STOP-THE-ROUNDUPS PRESS CONFERENCE IN PHOENIX; SAVE OUR WILD BURROS AND HORSES DEMONSTRATIONS AT NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD MEETING OF OUR WILD HORSES

Humane Observer: Elyse Gardner

 With numerous supporters of our American wild horses, I traveled to Phoenix to attend the first 2011 meeting of the national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board, as well as the press conference we held to Stop the Roundups.

Here are a few clips for you from the press conference officiated by Ginger Kathrens, Emmy winning filmmaker of the Nature series on Cloud, the inimitable wild Palomino stallion of the Rockies.  I will be posting more as I get the clips ready for you.
Michael Blake's statement at the March 10, 2011, Stop-the-Roundups press conference.

Read MORE...(More videos)

Indian Lakes Holding Facility: One Year Later

Humane Observer: Elyse Gardner

A REMINDER OF WHAT'S HAPPENING BEHIND BROKEN ARROW'S CLOSED DOORS

©1/26/10 Elyse Gardner

A GRIM DEMONSTRATION OF THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN A ROUNDUPHas anyone seen any statistics on the foaling rate and spontaneous abortions now taking place in the Antelope complex mares?   Do the Indian Lakes Updates reflect these figures?  Is any facility reporting these things?   Below is a screenshot of the last Indian Lakes update.    Read MORE....

Group Lawsuit Filed to Stop Destruction of Colorado Mustang Herd

Straight from the Horse's Heart

Press Release from HfH Advisory Council and The Cloud Foundation

Suit seeks immediate injunction, cites BLM’s violations of four Congressional Acts

New York City, NY (October 7, 2010)— A case filed today against Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar in federal court aims to stop the elimination of wild horses from Colorado’s North Piceance herd area. Plaintiffs Habitat for Horses (HfH), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), The Cloud Foundation (TCF), Toni Moore and Dr. Don Moore challenge the BLM’s ongoing illegal treatment of wild horses residing on public lands and it’s intention to completely remove all wild horses from this area beginning October 11, 2010.
The Plaintiffs’ attorneys, Bruce Wagman (Schiff Hardin) and Valerie Stanley, are asking the court for an injunction to stop BLM from removing any of these wild horses pending a complete judicial review of the BLM’s conduct. The complaint cites four counts and violations committed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM): violation of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Information Quality Act and the Federal Land Policy Management Act. The suit has been brought against BLM Director Robert Abbey and Field Manager of the Colorado White River Field Office Kent Walter, in addition to Secretary Salazar.
“The BLM’s ‘shoot from the hip’ policy of indiscriminately destroying and removing long standing wild horse herds has to come to an end,” says R.T. Fitch, Volunteer Executive Director of co-supporting organization HfH Advisory Council, “Poor accounting, outdated data and disengagement from the reality of the range is the hallmark of the BLM’s business plan. They must be stopped.”
On September 10^th, 2010 the White River Field office of the BLM issued its final decision to completely and permanently eliminate the herd of wild horses which has lived in partnership with the natural environment in the Herd Area for centuries.
“BLM and other public agencies have eliminated over a third of wild horse herds  designated for protection by Congress in 1971,” explains Cloud Foundation Volunteer Executive Director, Ginger Kathrens. “Colorado has only a few hundred wild horses remaining and the destruction of yet another herd is unthinkable—cruel, costly and completely unnecessary. It is a managing to extinction policy that must stop.”
This action is co-funded by HfH Advisory Council and the ASPCA. A suit filed last week to protect the nearby West Douglas wild horse herd has so far resulted in a one-year postponement of that “zeroing out action.” The case remains in court.
The Cloud Foundation, HfH Advisory Council, ASPCA and over 200 other organizations and tens of thousands of members of the public continue to call for an immediate moratorium on BLM wild horse and burro roundups. To date the BLM has not changed course and plans to roundup and remove a total of 3,295 wild horses and burros before the end of the year. Currently, nearly 40,000 wild horses and burros are held in pens and pastures at taxpayer expense.
Links of interest:
Legal documents filed today: http://bit.ly/d7ePWk
Congress Sends Letter for Wild Herds to Secretary Salazar http://bit.ly/54sign
Roundup Schedule- http://bit.ly/roundupsched
American Herds – “What’s Left?” http://bit.ly/WhatsLeft
Unified Moratorium on Roundups Letter http://bit.ly/MoratoriumLtr
Mestengo. Mustang. Misfit.  America’s Disappearing Wild Horses – A History http://bit.ly/8ZCk8e
Straight from the Horse’s Heart  http://www.sfthh.com
Stampede to Oblivion: An Investigate Report from Las Vegas Now  http://bit.ly/Stampede2Oblivion
Shortlink to this release: http://bit.ly/COmustangSuit
Photos, video and interviews available by request from the Cloud Foundation
The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud’s herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana. 107 S. 7th St. – Colorado Springs, CO 80905, p. 719-633-3842 www.thecloudfoundation.org
The Habitat for Horses Advisory Council is the “The Legal Voice of the American Equine” and is comprised of like-minded equine welfare oriented organizations and individual advocates. The Council works to progress relevant issues imperative to furthering the safety and well being of horses, both domestic and wild, in the United States. Habitat for Horses Advisory Council is a registered 501c4 non-profit corporation. P.O. Box 213, Hitchcock, TX 77563, p.1-800-974-FOTH  www.hfhadvisorycouncil.org

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was the first humane organization in the Western Hemisphere. Our mission, as stated by our founder, Henry Bergh, in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States. 424 E. 92nd St New York, NY 10128-6804, p. 212-876-7700 www.aspca.org

Were Mohammed Incarnate Today...BLM Beware!

Huffington Post

As the Prophet Mohammed's army marched towards Mecca in 630 to conquer it they passed a female dog with puppies. The Prophet gave orders that they should not be disturbed and posted a man to see that this was done. He said, "Verily, there is heavenly reward for every act of kindness done to a living animal."

More...

Part 2 of George Knapp's Investigation is up!

I-Team: Horse Herds Pulled from Range, Despite Safety Concerns

 

Government Lawyers Mislead Federal Judge on Wild Horse Water

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/government-lawyers-mislead-federal-judge-on-wild-horse-water/

written by Steven Long ~ Editor/Publisher of Horseback Magazine

Artist Laura Leigh with Captured Calico Horses ~ Photo by Elyse Gardner

HOUSTON, (Horseback) – When Laura Leigh, an author, artist, journalist, and litigant chased the BLM into the desert to observe wild horse capture after a federal judge told her she could do so, she wasn’t allowed to see horses – but she did see water.
Judge Larry Hicks lifted his temporary injunction and permitted the federal Bureau of Land Management to capture horses in the fierce July desert heat of Nevada. As in previous death chases, the result was predictable. Horses dropped after being relentlessly stampeded by a roaring helicopter owned by BLM contractor, Cattoor Livestock Roundups out of Nephi, Utah. The federal agency had lied to the judge, telling him that death by thirst was imminent if they weren’t removed.
Hicks granted the plaintiff, Leigh, a first amendment stake in the chase. He told her it was unconstitutional for the BLM to ban her from observing the horses. In reply, the agency pulled off a cowboy hat trick of sorts in the desert. They moved the trap, the pen where the wild animals were to be driven, onto private land in a mountain canyon out of sight and then told the sheriff’s cops to arrest trespassers, including the litigant who had just won the right to see what BLM was doing in their “gather” first hand.
While Leigh didn’t get to see the objects of the BLM chase, North American Mustangs, she spotted something equally important and precious in the desert – water at the fenced off Desert Ranch Reservoir.
“While the reservoir is located on BLM public land, the water in the reservoir is privately owned (i.e., the private owner holds the water rights in accordance with State of Nevada water law),” said BLM’s Washington spokesman, Tom Gorey. “The reservoir is mostly fenced, but the fences are constructed in a manner that allows wild horses access to the privately owned water in at least three locations. As a result, wild horses are able to move freely to and from the water using the large gaps in the fencing.  In short, access to the reservoir water by wild horses is not blocked.”
If access to the water hole was open in three places, Leigh had caught the BLM lying to a federal judge.
“Desert Ranch Reservoir on public land is less than 5 miles from the trap site,” Leigh told Horseback Magazine late Monday. “BLM has the authority to utilize resources on private property to deal with emergencies. (BKM Director Bob) Abbey declared this issue in Owyhee an emergency.”
Gorey acknowledged today that there is water available to the horses that are being stampeded by the BLM contractor.
“In general, water within the Owyhee Herd Management Area (HMA) is provided primarily by unfenced public land reservoirs (water catchments),” he said. “There is also one spring, called Bookkeeper Spring, which is located on unfenced private land within the HMA.  This spring is normally adequate to water a small number of wild horses, but because of drought conditions, there is very little water available for use this year.”
Claiming extreme drought conditions, the BLM has delivered more than 30,000 gallons of water to the horses in the Owyhee HMA since Monday.
By admitting that water on public land is privately owned, Gorey raised a significant issue. What was the federal government thinking when it privatized an asset as precious as desert water, selling it out of government control? Moreover, when was it sold, for how much, and to whom?
“My assumption is that the BLM has never held the right to this water,” Gorey said.
It the government doesn’t own the water on federal land, who owns it?
Gorey has promised to research the ownership issue of water BLM lawyers claimed was nonexistent, so scarce, the deaths of hundreds of otherwise healthy horses and foals was imminent.
“Why did the BLM choose to press a stressed population through the round up instead of stabilizing the situation and waiting?” Leigh asked. “The claims made in the report given to a federal judge outline a population so fragile that BLM projected would be dead in three days (if the agency was not allowed to round them up.”
Leigh has filed briefs charging the BLM with contempt of court.

To Assist with the Legal Fund Please Click HERE

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• BLM Above the Law? (thecloudfoundation.org)
• Tuscarora Update- Support Needed (thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com)
• Government Spin Machine Goes into Overdrive in Wild Horse Case (animals.change.org)

Press Release the Cloud Foundation

The Cloud Foundation

BLM Above the Law?

Media Contacts:  

Anne Novak

Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org

Tel: 415-531-8454                

Makendra Silverman 

Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org 

Tel: 719-351-8187

For Immediate Release: 

BLM Above the Law?

Salazar’s Agency Ignores Federal Court Order Honoring First Amendment, Denies Observers Access to Wild Horse Roundup 

Reno, NV (July 19, 2010)—Laura Leigh, Herd Watch Project Coordinator for The Cloud Foundation, has been denied access to observe the Owyhee roundup, the first leg of the Tuscarora roundup near Elko, Nevada. On July 16^th, Federal Judge Larry Hicks’ ruled Leigh’s First Amendment rights be upheld and therefore allow her and others to view the roundup. Leigh contends that the BLM has gone against the Judge’s orders for three days. Today Leigh filed a motion to uphold the court order for her First Amendment rights.

“We cannot know the truth because they are preventing us from bearing witness.” Says Leigh.

BLM officials refused to tell her where the trap site was located. They had strategically placed it on private land within the public herd management area (HMA) even though the range contains more than 450,000 acres of public land. The private landowner would not grant Leigh and others access. BLM used this method before to hide the Calico roundup from the public and journalists except for rare staged “media days”.

The helicopter stampede resumed as soon as the Judge lifted the injunction last Friday. Since then BLM has captured 620 mustangs and their young foals in the sweltering heat. More than 17 wild horses have been killed during the roundup. At least 2 foals were shot (euthanized) because of leg deformities resulting in lameness after being run over many miles of volcanic rock. Advocates question the accuracy of the diagnosis—pointing to evidence that lameness previously was caused by running the hoofs off the baby horses during last winter’s Calico roundup in Nevada also run by Cattoor Livestock, the private contractor who will be paid close to one million dollars for this roundup.

The BLM has created an alleged wild horses dehydration emergency by fencing mustangs off from water and running them scared by helicopter into traps. Advocates feel it is inhumane that the BLM is not treating the wild horses in the wild for dehydration but instead the BLM continues to chase them, round them up and ship the wild horses crammed in huge trucks for more than 5 hours to a temporary holding facility—all in the desert heat. 

“These are wild animals. If this alleged emergency was happening to deer or big horn sheep the BLM would not be terrifying them by helicopter chase and then trucking them for half a day in the sweltering heat to be cared for at a distant location. Traditionally you care for distressed wild animals in the wild,” states Makendra Silverman, Associate Director of The Cloud Foundation. “And isn’t it curious that other wildlife or cattle isn’t suffering extreme dehydration out on the same range?”

Leigh had filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop this roundup and defend the public’s first amendment rights to observe the operation. BLM testified in federal court that no cattle remained on the range and that the horses had no water—even though a river is only 10 miles away, a short distance to travel for wild horses who under normal circumstances may travel twice that distance in daily treks to get a drink.

4,000 privately-owned cattle are permitted to graze (and drink) on the Tuscarora Complex where BLM permits only 400 mustangs.  Made up by three separate HMAs: Owyhee, Little Humboldt and Rock Creek, the area is to be managed by BLM principally (though not exclusively) for the federally protected wild horses. 

The foundation wants to know what is stopping the horses from accessing the Owyhee River and other perennial water sources? Are gates locked and vast areas fenced for livestock in the HMA? 

“BLM’s emergency roundups are classified as such before the action begins. The three Tuscarora roundups were never described as emergencies. Suddenly, with the BLM challenged in court and 12 dead horses from the first day’s roundup their operation has suddenly morphed into an ‘emergency rescue’ roundup,” states Cloud Foundation Director, Ginger Kathrens, who has 16 years experience documenting wild horses in the West. “There is really no way to accurately assess the real, on-the-ground situation because the public is still being denied access. Is BLM resorting to any means just to carry out an agenda to rid the western ranges of wild horses?” 

The three Tuscarora roundups (Owyhee, Little Humbolt and Rock Creek) were scheduled months ago as a standard BLM operation. The wild horses were found to be healthy. The primary reason for the roundups was because the wild horses were allegedly damaging livestock fencing. The public, mustang advocates, animal welfare groups and equine experts warned against summer helicopter roundups in the desert heat. The BLM ignored the comments. 

The Cloud Foundation calls for immediate access to be given to all members of the interested public and for the addition of at least two knowledgeable wild horse advocates to BLM’s assembled team of insiders to determine what went wrong in the Owyhee disaster.

“Right now BLM plans to zero out the entire West Douglas herd in Colorado against a Federal Judge’s specific ruling to leave the herd intact. For the past three days, BLM ignored Judge Hicks’ ruling for the First Amendment,” states Kathrens. “Who will stop Salazar’s rogue bureau before they ruin the West?”

# # #

Links of interest:

Washington Post reports on NV Roundup Resuming http://bit.ly/cRwhSc

NBC Reno reports BLM Still Restricting Public Access to Roundup http://bit.ly/bE2wiJ

Leigh vs Salazar Documents filed 7/19 that relate to Leigh's attempt to observe the Owyhee roundup and uphold her First Amendment rights:

Motion for Contempt http://bit.ly/bSAZax

Declaration for Motion http://bit.ly/9AY4x5

Exhibit A DOI Letter http://bit.ly/aL8w95

‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58

Court Order Granting Injunction http://bit.ly/doc10LeighvSalazar

Grass Roots Horse http://www.grassrootshorse.com/

BLM daily reports on Tuscarora roundup http://bit.ly/TuscaroraReports

Roundup Schedule- updated July 12, 2010  http://bit.ly/roundupschedule

The Mustang Conspiracy: Sex, Drugs, Corruption, and BP – investigative report http://www.abovetopsecret.com/mustangconspiracy/

Wild Horse and Burro Act http://bit.ly/a7hOeS

Tuscarora/Owyhee Complex Roundup Information from BLM http://bit.ly/Tuscarora

Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm

PR Firm Hired for the Destruction of America’s Wild Horse and Burro Herds http://bit.ly/czf3HB

Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y

Past Cloud Foundation press releases http://bit.ly/TCFpress

Photos, video and interviews available from:

The Cloud Foundation

news@thecloudfoundation.org

The Cloud Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud's herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.

107 S. 7th St. - Colorado Springs, CO 80905 - 719-633-3842 www.thecloudfoundation.org

A Day of Reckoning for the BLM?

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/a-day-of-reckoning-for-the-blm/

Image via Wikipedia

(The News as We See It) by R.T. Fitch
Today, a Federal judge will become fully aware and engaged in the fact that the Bureau of Land Management and their contractor Cattoor Livestock totally ignored the conditions of his order regarding the deadly Owyhee wild horse roundup.  Plaintiff Laura Leigh was denied access to the trap site but did manage to gather valuable information and evidence to prove that the BLM lied in their defense, last week, on many different levels and, as usual, the agency is acting above and outside of the law.
This entire mess begs the question, is any higher authority paying attention?  Here, again, we have a corrupt and dysfunctional government agency that considers congress, the senate, federal judges and the American people to be nothing more than small irritants that can be brushed aside while it breaks the law on a very grand scale.  Who is protecting this group, is it their big boss, cattleman Ken Salazar who everyone wants a piece of these days?  And who is looking out for Salazar and why is he still in office now that he has proven he cannot manage his own business and control his own agencies?  Would that be the President?  Why is Salazar so highly protected?  Why does the Obama administration hold onto such an obvious loser?  Why has the alleged “animal friendly” administration never, ever responded to the destruction of our wild herds?  Why?
The questions are many, the answers are few but one thing is for certain; Ms. Laura Leigh, American Citizen, will be in front of a Federal Judge today and it won’t be a good Monday for the BLM.  Some positive action in the way of controlling this rogue organization may help to bring back some confidence in our country’s future.
Otherwise, we and the horses are doomed.

To donate to the Wild Horse’s Legal Battle please visit http://www.grassrootshorse.com/

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BLM's propaganda machine spews out troubling inconsistencies about the Tuscarora wild horse gather

BLM's propaganda machine spews out troubling inconsistencies about the Tuscarora wild horse gather

Wild mare and foal on the range, as captured by photographer Pam Nickoles.

Pam Nickoles Photography, www.NickolesPhotography.com

The BLM's press office is spewing conflict-ridden press releases about the Tuscarora Gather at an astonishing pace, but when you read between the lines of the propaganda, a series of disturbing inconsistencies emerge.
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Horseback Magazine

Nevada Judge Finds BLM Media Ban Unconstitutional but Lifts Death Stampede Injunction

July 17, 2010

 

By Laura Allen, Animal Law Coalition, Photo of Plaintiff Laura Leigh by Terry Fitch - Judge Larry Hicks has lifted the injunction prohibiting BLM from proceeding with the Tuscarora roundup. The judge has also denied plaintiff Laura Leigh’s motion to delay the roundup until August, after the foaling season, particularly as to the Owyhee Herd though she can seek “further relief” as to the planned round ups in the Rock Creek and Little Humboldt herd management areas.
But the judge also ruled, “As to Leigh’s First Amendment challenge to the closure of public lands during the gather, the court shall grant Leigh’s temporary restraining order. Leigh argues that a blanket closure of 27,000 acres of public land on which the Tuscarora Gather is going to take place is a prior restraint on her First Amendment rights because she will be unable to observe and report on the health of the horses and the BLM’s management of the gather. The court agrees [and]… finds that the blanket closure … is unconstitutional“. The BLM can, however, draft a “more reasonable closure“.
“The court’s order in no way [a]ffects the BLM’s closure of the airspace above the 27,000 acres of public land. The court finds the closure of airspace to be constitutional and necessary”. (A copy of the Order is attached below for downloading.)
In deciding to allow the roundup to proceed now instead of later, Judge Hicks was persuaded by BLM’s last minute “review“ filed yesterday by a BLM team that claims the horses dying or suffering from dehydration or water intoxication were in that condition prior to the roundup. The “review” states that a BLM contractor found Tuscarora wild horses without water and said “the next 24-78 hours is critical”. BLM recommended rounding up as many horses as possible and warned of a “potentially high mortality” rate.  Horses showing signs of dehydration on the range would be left to die.
Leigh pointed out, however, that there was no mention by BLM of a drought or dehydrated horses in the Tuscarora HMAs until after her lawsuit was filed. She disputed the “hastily assembled” “review” by BLM:

The Defendants’ admit they do not grasp the issue causing the high mortality rate of the horses they run into catch pens. We discover they had not calculated a drought by mid-July or that horses would run out of available water by mid-July although they had studied the probable effects of their intended Gather the several months preceding the Gather, beginning in January 2010. No other BLM document discusses or addresses “drought” for range management in the year 2010 in the Owynee, Rock Creek or Little Humboldt areas. It was in fact, only after suit was filed did these emergency conditions become newly revealed.

Leigh offered to visit the herds and attempt to verify BLM’s claim a roundup must proceed immediately because of drought.
At least Leigh and other members of the media and public will be allowed to monitor BLM’s roundup.

Tags: BLM, death, injunction, mustang, Stampede, Wild Horses

One Woman, Wild Horses and the Evil that is the BLM

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/one-woman-wild-horses-and-the-evil-that-is-the-blm/

Laura Leigh with Captive Calico Horses ` Photo by Elyse Gardner

BLM Fails to File for Temporary Closure and is Powerless to Keep Public Away from Round-Ups

http://rtfitch.wordpress.com/2010/07/10/blm-fails-to-file-for-temporary-closure-and-is-powerless-to-keep-public-away-from-round-ups/

BLM Guard questioning Elyse Gardner and R.T. Fitch at Pryor Mt. Roundup ~ Photo by Terry Fitch

AHIGA Inspires Us to Remember Independence on this Proud American Holiday

Humane Observer Elyse Gardner

Look over the struggle for freedom, trace your present-day strength to its source;

         You'll find that man's pathway to glory is strewn with the bones of a horse.   -Anonymous

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New Evidence Links BP to the Controversial Elimination of Protected Wild Mustangs From Federally Mandated Land in Several Western States

Trading Markets

Tuscarora Wild Horse Ranges- Flyover Report 6/21/10

The Cloud Foundation Blog

Report on Flight from Truckee Airport (CA) passing over various mountain ranges and valleys to the Owyhee Wild Horse Herd Management Area (whhma), Rock Creek whhma, and Little Humboldt whhma.  (Ill. w/ digital photos taken on flight.)

More...

Ask Congress To Force BLM To Allow Public Observation Of Wild Horse Program

In Defense of Animals

In the face of public and Congressional outrage over the roundup of nearly 2,000 wild horses from Nevada’s Calico Mountains region, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced plans to control and minimize criticism by restricting the very limited public viewing of its operations to a small group of cherry-picked organizations and individuals. The agency is ramping up its capture plans, with over 5,000 more wild horses targeted for roundup and removal over the next four months.
By its own admission, BLM’s crackdown on public observation of its roundup activities and wild horse holding facilities is designed to control images released on blogs, YouTube and other social media, thereby quashing escalating public opposition to the agency’s handling of America’s treasured mustangs.
We can’t let the BLM get away with this. The agency ignores the wishes of the American public by clearing wild horses off the land to make room for cattle ranchers and gas and mining companies who want to exploit public lands. Most of these formerly free mustangs are stockpiled in BLM holding facilities in the Midwest, costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually. Now this public agency is attempting to prevent all but a handpicked few from observing and documenting its treatment of the wild horses who are beloved by so many Americans.




Please submit the form at this link today. Ask your representatives in Congress to force the BLM to allow the public to see and document how the agency is spending tax dollars to roundup and hold wild horses and burros. After you submit the form, please call your senators and representatives to follow up and ask them what action they have taken on this issue.

In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA's efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa.

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

"PROCESSING" WILD HORSES BLM STYLE, and ABSCESSES CONTINUE

Humane Observer: Elyse Gardner

Thursday, April 15, 2010

"PROCESSING" WILD HORSES BLM STYLE, and ABSCESSES CONTINUE

LOTS OF INFO FOR YOU TODAY.  PROCESSING AND "PIGEON FEVER" UPDATE.  READ ON...

                    ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

                              

 Here are photographs and video I have put together from when BLM allowed me to film their processing of the yearlings and two-year olds on "Media Day."  The consensus among the horses was unanimous, as you can see.  

     These horses below are waiting their turn in the squeeze chute.   And they are communicating with each other.  Watch, and listen, to the video.  They are amazing.  

     As it says at the end of my video, please go to my article at www.Stablewomangazette.com, scroll down and click on the title of the article, Media Day at Broken Arrow/Fallon Holding Facility by Humane Observer, Elyse Gardner, to get a more detailed picture.  My thanks to Marya Zubaty of The StableWoman Gazette for doing a fabulous job posting that article.  It is a work of art and love by all concerned.

     

©3/9/10 Photographs by Elyse Gardner

                      

      ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

     ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

Blood draw by Dr. Sanford for Coggins test

     ©3/9/10 Photographs by Elyse Gardner

   

                       ©3/9/10 Photographs by Elyse Gardner

                              

                       

                             

When the door opens, sometimes they shoot out of there.  But sometimes they just stand there and tentatively come out, clearly traumatized and almost afraid to move.  They pick up speed as they get the courage up to move.  This mare couldn't exit the squeeze chute fast enough.

     It is clear that the adult stallions and mares would have a harder time with all this.  (I saw adults processed in the identical squeeze chute in the Pryor Mountains last summer.  Some of my videos and photographs are available at Thecloudfoundation.org if you go to their "blogs" and click on "The Humane Observer" links and scroll way down past the Calico roundups.  You'll recognize some of the people, I'm sure.)

                     ©1/6/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

Mouse

     A final, chilling note on the tagging and processing:

     Remember Mouse, darling silver buckskin boy?  I will feature him sometime. When I didn't see him last Sunday, and since they had posted that a yearling colt had collicked and died since I'd seen him last, I was anxious to lay eyes on him or at least know he was okay.  I called to check on him by tag number.  BLM hasn't entered the tag numbers into computer yet, so they had to dig through papers and call me back.

    Well, the papers had Mouse's tag number, which I had clearly documented since I filmed his processing on Media Day, as a three-year-old sorrel.  Does that horse above -- Mouse -- look like a three-year-old sorrel?  This is not a computer error.  Somebody didn't keep up with the tagging numbers properly.  I wonder how many horses are off.  The tags bear the same numbers as their brands.  

     Doesn't strike confidence into my heart...  

     Thankfully, they did go out and find Mouse, with his tag on, and verified that he was fine.  Many BLM people are very nice.  But the policies and practices of this organization are at this time utterly destructive to our wild horses.

###

Pigeon Fever News

     Here are photos of the young horses dealing with this ugly, sad disease.  But what disease?  Hmmm.

             ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

     Verbally, at least, BLM is recanting its diagnosis of Pigeon Fever, which Fallon Manager John Neill first announced to public observers on the March 21st Sunday tour, and which veterinarian Dr. Richard Sanford's 3/31/10 report verifies.  

             ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

Same horse as above, but so cute with sibling I had to include this, too.
(LOOK AT THE SAND BLOWING IN THE BACKGROUND)

    I was told it was a bacterial infection and asked to wait for the official report, which was to be posted either later Sunday or on Monday, to get the actual bacterial name.  It is now Thursday, and their report is not yet posted.  They say think maybe the young horses got bruises from rubbing on bars due to the feeding setup, and then the bruises got infected.

    Horsepeople are skeptical at this news.  I wonder what the delay is in posting the report.  They would not say how or if they are treating the horses medically.  

             ©4/11/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

This gorgeous horse's pus pocket drained out and now appears to be healing.

             ©3/9/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

I noted how carefully this youngster is avoiding rubbing on the bars.  Ouch...

    My view remains unchanged, which is: 

    FACT:  You have some kind of outbreak occurring which resembles a highly contagious, painful and sometimes (not usually, thankfully) fatal disease.  BLM itself diagnosed it as Pigeon Fever.

    Prudence and compassion and intelligene dictate that you separate the infected horses (or humans, if it were in people) from the general population as a precautionary measure.  Veterinary experts strongly recommend separating infected horses especially since feces and flies play a part in the spread of the suspected disease.  They say keeping the pens meticulously clean from manure is important to prevent spreading the disease.  

               ©4/11/10 Photographs by Elyse Gardner

This poor baby is miserable. Her eyes are pinched.  She is like so many we see there.  It's not just about the pus, either.  They    are    in     prison.

     Putting the, at the time, "handful" of infected horses in the AMPLE sick pens in Fallon would have enabled them to A) keep the pens mucked and very clean;  B) Protect healthy horses from contact C) keep an eye on and more easily treat infected horses.  Presently we counted over 20 horses with these abscesses.  Why not keep them from the general population as a precaution?  

     This is not rocket science.  And continuing to process horses on shared equipment, and then move horses around into different pens as they are re-categorized by age for future adoption events, is simply flirting with epidemic disaster.  

     CONCLUSION:  These people who are in charge of caring for and about our horses demonstrate a chilling lack of compassion in virtually every aspect of "managing" these sensitive, amazing animals. 

     Oh, sure, it could be worse, they'll remind me.  Yes, it could.  But it could be so, so, so very much better.  Like get the cows out of the horses' legally designated herd areas for starters; increase those arbitrary, completely fictitious "AMLs" (appropriate management levels). I want to talk about that issue and will address it directly in another post.  

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 LIVING IN SAND

     I am dreadfully concerned about the sand.  It's like walking at the beach.  The wind was up, and it was in my eyes, in my mouth, in my hair.  Worse yet, when I went to move the horses' hay closer to the pens, it was loaded in the hay.  There is no way to keep it out of the ground feeding as it's done.  The facility is built on sand, like at the beach.  Some of the horses were coughing.  I'm hoping it was just because it was windy.  I'm covering a lot on this post, but it is all current, and I have to call it like I see it.
 ©4/11/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

Fallon is built on sand.  What is it going to be like in the summer?  It was terribly windy, sand stung my eyes.  It was everywhere.

     Right now, whatever the yearling horses are suffering, it is because of this roundup and living in these twisted, completely unnatural conditions.  We as humans couldn't come close to tolerating all the abuse these gentle animals have suffered at the hands of humans.  When will it be enough? 

       Think about horse-ness.  Think about the strange and wonderful healing that happens when abused or at-risk kids are given time with ...  h o r s e s.  Horses that will trust them, horses that will accept them.  I've worked in a theraputic riding program for disabled and at-risk youth, and it is AMAZING how quickly the horses open people up in a way YEARS of therapy could only approach.

      Horses are gifts. They are healing to our world to look at, to touch, to smell (they have a wonderful, earthy smell), to hug.  (I haven't even gotten to the riding part yet! One doesn't at all have to ride a horse to be transformed by his presence.)  Grooming them is so centering, this big "ahhh" sigh comes over us and we relax, get out of our head-spinning and connect to this wonderful gentle soul.  I enter horse-time when I pull into the ranch.  No rushing works around horses.  Leave the rush and the anger and the fight at the gate...  
     Even cleaning up after them is meditative.  We get flooded with endorphins and all kinds of good things looking at them, touching them, LOVING them.  And, oh, being  loved by them is the best.

 ©2009 Photograph by Elyse Gardner

Being loved by them is the best.

     Do we not get it, that they are unique gifts from an incredibly imaginative creator?  And oh my, to be carried by such a one.  I confess every time I get on a horse whom I know is okay with carrying me, I feel so elevated, almost like royalty.  Humbled royalty, because what a privilege to be borne by them -- not to mention the incredible fun it is.

     And what about the service they've given us in this country -- in the world as we know it?  How many horses died for every mounted soldier?  And now that horses are largely out of a job, we treat them with contempt?  What does that say about humanity? 

    I will leave you with another look at a little wild beauty. 

       ©4/11/10 Photograph by Elyse Gardner 

I remain,

For the wild horses, captive and free, and their humble burro friends,

Elyse Gardner