Every single year, tens of thousands of horses – from ponies, to race horses, to working animals like plow horses – are slaughtered when they are deemed no longer “useful.” Many of those horses are healthy enough to live out their remaining days comfortably, but are sent to be tragically killed for their meat instead.
Sign now to tell Congress to pass the SAFE (Save America’s Forgotten Equines) Act!
Technically, due to a temporary USDA regulation, horses cannot be slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S. But that doesn’t stop it from happening. In fact, tens of thousands of horses get exported to places like Mexico and Canada where it is perfectly legal.
Rather than being disposed of like a broken piece of equipment, animals who have done work for human benefit should be treated with the utmost dignity, since we depend so highly on them.
This is why Congress must pass the SAFE Act – to finally explicitly ban both domestic horse slaughter and horse slaughter exports. Sign the petition now to tell our legislators: it is time to act on behalf of these beloved creatures!
On Tuesday afternoon, the Nevada Senate Committee on Natural Resources heard SB90, a bill to recognize the wild mustang as the official state horse. Like the original wild horse and burro movement in the 1960s, the effort was supported by Nevada’s schoolchildren with over 100 kids showing up to attend the hearing! The students eloquently expressed their support for the wild mustangs who call Nevada home and we are so grateful for their passion.
Unfortunately, the opposition also came out in full force. Nevada ranchers who graze their privately-owned cattle and sheep on public lands used their testimony time to blame horses for range degradation. Each rancher who spoke made the hearing about wild horse management and not about the naming of the state horse. The hearing ended with no vote, as committee members discuss next steps.
We need people from all over the country to speak up about the mustang’s historic importance and the tourism resource they are for the state. Smithsonian Magazine even named Nevada the number one place in North America to see wild horses!As a potential visitor to Nevada, your voice matters, but it will only be heard if you act now!
Call each of the five committee members and ask them to support SB90.
All you need to say is: “Hi, my name is [NAME] and as a tourist who visits Nevada for its wild mustangs, I am calling to ask that Senator [NAME] support SB90 to recognize the wild mustang as Nevada’s state horse. Thank you.
PETITION TARGET: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Service
At least 25 horses were callously shot to death on federal forest land in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.
Horses on the Sitgreaves side of the forest are considered “wild” and are federally protected under the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. Horses on the Apache side currently are considered feral and excluded from federal protections.
While forest officials have classified the corpses as “feral” horses, they also have recognized that no horse deserves to be shot to death for simply existing.
A deputy forest supervisor told local news that animal cruelty charges could apply and that the agency is actively investigating. The supervisor also condemned the tragic mass killings, which he said were “not something we think is ok,” according to local news reports.
Horses — regardless of how humans classify them — are highly intelligent, sentient animals who deserve to live their lives in peace with their herds.
Whoever brutally killed these horses must be held accountable.
Sign our petition urging Apache-Sitgreaves Forest detectives to use all resources available to identify the killer(s) of these horses, to forward all applicable animal cruelty charges on to a prosecutor, and to push for maximum accountability.
The U.S.’s iconic wild horses could be rounded up, slaughtered, and shipped for human consumption if one Wyoming legislator gets his way.
Wild horses have been federally protected since 1971. The brutal slaughter of any horse on U.S. soil for human food — domestically or abroad — has been prohibited since 2007. The Department of the Interior also prohibited using taxpayer funds for the destruction of healthy animals for processing into commercial “products” as recently as 2020.
But House Joint Resolution 3 (HR3), proposed by Rep. John Winter, would ravage that progress for these precious animals who already facepersecution in the state.
A sole round up in one of Wyoming’s “management” areas, known as the Checkerboard region, aimed to remove more than 3,500 wild horses — many of whom died gruesomely or sustained horrific injuries — while leaving 91 percent of that same land open to for-profit livestock grazing, according to nonprofit In Defense of Animals (IDA).
The horrors that defenseless horses face at slaughterhouses also are well documented. They often endure grueling hours-long transports in overcrowded trucks, without access to food or water. Many die or are seriously injured on the way to the facilities, where the industry then claims the survivors are “humanely” killed — most commonly by having a bolt fired into their brains, followed by their twitching bodies bleeding out.
Lady Freethinker, along with numerous other animal welfare groups, asserts that there is no such thing as humane slaughter. Prior to the shut-down of the last U.S. horse slaughterhouse in 2007, reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted rampant cruelty — including horses with broken bones, gaping wounds, and eyeballs hanging from their sockets.
Wild horses — as well as domesticated horses who have been cared for, used, or exploited by people for their entire lives — don’t deserve to end their days in cruel slaughterhouses.
This legislation must not go any further.
Sign our petition urging the Wyoming Legislature’s Committee of Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources to strike this preposterous bill and instead uphold needed safeguards for federally-protected horses and all horses in the United States.
A horse who escaped his stable was found in an icy Wisconsin lake last week and was thankfully saved by a group of good Samaritans.
Residents and neighbors told ABC News that they were relieved that they were able to save the horse who is named Jack after Leonardo Dicaprio’s “Titanic” character. Jack was able to get up and stand up after spending three hours in the icy waters in Wood Lake, Wisconsin. Despite the subzero temperatures, residents and rescuers never gave up trying to get Jack to safety.
“This doesn’t surprise me. That is the kind of neighborhood and community that would do something like that,” Mike Strub, the president of the Big Wood Lake Association, told ABC News.
Jack escaped after a tree fell on a fence and created an opening for him to leave, according to Frontier Stables, who helped rescue the horse.
Strub said that residents of the lake saw the horse walk on the frozen water through surveillance camera footage and fall around 8:30 in the morning. They quickly went to the lake to see what they could do. Neighbors spent hours trying to save the horse, running the clock against hypothermia.
“On the scene, there was a veterinarian. As long as the horse was still moving and kicking it was savable. That’s why they never gave up,” Strub said.
Finally, rescuers were able to get a nylon strap under the horse and guide him out of the ice and to safety.
They took the horse to a trailer with a climate-controlled stable and got him warmed back up again. Representatives from Frontier Stables told ABC News that he was doing well and recuperating, and they were able to reunite Jack with his family.
We are so glad that these residents never gave up saving the horse and were able to rescue him from the freezing water.
Target: Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal
Goal: Put an end to horse-drawn carriages.
Horses being used for horse-drawn carriages in India are suffering. They are forced to pull heavy carriages full of people, even when physically wounded, sick, and hungry. Some horses are whipped as well. These animals pull the carriages in extremely hot weather and have also been seen standing in their own waste. The carriage rides are usually long, which causes exhaustion for the horses and means they go a long time without food and water. PETA India is demanding the end to these cruel conditions.
An investigation found cruel conditions for the horses. Many of them had injuries which could be from being struck by cars, likely while navigating through heavy traffic. It was discovered that they are left to find their own food, and some are abandoned after they can no longer work. They receive no veterinary treatment, leading to painful deaths. They went far too long without food, leaving them extremely thin.
Sign below and demand that horse drawn carriages be banned in India and the horses given proper treatment and care.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mamata Banerjee,
You must put a stop to the tourist attraction of horse-drawn carriages. The horses being used for this are put through harmful conditions like lack of food and water. This leads to exhaustion and can even lead to their deaths. They are not receiving proper medical treatment and are being forced to work.
Horses do not deserve to work in these harmful conditions. We demand alongside PETA India that the cruel conditions these horses are suffering from the carriage rides are stopped.
PETITION TARGETS: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
UPDATE (9/22/2022): Nevada Congress member Dina Titus has sponsored HR 6635, which seeks to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to prohibit the use of aircraft to manage wild horses. The bill was introduced to the House in February and currently is in the Committee on Natural Resources. We’ll keep watching this situation. —Lady Freethinker Staff
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Wild horses who snapped their necks running into corral panels, were killed following lacerations and broken bones, and who died of “unexpected heart failure” were among the victims of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s most recent helicopter-assisted roundups – or “gathers.”
At least 245 wild horses died as the result of 20 roundups in 2021-2022 where low-flying helicopters pushed the panicked animals toward corrals, according to a review of the BLM’s daily gather reports.
While the BLM’s reports cite “pre-existing conditions” – including blindness, fractures, club feet, poor body condition, and bad or no teeth – as the cause for most of the killings, at least 33 wild horses died specifically from acute or gather-related injuries, according to the gather reports.
Three of those deaths made headlines during the recent Pancake Complex roundup in Nevada – with victims of a foal separated from his family who limped reportedly for at least 29 minutes before being euthanized, a 20-year-old stallion who suffered a “break” and a 3-year-old mare killed after reportedly being too weak to stand up.
a 6-year-old mare who died of a broken neck after running into a panel in a temporary corral and a 20-year-old stallion who sustained a fracture during the Barren Valley Complex roundup in Oregon
At least 10 horses who died from injuries including broken legs and necks, a mare who ruptured her uterus, and a horse with a broken back during the Rock Springs roundup in Wyoming
An 11-year-old mare who died of “unexpected heart failure” during the Owyhee Wild Horse gather in Nevada; a 7-year-old mare who was killed following a laceration and a 4-year-old mare killed following a fracture in the Eagle Complex roundup, also in Nevada
While the BLM says that helicopters are a humane way to manage wild horse removals, the horrific death toll from a single year alone shows they are cruel, violent, and unacceptable.
Wild horse experts from several advocacy groups say a more effective – and less deadly – approach would involve fertility control via humane darting that would allow wild horses to remain on the range, while also contributing to the thriving ecological balance the BLM is required to maintain.
That alternative also would save U.S. taxpayers the millions of dollars spent each year to hold upwards of 50,000 wild horses in long-term holding corrals or to pay ranchers to keep the horses on private property.
Captured wild horses also sometimes meet grisly ends, with the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program exposed by the New York Times as knowingly handing over the protected animals to individuals with a history of selling horses to slaughterhouses.
Sign our petition urging the Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Land Management to end deadly helicopter gathers in favor of safer, more cost-effective approaches involving humane fertility control that would allow wild horses to remain free on the range, and so help end unnecessary, grisly deaths from injuries to intentional slaughter.
We are devastated to learn that Ryder, the elderly horse who collapsed and was beaten by his carriage owner in the street in the midst of a heat wave this summer, has died. Ryder's death is yet another tragic reminder that horse carriages do not belong on the streets of NYC. pic.twitter.com/qvshPqZAEb
The bipartisan bill aims to protect wild horses and burros from slaughter, prioritize humane management, restore western habitat, promote partnerships with American veterans and nonprofit organizations, and increase transparency in the wild horse and burro programs run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS).
Wild horses and burros inhabiting public lands in 10 western states are federally protected under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. However, the law has been significantly weakened by amendments over the years, and the BLM and USFS management programs have been fraught with controversy.
“The federal government has fallen far short of its mandate to protect horses from harassment and death,” Cathy Liss, President of Animal Welfare Institute, said in a statement. “The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Protection Act of 2022 represents a long overdue upgrade to the law so that wild equines can be managed humanely in their natural habitats for Americans to enjoy. We applaud Chairman Grijalva and the other House sponsors for their foresight and vision; this comprehensive bill will deliver meaningful change in how herds are managed and promote real transparency and accountability from a federal program that has cost taxpayers billions.”
Among numerous other reforms, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Protection Act of 2022 aims to repeal the Burns Amendment, introduced in 2004 by former Montana Senator Conrad Burns to allow wild equines to be sold “without limitation” to slaughter. In subsequent years, Congress has used the appropriations process to prevent the commercial destruction of unadopted wild horses and burros, but this is a stopgap measure that must be renewed annually.
“This bill promotes much-needed humane, commonsense, and fiscally responsible reforms that would stop the endless cycle of removals and keep these beloved symbols of freedom in the wild where they belong,” stated Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC.
Currently, nearly 64,000 wild horses and burros are kept in holding facilities in the United States, a management approach that absorbs the vast majority of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget each year. The flawed system accounts for $93 million in the fiscal year of 2022 alone.
These facilities cannot keep pace with the BLM’s increasing captures, and have been associated with mass preventable deaths and widespread animal welfare violations such as inadequate vaccinations, insufficient access to hay, and understaffing. Earlier this year, nearly 150 horses in a BLM facility in Colorado died due to lack of proper vaccinations.
The passage of this new legislation would prohibit the BLM’s use of cash incentives, while allowing for other types of incentives that would benefit both adopters and animals, such as vouchers for veterinary care.
The bill would also prioritize on-range management options, such as fertility control and relocation, strengthen and enforce comprehensive animal welfare guidelines, and require detailed public reporting of deaths and injuries of wild horses and burros during capture operations, among other measures.
PETITION TARGETS: Palma Town Council and Mayor José Hila
When a severely exhausted and brutally overworked horse used for carriage rides, collapsed in 104-degree heat on a street in Spain, the carriage driver responded by violently jerking the animal’s head from the pavement in an attempt to coax the horse to stand up, the Daily Mail reported.
The poor horse laid on the ground while the tourists in the carriage remained seated. Although at least one passerby begged the driver to give the horse water and let the tired animal rest, the horse instead lumbered back to his feet, according to news reports.
Horse-drawn carriage rides are a common cruelty in the tourist hub of Palma, the capital city on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. A month prior to this horrific, documented incident, another overworked horse collapsed in the same area, and police halted a carriage pulled by an elderly limping horse that clearly should not have been working, according to news reports.
A Spanish advocacy organization reported that the horses were still being put to work in violation of new regulations prohibiting their use during high temperatures, according to the Daily Mail.
Palma’s city government is reportedly considering replacing horse carriages with some form of electric transportation, and this should be a priority before any more horses needlessly suffer.
Sign our petition urging the government of Palma to ban horse carriage rides. Tourist money is never an acceptable excuse for animal cruelty, and Palma officials should act swiftly to prevent any more horses from suffering such painful exploitation.
recipient: New York City Council & Mayor Eric Adams
Care2 Update(8/11/2022): Grueling bystander footage revealed that another carriage horse, a sweet 14-year-old named Ryder, collapsed in Manhattan from the brutal summer heat. The call for a ban on horse-drawn carriages STILL hasn’t been answers. Mayor Eric Adams & New York City Council must act now before another horse is hurt!
With greenhouse gas emissions climbing and temperatures rising, scientists are guessing each summer going forward will be incredibly hot. These temperatures have consequences for all of us, but we often overlook some of the animals who suffer the most from extreme heat: horses forced to pull carriages on hot asphalt and concrete. Animal rights activists say this life of captivity and labor is “fundamentally abusive.”
Sign now to demand New York City Council and Mayor Eric Adams work together to immediately ban horse drawn carriage rides in New York City!
For decades, animal rights activists have been pointing out just how dangerous these carriages are for the horses forced to pull them. A few years ago, a horse in Central Park tragically collapsed from exhaustion and had to be euthanized shortly after. While obviously devastating, this story should surprise no one — horses are not meant to walk on concrete day in and day out, towing heavy weights and breathing in dirty car exhaust. Even more recently, a car collided with a horse, knocking the horse unconscious, causing a bloody mess and a number of injuries for the poor animal.
Cities in the United States, like Chicago and Salt Lake City, and municipalities abroad have banned the use of horse drawn carriages because of their obviously harmful and abusive nature. There is no reason that New York City can’t do the same. In the past, Eric Adams has vocalized opposition to the horrific practice, tweeting with disgust that it makes no sense the practice is still continuing in New York City. Now, Mayor Adams has the chance to show that he’s not all talk, and that he’s willing to actually implement change to rescue these poor creatures from a life of unnecessary labor — a proposed bill from the New York City Council seeks to ban horsedrawn carriages by June 2023! All that needs to happen is for the city council to pass this bill and send it to the mayor’s desk to sign it, which he must do without delay.
Time is running out for the horses of New York City. We cannot allow any more innocent horses to suffer for the sake of entertaining humans in a city of endless entertainment. Sign the petition now to urge Mayor Adams and the New York City Council to protect horses immediately!
A horse trainer near Portland, Oregon was arrested after an anonymous tip of allegations of violent, terrifying abuse was made to local police. The details of the case were gruesome: the woman allegedly deprived the animals of food and water and maliciously beat them. But the owner of the farm the trainer worked at has repeatedly made statements excusing her behavior, and clearly knew that she was using torturous, problematic methods. Arresting the perpetrator is the first step, and now White Birch Farm must now be held accountable.
Sign now to demand Oregon’s Animal Control Unit investigate and shut down White Birch Farm and find new homes for the horses!
The stories of what occurred at White Birch Farm are harrowing. In one video, a horse is bridled so tightly to the saddle that it appears to be struggling to breathe — its eyes look glossy, beginning to roll back into its head. In another part of the witness affidavit, the accused trainer allegedly described taking a miniature horse’s head and slamming it into the wall to intentionally inflict pain.
Local police charged the accused woman with a whopping 20 counts of animal cruelty: two counts of failing to provide proper drink, two counts of overworking, nine counts of torture, and seven counts of mutilating or cruelly beating or unjustifiably injuring an animal. That many counts of cruelty indicates long term and repeated abuse of many animals. How could the institution who employed her not know that all of this is happening?
The reality is that it’s almost impossible White Birch Farm didn’t know the accused woman was engaging in these behaviors. In fact, when asked about the abuse, the owner replied, “you needed to have a specific training philosophy to understand the training methods used by her,” according to the warrant. In other words, the owner was literally claiming that abusive methods are simply a difference of philosophy, and not an objectively morally wrong thing to do to any animal in any circumstance.
Oregon’s Animal Control Unit must investigate and shut down White Birch Farm, as they clearly are fine with allowing horses on the premises to endure extreme and dangerous abuse. These poor horses should be relocated to a safe environment where they can receive the love and care they deserve. Sign the petition now if you agree!
Tell the BLM to halt helicopter roundups pending investigations into the Wild Horse & Burro Program!
While Americans were celebrating the freedom of our nation, contractors hired by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to roundup our wild horses were caught mistreating the very animal that represents our independent ideals:
An AWHC observer witnessed atrocities committed against wild horses during the Buffalo Hills wild horse roundup when she caught on camera BLM contractors violently slamming a young foal to the ground. The contractors then hogtied the baby and reportedly threw the young foal to the ground once more before putting him into the back of a vehicle. He’s not the only one to suffer — during the hot summer months, vulnerable young foals are often chased by helicopters.
Foaling season should not be helicopter season.
Sadly, examples of this shocking neglect continue into BLM holding facilities, where the deadliest disease outbreak in history claimed the lives of 146 wild horses in Colorado and where internal assessments show that the facilities are woefully noncompliant with the agency’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program. It continues with the Adoption Incentive Program, where AWHC has documented hundreds of wild horses and burros entering the slaughter pipeline as a result of this program.
It’s time for immediate reform to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, and we need your help to make it happen.
Please take a moment to urge the BLM to heed the calls from Congress and reform the Wild Horse and Burro Program. BLM should immediately pause the helicopter roundups pending investigations into the program, stop conducting helicopter roundups in the summer, and remove the contractors involved in the mistreatment of the foal.
Year after year, after lives of trusting companionship and—in so many cases—loyal service, tens of thousands of horses are cast off and condemned to an arduous cross-border journey into Mexico or Canada that ends with their death. acceptfoto/iStock.com
It is a long way from the stable, paddock and winner’s circle at Churchill Downs to the dark, dank and bloody slaughterhouses in which tens of thousands of American horses meet their sad and pitiable end each year.
Yet some former racehorses do make that terrible journey, and it’s hard not to think of them on the eve of the Kentucky Derby, the most celebrated of races.
The most dispiriting story of all might be that of Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who retired as horse racing’s fifth-leading earner of all time and was sold to a stud farm in Japan in 1989. A few years later, with no notice to his former owners, Ferdinand was sent to slaughter, for use in pet food or for human consumption. More recently, in 2020, Private Vow, a 2006 Derby runner, met his end the same way in Korea.
The stories of these and other horses lead to one awful conclusion. Of all modern threats to the horse in the United States, horse slaughter stands out for its sheer callousness and deceitfulness. It’s a problem rooted in wrong and outdated views of horses and how we should treat them, and it’s a problem of our own making here in the United States. For that reason, we have to solve it here, too.
The international export trade that allows horse slaughter to continue can be summed up in a sentence. Year after year, after lives of trusting companionship and—in so many cases—loyal service, tens of thousands of American horses are cast off and condemned to an arduous cross-border journey into Mexico or Canada that ends with their death.
We’re trying to bring this horse slaughter pipeline to an end, and we’re getting closer to that goal than ever. The federal Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act has 216 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and we’re pressing leaders in Congress to advance the measure for passage in the remaining months of the session.
Animal advocates have been fighting to end the slaughter of American horses since the 1990s and have made steady progress. In 2007, three federal courts upheld state legislation that effectively prohibited the sale of horsemeat for human consumption, which in turn effectively shut down the operation of horse slaughter plants on American soil. Since then, we have kept the industry here on ice by ensuring, year after year, that no federal funds can be used for USDA inspection of such plants.
This de facto ban on domestic horse slaughter did not end the trade, however, and stopping the export market has proven to be a difficult challenge. The killing shifted to Canada and Mexico, where there is an existing slaughter industry satisfying the appetite for horsemeat in Europe and Asia. Today, a network of bottom-feeding “kill buyers” in our own country continues to outbid potential caring owners and export American horses across our borders for slaughter. In 2021, 23,431 horses were exported for slaughter, down 13,454 from the previous year—a 36.5% decrease. Yet it’s still a shocking number, and a great betrayal of horses.
Passage of the SAFE Act would take the United States out of the circuit of cruelty as a supplier of horses to a grisly global trade in horse flesh. It’s a simple bill that permanently bans domestic horse slaughter as well as the export of American horses for slaughter elsewhere, something that 83% of citizens support. With the issue receiving a hearing in the Health Subcommittee in January 2020 and with nearly half the members of the House and six members of the Senate currently on as cosponsors, we are in the final stretch of getting this bill passed into law.
There are many in the racing industry who agree with us that horse slaughter is way out of step with American values. The Jockey Club, The Breeders’ Cup, the New York Racing Association and The Stronach Group (owner of five prominent racetracks) are all active in the campaign. Hall of Fame jockey and founding member of the HSUS National Horse Racing Advisory Council Chris McCarron has also stood tall in the fight, authoring editorials in two Kentucky newspapers, one in Lexington and one in Louisville, just days before this year’s Derby contestants line up at the starting gate.
Another one of the strongest voices in this struggle is that of Joe De Francis, onetime CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club and the chair of the HSUS National Horse Racing Advisory Council. De Francis has been a principled and consistent critic of horse slaughter and played a leadership role in spurring the industry to confront the problem directly. He has also been a stalwart in the broader campaign for horse racing reforms, testifying and advocating on behalf of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA, which we worked to enact in 2020) and playing a lead role in its implementation. As a Director of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national oversight body created by the Act, De Francis strongly supports and endorses the Authority’s decision to select Drug Free Sport International to create the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit that will serve as the enforcement agency for the drug and medication portion of HISA’s mandate.
There are no easy victories in the animal protection universe. They are all hard-won, and the fight to end horse slaughter has been one of the most demanding and difficult ones we have ever had to wage. Now, during this Triple Crown season, we urge you to join us in a critical push for passage of the SAFE Act. The slaughter pipeline is no place for our horses, and once the bill becomes law, they won’t ever have to face that horror.
Ask Congress to Support 2022’s Horse Protection Platform!
This year in Congress, your legislators have many important opportunities to stand up for America’s horses. And the situation could not be more urgent – especially for wild horses and burros as brutal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), helicopter roundups are underway to capture and remove an astounding 19,000 of these iconic animals this year.
Polls taken this month show that 88% of Americans want wild horses protected and 83% oppose slaughtering horses for human consumption. Contact your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. representative in Congress to ask them to honor the will of the American public by supporting what we’re calling the 2022 Horse Protection Platform:
BLM to Decimate More Wyoming Wild Horse Herds: Act Now
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently released a plan for a mass roundup/removal in the North Lander Complex in Wyoming and we need you to act.
The North Lander Complex is comprised of four Herd Management Areas (Conant Creek, Disphan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek Mountain) spanning 375,000 acres of public land where the BLM intends to:
Drastically reduce the wild horse poupopulation from approximately 2,000 to just 320 wild horses;
Castrate 95% or more of the stallions that will be captured and returned to the range;
Insert unproven Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) in a portion of mares to be returned to the range and administer the experimental fertility control vaccine GonaCon to all mares to be released (including those who receive the IUDs);
Skew the sex ratio to 60/40 in favor of stallions.
The plan threatens the wild, free-roaming nature and long-term sustainability of this iconic Wyoming wild mustang herd. Please take one moment to add your name to AWHC’s comments on the Environmental Assessment that analyzes the impacts of the plan.
LETTER
I strongly oppose the Bureau of Land Management’s plan to decimate the wild horse populations in the North Lander Complex in Wyoming, which is comprised of the Conant Creek, Dishpan Butte, Muskrat Basin and Rock Creek Mountain Herd Management Areas (HMAs.
The Environmental Assessment is inadequate because:
The allocation of resources within this complex is inequitable, favoring livestock. At the low end of the BLM’s wild horse population limit, the agency allocates 13 times more forage to privately-owned livestock instead of federally-protected wild horses. The impacts of this preferential treatment of livestock on wild horses and on American Taxpayers have not been analyzed in the EA.
The impacts of cattle grazing on the environment within the Complex have not been evaluated, particularly with regard to spring grazing. The presence of livestock during this senstive new growth season on the land and the wild horse population must be fully analyzed. The EA must include actual range data distinguishing the impacts of wild horses from those of cattle in this analysis.
The following recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which conducted a 1.5-year long review of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program regarding castration and IUD’s have not been considered:
“[S]ome or total loss of sex drive would be likely in castrated stallions, and this is counter to the often-stated public interest in maintaining natural behaviors in free-ranging horses [..]”
A potential disadvantage of both surgical and chemical castration is loss of testosterone and consequent reduction in or complete loss of male-type behaviors necessary for maintenance of social organization, band integrity, and expression of a natural behavior repertoire.”
“IUDs may provoke undue uterine inflammation warrants caution and would require further testing before application in the field could be considered. In addition, evidence concerning loss rates of IUDs, especially during copulation, would be needed.”
It does not acknowledge or analyze outstanding questions about the reversibility, impacts and efficacy of using GonaCon due to lack of research and limited use in wild horses. More research on the effects of GonaCon on wild horses is necessary before use of this vaccine as routine management tool.
The BLM must revise the North Lander Compelx plan to:
Adjust livestock use in the Complex in order to give wild horses an equitable share of resources and allow for a larger, genetically healthy and sustainable wild horse population.
Abandon plans to implement surgical sterilization of stallions returned to the range. The impacts of gelding on stallions can be affect their physiology and behavior and affect both herd dynamics and the habitat. Further, it is not an effective population management tool, as a small number of intact stallions can impregnate a large number of mares.
Eliminate the use of IUDs as more research on the safety of this method for wild and free-roaming mares and their welfare is necessary before this option would be appropriate for broad use as a management tool.
Eliminate the use of GonCon for wild mares as use of this vaccine in wild horses is limited, as is research into its impacts and long-term effects. More research on IUD’s in wild horses is necessary before this vaccine would be appropriate for broad use as a management tool.
Incorporate use of the PZP fertility control vaccine, which was recommended for use by the National Academy of Sciences, where necessary within the Complex to stabilize wild herds at sustainable levels.
Abandon plans to skew the sex ratios this method is not scientifically supported and not effective in reducing population growth rates in wild horse populations. The BLM has rejected this alternative in herd management plans for other areas, and should do the same in the North Land Complex.
As an American taxpayer and citizen who expects the federal government to protect and humanely manage America’s iconic wild horses and burros, I urge you to seriously consider these comments.
TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. Thousands of racehorses are disappearing every year.
The slaughtering of America’s racehorses, both illegal and legal, has risen to a colossal EPIDEMIC, and it won’t end unless we ALL take IMMEDIATE ACTION.
Once deemed unprofitable for racing, thousands of these majestic athletes find themselves spiraling towards a GRUESOME fate.
· Horses are either DISCARDED or funneled into FILTHY animal auctions,
· TRAFFICKED in crowded, rusty trailers over the borders, or
· Fall into the hands of shady criminals of the BLACK-MARKET horse-meat trade.
They simply just DISAPPEAR!
JOIN US TODAY: Demand Protection for America’s Racehorses. Your signature could be the very thing that saves their lives!
Sign this critical petition, and we will send your name along with thousands of others to Congress so that we can make a more significant impact on your behalf.
Grab some tissue because the ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous program just announced the winners of the ‘Unsung Heroes’ Awards and shared several inspiring stories of staff and volunteers who go above and beyond to care for purrfectly impurrfect cats at cat welfare organizations.
As for prizes, a total of $30,000 will be donated to the winning shelters, plus each unsung hero will receive a year’s supply of ARM & HAMMER™ cat litter. The campaign ran from October 29 – November 20, 2021 and brought in nearly 4,500 nominations from the U.S. Virgin Islands to Alaska.
“Purrfectly impurrfect cats are often overlooked for adoption due to their age, illness, appearance or misunderstood personalities so the Unsung Heroes Awards were designed to honor the staff and volunteers at shelters who work behind the scenes performing miracles to make sure these cats have their physical, medical and emotional needs met,” said Pam Johnson-Bennett, Certified Cat Behavior Consultant. “My fellow expert judges and I had the impossible task of selecting the winners from the thousands of wonderful nominations and we’re proud to share the incredible stories of our unsung heroes.”
Here are the 2021 Unsung Heroes Awards winners.
AdvoCAT of the Year Award (Prize: $15,000)—A staff or volunteer who exemplified BOTH compassion and creativity towards purrfectly impurrfect shelter cats and served as an outstanding advoCAT for this cause beyond their shelter.
“Kris fosters disabled kittens, many of whom have moderate to severe cerebellar hypoplasia (aka CH, and aka wobbly kitten syndrome). She doesn’t just take care of disabled cats, but she helps them thrive and live their very best lives. Specifically, she has been fostering a disabled cat named Snapple. He has CH and other neurological and physical disorders. His front paws are bent and have limited movement, so he is unable to walk without assistance. His CH has his head wobbling the majority of the time, so eating can be very difficult. Her creativity in helping him overcome his walking and eating challenges are stellar: She got him a cart to allow him to move around more independently and build strength in his back legs. In his cart, he runs around like a sweet little rocket. Aside from the cart, he is sometimes carried in a comfortable sling on Kris’s chest or belly, so Kris can get work done while keeping Snapple engaged and monitored.
She also created some imaginative eating set-ups for Snapple and other severely wobbly cats to help them eat: the set-up is much like a small horse stable or corral, with walls to keep the cats from falling side to side, and also some padding up front to steady their heads and keep them from face-planting in their food. She keeps some wonderful Instagram accounts (@tuxonwheels) to document the progress of specific foster cats, highlighting the importance of caring for and loving disabled cats, and teaching her followers how to creatively support such kitties. She is making it more attainable for disabled cats to find loving homes by destigmatizing and demystifying what their lives are like. As a pet parent to a mildly CH cat myself, I am in awe of her epic compassion and creativity.”
Compassion Award (Prize: $7,500)—A staff or volunteer who showed tenderness, patience and extra care to purrfectly impurrfect cats to make sure they received specialized comfort and attention.
“91 cats and kittens were in an abandoned trailer. Erin, the manager of DVHS, got the call and brought together two other shelters to help since DVHS is a small shelter in upstate New York and did not have the capacity to take in all the cats. These cats were sick, pregnant and scared. They had many health issues like upper respiratory and neurological problems, since they were inbred. Overwhelmed with grief for these poor cats, Erin did what she does best for them. She pampered the sick ones that would probably not survive. She held them dearly and spoke to them telling them that she would not leave their side. Many of the females had kittens shortly after arriving, and the mothers did not survive. Erin found nursing moms within her own shelter and through her Facebook page to give the kittens a chance. I watched Erin resuscitate kittens that were just born and never give up. The 91 cats were saved because of her efforts. The ones that lived were vetted, spayed and neutered and adopted.
There is also the story of Joe, an adult tomcat found by a woman on the side of the road hit by a car. She called Erin and brought that cat to DVHS. Paralyzed from his abdomen down to his legs and unable to walk. Joe was examined and the vet told Erin, if you work with him he will probably walk again. The staff and Erin, massaged him, wiped his butt and gave him free rein of the corridor. After three weeks Joe started wobbling. Then began walking like a pro. He was adopted by a local business and is the store mascot. Erin saves so many cats from horrific conditions and nurtures them until they are ready to find forever homes.”
Creativity (Prize: $7,500)—A staff or volunteer who executed the most creative solution to comfort a purrfectly impurrfect shelter cat or to find them a forever home.
“Ashley is one of those people with a special touch that catches and socializes feral cats to make them adoptable. She builds trust in the cat by being patient and caring. She is creative in finding new ways to communicate and reach these cats. She creates interactive games with the cats using toys or creating ramps/devices to assist the cats in becoming comfortable with staff. In the wobble baby room, she has helped to make it a safe environment that allows the cats to be free from injury but then takes them out on supervised runs through the shelter to ensure they are stimulated and active. The cats really seem to enjoy seeing other cats and areas of the building that they would not normally see due to their disability.
Ashley has a special bond with several of the special needs cats, but Reed is unique. Due to a severe injury, his back legs were removed. Every day he needs to have his bladder expressed and requires special bathing and play interaction. Ashley provides him with social interaction and physical therapy. He will have to live out his life at the shelter, but he knows he is loved and cared for on a daily basis. When there was a special needs transfer out of state, Ashley and her family made the trip out of her time and pocket to get the cat the care they needed. Ashley is a paid worker, but spends way more time than she could ever be paid for by taking cats home that need special care, coming in whenever needed and dropping things just to help out. Ashley has helped design and manage events to help raise funds and find new ways to help the cats and the clinic. Ashley also dedicates her free time outside of working at the shelter and helping cats in the community.”
“The ARM & HAMMER™ Feline Generous program is thrilled to congratulate all our 2021 Unsung Heroes Award recipients,” said Rebecca Blank, Group Brand Manager, ARM & HAMMER™ Pet Care. “The work that they each do day in and day out takes dedication, compassion, creativity and a huge advocat heart. With the enormous response we received in nominations we’ve decided to name four additional Honorable Mentions and each recipient will receive a year’s supply of ARM & HAMMER™ cat litter as well.”
This article is an updated version of the action we asked you to begin last February; push for a real hearing into The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program to address the underlying corruption that continues to derail any attempt at actual management.
We have gotten word that it is very likely we will see some type of Congressional hearing into the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program.
A “hearing” is only as effective as what Congress “hears” and from whom. We must delve into the corruption the program sits on, the same corrupt hands will drive the program.
We continue to INVITE you to read the following action item and, if you agree with what we are asking for, send it to your representatives. We are asking that a real hearing, not one stacked with those that participated in “Ten Years to AML,” give testimony. (Always read the actual action item you are signing. Many “sign-on letters” use lead in lines that mislead you on what you are actually sending. A lead in might talk about abuse at roundups, low population levels, livestock damage. However, the action item might just say “increase immunocontraception” without including any of the items in the lead-in. Read all action items before you sign.)
Pigeon fever in holding, 2021. Sick young colt in the stud pen trying to hold his own and survive disease.
Until we begin to address the flagrant and intentional minimization of the wild horse/burro as a public resource to suit industry, nothing will change. Industry will accept any form of population growth suppression from removal, fertility control, slaughter. They wont even accept actual terminology for management of a living creature like ” preserving critical habitat.”
Will that hearing be hijacked by the “Path Forward” participants as it was before? (you can read the original “Ten Years to AML” HERE, later renamed “Path Forward”). It is highly probable that the hearing will again be populated with the same big dollar faces as the last hearing; many of whom claim to be on-ground, involved in fights they never participated in but observed from afar, and misleading Congress and the public that fertility control diminishes need for capture. In fact, in some areas it increases the “chopper in the air” to capture simply to retreat wild horses with a substance. (Owyhee is an example of an operation to “maintain AML and increase immunocontraception.” At Owyhee 2021, 27 wild horses died.)
Since that hearing, BLM incorporated the “Path Forward” into the 2020 plan. Congress increased funding. In 2021, we saw additional funding proposed for “grants” to fund capture, fertility control. (We wanted to do water and range improvements and were told they were accepting proposals for capture, fertility control and “adoptions.”)
We have seen the year that includes the largest number of wild horses/burros captured since the 1971 Act was passed. This was done following the 2020 plan to maintain AML and increase fertility control. Places like Surprise, that have not been captured in a decade, were also on the list to “maintain AML and increase immunocontraception;” 21 died at Surprise.
Electric shock used to speed up loading. Wild horses do not like the cattle chute with overhead bars used by this contractor (not an equine chute). Instead of BLM requiring this contractor use equipment designed for equines, wild horses face the “hot shot.”
While fertility control may be a valid tool of management, only after it is actually justified by range data evaluated in as Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP), it is not management. Skipping a Herd Management Area Plan (HMAP) and jumping right to a “gather plan” is gutting the public out of any conversation surrounding management and making a mockery of the pretense of actually managing wild horses as part of a system of interlocking management plans. Wild horses are simply removed to an AML created, employed, purported, based on the management plans for everyone BLM actually serves.
The following is from the article we published at the beginning of this legislative session to explain why we are asking you to ask for a hearing. This information can also aide you as you address your legislators. PLEASE remember asking for “more immunocontraception” first (or only) might be an easy thing to do, but it solidifies the notion in the minds of your reps that “overpopulation” is the problem. Doing that? buys you another year like just 2021. We will also see an acceleration of everything you have seen in 2021, in 2022. Congress is set to throw additional funding into the “2020 plan” to increase, essentially, what you have just seen at Owyhee, for the 2022 budget. The 2023 budget debate begins in about 45 days.
The following article explains why we are asking you to take the action asking for a hearing and the type of hearing we want you to ask for. Info taken from an article published with the original alert.
Wild horses are a multifaceted public lands resource, creating the necessity for a multifaceted approach to advocating for them.
When dealing with legislators (when you call or write a letter) and asking for them to vote on a bill, like it or not, you have entered the ring of politics. Just like commenting on an EA for a proposed roundup, you need to know the terrain and be specific in the words you choose.
In 2018 Congress rejected what BLM had presentedand requested a new report. The 2020 report did not get as much “push back” as the 2018 report as those urging Congress to obligate the taxpayer to buy a single substance (PZP) were very effective at getting the public to push simply for that substance. In 2020 Congress gave BLM a bit over 15 million in additional funds to implement “non-lethal” population growth suppression tools in 2021. In 2021 they have added another $11 million.
The 2020 report (plan) still stands as the agency baseline for the budget debate today. The debate has essentially ended for 2022. The 2023 debate begins January 2022. (please remember the federal government works on a fiscal year that begins in Oct; fiscal 2022 begins Oct 2021).
Page 1-8 of the “BLM 2020 plan” is essentially a press release that repeats the copy/paste of their interpretation of their authority, a copy/paste of the beginning of almost every roundup that repeats assertions of range data and incorporates the “Ten Years to AML” backdoor dealwith large corporate interests that was run, without public input or scrutiny, since 2015.
Not until we get to page 9, does BLM begin to present any assertion of a report based on how they prioritize and fund the program:
Removals (2.5 pages)
Population Growth Suppression, including sterilization (3 pages)
Private Care Placement, the new name for adoption/sale (2 pages)
Euthanasia (1 sentence)
Sale Without Limits, slaughter (1 sentence)
Off-Range Corrals, or Long-Term Holding (4 pages)
Resource Monitoring (1/2 page)
Population Survey (1/2 page)
Herd Management Area Plan Development (1/2 page)
Research (1/2 page)
Rangeland Restoration and Rehabilitation (1/2 page)
Oversight (2 sentences)
Then, on page 24, we are presented with a couple of paragraphs in a “Conclusory” statement that continues to present photos without context. If you had the context of every single picture BLM uses in this report you would see the failures run deep in field offices that have used “blame the horse and remove” for 50 years.
When you get “push back” talking to you representatives aides? we suggest you bring up the report. 16 pages. 16 pages is what BLM presented to Congress on the entire workings program wide. 16 pages is what this administration is continuing to base “management” practices on. 16 pages written by multi-million dollar corporate lobbyists in an “agreement.”
However, without even reading any of the content you can see why the program has failed. Roundups, and population growth suppression, are the last phase of on-range management, yet, BLM always prioritizes remove and stockpile. Oversight and management planning for our herds should come first and provide the most in-depth information to base every other item on this list. Management planning creates the baseline for all other actions and oversight of planning and executed actions makes sure that the agency operates with transparency and inclusivity.
Simply changing the order of current priorities, making Oversight and HMAPs the fist step, the program could begin to move out of the mistakes of the past that have led to an absurd program that is fiscally irresponsible to the taxpayer and morally bankrupt to the public interest and resource (wild horses are a public resource under law, not a permitted use for private profit).
As a result of this report, and those “in the deal,” for 2021 spending Congress simply awarded BLM an additional $15 million to utilize “non-lethal” population growth suppression.
There was no hearing on the merits of the report, nothing. We did not have a hearing because the big corporate groups had the public bombarding Congress as they simply asked for more funding for fertility control. All of he funding was based on the assertions in the 2020 report and those assertions solidified as the focus became “population suppression tools.”
The debate for spending in 2022 has already kicked off. That debate leaves off where the last one stood; all of it begins with accepting the assertions and lack of actual data in the 2020 report.
When the Department of Interior handed Congress a report on two National Monuments in New Mexico, Senator Martin Heinrich grilled BLM on that report.
John Ruhs, former NV State Director now serving as the Deputy Director of BLM, says he was not involved with crafting the report on the two monuments when pressed by Senator Heinrich.
However, Ruhs was deeply involved with the “Ten Years to AML” crowd, the off-limits to the public “Utah Summit” and both the 2018 and 2020 reports on the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
Why didn’t anyone in Congress grill BLM over their report on wild horses? The factual errors are just as egregious as those in the report on the 2 National Monuments. The public deserves more from Congress than simply bending to the will of well-funded corporate lobbyists that all benefit from the subsidized programs created by the agency.
We INVITE you to read the following action item and, if you agree with what we are asking for, send it to your representatives. We are asking that a real hearing, not one stacked with those that participated in “Ten Years to AML,” give testimony.
After sending your letter, we urge you to call your Congressional representative HERE.
We need real change. We can not get real change if we base it in fiction or simply create change to suit what industry will accept. This is not management, it is politics. Politics that are destroying the range and your wild horse and burro herds.
Help keep us in the field, in the courts and in the fight. Our teams need your support.
All images and written content on this website are the express property of the authors. For permission to use or republish, please contact WHE.
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About WHE
Wild Horse Education (WHE) is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization devoted to protecting America’s wild horses from abuse and slaughter, and to preserve our herds and the land they stand on for future generations.
Laura Leigh, Founder and President, is honored for her achievements in portrait.
Tell the Senate: Follow the House Lead and Protect Wild Horses!
As you know, the American Wild Horse Campaign has spent the last several months diligently working with our partners on Capitol Hill to ensure that the interests of wild horses and burros are represented during the FY 2022 Appropriations process. We are happy to announce that the House Interior Appropriations Committee has released a draft bill that includes important language championed by AWHC and U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN), Dina Titus (D-NV), and over 40 other House members.
If passed, the legislation will require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to:
Implement a substantial humane reversible immunocontraceptive fertility control program to manage wild horse and burro populations in the wild.
Evaluate relocating wild horses and burros to other Herd Management Areas (HMAs) to avoid removals and keep these animals on the range where they belong, and create a task force within the Interior Department to address wild horse and burro management.
Review the “Adoption Incentive Program,” (AIP) which was recently exposed by AWHC and the New York Times as a pipeline to slaughter for hundreds of these federally-protected animals.
Maintain the ban that is intended to protect wild horses and burros from slaughter.
It’s an important step toward ending the current costly and cruel practice of rounding these animals up with helicopters and incarcerating them in holding pens for life. And now our focus is on the Senate to adopt the same language.
So please, contact your Senators right now and urge them to support this important language.
1. Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your Senators. You will likely be asked to leave a message. Simply say:
“I’m a constituent, and I’m calling to ask that you please support and do all you can to ensure passage of language in Interior Appropriations that was offered by Senator Booker to promote humane, cost-effective management of wild horses and burros in the wild where they belong. This language would allocate $11 million of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to fertility control.”
PETITION TARGET: Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
American horses bound for slaughter often endure a grueling journey to international kill floors before they’re hustled into chutes, butchered, and sold as meat.
As part of this cruel and deadly pipeline, the United States ships horses to Canada and Mexico, where it is legal to butcher them for human consumption.
Every week, hundreds of horses are sent to Mexican slaughterhouses, according to official USDA export reports.Over 6,800 have been sent to slaughter in the last six months alone. This number doesn’t include the horses sent to Canada who suffer the same horrible fate.
Americans have increasingly spoken out about the grisly demise of these iconic animals, but the United States is still sending innocent horses to slaughter, despite a temporary ban on killing these precious animals for meat. But there’s new hope for these wild horses.
The Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act would ban the live export of horses to Mexican and Canadian slaughterhouses for sales overseas. This bipartisan bill — sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) — would also permanently ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the United States.
We must end this senseless killing.
Sign the petition urging Congress to support and pass the SAFE Act to permanently ban transporting, killing, and eating horse meat in the United States.
More than 30 legislators have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland demanding a thorough review of the Bureau of Land Management(BLM)’s Adoption Incentive Program for wild horses and burros to ensure the iconic animals won’t continue to be sent by adopters to slaughter, in violation of the agency’s adoption agreement.
The BLM founded the adoption program, which offers a $1,000 incentive to people approved to adopt a wild horse from a gather operation, to find good homes for the animals.
But a New York Times exposé found the agency was allowing individuals with backgrounds involving horse slaughter to adopt, and that numerous adopters had sold their rescued animals to slaughterhouses or middlemen after pocketing the taxpayer-funded stipends. The exposé also quoted an agency spokesperson saying those adopters would be allowed to adopt again.
Following the shocking report, more than 30 House legislators led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) sent Haaland a letter, denouncing the gruesome loopholes and demanding a thorough investigation and review of practices.
Haaland, during her previous time in Congress, has backed legislation protecting wild horses and burros.
AWHC’s Executive Director Suzanne Roy said the nonprofit will not sit idly by while untold numbers of federally protected wild horses and burros are sent to slaughter through a taxpayer-subsidized incentive program.
“We are prepared to take the battle over the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program to federal court if the Interior Department continues to delay action to protect these iconic animals and abide by the congressional prohibition on wild horse and burro slaughter,” Roy said in a statement.
Nonprofit Friends of Animals also recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Colorado, according to the Denver Post. The lawsuit also alleges the adoption program is circumventing federal law that forbids the slaughter of wild horses and calls for an immediate, temporary halt to the program so the BLM can conduct a thorough investigation into the program’s outcomes and impact.
Congressional law has protected wild horses and burros since 1971, making it illegal to sell the animals to buyers who intend to slaughter them.
The call to action follows other legislation ramping up attention and protections for equines, including the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act currently before lawmakers.
More than 7,500 wild horses and burros have been adopted through the incentive program since 2019, according to the BLM. The federal agency has roundups scheduled through June.
If you haven’t already, sign our petition urging the BLM to stop these adoptions that send wild horses to a grisly end.
PLEASE KEEP CONTACTING YOUR SENATORS AND ASKING THAT THEY PROHIBIT ANY FEDERAL FUNDING OF THE ADOPTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM until a thorough investigation is completed. In addition we want you to know that Skydog is exploring legal options. These include the potential illegality of policy and protocol changes during the tenure of William Perry Pendley as the acting Director of the BLM. The lawsuit by Governor Bullock of Montana was successful and Pendley’s term deemed illegal. This raises the potential to overturn many policy changes. The AIP may be one of the programs that could face legal challenge.
Skydog Sanctuary started this petition to Animal lovers and wildlife rescuers
Skydog is a Wild Horse Sanctuary with ranches in California and Oregon for the rescue, rehabilitation and re-wilding of mustangs who have been rounded up from public lands across the American West. One year ago the Government Agency charged with managing and protecting these wild horses introduced an incentive plan offering people one thousand dollars for each horse or donkey they adopted.
One year later as the Bureau of Land Management heralds this program a success in press releases, we are seeing the same wild horses they paid people to take away, being dumped in Kill Pens in record numbers. These mostly young horses are being shipped to slaughter in Mexico and Canada one year after being rounded up from America’s public lands. This wild horse and burro program is broken and is complicit in sending wild horses to their deaths. The BLM is not doing any real tracking or follow-up to ensure the safety of our wild horses. This is one failure of their mandate under the law.
Please sign our petition urging the Bureau of Land Management to disband this terrible ADOPTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM – which is paying people to dump wild, untrained, young horses in Kill Pens. These horses and burros are federally protected and they need to be PROPERLY AND SCIENTIFICALLY managed on public lands by the BLM and the Department of the Interior. Current wild horse roundups should be halted until there is a successful program in place to adopt out the 50,000 horses already sitting in holding pens. Having lost their freedom and families they should not now also lose their lives.
STOP THE BLM ADOPTION INCENTIVE PROGRAM BEFORE ONE MORE HORSE SHIPS TO SLAUGHTER.
NOTE – Please do not donate on this page – the donation goes to Change.org not to help us fight this cause.
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. —Soren Kierkegaard. "...truth is true even if nobody believes it, and falsehood is false even if everybody believes it. That is why truth does not yield to opinion, fashion, numbers, office, or sincerity--it is simply true and that is the end of it" - Os Guinness, Time for Truth, pg.39. “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God’s providence to lead him aright.” - Blaise Pascal. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. We live in a “post-truth” world. According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Going beyond the MSM idealogical opinion/bias and their low information tabloid reality show news with a distractional superficial focus on entertainment, sensationalism, emotionalism and activist reporting – this blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” ― Soren Kierkegaard
Following in the spirit of Britain's Queen Boudica, Queen of the Iceni. A boudica.us site. I am an opinionator, do your own research, verification. Reposts, reblogs do not neccessarily reflect our views.
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