In Arizona: Wild Horses, Courtrooms and a Woman Alone in the Desert

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Wild Horses, Courtrooms and a Woman Alone in the Desert

Straight from the Horse's Heart

(The News as We See It) by R.T. Fitch ~ Pres. of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

It’s All About the Horses

The Everyday Cruelty of the BLM ~ photo by Laura Leigh

As the helicopters fly, the phone lines hum and the social networks scream there is one voice that continually and unwaveringly whispers in our ears about the fate of our wild horses. There is no ego in her tone or glory sought in her words just the hurt and pain of witnessing cruelty and suffering, day in and day out. Quietly, sometimes crying, she shares her observations for the day as our souls wrestle with the guilt and feeling of impotence; Laura Leigh is there and we are not.
We talk every day, Terry lovingly refers to her as my “other” wife, and I cannot count the number of times that I have hung up with tears in my eyes, tears not just for the horses dying and suffering at the hands of the BLM and their contractors but tears for the soul that sleeps little, eats less yet is always there for the horses. It’s tough and often more than I can stand.
And this past week has been all of the above only on steroids as court papers were prepared and filed with parties working behind the scene to make it a reality…the phone never stops ringing.
Thanks to the generous help of a few a difference will be made, things are happening for the horses that have never happened before and with the continued support of the advocacy we might, just might be able to work that dent that Laura has found in the BLM’s armor, just maybe.
Below is an unedited post from Laura Leigh’s blog which she published early this morning…it speaks volumes and paints a bit of the picture of what has gone on in the past week as Laura, her attorney, advocates and Wild Horse Freedom Federation have scrambled in an attempt to stop the inhumanity of Sun-J and the BLM at the Triple-B wild horse stampede…

What I document in my almost daily observations of horses either on the range, in holding or at trap sites is more akin to a “feral livestock trash removal” operation than the humane care of a protected equine species. This animal is the only animal in our country to have an entire act of Congress devoted to it’s protection and humane treatment. Yet the agency fails to enforce the most basic of humane standard of care. This “conversation” is overdue after 40 years of this Act being in the hands of a “land management” agency.
During Triple B I have travelled back and forth across the state three times. I had a friend get altitude sickness and she went to the hospital. I have had my dog get sick. “Our” attorney, Gordon Cowan, lost his father last weekend.
But the Motions got filed. I went through the photos and edited more video. I looked at doc’s and did research. It all breaks my heart. Looking at situations that would cause most horse owners to be cited yet searching for an avenue of accountability… and the actions are perpetrated by my own government…. it boggles the mind and simply hurts my “American” soul.
There are a few of you that have helped with this effort and I am forever grateful that you have faith in me to bring this forward. I am trying. I pray everyday that I find the door and the right words…
Most of my family is currently on the East Coast in the path of Irene.
I still have work to do… an awful lot of work to do… but tonight I just wanted to express my gratitude, as a human being, to those of you that have had the fortitude to stand tall. It aint easy. It aint over….