Federal judge to rule on Nevada wild horse roundup

SFGate

(07-14) 14:39 PDT Reno, Nev. (AP) --
A federal judge has said he intends to decide Friday whether to grant an emergency injunction blocking a government roundup of 1,700 wild horses in eastern Nevada, a move that also could affect other roundups on public rangeland across the West.
"I'm very concerned about the wild horses," U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben said Thursday as he questioned lawyers for both sides about their interpretations of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
Opponents of the roundup say it violates the act because the Bureau of Land Management has failed to prove the herds are over populated and causing ecological harm to public rangeland.
Such a finding is necessary before any of the horses can be removed from federally designated "horse management areas," they say.
"This statute was put in place for a reason — to protect these horses from man, and that includes BLM," said Rachel Fazio, a lawyer for the Colorado-based Cloud Foundation suing to block the roundup BLM intends to start Saturday.
"These horses are to be left alone and not interfered with unless there is a threat to the thriving, natural, ecological balance and that does not exist," she said.
"There may be some water issues in some isolated areas, but these horses are in great condition. There is tons of forage out there. There is no urgency right now to remove these horses from the range."
The 1,700 horses targeted for roundup are among about 2,200 that roam a series of horse management areas covering a total of 1.7 million acres southeast of Elko and northwest of Ely in northeast Nevada.
BLM maintains that area can support only between 500 and 900 horses. Agency officials say they already are trucking in water due to typical water shortages in some areas and that while forage may be adequate now, there will be less come winter.
"The plaintiff suggests we wait until the entire 1.7 million acres is severely damaged before we can act," said Erik Petersen, a Justice Department lawyer representing the BLM during Thursday's one-hour hearing.
Petersen said it is important for the agency to stick to its schedule of roundups because there are a limited number of contractors who can provide the helicopters needed for the largest gathers.
Postponing the Nevada roundup "could delay other gathers throughout the western United States," he said, adding that the next big roundup is planned in Wyoming in September.

Texas Prison Horses May be on One Way Trip to the Mexican Border

Horseback Magazine

July 14, 2011

Story and Photos by Steven Long
HUNTSVILLE, (Horseback) – One of the most genetically perfect herds of horses in North America was hit hard by the selloff of 61 animals at a public auction, their most likely destination, a Mexican slaughterhouse notorious for unspeakable cruelty. The herd of Texas prison horses that were sold had been part of a contingent of animals so remarkable, and even historic, they were subject of a February 2004 cover story in Horseback Magazine’s predecessor publication, Texas Horse Talk.
The horses were part of a herd of 1,600 owned by the State of Texas and managed by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice in Huntsville, according to Michelle Lyons, chief TDCJ spokeswoman.
“These were what we call cull horses,” she told Horseback Magazine.
The horses that prison livestock managers call “culls” boast some of the purest blood lines in the nation dating back to the mid nineteenth century. The state’s captive herd is subject to the most advanced breeding techniques and is held to exacting standards that are world class. The livestock managers are products of the renowned schools of agriculture at Texas A&M University and the nearby Sam Houston State University. Only the finest bloodlines are introduced into the herd, and that is done rarely. The horses are primarily Quarter Horses with substantial Percheron blood.
The information that the horses had been sold at auction came to Horseback Online Monday night when a confidential source who was at the Huntsville cattle auction called and said that a large number of prison horses had been sold to slaughter and had been loaded on a truck south heading down I-45.
“People who work at the prison are really upset about this,” the man said during a phone call to the magazine’s offices.
The Texas prison system holds “Premium Auctions” of horses only rarely where the public is invited to bid after extensive advertising of the sale. No such ads were placed for the 60 highly blooded horses sold Monday. The were quietly sent to auction where a large truck was already waiting, according to the source who said the horses sold for about 40 cents a pound.
Lyons confirmed the prison system auctions 90-100 “cull” horses each year from its program.
Livestock auctions are the primary sources of horses sent abroad for food. Yet Lyons categorically denies the Huntsville prisons sent their horses to auction with the knowledge they would be sold for slaughter.
“We have had calls from a woman who claims this very thing, and probably is the same person who claims to have witnessed this,” Lyons said. “She alleged that 70 horses went to one bidder. We only had 61 horses in the auction – we don’t know how many non-TDCJ horses was also part of the auction.”
“The fact is that we participate in these public auctions as a way to keep the horses (from) going to a slaughterhouse – we don’t condone the sale of our horses for slaughter,” Lyons said.
The primary source for horses going to slaughter is public auctions.
Lyons was asked to provide the name of the buyer of the large number of TDCJ horses that went to auction on Monday. She said prison livestock managers didn’t know who bought the horses. Asked by Horseback if they would call the auction house to ask the name of the buyer, she said the men declined.
Horseback Magazine called Huntsville Livestock Services, Inc. and spoke with manager Tommy Oates who declined to name the buyer of the TDCJ horses, saying “I don’t have to tell you a damned thing, ask the state,” before slamming down the phone on the reporter.
The Texas prison system breeds big horses, big enough to hold a 300 pound guard for an eight hour shift in the fields, hence the draft horse bloodlines brought into the herd. The stout corrections officer is known in prison parlance as “The Boss.” The horses and their human counterparts guard men dressed in white garb as they work fields with a garden hoe called by the derisive name, an “aggie.” The horses are bread for Texas’ 176 prison units which boast approx. 75 mounted guards or more.
There is one boss for each 25 inmates.
The prison horses are almost as wide as their bellies are deep. They hold saddles made behind the walls. The animals and men herd the system’s 20,000 cattle that are sold on the open market by the state. None of the meat is kept by TDCJ. The cheaper cuts fed to prisoners are bought at market price for the institution’s commissaries. Officials are quick to point out that prison inmates don’t eat steak but consumers may be lucky enough to eat beef raised behind prison walls.
Besides security and agriculture duty, the horses follow dogs chasing escaped convicts.
The state’s ideal prison horse is three quarters Quarter Horse and one quarter draft horse. Throughout his life a prison horse is freeze branded so that extensive records can be maintained in the system. The markings include a tattoo on the inside of the lip, a Texas star, the birth year, and ID number on the back left, and an additional identification on the horses left cheek near the anus. Like their fellow inmates, the horses have no name, only their number to identify them. The records are so extensive that a manager can track the record of a 20 year old horse and know every significant event of its life just by looking up his record.
The auction buyers Monday didn’t get the records of the horses they bought. When a horse leaves the prison system, only its Coggins certificate and ID sheet follow.
While most of the horses aren’t registered, some boast the bloodlines of pure Texas equine royalty including pedigrees from the famed Waggoner Ranch. TDCJ has also bought other Foundation Quarter Horse stallions as well. Other bloodlines go back to the days when the state first built prisons. The Walls unit in Huntsville dates to 1849 shortly after the end of the Republic of Texas. The state’s prison captive breeding program is indeed, very, very, old. The prison herd has been steadily improved for nearly 162 years, and dramatically improved in recent years.
The state has achieved its ideal confirmation of broadness, horses that have hardly any withers, and are short of back – no long backed high withered horses such as a Thoroughbred are allowed.
The horses are tough, powerful, and as potent as the 300 pound guards who ride them.                                                                                                                                                                                         
And when they go to an auction where the public is given notice, prison horses sell for considerably more than 40 cents a pound.

HSUS urges improvements to wild horse gathers | Horsetalk.co.nz - International horse news

HSUS urges improvements to wild horse gathers | Horsetalk.co.nz - International horse news

Mexican slaughter auction targeted by welfare groups - video

Mexican slaughter auction targeted by welfare groups - video | Horsetalk.co.nz - International horse news

July 10, 2011

Horse welfare groups are rallying to help their Mexican counterparts force the end to what they describe as blatant cruelty and abuse at a long-standing slaughter auction.

A still from the video below about San Bernabe.

Supporters of the campaign are calling on the Mexican Government to shut down the San Bernabe Slaughter Auction in the Municipality of Almoloya de Juárez.
The response to date includes a 5000-signature petition that was delivered to the Mexican embassy in Washington on June 27.
A Youtube video appeal was released on July 3, revealing the treatment of some horses at the auction.
San Bernabe is said to be the largest such unregulated facility in Mexico.
It has been in operation for 70 years and, according to the Equine Welfare Alliance, an umbrella group for horse welfare groups, is well known for the abusive treatment of animals in violation of several federal regulations.
The alliance says American horse owners should be concerned because US horses are sent to the facility.
It added that US horses were being sent to Mexican slaughter facilities long before the US plants closed.
Between the years 1989-2006, 775,474 US horses were exported for slaughter to Canada, Mexico and Japan.
As long as horse slaughter exists, US horses are in jeopardy of being sent to this and other facilities, the alliance says.
The alliance, along with the Animal Protection Association of Mexico, the Animal Law Coalition, Animals' Angels, APASDEM, Animal Recovery Mission, Commission for San Bernabe Market and Anti-Fur Society called for global support to join us in an appeal to shut the doors of San Bernabe forever.
"We are appealing to all members of the US Congress to prevent American horses from enduring the fate awaiting them at San Bernabe by swiftly passing federal legislation (S. 1176) to prohibit horse slaughter in the US and export over our borders."
A petition seeking its closure can be found here here.

Injuries from Monument Fire overcome Charlie the horse

Injuries from Monument Fire overcome Charlie the horse | The Sierra Vista Herald

Charlie the horse, above, had become a symbol of hope for many across the state after suffering injuries in the Monument Fire. (Submitted photo) 

Charlie Horse was laid to rest on Sunday, July 10, 2011, in the company of many dedicated volunteers from Horse'n Around Rescue who cared for him.  Please read the passage below and forward it to your friends who may have been following Charlis's story and struggle to survive.  He touched so many lives.  We'd like to personally thank everyone who held a special place in their heart for Charlie. 

FAREWELL FINE FRIEND….

Four weeks ago today, Sunday (June 12, 2011), a devastating fire bore down on 24 horses grazing peacefully on our mountain pasture on the side on the Huabhuca Mountains, then began its malevolent trek northward and eastward into the surrounding communities.  Four neighbors, at great risk, led 23 horses to safety, but the 24th horse, Charlie, panicked and ran back into the flames.  Somehow, that beautiful, gallant animal came back through the fire and found his way to his herd. He became a national hero, a survivor, and people here and from around the country opened their hearts to him.

Today, Sunday, this fourth week since the Monument Fire, we had to make a decision that you hope you never have to make for any animal under your protection, particularly at Horse'n Around Rescue -- we put Charlie down.  While he appeared to be healing well from his burns and wounds, his liver and organs were giving out and couldn't sustain him.  For the past couple of days he spent most of his time on the ground.  It is with such a heavy heart that we tell you this.

We thank so many people for their kindness and generosity.  Their patience is inexhaustible:  Dr. Dusti Prentice of Southern Arizona Equine who provided loving care for Charlie; Bud and Joan Strom from the Single Star Ranch where Charlie stayed and who provided so much support throughout Charlie's ordeal.  We thank our many volunteers who spent countless hours with Charlie: Ann Gallus, Vet Tech and compassionate neighbor who helped with Charlie's care; Peggy who stopped by morning and night with carrots; Nancy, Andrea, Allison, Beth, Ruben, Bruce, Buck, Greg and Cathy who stopped by regularly to visit Charlie; Kelly from Nelson Wholesale; Kerry from Durvet; Kirk from CarraVet; and all those who sent generous donations to help with the cost of Charlie's care and provide for his buddies whose pasture was lost in the fire.  We thank the public who graciously inquired about Charlie, helped spread the word his needs and then came forward to fulfill these needs.

Many victims of this fire experienced great losses, losing homes, pets, and many irreplaceable items from their lives.  Our hearts go out to them. 

Charlie left us knowing he was loved by all, near and far.  He may never know how many lives he touched.  Our Charlie is gone but not forgotten.

Thank you for loving Charlie!  (Photo attached.)

Theresa and Steve

Theresa Warrell and Steve Boice
Horse'n Around Rescue Ranch and Foundation, Inc.

www.HorsenAroundRescue.org

More at Sierra Vista Herald

John Strassburger - The Equine Things That Matter Most

John Strassburger - The Equine Things That Matter Most

Your Support Is Needed to Stop the BLM from Castrating Free-Roaming Stallions

American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

Photo by Carrol Abel, Hidden Valley Horse Protection Fund

Two weeks ago, we told you about the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) plan to remove 90 percent of the wild horses living in Wyoming's Little Colorado/White Mountain Herd Management Areas and return only gelded (castrated) stallions to the range.

AWHPC agrees with Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, director of Science and Conservation Biology at Zoo Montana and a foremost authority on wildlife biology and reproduction, who stated: "The very essence of the wild horse, that is, what makes it a wild horse, is the social organization and social behaviors, which in turn were molded by millions of years of evolution. Gelding/spaying will take exactly that away and then you no longer have wild horses. . . ."

That's why we're fighting this dangerous, precedent-setting plan with all we've got.

Double your money: A generous donor has offered to match funds contributed to help AWHPC fight this latest travesty by the BLM. All donations will be used to underwrite the efforts to stop this misguided and ill-conceived plan dead in its tracks -- before it sets a precedent that will be exported to other Herd Management Areas. Please, if you can help, help today! 

Read MORE and TAKE ACTION!

Obama’s Wild Horse and Burro Gangsta Dance

Straight from the Horse's Heart

by R.T. Fitch ~ Author/President of the Wild Horse Freedom Federation

The Deadly Trio Dance upon the Bodies of our Fallen Icons

Pull up a bucket, light a smoke and groove with the dancen stylings of da Prez, his right hand man DoI Secretary Kenny Salazar and big, bad Bobby A, Director of the cattle rustlen, oil guzzling, wild horse wranglen BLM.  Light your doobies and take a long drag as these three dance, shuck and jive with elation over pulling the wool over the public’s eyes and steal 10s of millions of dollars to kill, capture and hold as prisoners 10s of thousands of native wild horses, illegally, while the music plays and the world looks the other way.
Feel the beat, enjoy the tunes as the drone of helicopter blades will be playing tomorrow and dozens of more wild horses and burros will lose their rightful homes and lives while these elected jackasses, sorry burros, smile at the cameras and stick it to you from behind.  Makes ya proud, don’t it?

Call you Representatives and Congressmen and tell them that you have had ENOUGH!

The True Unintended Consequences of Horse Slaughter

Straight from the Horse's Heart

by John Holland and Vicki Tobin of the Equine Welfare Alliance

Horse Eaters Can Run But They Just Can’t Hide

Over the years, we’ve written about the nonsensical arguments used by those in support of horse slaughter. We’ve scratched our heads and wondered why seemingly intelligent people would use the most illogical, ill conceived arguments and ridiculous euphemisms like “horse harvesting” to try to sway public opinion to embrace horse slaughter.
Time after time horse advocates have exposed the horrendous cruelty involved in the industry in ways that were completely indisputable. Yet, slaughter proponents steadfastly insist on calling the process “euthanasia” which of course means “good death”, the very polar opposite of what the gruesome evidence shows.
Animal Agriculture organizations, from turkey growers to pork producers, have always been tacitly opposed to banning horse slaughter on the flimsy supposition that it would lead down a slippery slope toward the banning of all meat production.
Unlike slaughter supporters who throw out unsubstantiated statistics and comments, we are always under a microscope. We must have our facts, figures and sources straight before going to press. We have consistently had enough research and data to resink the Titanic but more often than not, we have been unable to break the stronghold on the press by our opponents.
That is until the drug issue came to light. We had warned of drug residues in US horses for years, but eventually food safety regulators in European Union (EU) came to realize that there was a huge hole in their system, and that thousands of contaminated horses were slipping into the EU. It took human food safety to finally provide an irrefutable reason why the slaughter of U.S. horses should be banned immediately.
Initially, all the propaganda and disinformation was about the innocuous preservation of horse slaughter for the large quantity breeders. The big support came from the American Quarter Horse Association, the largest breed registry with over 125,000 foals registered every year. The major driver of excess horses, or as our opponents have renamed them, “unwanted” horses, are the large breeders that produce hundreds of horses, sell a small portion and then cull the excess to slaughter. It is a never ending cycle that had to be protected and is a practice that is never addressed by slaughter proponents.
Then when the US horse slaughter plants were closed down the horse slaughter battle began to shift from a conflict within the horse community to a full-fledged proxy war with animal agriculture.
The first clue that slaughter supporters were switching strategies was the new argument that opponents of horse slaughter really wanted to bring down animal agriculture. Now, equine advocates were labeled PETA, and animal rights extremists, with some going as far as to call us “animal terrorists”. No doubt, this was to garner support from food producers and ranchers to support a foreign meat business that had nothing to do with the horse industry.
Next, was the emergence of HumaneWatch, an organization frequently quoted by slaughter supporters, that is run by Rick Berman, dubbed Dr. Evil by 60 Minutes. Berman is a lobbyist and shill for corporations that oppose any type of animal welfare. Their sole purpose is to bash the Humane Society of the United States because of their successes in animal welfare for farm animals.
Finally, there was the “Summit of the Horse” meeting in Las Vegas earlier this year that featured a keynote speaker from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. The animal agriculture supporters of horse slaughter had been forced to come to the aid of their flailing allies on the horse slaughter front.
In a feckless attempt to throw up a smoke screen on the issue, the outspoken slaughter spokesperson, Sue Wallis, resorted to inventing her drug regulations and facts out of thin air. She declared phenylbutazone (bute) is safe in food animals after 30 days, ignoring that the FDA and European Union have banned bute in all food animals.
In the heat of the blog wars that followed, some ranchers attempted to bolster the Wallis argument by stating they often gave bute to their cattle!  Their reasoning, to whatever degree reasoning might have existed, appeared to be that if food safety regulations are being flaunted by cattlemen, then these drug residues must be okay in horses.
Once the drug issues came to light, an unintended consequence emerged. Americans are becoming increasingly interested and suspicious about how their own meat is being produced. Some are asking why the EU bans our beef that is raised using growth enhancing steroids and/or antibiotics.
Perhaps this is the true “slippery slope” that the animal agriculture proponents were concerned about. Those who know how outrageously this safety issue has been covered up are now asking what might really be going on “behind the curtain” of our meat production.
Our issue has always been and remains solely horse slaughter but our opponents, in attempting to dismiss the drug issues in horses, now have taken this beyond horse owners. If the meat industry supporters of horse slaughter had any regard for food safety, why would they support the slaughter of an animal that is not raised or regulated in the U.S. as a food animal?
Slaughter proponents have not only backed themselves into a corner but have now painted themselves into that corner. They are stuck and the desperation is becoming quite humorous because it is they that brought food production into the mix. The disinformation in their slaughter handbooks has no answers on how to twist and spin food safety laws or explain why food producers support horse slaughter.
In light of all the push back from the European Union on U.S. horses, increased FDA authority and increased awareness on food safety, there should be no debate on whether or not horse slaughter should be banned.
A member of Equine Welfare Alliance and the food production industry, Diana Bodensteiner, stated it best, “Slaughter is food production. It is a serious, tightly regulated business. It is not the place we send unwanted cows, swine, sheep, and horses.”
Today our horses are being slaughtered in Canada and Mexico, but there are plans in both countries to appease the EU by requiring horses to be electronically tracked from birth if they are to be slaughtered for human consumption. That will most probably be how American horses finally become protected against slaughter.
We now know the true unintended consequences of horse slaughter.

_____________

 Equine Welfare Alliance is an umbrella organization representing 176 organizations and hundreds of individuals across the United States and 14 countries worldwide. The organization focuses its efforts on the welfare of all equines and the preservation of wild equids. www.equinewelfarealliance.org