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September 1st 2007: It is with heavy hearts we must announce to you all that Team Bentley did not win the so-called "fight" against the 4-H clubs of the Geauga County Fair in Ohio. Bentley the steer, who we have all fought so hard to help live, has been sentenced to death. Of all the road blocks that stood in our way, & there were many, we did not foresee being so INSANELY out bid.

There was an obvious choice here. Life versus death. I feel that 4-H & the Geauga County Fair felt our war was about vegetarianism, & it was not. We had four people on our home team in the auction tonight bidding for us, holding our beliefs & causes close to their hearts, & only two of them are vegetarian. That should say something. It was about choice. A choice a child does not have, a choice a buyer does not have, & a choice an animal probably never will have. This was not about good versus evil. Right versus Wrong. We are not calling anyone evil, & we know we are in the right for what we stand for & wanted to do. What went down tonight was the fact that anyone who did not feel the same way that 4-H does about animals, does not have a say, or a right to a fair bidding procedure.

I am saddened that Bentley will die a gruesome death on Monday. I know you all are as well. I assume many of you are angry as well. I am. I am angry at the Fair Board. I am angry at 4-H & their closed minded way of thinking. Yes, we do feel DIFFERENT than they do, but we are not bad people, & we aren't criminals. We have never threatened to harm anyone, & our MONEY is as good as anyone else’s. A sale is a sale, why is it WRONG if we do not want the animal to die! WHY?! I am angry that they had police & sheriffs guarding Bentley & the whole beef barn as if we were extremists, even after I have been so kind, honest, & open with the press (including Debbi Snook who wrote the original "Groomed For Goodbye" which got this whole ball rolling in the first place). I am angry that the Reserve Grand Champion sold for $3.45 a pound, & BENTLEY, coming into the auction ring in place 39 (yes, 39!!!!) sold for $4.50 a pound! WHY? WHY? So we didn’t have a chance! SO BENTLEY DID NOT HAVE A CHANCE, NOT EVEN A CHANCE AT LIFE AFTER THE FAIR! All cattle BEFORE him & AFTER him sold for between $1.95 a pound & $1.35 a pound! So that all the money we raised would be "in vain" (we'll see). To quote Claudia, "raise all the fu*kin' money you want, in the end, it won't matter, so f#ck off." Well, she got her wish, for BENTLEY it DID NOT MATTER. I am angry, & I will probably always be haunted by the fact that one of our team members overheard some young man say to Claudia as she left the auction ring with Bentley, immediately following his terminal sale "Good job Claudia, you beat them", as the two high fived. She beat "THEM". "THEM". Who exactly is "them". Who did this poor girl "beat". She beat kind people, who wanted her give her a lot of money, a more than fair amount of money, & save a life of an animal she would have to be a complete monster to WANT to die. I am not angry at Claudia, & you shouldn't be either. We all lost Bentley, & it hurts very much, but if you think about it, so did she. From now on she will have twice the amount of guilt that most 4-H kids harbor. I say twice because not only did she go through the program like the other children & have to sell her pet like the rest & maybe feel a little remorseful (these are not sociopaths, they are children), but I think she will feel twice as guilty because she forsook Bentley not once (by entering him into the auction, & selling him to slaughter for money) but TWICE (by being offered money & a chance for her steer to live, & fighting so hard against it the whole time). This poor girl made a choice to sell like everyone else, than an EXTRA choice by fighting us so hard so that Bentley would be denied his SECOND chance at life. She actually killed Bentley twice, & that's hard to do. Most people have had to euthanize a pet, a dog or a cat at some point. I know most people always ask themselves "was it the right thing to do?" It haunts some people. But the dog was 17 years old, & dying of a terminal cancer, & had three days of suffering left to live, & yes, it was the right thing to do. It was painlessly given a gentle injection that humanely stopped it's heart. But Claudia will have to wrestle with (even if she won't admit it, she does not have a heart of stone, she is a 15 year old girl, & while she is alone, these thoughts will creep into her mind) the possible guilt of killing a YOUNG, HEALTHY animal, who could have had 30 happy years to live, & for absolutely no reason. NONE! Not for money, & not because it was 4-H law (I had 2 amazing lawyers, TRUST ME!!!), because she wanted it that way. We speak of their being "no choice" at these fairs, not for children or buyer, & there was not a single person involved tonight that had a choice but Claudia. So believe it or not, I am asking you NOT to be angry at her, because she was led into the wrong decision. I bet she'll be angry enough at herself through out the years for making this choice.

I personally kept a very low profile at the fair tonight. I never saw Claudia. I never saw Bentley. I got the impression they were scared of me, & since I had met with the Plain Dealer reporter the day before, & she knew who I was, I did not want anyone to know me, or anyone to be uncomfortable by my presence. I wanted to remain respectful. You all know the hassle we had with asking the fair to let Bentley leave alive. We also overheard MANY people taking about us as if we were going to bring the wrath of God down upon them, by raising our hands to signal we'd pay a higher amount for Bentley, then taking him to a sanctuary. I don't know why it was seen as bad, but it was. They had little contracts drawn up asking that all bidders acknowledge it was a "terminal" fair for cattle. As flattered as I am with all the fan fair for little ole' me, it was ridiculous! This organization went above & beyond to prevent a few people from buying & sparing a steer. WHY? Time & energy could have been better focused on reaching an agreement to suite both parties, instead of being sneaky & plotting to bid us so insanely out of the running. It was so extreme when we tried so hard not to be extreme! We were always upfront with our intentions, we felt we were all mature enough not to need "secret plans".

I'd like to say that I do not think this auction was fair. I think it was rigged. It was pre-planned that NO MATTER WHAT, we'd be out bid! We could have bid $10,000, it would not have mattered!

You all have been so amazing, so kind, & supportive. So generous with your donations. You didn't deserve this. Bentley didn't deserve this! Like I said before, we had two sets of people bidding, the people MEANT to win, & our obvious decoy, to try to prevent being bid up too much. Our end total, thanks to all you AMAZING people in donations for Bentley's life was $2,927. TWICE what much larger steer went for. That SHOULD have been enough to buy him. But no price would have been enough. No matter what we bid, it would be upped! HIS auction was so fast, the people we assumed would bid us up to get all our money, never stopped. We didn't have anymore, but our two courageous members didn't want to let go of him! They knew we hadn't a cent more than $3,000, but they held on until $4,708!!!! They HAD to stop, there was no more money in ANY account, & it WASN'T going to end there! Bentley sold for $4,815!!!! For a tiny steer (he was a lot smaller than the rest) with no winnings, that is insane! It was a witch hunt. When our bidders would bid, the whole place was silent. When we were outbid, the whole place cheered, & you should have HEARD the applause when we finally gave in! They should be ashamed of themselves, but what is even sadder is they are not! When someone would buy an animal, at the end of each animals auction they would announce the winning bidder. Bentley's winning bidder was not announced.

They wanted to make an example out of me, out of us. That they have it blocked in so that these pets must die. They succeed, but in doing so, they made an even bigger example out of themselves. They proved EVERY SINGLE ONE of my points, & gave me a few new ones I hadn't even thought of yet! I wouldn't doubt that Claudia was paid a set fee for Bentley, & that someone was sent in to just bid us out of the picture. I have no proof. But what did she learn, what did Claudia & the other 4-Hers LEARN! To view ALL PEOPLE with different opinions as the enemy, & to eradicate as opposed to try to work through a situation with people with opposing view points. We did everything right. We played by the rules, & within their set of laws. We were honest & above board with our intentions. Never in our wildest dreams did it enter our minds that they would lie & cheat to win. As a meat animal by their standards, Bentley was not worth even 1/2 that much (but to us his life was priceless, we were willing to pay much more than we had)! It goes up against the grain of everything they are supposed to stand for! I feel this was unfair, & obviously pre-meditated. What about for arguments sake ALL the other 4-H kids who worked just as hard as Claudia to get a good price for their steer, OR the Reserve Grand Champion's owner, who did everything right & got a LOWER price because the auction was focused on OUT BIDDING US. All the other kids must be confused, & angry. Why put so much time & effort into stopping people who want to peacefully let one of the steer live? It must make the other children wonder why Claudia was so special. It wasn't based on 4-H's standards for judging & EARNING ribbons for the price you get at auction. They wanted to beat on us, the little guy. I hope that the children in these clubs don’t learn these ways as truths, & carry them to the next generation.

I believe 110% in what we did. We played fair even if they did not. 4-H made the ultimate example out of themselves, I HATE these words, but "I told you so". For anyone on the fence about if 4-H does this, here is the extreme example! I wish I had been wrong, that they had let me prove some humanity in them. I hate being THIS right. We wanted to do a good thing, & we lost the battle. We will not loose the war, but Bentley's battle isn't ours anymore to win.

Beautiful, beautiful Bentley. One of our team members did get the opportunity to go up & pet Bentley. He said Bentley was so kind & gentle, & that he was licking his hand! I know you all loved him very much, as did we. I wish we could have shown him how special he was. He will always be remembered. I wish more than anything we had been successful in helping him! 4-H doesn't realize we aren't going to go away, especially now! I feel all they succeeded in doing was turning Bentley into a martyr.

I wanted Bentley to have a safe, loving home. He deserved it. It was prepared for him. It's not for lack of trying, but rather lack of common decency. Those that are proud by what they have accomplished lack integrity. We are far from done, far, far from it. Bentley's death will not be in vain. We will send out our collected thoughts & new campaign in a few days. Until then, we mourn the loss of a dear sweet little man, the bestest friend we never knew. We love you Bentley, we pray it's quick & painless. And we're sorry we couldn't save you, sorrier than words could ever express. Sweet dreams little one, good night~

I'm an 11 month old steer, & the Cleveland Plain Dealer is running a 5 part article on me & the little girl who raised me, following us from now, until my death. But the problem is, I don't want to be killed. I have not been raised as a food animal, but rather as a pet. But all that is about to change. I will be pulled from the comforts of home, & head to the Geauga County Fair in Ohio. I'll be in a strange, loud place, & I'll probably be very frightened. I will then be sold to the highest bidder by the pound, & taken the next morning to slaughter! Like Charlotte the spider from the classic childrens book "Charlotte's Web" did for Wilber the pig, these people are speaking up for me. They are my voice when I don't have one, & I don't want to die. I would naturally have another 25 to 30 good years of life ahead of me, won't you give just a little to help buy my freedom?