Horse Welfare

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Comment by Shirley on November 17, 2009 at 8:33am

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued its 2010 Round-up Schedule which provides for the capture of a staggering 12,000 additional wild horses and burros, at the cost of 32 million of our tax dollars! Given BLM?s recent handwringing over the number of horses in government holding, this announcement is simply baffling. More than ever, America?s wild horses are under siege, their long-term survival increasingly threatened.

Nevada?s Calico Complex, with over 2,500 horses slated for removal next month, is high on the list of questionable removals and another example of BLM?s out-of-control behavior. This herd was last rounded up in 2005, when BLM left an estimated 575 horses on the range and gave the mares a contraceptive vaccine. Yet, BLM now claims there are over 3,000 horses in that same area, a preposterous number, even by BLM standards. Locals familiar with the herd are adamant there are far from that many horses left on that range. Indeed, only BLM?s creative accounting could find that a herd has quintupled in size in less than five years, let alone a herd under a contraceptive program!

Interesting background information: last year, BLM authorized a 300% increase in cattle grazing for the area, and the building of a fence that BLM itself admitted might cut wild horses from their winter range and cause them to die. Wild horses would also be locked out of the best pasture with the most abundant water during the driest time of the year. At the time, BLM justified its decision by arguing that wild horse populations in the area were minimal. A couple of months later, it came out with its puzzling claim of population explosion, setting the stage for this massive round-up.

Clearly, something here is amiss. Where did these 3,000 horses come from?

Comments to BLM regarding this round-up must be provided by Thursday, November 12, 4:30 pm PST to Jerome Fox, BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445; Fax: (775) 623-1503; Email: NV_WFO_Webmail@BLM.gov (please be sure to include the following reference #: DOI-BLM-NV-W030-2010-0001-EA)

More importantly, the Department of Justice, which is currently investigating BLM for other misdeeds, must be made aware of another instance of this federal agency running amok. Please express your concerns over BLM?s questionable practices and continued mismanagement of our wild horses to:

John Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice, Room 2141
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Email: john.cruden@usdoj.gov
(note: letters to the DOJ are not subject to the Nov. 12 deadline)

On behalf of America?s wild horses, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org

Comment by Shirley on October 2, 2009 at 12:50pm

A section from my Parelli weekly newsletter...MUSTANG
copied

Parelli Celebration Highlights Humane Society
of the United States Rescue Horses

This weekend at the Ft. Worth Celebration, Pat played with Thistle, a sweet-natured five-year-old mustang who was rescued during a large-scale neglect investigation in Nebraska earlier this year. Since the rescue, Thistle has been under the care of the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center until he arrived in Ft. Worth on Thursday. Each day of the Celebration Pat played with Thistle, and by the end of the third day Pat was riding the mustang without reins leaving many saying this was the best training session they have seen Pat lead. It was truly amazing to watch, and the experience is first hand proof that the Parelli method can help any animal if you put the relationship first. Read more about the Parelli Humane Society of the United States partnership here. Following the event this weekend, Thistle was made available for adoption to a selected, loving home.

Comment by Shirley on September 28, 2009 at 1:30am

Final count some way off on Wild Horse Adoption Day

September 28, 2009

Wild horses across the United States went under the hammer at the weekend, as part of a nationwide effort to rehome 1000 mustangs in one day.
Organisers of the National Wild Horse Adoption Day, said in a brief update on Facebook, that while the official day - September 26 - has come and gone, more events continue.

"Good reports from many areas, although several eastern locations had heavy rains and little or no turnout.

"Total adoption numbers will be reported in mid-October."

In the most-watched sale among the 35 staged on the day, all 57 wild horses taken in the controversial Pryor Mountain muster were rehomed.

The muster faced fierce opposition from wild horse advocates, who argued that the genetic viability of the herd, made famous in a series of documentaries, was under threat by the muster.

The Cloud Foundation, which led that campaign, reported that four bands of horses, 15 in total, including Floyd and Conquistador and his mare, will be kept together at a ranch.

"Ember and Image get to stay together, have a great home. Also adopted into great homes were Arrow, Rain, Helena Montana, Stiles, Cassidy, the lame foal with his mom, who is looking better, and Ginger got Sax."

The 19-year-old stallion, Conquistador, attracted the highest bid, of $US2500.

The foundation offered its thanks to those who contributed to a freedom fund and other supporters. "This is a big win."

An estimated 2000 mustangs were offered across the US during the day, a small portion of the more than 33,000 held in captivity by the Bureau of Land Management.

The auctions took place at 35 venues in a collaborative venture with animal welfare groups.

The adoption tally for all of last year was 3700.


Wild horses in the news

Comment by Cathie Cross on August 16, 2009 at 9:28pm

Newly formed Rescue Group in BC
www.bcinteriorhorserescue.com
Very interested in sharing ideas! Website was just built and we will be putting adoptable horses up soon!

Comment by Triple R Equine Welfare Inc. on August 10, 2009 at 2:01pm

Very interesting link Shirley, in a very sad way...much appreciated.

Comment by Triple R Equine Welfare Inc. on August 10, 2009 at 2:01pm

Cathy, thank you for sharing the link to your group. We're very interested in learning more about the efforts of others in this area.
Bec

Comment by Shirley on August 9, 2009 at 8:48pm

http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/08/062.shtml

Comment by Catherin on August 8, 2009 at 7:35pm

Marti do you want to share the ideas with us????

Comment by Marti Langley on August 7, 2009 at 7:44pm

i just got involved with a rescue organization. I am sooo jazzed. They have really novel ideas.

Comment by Shirley on June 16, 2009 at 12:15pm

Details of BLM wild horse proposals revealed

June 16, 2009

The life of wild mustang Cloud has been documented since his birth. His herd, from the Pryor Mountains in Montana, is under threat of being rounded up and "removed".

Documents obtained from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by a horse welfare group outline discussions and plans over ways to reduce mustang numbers.
The material was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by The Conquistador Program.

The documents reveal what it calls shocking and detailed plans to destroy healthy wild horses in government holding facilities as well as those still remaining in the wild on public lands.

BLM employees as well as a US Department of Agriculture veterinarian held weekly "Implementation Team" meetings beginning in July of 2008 in which they discussed and developed strategies aimed at reducing mustang numbers.

In October they completed a 68-page document entitled "Alternative Management Options".

The BLM team created scenarios for killing mustangs using barbiturates, gunshots, or captive bolts. Bodies would be disposed of through rendering, burial or incineration. They discussed killing 1200-2000 wild horses per year.

The document states that "the general public would be prohibited from viewing euthanasia". Additionally, it was felt that "increased support from public relations and management staff would also be needed to insulate those doing the actual work from the public, media and Congressional scrutiny/criticism".

Ginger Kathrens, filmmaker and volunteer executive director of The Cloud Foundation, dedicated to preserving wild horses on public lands, said: "Despite a huge outcry from the American public last year regarding BLM plans to kill wild horses in holding, the agency is still pressing forward with a plan to destroy our American mustangs both on and off the range."

However, division chief of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, Don Glenn, told The Cloud Foundation that "no decision has been made to move forward on a large scale with this plan, yet".

BLM meeting minutes include the following observations:


"Security at facilities and at gathers would need to be increased to combat eco-terrorism."

"Having the people that are willing to put down healthy horses at gather sites could be a problem."

"Having vets putting down healthy horses at preparation facility[ies] could also be a problem."

Meeting minutes reveal the psychological toll that employees would pay - "have counselling for employees and contractors that have to euthanise the healthy horses because it is very stressful."
The report created an option in which wild horses of all ages could be sold "without limitation". The team admitted that "some wild horses will go to slaughter".

Karen Sussman, president of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, said: "Once they are gone, they're gone. To lose this incomparable species would be a travesty."

Conversations in the minutes included how many wild horses could be rendered at the Reno Rendering plant or "disposed of in pits". The team concluded that "there will not be large numbers of horses euthanised during gathers or in the field. This is due to state environmental laws."

Recommendations include the creation of gelding herds, and sterilisation of mares to create non-reproductive herds in the wild in place of natural herds.

The team recommended changing the sex ratio from the normal 50% males and 50% females to 70% males and 30% females. Then the experimental two-year infertility drug, PZP-22, would be given to all mares that are returned to the wild. Plans call for rounding up the wild horses every two years to re-administer the drug.

"Mares on the drug will cycle monthly and, with the altered sex ratio, the social chaos will be dangerous and on-going," Kathrens explains. "Any semblance of normal wild horse society will be completely destroyed."

Kathrens has spent 15 years in the wild documenting mustang behavior for her PBS television documentaries which chronicle the life story of Cloud, the now famous pale palomino stallion she has filmed since birth.

"Even Cloud and his little herd in Montana are in serious danger if BLM implements these options," she continues. "The BLM plans a massive round up in Cloud's herd beginning August 30, 2009."

The BLM will not guarantee that Cloud and his family will remain free.


The BLM documents referred to above and photos of wild horses are available from www.thecloudfoundation.org
Horse slaughter in the news

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