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Monday, November 30, 2009
Saving America's Horses 3rd Sneak Peek in a Series: Dr Nena Winand, DVM, PhD Speaks out About Horse Slaughter
Saving America's Horses |  |
Posted: 29 Nov 2009 04:29 PM PST
SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK!
This is the 3rd in a series of special sneak peek clips from SAVING AMERICA'S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED.
Dr Nena Winand Speaks Out About Horse Slaughter
SEE THIS CLIP HERE!
Please help WFLF bring this film to completion! Donations are needed!
SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED depicts a country divided and inspires great hope for the protection of all horses and burros. It’s a tender yet honest look at the reality that our American horses are born into, the love, joy and respect they give us and in contrast, the complacent mindset of the pro slaughter proponents.
More great ways to support this CAUSE
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Clips & Statements
Saving America's Horses A Nation Betrayed
Director, Producer ~ Katia Louise
Associate Producer ~ Debra Lopez
Associate Producer ~ Nancy Stanley
Executive Advisory Board
Paula Bacon
Laura Allen
Dr Nena Winand
John Holland
Julie Caramante
Shelley Abrams
Donations are greatly needed to bring this film to completion. Please support this film and help us to save America's equines. “We are their voice and they need to be heard” – Katia Louise
A variety of on screen film credits are also available. Please contact Debra Lopez
Dr Nena Winand Sneak Peek Clip
http://www.savingamericashorses.org/nenawinandclip.html
For the 100,000
For the 100,000
When injured, even to the point of impending death, I will carry you until I can do so no more.
For the 100,000
When injured, even to the point of impending death, I will carry you until I can do so no more.
Upon hearing your approach, I will whinny happily, kicking my heels up and bouncing my head gleefully to see you.
I will bear you proudly down the avenues of town in the fanfare of a parade.
I will be as watchful as you, as we comb the hills and mountains, searching for a lost man, woman, or child.
On the streets of the city, I am your partner. Together we keep the peace.
I am the young gelding you put your children on at the camps for the needy and handicapped.
I will race my heart out for you.
I will pull the heavy carts, the farm plows, and sleighs.
I will guide the hay wagons for those eagerly awaiting a ride under the Harvest Moon.
From daybreak to sunset, I work the cattle and inspect, with you, the land of your domain.
I am the proud steed, rearing up, with the wind in my mane, the storm at my back, and the herd in my keeping.
I am the hero or heroine in the stories that have delighted all those who are young at heart.
I am the old mare who lives for your gentle company, for we have given each other love through my entire life. And though I am not fit any longer for the saddle, I still thrill to hear your voice, and my ears prick forward with as much anticipation as ever for the treats you bring me.
My soft neigh is my way of thanking you for being my friend. The touch of my velvety muzzle in the palm of your hand is my kiss of love.
~*
Dedicated to the nearly 100,000 a year who lose their lives in the slaughter of horses providing food to consumers overseas…
Copyright 2006 Kathy Pippig Harris
~*
If you wish to help stop this abominable practice, go to:
For the 100,000 Horses
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2006_horses_senate?qp_source=gabatn
HOME
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Message from Equine Welfare Alliance
Laura Leigh is adding a Wild Horse Annie page to her Rescue Friends Children’s site http://www.therescuefriends.com/id19.html. As part of the page, she’d like to get kids involved and is going to add comments from kids on Mustangs. She will send them a certificate of appreciation with an ‘official’ Rescue Friend seal for participating.
Laura would also like to take the comments to the BLM meeting on December 7 as part of our Moratorium campaign to show kid’s support as well as individuals, organizations and dignitaries.
Comments should be sent to Laura at Belle@therescuefriends.com or laura@barndoorstudio.com along with the child’s name, age, city and state. Only the first name and age will be displayed on the comments unless the parents specify that the full information should be displayed. Please also indicate permission to include the comment in the package for the December 7 meeting.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Facts of Life
Straight from the Horse's Heart
by Jerry Finch, Founder and President of Habitat for Horses
by Jerry Finch, Founder and President of Habitat for Horses
Jerry Finch, President and Founder of Habitat for Horses
A friend of mine and I were sitting under the spreading cypress tree last
evening discussing the facts of life as we know them. Although I realize that
I’m nowhere near the age where I can be considered mature, it occurred to both
of us that the older we get, the less we know. “The Wisdom of the Elders” is
a part of life that I now realize I’m going to miss. Not that I don’t have a
lot of experience, because I do, but I find that the more years I spend on this
earth, the more I need to learn.
Ten years ago, if I received a letter from someone wanting to donate their old
horse because they couldn’t afford the medication, I’d do everything I could
to help and thank them for doing all they did. Now I find anger rising, seeing
their problem as an attempt to dump their medical bills on us and not facing the
realistic knowledge that no one will ever love their horse as much as they do
and that the best option is to let the horse go peacefully to sleep in his own
pasture, held in the arms of those who love him. Would I send Pete off to some
rescue organization and ask them to buy his $200 per month medication? I never
would and I don’t understand why others would ask.
I once knew why people slaughtered horses. Through courses in economics, through
courses in psychology, I had all this figured out. I knew why people abused
horses, starved them to death, became collectors, beat their kids and spouses.
But now I have no answers. I’ve seen too much, walked too many pastures and
stepped over too many bones. With every step, the “truth” faded into
questions I couldn’t answer. Now I have no answers. When people look at me and
ask “Why?” I have to walk away, often to hide the tears.
When people purposely hurt one another through words and deeds, for no reason, I
knew it was for self-gain. I knew that people build themselves up by making
others look smaller in their peer’s eyes. When it happens now I see the tears
of emotional pain and wonder what the other was thinking to cause such pain.
I wonder what happen to all those loves of yesteryear now that I find myself
essentially alone. I wonder what happened to the babies I held, who looked at me
with wonder in their eyes and called me “Daddy” when they said their first
words. I wonder why I can talk to horses and dogs, but not people. I wonder why
I see money only as it relates to the things I can buy for the horses and not
for myself.
I wonder why Jake, the Lab that’s walked beside me for 17 years, became so
thin and unable to chase sticks and play as we once did. I know about old age,
but Jake was immune to all that. He was always here and I don’ understand why
he needed to leave me now.
I still look back on “my war” and try to think of a reason for all the dead
bodies. I believed in it then, believed in our government, believed that
everything I did was for a greater good. Now I know better. Others call it a lie
and I’ll never know the real truth. I don’ much care anymore. Caring
doesn’t bring back my friends. Caring won’t erase the memories.
Then I look at the horses, and that’s the hardest part. They stand lost and
forlorn at the ranch, waiting for someone to look back at them. I once knew how
to train horses, how to ride them, what to do when they were too old or useless
to be used. Old cowboys taught me all the lessons I needed to learn. I broke
them, rode them hard and used everything up, then watched them be sold at the
auction. I knew it all back then, everything there was to know about horses.
Everything.
Until I actually looked one in the eye and everything I knew amounted to nothing
because I no longer saw an animal to be used and thrown away. “Look deep”
someone told me, “and you’ll see things that will frighten you, unless
you’re prepared.” I looked once and I saw myself. I looked again and I saw a
soul. And when I finally found the courage to look again, I saw the face of God.
This is our gift to be cherished, to hold, to protect and to love, yet they
wander the grassless pastures searching for someone, some human, to reach out to
them, to offer a hand of kindness.
I once knew the facts of life. Now I walk out into the pasture and feel them
crowd around me, waiting to be touched, to be held, to be loved. Yet I only have
two hands and the time, the time is so short.
“See me”, they call out as they walk towards my outstretched fingers. I
match them, step for step, for it is my voice that also calls out to them.
“Feel me”, they ask as they come to me. Not one, not ten, but hundreds,
thousands, pleading from all the dark, forgotten barns and backyard lots, rising
from the dusty ashes of burned bones and shattered dreams.
“Touch me”, they say, wanting just that, a human touch, the feel that
someone cares about them not for what they can do, but for what they are. The
sad soul looks back and I see the emptiness of a human race that destroys all
that is good, except for the few, the so very few that feel true love.
“Heal me”, they cry, those too weak, too old, to alone, those facing the
horror of spending their last moments in a terror filled chamber with blood
covered floors, who lie in their own waste without food or water, those whose
bones will someday decay in back pastures, the bones of a once beautiful foal
born into a world that doesn’t care.
I thought I knew the facts of life. Now I can only stand in the pasture and feel
the burning tears as I look into the Heavens and ask why.
And the Horse said, “It is as you will, my son.”
evening discussing the facts of life as we know them. Although I realize that
I’m nowhere near the age where I can be considered mature, it occurred to both
of us that the older we get, the less we know. “The Wisdom of the Elders” is
a part of life that I now realize I’m going to miss. Not that I don’t have a
lot of experience, because I do, but I find that the more years I spend on this
earth, the more I need to learn.
Ten years ago, if I received a letter from someone wanting to donate their old
horse because they couldn’t afford the medication, I’d do everything I could
to help and thank them for doing all they did. Now I find anger rising, seeing
their problem as an attempt to dump their medical bills on us and not facing the
realistic knowledge that no one will ever love their horse as much as they do
and that the best option is to let the horse go peacefully to sleep in his own
pasture, held in the arms of those who love him. Would I send Pete off to some
rescue organization and ask them to buy his $200 per month medication? I never
would and I don’t understand why others would ask.
I once knew why people slaughtered horses. Through courses in economics, through
courses in psychology, I had all this figured out. I knew why people abused
horses, starved them to death, became collectors, beat their kids and spouses.
But now I have no answers. I’ve seen too much, walked too many pastures and
stepped over too many bones. With every step, the “truth” faded into
questions I couldn’t answer. Now I have no answers. When people look at me and
ask “Why?” I have to walk away, often to hide the tears.
When people purposely hurt one another through words and deeds, for no reason, I
knew it was for self-gain. I knew that people build themselves up by making
others look smaller in their peer’s eyes. When it happens now I see the tears
of emotional pain and wonder what the other was thinking to cause such pain.
I wonder what happen to all those loves of yesteryear now that I find myself
essentially alone. I wonder what happened to the babies I held, who looked at me
with wonder in their eyes and called me “Daddy” when they said their first
words. I wonder why I can talk to horses and dogs, but not people. I wonder why
I see money only as it relates to the things I can buy for the horses and not
for myself.
I wonder why Jake, the Lab that’s walked beside me for 17 years, became so
thin and unable to chase sticks and play as we once did. I know about old age,
but Jake was immune to all that. He was always here and I don’ understand why
he needed to leave me now.
I still look back on “my war” and try to think of a reason for all the dead
bodies. I believed in it then, believed in our government, believed that
everything I did was for a greater good. Now I know better. Others call it a lie
and I’ll never know the real truth. I don’ much care anymore. Caring
doesn’t bring back my friends. Caring won’t erase the memories.
Then I look at the horses, and that’s the hardest part. They stand lost and
forlorn at the ranch, waiting for someone to look back at them. I once knew how
to train horses, how to ride them, what to do when they were too old or useless
to be used. Old cowboys taught me all the lessons I needed to learn. I broke
them, rode them hard and used everything up, then watched them be sold at the
auction. I knew it all back then, everything there was to know about horses.
Everything.
Until I actually looked one in the eye and everything I knew amounted to nothing
because I no longer saw an animal to be used and thrown away. “Look deep”
someone told me, “and you’ll see things that will frighten you, unless
you’re prepared.” I looked once and I saw myself. I looked again and I saw a
soul. And when I finally found the courage to look again, I saw the face of God.
This is our gift to be cherished, to hold, to protect and to love, yet they
wander the grassless pastures searching for someone, some human, to reach out to
them, to offer a hand of kindness.
I once knew the facts of life. Now I walk out into the pasture and feel them
crowd around me, waiting to be touched, to be held, to be loved. Yet I only have
two hands and the time, the time is so short.
“See me”, they call out as they walk towards my outstretched fingers. I
match them, step for step, for it is my voice that also calls out to them.
“Feel me”, they ask as they come to me. Not one, not ten, but hundreds,
thousands, pleading from all the dark, forgotten barns and backyard lots, rising
from the dusty ashes of burned bones and shattered dreams.
“Touch me”, they say, wanting just that, a human touch, the feel that
someone cares about them not for what they can do, but for what they are. The
sad soul looks back and I see the emptiness of a human race that destroys all
that is good, except for the few, the so very few that feel true love.
“Heal me”, they cry, those too weak, too old, to alone, those facing the
horror of spending their last moments in a terror filled chamber with blood
covered floors, who lie in their own waste without food or water, those whose
bones will someday decay in back pastures, the bones of a once beautiful foal
born into a world that doesn’t care.
I thought I knew the facts of life. Now I can only stand in the pasture and feel
the burning tears as I look into the Heavens and ask why.
And the Horse said, “It is as you will, my son.”
Jerry Finch
Friday, November 27, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving & Thank you for Moratorium Support
____________________________________
Dear Supporters of the Unified Letter Calling for a Moratorium on Roundups,
Happy Thanksgiving! The impact of our collective statement is gaining steam! In addition to over 140 organizations now in support, celebrities are joining the cause as well: Sheryl Crow, Mariana Tosca, Ed Harris, Wendie Malick, Viggo Mortenson, Kevin Nealon, and Michael Blake. We have good news to share too- in case you haven't yet heard: In Defense of Animals (a supporter of this moratorium) filed suit against the BLM to stop the massive and inhumane Calico roundup, and because of this suit the BLM has agreed to delay the roundup by 28 days so that the case can be heard! Read the full press release here.
All details here on the Cloud Foundation site or here from Equine Welfare Alliance site!
A fine example (with a fun comic too) is the Int'l Fund for Horses
A Unified Letter calling for an immediate moratorium on roundups has now been signed by over 155 organizations, celebrities and scientists. Please add your support!
Send an e-mail and sign petition for moratorium in one easy step+ add your personal message- click here!
Call (202) 208-7351 and e-mail Interior Secretary Salazar
Call (202) 208-7351 and e-mail Interior Secretary Salazar
And share this press release with the media. You can read more about Sheryl Crow's rescued Mustang "Colorado" here.
Come to the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Nevada-- details online here.
Thank you and happy thanksgiving,
Makendra Silverman
The Cloud Foundation719-633-3842
Take action for our wild horses and burros
Support a moratorium on roundups and send a letter to Obama & your representatives: click here
Please come to the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Nevada-- details online here
www.thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Federal Government Wild Horse and Burro Employees Break Law
Wild Horse Foundation
Press Release 11/25/09
Immediate
Federal Government Wild Horse and Burro Employees Break Law
Franklin, Texas. Founder and President Susan Calhoun along with Ray Field Executive Director, Founder of the Wild Horse Founder have retained former Assistant U. S. Attorney General to investigate that BLM has wrongful used its charge to violate laws. Furthermore, employees of the BLM who violate these laws are not immune from prosecution and in fact charges are being looked into for the very crimes they are committing for violating the Wild Horse and Burro Act establish for the protection of these animals. By the mere fact of conspiring to illegally commit acts against these wild horses and burros is a federal crime and punishable in a federal prison. The non-profit groups instead of going after the rules each time should go after the people for violating the laws which they are to uphold. Congress has not stated in the Wild Horse and Burro act to remove these animals in a death sentence formal style that is being carrying out today.
Thousands of wild horses and burros are being removed each year due to the complaints of the nation’s cattlemen’s over grazing the publicly leased land. Since the 1920’s – 1930’s the Taylor grazing act as it is called as not been checked by any presidential administration because of the money support it’s received through the lobbing of the cattlemen. Only this year that a few “leases” have not been renewed so that the current administration can look like they are trying to return some land to the wild horses. Founder, Executive Director Ray Field states ‘that‘s not enough to improve the quality of these lands. ‘
Federal range management specialists don’t tell the people that wild horses reseed the lands while cows don’t. They don’t tell you that cows with split hooves tear the ground apart while horses with a solid hooves won’t, they don’t tell the people that wild horses cover 20 – 30 miles day or more and cows won’t, simply that the cows will sit in an area and devastate that ground and take years to rehab while wild horses will move on and allow the land to recover between meals and cows won’t.
What the whole wild horse and burro ideological process comes down to is bad behavior. They keep blaming the past president administration and then it was the president before that one and the one before that one when in fact it is the current BLM Director “Responsibility” to do his job, nothing else. The one thing we can count on is our government passing the buck from one person to the others “pocket”.
Only in Middle America can you be a rancher out of business and receive a government welfare check to house wild horses and it’s a life check. No one ever goes out to check these to see if these people are really up-to-date and keeping within the guidelines. This is what the non-profit ought to be looking at these folks, now here’s and idea.
The “American Wild Horse and Burro Act for money” is what it’s welfare ranchers should be on a list. This list should be called, I’m to lazy to have a ranch but I can qualify for government food stamp program.
The number 1 reason the BLM uses these private ranchers is that when the public wants to visit these publicly owned wild horses they can’t. You see these are on “private land” now, so they are officially not wild horses and burros anymore so that ranchers can call the local Sheriff and have you arrested for trying to see what your tax dollars are paying for.
So when you think about how this circle of the BLM works, think of it this way, your father could work for the BLM, forge over 50 BLM adoptions
Papers and send these to slaughter and then get fired then be allowed to quit with no wrong doing so you could get your retirement and then they the BLM hire your son and son-in-law to work for the BLM so you wonder how corrupt the system is? Well even the employees of the United States Federal Government have to up hold the laws like you and I and when they violate theses they can be prosecuted like anyone can. This should slow the wild horse and burro’s removal down to a stop. Think about it.
For more information on wild horses: www.wildhorsefoundation.org
G. R. "Ray" Field
Executive Director
Wild Horse Foundation
13140 State Highway 7
P. O. Box 692
Franklin, Texas 77856
979-828-3927
713-771-5855 fax
Horses To Slaughter Investigation
AZ Family CH 3 News
PHOENIX - His name is Zeke, a beautiful horse, well cared for. It seems his former owner thought he was going to a good home. Instead, Zeke ended up on a truck bound for the slaughter house in Mexico. His lucky break came when he fell while being loaded onto the truck. He ripped his shoulder open and, at that moment, Zeke became much less valuable. That's when he was rescued by volunteers from the Luv Shack Ranch.
"The value of the horse has gone down significantly and that has created a market for killer buyers to buy horses, resell them to feed lots in Texas where they are transported to slaughter houses in mexico," said Joey Ogburn from Luv Shack.
He said while many people think when they sell their horses, they are going to a good home, really they are being sold to slaughter at auctions like the one we visited in Chino Valley.
The auctions are perfectly legal. And it seems it's well known that the so-called killer buyers are there ready to shop for horses they can take to Mexico. Our producer asked representative from the Department of Agriculture what happens to the horses. He responded by saying, "A lot of them go to the killer for horse meat in Mexico".
"At least when we slaughter houses here in the United States," said Ogburn, "we had some regulation."
In 2007 the last three horse slaughter houses in the U.S. were forced to close amid growing outrage over horse slaughter for human consumption. The Humane Society of the United States obtained video inside one of those slaughter houses in Texas before it closed down. It revealed horses being killed by bolt guns; used to drive steel bolts into the horses brain.
Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses, which export meat to Europe, are supposed to uphold horse-welfare standards similar to U.S. rules. Those mandate that horses be stunned -- rendered unconscious, typically with a captive bolt-gun, before they are killed. As disturbing as this sounds, many say it was much more humane than what is now happening to horses in Mexico.
"It's an obscenity" said Steve Long, editor of Horse Talk Magazine. "A horror... It's something that makes me want to throw up."
The Humane Society of the United States also obtained video of a slaughthouse in Juarez, Mexico. The video is extremely graphic and disturbing. The horses are crammed into a long, narrow shoot waiting for their turn to die. According to the Humane Society, the horses are stabbed in their spines so they are paralyzed, they remain conscious as their throats are slit. Then they are hung up to bleed to death.
And it's not just the slaughter itself but the transport of these animals that has animal advocates so concerned. It took three years for a group called Animal's Angels to get photos from the USDA through the freedom of information act. They show just how brutal the trip to slaughter can be; horses with severe injuries their eyes gouged and missing limbs.
Since the closing of the U.S. plants, it's estimated as many as 50 thousand horses a year are being sent to Mexico, ultimately destined for a dinner table in Europe or Japan. Currently Congress is considering a ban on the export of horses for slaughter. But legislation like this faces opposition from many livestock and horse industry groups who say a ban fails to deal with the bigger problem of America's growing number of unwanted horses, an estimated 100,000 a year.
Now remember Zeke, the horse whose fall ended up saving his life? Today he's on the mend.
"He's a real sweetheart," said Dannielle Marturana a volunteer at Luv Shack. "And he's young. We think he's only about six and yet his life would have been over. He's a stunning horse."
But the volunteers can only save so many. The rest of Arizona's horses which are abandoned or sold at auction face a grim fate, and a long painful journey to get there.
Posted on November 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Updated yesterday at 9:35 PM
PHOENIX - His name is Zeke, a beautiful horse, well cared for. It seems his former owner thought he was going to a good home. Instead, Zeke ended up on a truck bound for the slaughter house in Mexico. His lucky break came when he fell while being loaded onto the truck. He ripped his shoulder open and, at that moment, Zeke became much less valuable. That's when he was rescued by volunteers from the Luv Shack Ranch.
"The value of the horse has gone down significantly and that has created a market for killer buyers to buy horses, resell them to feed lots in Texas where they are transported to slaughter houses in mexico," said Joey Ogburn from Luv Shack.
He said while many people think when they sell their horses, they are going to a good home, really they are being sold to slaughter at auctions like the one we visited in Chino Valley.
The auctions are perfectly legal. And it seems it's well known that the so-called killer buyers are there ready to shop for horses they can take to Mexico. Our producer asked representative from the Department of Agriculture what happens to the horses. He responded by saying, "A lot of them go to the killer for horse meat in Mexico".
"At least when we slaughter houses here in the United States," said Ogburn, "we had some regulation."
In 2007 the last three horse slaughter houses in the U.S. were forced to close amid growing outrage over horse slaughter for human consumption. The Humane Society of the United States obtained video inside one of those slaughter houses in Texas before it closed down. It revealed horses being killed by bolt guns; used to drive steel bolts into the horses brain.
Canadian and Mexican slaughterhouses, which export meat to Europe, are supposed to uphold horse-welfare standards similar to U.S. rules. Those mandate that horses be stunned -- rendered unconscious, typically with a captive bolt-gun, before they are killed. As disturbing as this sounds, many say it was much more humane than what is now happening to horses in Mexico.
"It's an obscenity" said Steve Long, editor of Horse Talk Magazine. "A horror... It's something that makes me want to throw up."
The Humane Society of the United States also obtained video of a slaughthouse in Juarez, Mexico. The video is extremely graphic and disturbing. The horses are crammed into a long, narrow shoot waiting for their turn to die. According to the Humane Society, the horses are stabbed in their spines so they are paralyzed, they remain conscious as their throats are slit. Then they are hung up to bleed to death.
And it's not just the slaughter itself but the transport of these animals that has animal advocates so concerned. It took three years for a group called Animal's Angels to get photos from the USDA through the freedom of information act. They show just how brutal the trip to slaughter can be; horses with severe injuries their eyes gouged and missing limbs.
Since the closing of the U.S. plants, it's estimated as many as 50 thousand horses a year are being sent to Mexico, ultimately destined for a dinner table in Europe or Japan. Currently Congress is considering a ban on the export of horses for slaughter. But legislation like this faces opposition from many livestock and horse industry groups who say a ban fails to deal with the bigger problem of America's growing number of unwanted horses, an estimated 100,000 a year.
Now remember Zeke, the horse whose fall ended up saving his life? Today he's on the mend.
"He's a real sweetheart," said Dannielle Marturana a volunteer at Luv Shack. "And he's young. We think he's only about six and yet his life would have been over. He's a stunning horse."
But the volunteers can only save so many. The rest of Arizona's horses which are abandoned or sold at auction face a grim fate, and a long painful journey to get there.
Nevada Mustangs Given 28-Day Reprieve IDA Lawsuit Postpones Huge Wild Horse Roundup
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contacts: William Spriggs, Esq., (202) 452-6051;
Eric Kleiman, 717-939-3231
Nevada Mustangs Given 28-Day Reprieve
IDA Lawsuit Postpones Huge Wild Horse Roundup
Tomorrow, IDA and Mr. Downer plan to file a motion for a permanent injunction, with supporting affidavits from horse experts and eyewitnesses to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups. The motion will ask Judge Paul L. Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stop the roundup altogether.
The roundup and removal of 80-90 percent of the estimated 3,055 wild horses living in the BLM's Calico Mountain Complex was originally scheduled to begin December 1. The BLM has received over 10,000 public comments in opposition to the roundup.
"We welcome this moratorium on the capture and inhumane treatment of the Calico horses," said William Spriggs, Esq. of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney, pro bono attorney for IDA and Mr. Downer. "The BLM plan for a massive helicopter roundup of these horses is entirely illegal."
The Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, passed unanimously by Congress in 1971, designated America's wild horses and burros as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," specifying they "shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death … [and that] to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands.”
Since 1971, the BLM has removed over 270,000 horses from their Western home ranges and taken away nearly 20 million acres of wild horse habitat. Only 37,000 wild horses and burros remain on public lands in the West. By contrast, millions of cattle graze our public lands. Thirty-two thousand wild horses who have been removed from the range are already held in government holding facilities, and the BLM intends to round up 12,000 more horses in FY 2010.
###
In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in Mumbai, India, Cameroon, Africa, and rural Mississippi.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Special Sneak Peek: 1st in a Series
Saving America's Horses
___________________________________
___________________________________
SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK!
This is the first in a series of special sneak peek clips from SAVING AMERICA'S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED.
Actor, Sir Paul Sorvino Speaks on Behalf of the Wild Ones
SEE THIS CLIP HERE!
Please help WFLF bring this film to completion! Donations are needed!
SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED depicts a country divided and inspires great hope for the protection of all horses and burros. It’s a tender yet honest look at the reality that our American horses are born into, the love, joy and respect they give us and in contrast, the complacent mindset of the pro slaughter proponents.
More great ways to support this CAUSE
Sign up for Action Alerts
Donations
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Clips & Statements
Saving America's Horses A Nation Betrayed
Director, Producer ~ Katia Louise
Associate Producer ~ Debra Lopez
Associate Producer ~ Nancy Stanley
Executive Advisory Board
Paula Bacon
Laura Allen
Dr Nena Winand
John Holland
Julie Caramante
Shelley Abrams
Donations are greatly needed to bring this film to completion. Please support this film and help us to save America's equines. “We are their voice and they need to be heard” – Katia Louise
A variety of on screen film credits are also available. Please contact Debra Lopez
Actor, Sir Paul Sorvino re the Wild Ones
http://www. savingamericashorses.org/ paulsorvinoclip.html
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Posted: 23 Nov 2009 07:52 PM PST
SPECIAL SNEAK PEEK!
This is the first in a series of special sneak peek clips from SAVING AMERICA'S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED.
Actor, Sir Paul Sorvino Speaks on Behalf of the Wild Ones
SEE THIS CLIP HERE!
Please help WFLF bring this film to completion! Donations are needed!
SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES A NATION BETRAYED depicts a country divided and inspires great hope for the protection of all horses and burros. It’s a tender yet honest look at the reality that our American horses are born into, the love, joy and respect they give us and in contrast, the complacent mindset of the pro slaughter proponents.
More great ways to support this CAUSE
Sign up for Action Alerts
Donations
Collaborate
Learn more
Press
Clips & Statements
Saving America's Horses A Nation Betrayed
Director, Producer ~ Katia Louise
Associate Producer ~ Debra Lopez
Associate Producer ~ Nancy Stanley
Executive Advisory Board
Paula Bacon
Laura Allen
Dr Nena Winand
John Holland
Julie Caramante
Shelley Abrams
Donations are greatly needed to bring this film to completion. Please support this film and help us to save America's equines. “We are their voice and they need to be heard” – Katia Louise
A variety of on screen film credits are also available. Please contact Debra Lopez
Actor, Sir Paul Sorvino re the Wild Ones
http://www. savingamericashorses.org/ paulsorvinoclip.html
Terry Farley says she will deliver for our wild horses
Tuesday's Horse
2009 November 24
tags: horses nevada, terry farley, wild burros, wild horse roundups, wild horses
by Fund4Horses
Via Email from Terry Farley
Stampeded by helicopters, slammed into metal pens, torn from families when their hearts and heads say safety is with the herd, our wild horses have been robbed of their homelands and forced to stand dull-eyed in pens, awaiting the slaughter that the Bureau of Land Management says will come.
It’s going on today. Tomorrow. The next day.
And it’s done in my name and yours as if it’s the will of the American people, despite the cost, the lack of a clearly stated plan and our continued protests that this is NOT what we want.
That’s why my name is on a letter to President Obama and Congress.
You can see the entire list of horse advocates and agencies which have signed on.
Our most immediate request is that ALL ROUND-UPS MUST STOP until accurate numbers of horses and livestock are available and range conditions are evaluated by independent observers.
Want to help me help the horses?
Here’s how:
1. Write a letter (feel free to use anything I’ve written to support your opinion). Speak your mind; no one can do that for you.
2. Include your first name, age, and where you live (city, state, country).
3. Mail your letters to Terri Farley, 565 California Avenue, Reno, Nevada 89509.
4. I will stand up at the BLM meeting on Dec. 7, make a quick statement, then start reading the names, ages, and city/state/countries of those speaking for mustang freedom.
5. I will be allowed 3-5 minutes speaking time & my goal is to read your names until they cut me off.
Let’s give the horses something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
– Terry Farley
2009 November 24
tags: horses nevada, terry farley, wild burros, wild horse roundups, wild horses
by Fund4Horses
Via Email from Terry Farley
Stampeded by helicopters, slammed into metal pens, torn from families when their hearts and heads say safety is with the herd, our wild horses have been robbed of their homelands and forced to stand dull-eyed in pens, awaiting the slaughter that the Bureau of Land Management says will come.
It’s going on today. Tomorrow. The next day.
And it’s done in my name and yours as if it’s the will of the American people, despite the cost, the lack of a clearly stated plan and our continued protests that this is NOT what we want.
That’s why my name is on a letter to President Obama and Congress.
You can see the entire list of horse advocates and agencies which have signed on.
Our most immediate request is that ALL ROUND-UPS MUST STOP until accurate numbers of horses and livestock are available and range conditions are evaluated by independent observers.
Want to help me help the horses?
Here’s how:
1. Write a letter (feel free to use anything I’ve written to support your opinion). Speak your mind; no one can do that for you.
2. Include your first name, age, and where you live (city, state, country).
3. Mail your letters to Terri Farley, 565 California Avenue, Reno, Nevada 89509.
4. I will stand up at the BLM meeting on Dec. 7, make a quick statement, then start reading the names, ages, and city/state/countries of those speaking for mustang freedom.
5. I will be allowed 3-5 minutes speaking time & my goal is to read your names until they cut me off.
Let’s give the horses something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
– Terry Farley
Mariana Tosca, Viggo Mortensen and Kevin Nealon join the unified call for an immediate moratorium on wild horse and burro round-ups.
The Cloud Foundation
PRESS RELEASE FROM THE EQUINE-WELFARE ALLIANCE
November 24, 2009
Contact:
Vicki Tobin Equine Welfare Alliance 630.961.9292 vicki@equinewelfarealliance.org
John Holland Equine Welfare Alliance 540-268-5693 john@equinewelfarealliance.org
Mariana Tosca, Viggo Mortensen and Kevin Nealon join the unified call for an immediate moratorium on wild horse and burro round-ups.
“Without a single dissenting vote, the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed by Congress guaranteeing these animals protection from “capture, branding, harassment and death.” – Mariana Tosca
CHICAGO, (EWA) – Acclaimed Actors Mariana Tosca, Christmas in the Clouds, Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings, Appaloosa and Hidalgo and Kevin Nealon, Weeds have added their voice to a growing 150 organizations and dignitaries from America, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa asking President Obama and Secretary Salazar to halt the round-ups of America’s wild horses and burros.
The assault on America’s wild horses and burros must be halted until range studies can be performed and a solid plan is established for the management of these magnificent animals that represent our American heritage.
Actor and Social Activist, Mariana Tosca, joined the unified call with the following statement issued to John Holland, President of the Equine Welfare Alliance.
“With virtually no oversight, the BLM’s maneuvers are methodically cleansing the land of these animals who have become an inconvenience and impediment to the goals of the ranching, gas and oil industries.
It is the action of arrogance and the lowest instincts of man to place greed above the rights of others and to shape policy to fit private agendas. Millions of head of cattle are grazing on public ranges - public ranges that were designated for these wild horses and burros on land that belongs to American taxpayers, not to private entities.
These horses are connected to this land; their ancestors roamed unfettered on it over a million years ago. They represent the basic principal that our nation was founded on: FREEDOM. These animals are the physical embodiment of all that we as people and as a nation aspire to… liberty and self-determination. And at some level that resonates with each and every one of us. With every BLM round up that is allowed to happen, our heritage is under siege.”
Viggo Mortensen adds, “Thanks to all who have contacted their government representatives on behalf of mustangs, those unique animals that are living symbols of the nation's heritage and character. Your efforts have paid off, prompting Congress to strengthen the protections afforded to wild horses and burros in the United States of America [with the passage of HR 1018].
Mariana Tosca continues, “We have to stop eroding the law that ensures their protection, simply to cater to and placate private entities. America faces a very real risk that the wild horse will go the way of the buffalo, wiped out by a zealous hunt to make room for commercial interests.
Since the BLM is a government agency, with perceived mismanagement and conflict of interest issues, the public has a right to call for an independent audit of the horses in BLM managed short and long term holding facilities, as well as an independent count of the horses remaining on the ranges. The management of our remaining wild horses should be moved to another agency.”
A lawsuit was filed by IDA (In Defense of Animals) on November 23 aimed at halting the removal of over 2,700 horses in the Nevada Calico Complex which is scheduled to start on December 1.
Additional information on the unified call for a moratorium is available on the Equine Welfare Alliance and The Cloud Foundation websites.
Vicki | A Voice for Our Horses
Please take action for our wild horses and burros
Support a moratorium on roundups and send a letter to Obama & your representatives: click here
Please come to the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting on December 7th in Nevada-- details online here.
www.thecloudfoundation.org
www.thecloudfoundation.org