Story by Steven Long ~ editor/publisher of Horseback Magazine
“Thumbs Up” on Wild Horse Slaughter from Obama’s Bob Abbey
BLM King Pin supports slaughtering native wild horses for human consumption
Other BLM personnel advertised to attend are Dr. Boyd Spratling, a member of the agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, Dave Cattoor, the BLM lead helicopter contractor, Larry Johnson, a former advisory board member, and Dean Bolstead a management specialist with the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
The BLM chief Washington spokesman, Tom Gorey told Horseback Magazine that Abbey, an Obama appointee, would speak.
“I can confirm that BLM Director Bob Abbey has tentatively accepted an invitation to speak at the horse summit,” Gorey said. “I would note that the Department of Interior and the BLM have already removed from the discussion table any consideration of the euthanasia of healthy wild horses and the unlimited sale of older horses, even though these legal authorities exist under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, as amended.”
By using the term “unlimited sale,” Gorey is acknowledging that the agency has prohibited the sale of captured wild horses to “killer buyers” who haunt the nation’s horse auction houses and buy cheap horses, and sometimes family pets, then sell them in Canada and Mexico for slaughter. But by accepting the invitation, Abbey has at the very least given the slaughter of wild horses the agency imprimatur of acceptance by an agency which only two years ago was considering euthanasia of the herds by the tens of thousands according to a report leaked to the Associated Press and reported.
“The Director’s remarks will therefore be limited to the present and future course of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, which the BLM is committed to putting on a sustainable track, as called for by the Government Accountability Office in a report issued in October 2008,” Gorey said. “The Director is also open to discussing the wild horse eco-sanctuary proposal of Madeleine Pickens and similar proposals,” he told the magazine.
Gorey didn’t explain why Abbey would discuss the eco-sanctuary proposal of the Texas billionaire and her husband with Wallis and others in attendance who primarily want to develop a market for horse meat and rid BLM lands of horses to open up new grazing leases.
Gorey could not confirm any of the other BLM personnel and former personnel would be attending, including Bolstead who he said was out of the office Wednesday afternoon when the story broke.
United Horsemen came into being shortly after the election of Sue Wallis to the Wyoming legislature. It has had scant success in putting together a viable program until recently when the Summit was announced. Earlier, the group announced several BLM officials had confirmed they would be attending. Upon contacting the agency, none of the officials had accepted an invitation. The current set of officials the group is claiming will attend were not among the original names made public. None of those names are currently listed as speakers.
The slaughter of American horses for human consumption is illegal in the United States. Studies have shown that it is unlikely that a viable market for domestic horsemeat will ever again develop, either here or abroad, because of the toxicity of American horses which are frequently given high doses dangerous chemicals in drugs such as phenylbutazone and horse wormers. The European Union has banned the import of American horsemeat containing such toxic substances that are dangerous to humans. Yesterday the Senate passed a law, already enacted by the House, giving the Food and Drug Administration vastly increased power over the nation’s food supply. It is extremely dubious that untainted horsemeat in sufficient numbrs would ever past FDA inspections. President Obama is expected to sign the the new legislation into law.
Asked if FDA authority over food, including horse meat, would have any impact on plans for a horse slaughter plant Summit official Dave Duquette would not comment.
As a public service to our readers, Horseback is reprinting the entire progam of the event which was provided to the magazine by Duquette.
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