Amish.
God is love but HE is also God of judgement.

http://www.amishabuse.com/byler.htm


http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=ut...pe%20Mary&type=

But you did post a letter to the editor penned by a woman who watched an animal be abuse and did nothing except write a letter to a paper well after the event was over in an attempt to glorify her and villanize the people she recalls in her letter. If she had actually done something at the time it may have some relevance.