BLM and Wild Horse Advocate Work Together to Minimize Stress to Equines

Straight from the Horse's Heart

A Cooperative Release by the BLM Tonopah Field Office, Wild Horse Education and the Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Cooperative “Adoption Option” to Be Tested at Stone Cabin

PVC Geldings looking for a home ~ photo by Laura Leigh

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management) will be conducting a removal operation of wild horses within the Stone Cabin and Saulsbury HMAs.The Tonopah Field Office (TFO) is planning to conduct trap site adoption for people interested in bringing a horse from these ranges into their homes. This trap site adoption could be considered a “home range” option for adopting wild horses or burros.
This option allows prospective adopters to bring their horse home from the range instead of obtaining the animal from a short-term holding facility.
Bureau of Land Management Battle Mountain District Manager Doug Furtado believes that integrated trap site adoptions are the right thing to do. Mr. Furtado states “In the past, BLM has conducted satellite adoption events as well as trap site adoptions.  Integrated trap site adoptions are cost effective as no additional expense is incurred as the wild horses and/or burros are adopted on site prior to shipment to a temporary holding facility.  Secondly, and most importantly, adopted wild horses or burros are taken directly from the gather to their new homes.”
This is an option that may facilitate a faster adaptation to ‘home’ life minimizing trauma of transport and the movement that occurs at the holding facility. This will allow the new owner more control of stimulus presented to the horses.
“Having an adopter come to the animals home range has other benefits as well” states Laura Leigh, a wild horse advocate and founder of Wild Horse Education and VP of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, “the new owner may gain an appreciation of how this animal has lived and survived that may also facilitate a deeper understanding and relationship.”
Wild horses and burros removed from the range are offered for adoption to qualified people through the BLM’s Adopt-a-Horse or Burro Program. Potential adopters must have the proper facilities and financial means to care for an adopted animal, and we always hope that they have experience (or experienced assistance) working with a wild horse or burro, which will help ensure the gentling process. All animals adopted in this “home range” option will be subject to compliance check and all provisions will be identical to those adopted at a facility.
No horses will be “sale authority” through this adoption.
If you do not have an approved application and are interested in this adoption option please begin your approval process as soon as possible.
To facilitate the public and assist with questions and paperwork wild horse and burro specialists from the BLM will be on site.  Wild Horse Education will also be present and available as a resource for the public.
“This option is being done with the intent to offer the public and horses something that may prove beneficial,” said Leigh “toward that end I have volunteered to assist the BLM by helping to answer questions, offer input on problem solving and follow through.”
“Working together to find options presents many new possibilities,” said Furtado. “Perhaps through this process we can begin to expand dialogue into the future.”
“The focus of our advocacy work has always been to improve conditions for each horse and improve communication,” states R.T. Fitch President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation “it is with sincere hope that actions like these begin to facilitate that end.”
If you are interested in adoption please contact Thomas Seley, Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management Tonopah Field Office at (775) 482-7801 or Wild Horse Education at WildHorseEducation@gmail.com

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Transparency and Accountability Questioned at Upcoming Mustang Roundup

Protect Mustangs

Preservation group wants increased visibility for public and media to document native wild horses at roundup and temporary holding
WASHINGTON (February 3, 2012)—On the eve of another expensive Tonopah roundup in Nevada, Protect Mustangs voices their concern for the welfare of the American wild horse during roundups as well as government transparency, fiscal responsibility, public access and accountability. The preservation group awaits the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) response to the following questions:
1.) We are very concerned about the lack of transparency at roundups. Keeping visitors miles away from the trap site is unacceptable. In 2009 and 2010 members of the public and media were allowed closer access to document the roundups. Why has this policy changed?
2.) We want to go on the record to ask that the canvas on the metal corral panels—blocking the ability to see inside the trap site even from a distance—be taken down. It appears the BLM shrouds the mustang removals in secrecy and does not want the media or public to see what is going on when wild horses are captured. This protocol is very upsetting to members of the public. Will BLM take down the canvas tarps blocking media and public visibility to document the roundup?
3.) We would like to see a burro expert on site to prevent animal cruelty at taxpayer expense. Will a burro behavior expert be on site every time burros are being rounded up and transported so the cruel hot-shotting incident at Calico will not be repeated?
4.) The American public wants all roundup-related deaths to be counted correctly. If a wild horse—enjoying life out on the range—is removed from the range alive and BLM kills it because it is “old” or for whatever other reason this needs to go on the record as “roundup related”. The horse would have continued to live for some time if the BLM had not rounded it up. Will the BLM attribute the death of wild horses as “roundup-related” for a minimum of 30 days from their capture?
5.) We also want to go on the record asking for BLM to hold all aspects of capture, temporary holding, processing and adoption on public land—giving reasonable access to the media and the public—as an act of good faith to show the global community that the Wild Horse and Burros program has taken the new direction the courts are expecting you have taken. Will you hold all aspects of the roundup, holding, processing and adoption on public land to build trust with the public?
Upon receiving the response from BLM, Protect Mustangs will post it to their website: www.ProtectMustangs.org
Rounding up healthy wild horses illustrates fiscal irresponsibility during America’s economic crisis. The overpopulation myth was created by BLM to justify spending millions of tax dollars.
In 1900, 2 million wild horses roamed the West. Protect Mustangs believes today less than 20,000 exist in the ten western states combined.
“After hearing the State of the Union address we are concerned that the Obama Administration will forfeit wildlife for the New Energy Frontier,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We want to see genetically viable wild horses and other wildlife remain on public land for the public to enjoy. There can be a win-win for wild horses and energy. Industrialization must not wipe out wildlife.”
The preservation group urges interested people to contact the Tonopah BLM to adopt a wild horse or burro at the roundup site. Their office telephone is 775-482-7801.
Protect Mustangs is a Berkeley-based preservation group whose mission is to educate the public about the American wild horse, protect and research wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

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Media Contacts:
Anne Novak, 415-531-8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org
Kerry Becklund, 510-502-1913 Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org
Photos, video and interviews available upon request.
Links of interest:
Protect Mustangs’ videos: http://www.youtube.com/ProtectMustangs
Protect Mustangs in the news: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=218
Protect Mustangs website: http://protectmustangs.org/
Josh Fox (GASLAND HBO) denied 1st Amendment rights & arrested: http://bit.ly/zqVCZF
Obama Continues Destructive Federal Grazing Subsidy on 258 Million Acres of Public Land: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2012/02/01-3
Cloud Foundation Captures Burro Hot-shot Abuse on Video:  http://bit.ly/tDXkkl
Deb Coffey’s Open Letter to Tonopah BLM: http://ppjg.me/2012/01/03/open-letter-to-the-blm-hee-haw/ 

Ban Horse Slaughter Now!

SignOn.org

By Kristen Tregar (Contact)

To be delivered to: The United States House of Representatives, The United States Senate, and President Barack Obama

We ask that the House of Representatives, Senate, and President Obama pass the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011, S.B. 1176/H.R. 2966, to ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption. This is particularly important for the following reasons:

1) Horses are revered for their contributions to the building of this country, their long-standing history of working alongside humans in a variety of tasks, their companionship, and their special bond with people;

(2) Horses are not raised for the purpose of being slaughtered for human consumption, and, as a result, American horses are not raised, fed, and medicated within the FDA guidelines established for food animals, making them potentially unfit and unsafe for human consumption;

(3) Horse slaughter is not humane euthanasia and does not allow for each animal to be respectfully treated as an individual;

(4) Banning slaughter would encourage breeders to be more careful in the number of foals they produce, and it ultimately would reduce the number of horses in need, while improving horse welfare;

(5) President Obama made a campaign promise to permanently ban horse slaughter and exports of horses for human consumption; and

(6) Allowing commercial horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. uses American tax dollars to support an industry that caters entirely to foreign interests, instead of directing those tax dollars to domestic interests.

As a result of spending bill H2112, slaughterhouses in the United States will be able to resume slaughtering horses for human consumption. We are not a nation that raises horses as food animals or one that consumes horse meat. Rather, horses are largely considered companion animals, more similar to dogs and cats than to animals raised for consumption. They should therefore be treated as such, and not subjected to mass slaughter.
CLICK HERE to Take Action!

Friday Fun

ALL Americans should be concerned about this. The welfare of horses, whether privately owned or in rescues, is dependent on the U.S. economy. Maybe not so much fun, huh? Call your U.S representative and DEMAND that he/she address this NOW.

Learn more about
us debt.

USDA Threatened with Suit if Court Order Not Followed Before Horse Slaughter Resumes

Humane Society

February 3, 2012

The Humane Society of the United States cautioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a letter that the agency must comply with a 2007 ruling from the D.C. District Court prior to resuming the inspection of horse slaughter facilities—a crucial matter because such inspections could open the way to new horse slaughter plants in the U.S. The HSUS warned that it will consider taking aggressive legal action against USDA to enforce those obligations if the agency fails to follow the court’s order.

Although Congress chose not to renew a prohibition on USDA funds being used for horse slaughter inspections, those inspections cannot recommence automatically, according to The HSUS. In The Humane Society of the United States v. Johanns, the D.C. District Court enjoined USDA from restarting horse slaughter inspections without first conducting an environmental review of the environmental impacts of horse slaughter operations, which can include a persistent noxious stench and the presence of horse blood in the plumbing of neighboring areas. USDA must comply with that order before restarting horse slaughter inspections, and before any horse slaughter plant can open in the U.S.

“The court’s decision is crystal clear,” said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president of animal protection litigation for The HSUS. “USDA must undertake an environmental review before inspections begin, and The HSUS will take appropriate legal action to ensure the agency carries out the court’s directives.”

In 2005, Congress voted to prohibit the use of federal funds to pay for salaries and expenses of personnel to inspect horses being slaughtered for human consumption. By defunding horse slaughter inspections, horse slaughter facilities could no longer operate, and by 2007, all U.S. slaughterhouses were closed. Prior to congressional action, more than 100,000 horses were being slaughtered each year in the United States for consumption abroad. Horses are not bred or raised for food production, but were swept up in the pipeline of “killer buyers” who export horse meat or profit.

In a troubling decision, a congressional conference committee stripped the defunding provision, which had been in place for five years, from an FY 2012 agriculture spending bill, giving USDA the discretion to once again resume horse slaughter inspections, which could cost an estimated $5 million in taxpayer dollars annually. A poll conducted in January by Lake Research Partners for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals found that 80 percent of Americans are strongly opposed to horse slaughter. 

“At a time when our nation is looking to cut spending, it is deeply disappointing that Congress added millions of dollars to the federal budget to enable the needless slaughter of America’s iconic horses to resume,” Lovvorn said.  “Americans don’t eat horses, and don’t want them butchered, shrink-wrapped, and sent to France or Belgium as a high-priced appetizer.”

The HSUS’s letter also noted that USDA will have to make extensive changes to its existing regulatory framework to comply with new regulations for the export of horsemeat to the European Union, a top U.S. export destination in the past.

A full copy of the letter can be read here.

Media Contact: Stephanie Twining, 301-258-1491, stwining@humanesociety.org

Alliance Speaks Out on ASPCA Poll

Horseback Magazine

February 3, 2012

Poll finds big Ag horse slaughter promotion has backfired

Chicago (EWA) – A poll conducted in January by Lake Research Partners for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) found that 80% of Americans are strongly opposed to horse slaughter. The highly respected research group based its survey on 1,008 voters giving the results a 3% margin of error. The poll found opposition was consistent across all sectors, including horse owners.
The findings are all the more remarkable given the huge media effort that was mounted by the horse slaughter lobby following the closing of U.S. based horse slaughter plants in 2007.
While the effort appeared to have worked on Congress, causing them to restore funding for horse slaughter inspections, it had the opposite effect on voter opinion. A similar poll performed a decade earlier indicates that opposition to horse slaughter has increased by almost 10%.
The slaughter lobby, supported by some of the most powerful agriculture groups in the country including the Farm Bureau, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the Pork Producers Council (PPC), the American Veterinary Medicine Association and the American Quarter Horse Association has engaged some of the top lobbying and PR firms in Washington in a concerted effort to push back against what they saw as a victory for “animal rights” supporters.
EWA’s John Holland explains “The horse slaughter issue has unfortunately become part of a much larger battle between big agriculture and animal welfare advocates. Big agriculture has decided to protect itself with an aggressive in-your-face strategy designed to preemptively crush its opponents, real and imagined.”
The promotion of horse slaughter is just one of the proxy battles being waged by the Ag giants. In July of 2011, the NCBA and the PPC opposed a plan already agreed to by the United Egg Producers (UEP) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to replace existing battery cages with equally efficient environments that create better living conditions for laying hens. The move showed a willingness to attack even other animal agriculture associations who appeared to be bending toward better humane standards.
Perhaps the most bizarre example of this aggressive strategy is SB 610 introduced into the Virginia Legislature this year by State Senator Dick Black. The bill called for working dogs to be reclassified as livestock, effectively removing their humane protection as companion animals. Following an avalanche of criticism, Black announced he was pulling the bill and admitting that he had introduced it “to aid the agriculture and farming community at their request.” He went on to mention the Farm Bureau and the Agribusiness Council by name.

“This newest poll should serve as a warning to politicians who have yielded to big Ag bullying” says EWA’s Vick Tobin, “Voters are not with you on the horse slaughter issue.”

Horse Sense Prevails: House Committee Approves Bill with Ban on Double-Deck Trailer Transport

Animal Welfare Institute

Friday, February 3, 2102

Washington, D.C. -- The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is pleased to report that the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, H.R. 7, approved earlier today by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee includes a prohibition on the hauling of horses via double-deck trailers. The move to incorporate this prohibition within the larger transportation bill was strongly supported by AWI and championed by Representative Andy Harris (R-MD) and Committee Ranking Member, Nick Rahall (D-WV). The entire bill now goes before the full House of Representatives for a vote.

While the overall transportation bill is by no means an unqualified success and contains many unsavory elements from an animal welfare perspective, final passage of this ban on double-deck transport in interstate commerce would represent a clear and important victory for horse protection. AWI has long fought to have this inhumane practice outlawed, and in the present instance AWI worked to fend off a last-minute attempt by committee member Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR) to amend the bill so as to strip out the double-deck transport ban.

Chris Heyde, Deputy Director of Government and Legal Affairs for AWI, said, "We are very pleased that this ban has been approved by the House Committee. For far too long, unscrupulous individuals have been legally permitted to pack horses into dangerously cramped trailers with ceilings so low that horses are unable to stand properly. The horses are hauled on long-distance journeys that very often cause serious injuries and even deaths. Today, thanks to Representatives Harris and Rahall along with others on the Committee, we moved one step closer to putting an end to this inhumane and utterly unnecessary practice."

Equine rescue, advocacy, and professional organizations including the American Veterinary Medical Association, National Black Farmers Association, and Veterinarians for Equine Welfare support a ban on double-deck transport of horses. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has expressed opposition to double-deck hauling of horses, stating that, "We do not believe that equines can be safely and humanely transported on a conveyance that has an animal cargo space divided into two or more stacked levels."(9 CFR Parts 70 and 88). In fact, the USDA has prohibited using these trailers for transporting horses to slaughter, but its rule doesn't cover horses being transported for other purposes. All horses, regardless of where they are going, deserve this important precaution, and the language included in the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act will provide it.

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Media Contact:
Chris Heyde, (202) 446-2142, chris@awionline.org

PETA Promotes Horse Slaughter!

NOT kidding! Amazing! Phone number at the end of the post. Let's burn up the phone lines!

Horse slaughtering resumes in US as legislation languishes in Congress

Fox News

Excerpt:
"When slaughter of horses was ended in the United States, what that meant for horses was not an end to slaughter," Kathy Guillermo with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said .
"What that meant was that they were crammed into small trucks, that they were slipping and sliding in their own waste, crammed together with horses they didn't know, biting and kicking and trucked a thousand miles or more to another country where they met the exact same fate."

[End excerpt.]
Read more HERE...


From a horse warrior:

"Just finished speaking with a PETA rep named Cindy about their endorsement of the horse slaughter reenactment bill. She gave me the Slaughterhouse Sue version of why it was necessary. Call her at 757-622-7382 and tell her your opinion. I could not believe it but I saw it on Fox News at 1PM today. Please share this, thanks."


And PLEASE don't forget to SHARE!

ASPCA Releases Landmark Study on Voter Attitudes Across All Demographic Segments – 80 Percent Opposed to Horse Processing

Horseback Magazine

February 1, 2012
ASPCA Research Confirms Americans Strongly Oppose
Slaughter of Horses for Human Consumption
ASPCA urges public support for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
NEW YORK, (ASPCA) — The The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals today announced in a newly released poll conducted by Lake Research Partners that 80 percent of American voters are opposed to the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption. The nationwide survey reveals that Americans oppose horse slaughter overwhelmingly regardless of their gender, political affiliation, whether they live in an urban or rural area, or their geographic location. Further, it confirms that a vast majority of horse owners are also against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines.
“The overwhelming majority of Americans are not just against horse slaughter but are intensely opposed to this cruel practice. As more people learn that we are allowing our horses to be shuttled off to a gruesome death all for the sake of foreign gourmands, they are outraged and opposition for this grisly act is growing,” said Nancy Perry, senior vice president of ASPCA Government Relations.  “Anyone who has been to the movies lately knows the price horses have paid by carrying us to war, building our nation, and serving our entertainment and companionship needs.  Americans have a responsibility to protect these intelligent, sensitive animals from being butchered.”
Horse slaughter is inherently cruel because the biology of horses makes them difficult to stun and they often remain conscious during their slaughter. In addition, horsemeat can be toxic to humans, as horses are frequently administered drugs that violate the safety regulations mandated for food animals. Furthermore, the majority of horses killed for human consumption are in good condition and could go on to lead productive lives in loving homes. They just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time – and this means that any horse, no matter how loved, is just one bad sale away from the slaughterhouse until we ban this practice.
“As a lifelong horse lover and rider, I believe that horses deserve to be treated with respect, and I recognize that horse slaughter has no place in our country as horses are not raised as livestock here, but as companion animals,” said Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La. “I will continue working with my colleagues in Congress and other advocates to ensure that the American people are heard and that we stop this inhumane practice once and for all.”
The last U.S. horse slaughterhouses were closed in 2007, and despite the fact that Americans do not consume horsemeat, Congress recently failed to continue defunding horsemeat inspections, making it legal for horse slaughterhouses to reopen. The ASPCA urges all caring Americans to support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 2966 and S. 1176 ), which would prohibit the sale and  transport of horses for slaughter in the United States, as well as across the border to Canada and Mexico. The passage of this critical legislation would end the current export and slaughter of approximately 100,000 American horses each year.
“Using tax dollars to fund this inhumane and controversial practice is a wildly unpopular decision, as our research confirms, and has fueled the fire for a complete ban on horse slaughter,” added Perry.
For more information on the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act, please visit www.aspca.org/AHSPA.
Lake Research Partners designed and administered this telephone survey, using professional interviewers, with 1,008 registered voters. The nationwide survey was conducted January 9-12, 2012. The margin of error for the total sample is +/-3.09 percentage points, and larger for sub-groups. The data were slightly weighted by gender, race, age, and region to ensure a comprehensive representation of registered voters in the U.S.