As of this morning, more than $6,600 dollars has been raised to care for Sarge as part of a gofundme project. He is a former trail horse saved from the slaughterhouse by an equine rescue group. He will need hay, feed and expensive veterinary care.

For many Americans,  disconnected from the natural world and the world of animals and the world of farming, rescue is the only prism through which animals are seen. Few Americans live near farms or see them or know much about the domesticated animals who helped build our world.

Hundreds of thousands of people now work in the animal rescue field, as volunteers, fosterers, scouts, drivers, or as people who run rescue groups. Rescuing animals has become so important than many people travel hundreds of miles, or even to other countries, to bring back animals so that people can rescue them. There are always more, there will always be more, it is a simple thing to get weary of it.

Sometimes, it seems, we can only love animals who are seen as piteous and in need, we can only stay connected to them in that way. No one  has ever come up to me with and told me their dog is happy and healthy and has never been abused.

And so many of these animals need help, support, donations, assistance. There are more animals now in need of rescue than can possibly be rescued, there is no natural limit or boundary to it. So why do we do it? Why should we do it? Why should anyone give money to a blind trail horse that can never fully function in the human world?

I donated to Sarge because he has a powerful message for me. He is blind but can see. He is impaired, but not. He has every reason to be fearful and wary. He is generous and gentle, sweet and spirited. I see him, in many ways, as a mirror of the human being I want to be, I am also impaired in many ways, broken in some, wary and fearful. I can be better, that is his message for me. I don’t have to be perfect to live a good and meaningful life.

We need a better understanding of the natural world than this, and of animals. We have forgotten our debt to them and our ancient connection with them. The central idea of the animal rights movement, the most powerful and visible animal social movement in the country, is to separate animals from the everyday lives of people and remove them from the world. So animals are disappearing rapidly, they are at a crossroads.

Sarge is not a piteous or abused animal, quite the opposite. He is a beautiful creature with great spirit, he has a full life to live and he will live it in comfort at the Blue Star Equiculture farm. They are deserving of support  at Blue Star,, a great hope for a new and wiser and more mystical understanding of animals. And that is another reason I support Sarge, because it is also a way to support Blue Star, whose vision is, I think, the best hope for animals in our world. Check it out for yourself.

There, animals are kept in the world, meaningful purpose and work is found for them if possible. People and animals are treated with love and compassion, there are no administrators or bureaucrats or marketers to pay. All of the contributions go to the animals.

Blue Star is seeking $12,000 to care for Sarge, we are halfway there in just a week. I thank those who have contributed and those who will and those who will think about it. There is no pressure, we have many choices to make in our lives, many needs to be met.