Reining in the BLM - Calls Needed

  Wild Horse & Burro Controversy 
Goes To Washington

Next Congressional Budget Hearing
Thursday, March 18 2pm

On Thursday, March 18, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior is scheduled to hear testimony from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on his proposed for Fiscal Year 2011 budget which includes increased funding for the ill-managed and inhuman Wild Horse & Burro program. 

Click here to send a fax to both Senate and House Interior subcommittees. 

You can also call the House subcommittee members to urge them to reject the current Wild Horse & Burro budget proposal which wastes tax dollars by increasing funding of an ill-conceived, broken program. Secretary Salazar's proposal is bad for wild horses and bad for American taxpayers.  See below for more details.

Who to call ....
Democratic House Subcommittee Members
Norman D. Dicks (WA) (Chair), 202-225-5916
James P. Moran (VA), 202-225-4376
Alan B. Mollohan (WV), 202-225-4172
Ben Chandler (KY), 202-225-4706
Maurice D. Hinchey (NY), 202-225-6335
John W. Olver (MA), 202-225-5335
Ed Pastor (AZ), 202-225-4065
David E. Price (NC), 202-225-1784
David R. Obey (WI) (Ex Officio), 202-225-3365

Republican House Subcommittee Members
Michael Simpson (ID) (Ranking), 202-225-5531
Ken Calvert (CA), 202-225-1986
Steven C. LaTourette (OH), 202-225-5731
Tom Cole (OK), 202-225-6165
Jerry Lewis (CA) (Ex Officio), 202-225-5861

Secretary Salazar's budget request includes an increase of $12 million for the controversial Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse and Burro program, and $42.5 million to purchase the first of several holding pastures in the Midwest or East to house wild horses taken from the West.

Why American Horse Meat is Not safe for Human Consumption

Interesting study done by Alex Brown. Crossposted from e-mail

 "I have been studying the use of bute as a pre-race medication for racing in California.  California is one of only a few states that publishes this information in the past performances of the horses entered to race.  Bute is a prohibited substance for horses heading to slaughter.  No quarantine period, it is simply prohibited.  Anyway, thanks to the Daily Racing Form I got data on all runners for 2009 in California.  99% of those runners pre-raced on bute.   I used this data for the following essay: http://www.facebook.com/l/41592;www.paulickreport.com/blog/keeping-bute-out-of-the-foodchain/  It seems to me this is one anti-slaughter argument that is "bullet proof".  Our horses are not fit for slaughter from a food-safety standpoint.  We know it as horsemen.  Vets know it.  We now need to invest our time in determining other end-of-life solutions for our stars, when the time is right.  Slaughter can no longer be an option if food safety is a concern."

We don't (knowingly) allow these products in any other part of our food chain. Horses are regularly given routine medications that are clearly labeled "not for use in animals to be used for human consumption."

Everyone who clamors for slaughter is overlooking the above. You wouldn't want to eat a sick horse and you wouldn't want to eat meat from an animal that has been given medications that are known to cause cancer in humans. Sounds like some folks have a severe case of denial. "We won't eat it, but its okay for the Europeans?" How fair is that?

More Calico Mustangs die at the hands of the BLM

http://www.examiner .com/x-37163- Equine-Advocacy- Examiner~ y2010m3d5- Stress-of- captivity- still-taking- a-toll-on- the-Calico- mustangs   Stress of captivity still taking a toll on the Calico mustangs March 5, 9:22 PMEquine Advocacy ExaminerMaureen Harmonay   The residual stress of the helicopter chase, coupled with the inability of some horses to adapt to a diet of grass hay, continues to claim lives among the wild horses forced from their homes in Nevada's Calico Mountain Complex by the BLM's henchmen.  In the last 48 hours, three more mares lost their late-term foals, and one was euthanized after she colicked.  At least 68 of the original 1922 horses brought to the Indian Lakes Road feedlot pens near Fallon Nevada have died, and almost four dozen in-utero foals have perished, too. The emotional toll on these horses cannot be measured.  Add fear to the mix of stressors, now that horses are being pushed through squeeze chutes to be vaccinated, wormed, and freeze branded.  Their frenzied squeals must sound like alarms to the ones in the waiting line, innoculating them with panic before they even enter the chute. In the absence of outside observers, we can only surmise how the horses are really faring.  It is only by reading between the lines of the Gather Daily Updates that we can piece together a sketchy picture of what is happening to the horses' hides and hearts.  So many of the details are out of focus.  You have to wonder, for example, whether the countless fetal losses reported as "miscarriages" are actually full-term foals who were stillborn.  In either case, the promise of a new generation-- perhaps the last generation-- of Calico mustangs may never be fulfilled.  What has been done to them is not right, it's not fair, and it's not legal. The gelding of the Calico stallions--includin g Lightning--is due to start next month.  Before these procedures start, it seems reasonable to insist that the BLM conduct a census to determine whether its gather operations have extinguished the herds which rightfully occupied the five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) of the Calico Complex.  If a sustainable number of horses cannot be found by aerial reconnaissance, then at least 500 of the currently captive mustangs--stallions , mares, yearling, and foals--should be promptly returned to their range, to ensure that their genetic heritage will be preserved. More About: BLM · Calico Mountain Complex · Wild Horses

Two foals victim of BLM gather techniques

This video was taken during the recently concluded Calico gather by an independent observer.

It shows the Cattoor helicopter swooping down on an obviously distressed foal as the wild horse band is driven, at a run, into the holding pen.

If any other agency or individual was seen doing this, they would be charged with animal cruelty, yet the BLM can do this to wild horses that they are mandated to protect.

Two foals developed laminitis, directly related to the roundup, where they suffered for days, perhaps weeks with their hooves eventually sloughing off resulting in euthanasia by the BLM. Even with the best pain management, severe laminitis is extremely painful.

The death toll, that we know of, is up to 98 for this roundup, including over 30 foals that were aborted in the holding pens due to the stress placed on the mares by the late winter gather. That is a 5% death rate. Extremely high, even by the BLM's standards.

http://www.acreageequines.com/HorseCare/horsecare5a.htm#What%20causes%20laminitis?

Contact the White House and let them know that this type of roundup treatment is not acceptable.

Ask for a moratorium on further roundups until the BLM can understand the American public wants these horses protected and managed in the wild. Tell them not to gather more than they can adopt out safely and overturn the Burns amendment that allows wild horses over ten and unadopted at three auctions to be sold to slaughter.

Getting the word to the President

Wild Horse advocates took to the streets of Las Vegas to greet President Obama during his visit on Thursday, February 18.

Breaking News: Protesters with wild horse and burro banners have already been visible and at the scene four or five times today with Obama in Las Vegas! Bravo Team Nevada!  Air Force One just flew over the Mustang Banners! (2:15pm)

With much hard work and determination, the wild horse advocates were able to get four up close encounters with President Obama in his motorcade. Each time, they were holding different versions of the awesome banners that Arlene has produced and they are certain that Obama and his aides saw them and registered the message.

Read more from R.T Fitch here.

Information about the Calico Mountain Roundup in Nevada

In spite of nearly 10,000 comments, the majority of which asked the BLM to call off this roundup the BLM chose to proceed with a massive removal of America's wild horses. This roundup began in late December, 2009 and is scheduled to run for 8 weeks. The BLM is in the process of removing nearly 2500 of the 3,000 horses on the range at a cost of nearly 2 million dollars.

Their actions will leave only 500 wild horses on a range of nearly 500,000 acres.

http://humanitythrougheducation.com/

http://actionforwildhorses.blogspot.com/

Lifting the Veil on Horseslaughter video

From EWA:

This is very powerful but a caution, there are very graphic photos. It is a must see, portraying the property rights that Wallis and those that want to bring back slaughter to our soil are fighting for.


http://kaufmanzoning.net/liftingtheveilonhorseslaughter0709.wmv