European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse 3 rows and raws of White clapboard buildings. A while one of Hern was boarded up. 1 bet it was close to j weeks. I decided la climb Over that Board Lenca and sen what was going on. Well i found a ton of sheep in there without any Valer or any feed there wore a few lying there dead. Rio Guy who was to pick up to sheep missed a whole pen or them. It was just an Smith can t keep the animals at Home because he res in a trailer court where Pels Are forbidden. Officials it the Fairgrounds where Standard bred horses Ara boarded and rained Lor harness racing have allowed a to use a email Shad and fenced a pen Lor the dogs. As a result. Smith does t advertise his Aji Hough his heart is big his resources Are Small and he to loess l want to test the patience a the Fairgrounds Slauf or paying customers. I i try to do the Bast i can but there s a race track Ifil they be go some Prelly Good horses on lha " he says. One of these 15-cent dogs May run Ere and make a $30,000 horse a Down and his leg and they d crucify .1 Smith pay for feed veterinary Bills and of miscellaneous expenses out of his own pocket but he refuses to estimate How much Money he s spent on father people s animals. He does t begrudge the Floney but he gels upset with people including the we of a horse stabled at the Fairgrounds who starve heir animals the Mare has never been out of her stall in two Yeara be cause the owner never comes to get her and there s 10 place to turn her Oul unsupervised. Nevertheless Smith makes sure she has enough to eat and her barters Are kept Dean. You should have seen the horse before i started ending her he says. Just awful my Shin and Bones. It Vas real sad. I could t land it. One Guy hed an old thoroughbred in the barn once t was eating its own manure. I got Hay for it and raise enough hell that he took it out. That was my first experience with animal cruelty thai storied me the thanks Are Lew. Smith says because people who abandon animals Tion t have much appreciation Tor those who take care of them. I once Lound a pair of mutes starving to he says his lace growing red. I started to feed them Lor a Low Days White i was looking Ler the owner. Finally found him and he said Hack silly i m going to Lake them to the killers anyhow. I told him anyone who would do that to an animal should be taken to the killers hungry himself. Poor o d mules. They probably had been worked to death and they end up in the hands of that Pushkar a def Frt Village in India it Home to Man than 13,000 Camili during tit in of Lair. Camels for Sale Hovi York Tittl photo Arp Holbomb am a Khz pm Noti gym in knit that a or vhf pram we to Tutun yer. By Steven r. Weisman new York times or several Days the tiny desert Village of Pushkar in the land of India s maharajah has been Home for More than 13,000camels and the people who raise Trade and depend on them Tor a living. Camels were everywhere. They blanketed the Rocky hillsides of Pushkar braying and groaning. Families of Farmers and villagers were sitting around them and complaining about How a drought this year had made fodder too expensive forcing them to gel rid of their camels at Tow prices. It s better to sell your Camel than let it die said Sohan Nath. A 35-year-old Farmer. Mubarak another came owner added ii you feed your Camel your children gel annoyed. But if you feed your children your Camel gets annoyed so Here i have come to sell my but at Dawn the woes of business and Commerce at one of India s biggest Camel Teirs were forgotten. For at Dawn under the Light of a full Moon the secular and sacred aspects of life Lor India s Rural poor came together in a burst of spectacle and Celebration. As the sky turned a Golden Gray the streets of Pushkar were clogged with tens of thousands of people heading for the Lake for a ritual dip on one of the holiest Days of the year the air was. Smoky Dusty and pungent fragrant with incense and masses of bodies. Temple Bells clanged amid the babble of voices. Women in red Green and yellow iridescent skirts and shawls grasped one another s hands As they pushed through the crowds and Sang religious songs. Men wearing Bissa earrings and fiery red Orange or yellow turbans joined in the throng at the Lake there they stripped or simply batted in their underclothes offering Rose Petal or tiny candles set made of paper or leaves. For these people a ritual Bath on this Day offers a Chance for salvation and purification. This is for Good Karma said a priest As he smeared Vermillion on the forehead of a husband and wife on the Stone Steps at Lakeside. He then repeated a series of sanskrit incantations and prayed Lor the couple to have Many sons. No one knows for sure which came first at the Pushkar Camel Lair the religious Celebration or the business Center. The memoirs of some of India s moslem conquerors record the existence of a Camel fair Here As far Back As the eighth Century. But hindu texts record that in ancient Days the god Brahma creator of the universe was looking for a shrine to perform a particular religious service and dropped a Lotus Blossom from the heavens onto the Lake at Pushkar. Indian schoolchildren learn that Pushkar is the Selling for lha Only hindu Temple in the country dedicated to Brahma one of the three main gods in the hindu pantheon Vishnu and Siva Are the others but one who is perhaps less accessible to lha masses because of his exalted status. In any Case few settings in India offer such a Rich tapestry of life s rituals and necessities and for this reason hundreds of foreign tourists have also been coming to Pushkar in recent years. Foreigners Ara advised by local holds to observe local religious customs including vegetarianism. One sign at a hotel said the authorities would confiscate All dope eggs smack meat and there was a Grimmer scene on a Side Street where several beggars some of them with mutilated limbs and smeared with Ash Lay on their backs and cursed the sees calling out ram ram ram for the hindu god Rama asking for alms. Elsewhere villagers paused at Booths to see magic shows or dance performances by eunuchs dressed in resplendent red or yellow dresses embroidered with Gold and Silver. Musicians jugglers and Snake charmers roamed the streets ready to perform for anyone. For a few rupees Rural Folk who May never before have ventured from their villages could have their pictures taken on a gleaming new motorcycle posed in front of a painted backdrop of skyscrapers. Nearby a Ferris wheel ablaze Wilt coloured Neon lights whirled people around in the night air. Paddlers sold farm equipment trinkets bangles candies nuts cloth and other items. The business of the fair centers on camels and other livestock. More than �1.5 million Worth of animals were sold this year. The highest priced Camel went for $800 and the lowest for 5. The Indian state of Rajasthan is largely scrub Brush and desert where camels Are the most efficient farm animals and beasts of Burden. Tha Pushkar Region specializes in camels with thin Ankles wide feel and other features that make the animals More suitable for Riding than blowing or hauling. For this reason the biggest purchasers of camels at Pushkar Are the Indian army and the Border police who use them to patrol the areas near Pakistan. The Camel is an extremely smart animal said or. , Singh an animal husbandry official. He can easily recognize his master and his environment. He knows How to perform and please his master. But if you beat him he will take revenge even if he has to Wail for a year to do at a separate activity nearby a different picture emerged As a group of judges awarded first prize to a horse owned by Koran Vijay Singh 21-year-old Cousin erf the maharajah of Jodhpur another City in Raj Ulhan. My main think is horses he said sitting on his sleek prize Winner and wearing in Ascot Green knit Polo shirt and aug White Cotton jodhpurs the flared Riding trousers first used in this Region to each ear a sported a huge Diamond and Emerald earring. The stars and stripes Page is
