ARGYLE — A life is a life; that's what a new petition from a North Texas animal rights advocate says.
Bob Williams, of Ranch Hand Rescue in Argyle, is protesting a museum in Lubbock that just euthanized two mules for use in a display.
"I think really, it was a poor decision,” Williams said.
He said it was unethical for the American Museum of Agriculture in Lubbock, currently under construction, to put down two mules for a permanent farming exhibit.
"Our hope is that they won't display them, and they'll turn them over to us for burial,” he said.
In a statement, the museum said the aging mules were no longer sound or strong enough for normal use.
It conferred with a Dallas exhibit company called Museum Arts and concluded, "Had the museum not purchased these animals, the next option for the trader would have been to sell them to be transported into Mexico for slaughter for dog food."
Ramona Foxworth, of Lubbock, disagrees. She's the one that brought the story to light.
"That is wrong to be so callous with life,” she said.
In support, Williams is circulating an online petition to keep the animals off display. He's even willing to have them buried on his Argyle ranch.
Just because something is old, he said, it still deserves whatever days it has left.
E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com
