Archive for May, 2012

Call to Action: The Implied Threat of the BLM

Posted: May 31, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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OpEd by R.T. Fitch ~ President of the Wild Horse Freedom Federation

“We Want Your Personal Info So We Can Abuse You”

BLM: “How dare YOU question US!!!”

In this day and age there is plenty that is going on to keep one from sleeping well and gaining a good night of much needed rest.  Usually, I am pretty good at holding such monsters at bay and obtaining the required sleep to function properly for yet another day.  But last night was a different story, several words of text and droning voices kept nagging at me through the mist of the night and I could not shake the feeling of dread and the threat of an evil presence as I floated through the fog with my head looking squarely back behind at where I had just been.

The letters of the elusive words rushed by so quickly I could not read them and the raspy voice droning away was unintelligible until this morning when I entered my office and read the words as clear and crisp on my own computer screen from a blurb that I had written, yesterday.

It was a shocking revelation and one that should set off alarms to all free spirits that live in this once great land of ours…the words were uttered by our very own Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and they are a clear and present threat aimed at each and every tax payer in the United States as it came through loud and clear in a recent press release issued by the Nevada bureau in regards to their lack of transparency in planning for a hearing on the use of Helicopters in wild horse and burro stampedes.  They tried to slip the notice in under the radar over the past holiday weekend and planned the meeting on Tuesday the 29th of May immediately following the holiday.  Advocates’ caught it and spent their holiday attempting to right the wrong.

The BLM’s response, and they still held the meeting with few attending, is unedited below:

“Carson City, Nev.–The Bureau of Land Management Nevada invites the public to submit comments as part of its annual statewide hearing on the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles in wild horse management operations.

The hearing was held May 29, 2012 in Carson City, Nev. If you were unable to attend, or would like to submit an additional comment regarding motorized vehicles in the management of wild horses throughout Nevada from June 2012, to May 2013, we invite you to do so. Comments must be received no later than June 12, 2012. Only comments sent to the address, email or fax number identified below will be accepted and considered.

Comments may be sent by mail or fax:

Carson City District Office
5665 Morgan Mill Road
Carson City, NV 89701
Attn: WHB Motorized Hearing
FAX: 775-885-6147

Comments may also be sent by email: ccfoweb@blm.gov,  Attn: WHB Motorized Hearing

Planned management actions include wild horse removals, aerial population inventory and distribution flights of herd management areas. Motorized vehicles, such as semi-trucks and trailers, and pickup trucks, will also be used to transport wild horses. BLM plans to use helicopters to help gather wild, free-roaming horses and burros from public lands in 2012 and 2013.

Comments submitted to BLM must include your address, phone number, email, or other personal identifying information in your comment. Please be aware your entire comment–including your personal identifying information–may be made publicly available at any time. While you may request we withhold your personal information from public view, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.”

Of course, and as usual, the document is riddled with BLM posturing and self-justification but did you catch the last paragraph, do you smell the threat and feel the implied violence?  It is not only flagrant in it’s intent but obnoxious in it’s presentation.

In a nutshell it says:

“Go ahead, you sniveling vermin, feel free to comment on our actions and plans but as you well know, by now, we are going to do what the hell we want to do ANYWAY because we CAN.  And just to add a little adventure into the mix, if you are stupid enough to question us, or even give a rat’s ass, then we are going to label and document your personal information while throwing it out into the mainstream for all to see while we just sit back and play dumb, like we had no control over any of it, stuff just happens…we love you, America.”

I know there is a little literary license used, there, but you get my drift.  Not too often do I play the conspiracy theory card but in this case it is fairly well documented to say the least.

If you comment they will not only have your personal information but the Feds may elect to publicly trash you if the mood so moves them.

Is that what government has come to in the United States, a place where a federal agency can publicly threaten to disperse proprietary personal information so as to pervert and limit response to a controversial and unfavorable operation?

I would call it bold, brash and extremely dangerous.

We are all too aware that the BLM acts outside of the law with it’s obvious destruction and decimation of our native wild horses and burros on their rightful public lands but to document their distaste for those who give a voice to the voiceless is carrying things one step too far.

In the old days I would say we should write our Congressmen, our Senators and to call our local representatives but today things need to go to the next level with physical and direct action taking place as inaction and postulating is tending to get old, rapidly.

First, we as a group should clog that fax with as many comments as possible.  We need to burn up dozens of printer cartridges and shut the units down so that their normal business cannot progress.

Secondly, we must stuff their snail mail and email inbox’s and let this office know that we are NOT going to stand for this sort of insolence and YES, we do think that using helicopters and motorized vehicles is dangerous.

And thirdly, we sincerely need to get our act together and begin to function as one cohesive and well-organized body.  We, as equine advocates, must check egos at the door and learn to play nice as the only reason we have not gotten accomplished what needs to be addressed is because we go a hundred different directions at once while gossiping about what the other ones are doing; this has to stop and stop now.  There is a plan in the works to get this accomplished but imagine what power we could flex if we were not just the 80% in a survey but instead, millions in an organized membership/association.  Now THAT has clout.

The nightmare is real, the threat is apparent and the gauntlet has been thrown down.  Do we stand and fight or do we tuck our tail between our legs and run…?

I, for one, am going to fight and I intend to spread my personal information all over those comments, nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of as truth and honesty are the best, and only, swords to wield.

Any takers?

Let’s take out a few fax machines first and then clog a few inbox’s.

These overfed government workers have no idea of the power within the sleeping beast that they have awakened.

This is America and in this country, we don’t take kindly to being threatened.

“Turn up the Volume” 

“Clog the Fax”

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Sweden on Horse Slaughter: Pumped Full of Drugs – Sold as Food

Posted: May 30, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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English translation courtesy of the Equine Welfare Alliance

Europe Wising Up on Tainted American Horse Meat

En häst med brutet bakben transporteras på en lastbil på väg mot ett slakteri i Mexiko. Bilden togs i samband med en granskning av hästslaktindustrin för ett par veckor sedan. Foto: Terry Torreance

Toxic horse meat imported into the EU and Sweden from South America and above all Mexico may contain substances which are directly dangerous to humans.

Several Swedish meat processing companies state that they import horse meat from South America and that the importation to a large extent takes place via Belgium.

- Meat that is inspected at any border of the EU is free to be sold on the Swedish market and is not affected by the NFA controls, writes Susanne Thofelt Berger at the National Food Administration in an email.

Many of the horses that are slaughtered in Mexico are old end-of life competition horses – and race horses – from the United States. Where, during their competition careers are often treated with different types of preparations, such as phenylbutazone – a means which according to Irish Veterinary Record can cause serious and fatal allergic reaction, and serious blood disease in humans.

In Sweden, the horses at some point in their lifetime been treated with phenylbutazone never be used as food.

A study the New York Times made showed that 99% of race horses in California 2010 competed with phenylbutazone in the body, and that the majority of these went to slaughter.

Horses from the United States to be slaughtered in Mexico must be accompanied by a document where the owner certify that the horse has not been received no unauthorized substances at least 180 days back in time.

The problem is that those transporting horses to slaughter houses and signs the certificates, at best, bought the horses within the month, at worst, within only a few hours. It is thus impossible for the last owner to know something about horses’ history.

Consignments of horse meat from Mexico must under EU-directive tested for hormonal and growth promoting agents. But in the controls they do not trace other active substances. In reality, the horse meat as consumers throughout the EU buy very well may contain residues of potentially deadly substances.

Horses are tortured during transport

Horses slaughtered in Mexico and Canada for the European market are subjected to unimaginable suffering. This has animal rights organizations in the U.S., Canada and Mexico reported on for years.

The horses are bought up by “kill buyers” at auctions in the U.S. and then shipped long distances by truck to Mexico or Canada – but food and water. According to regulations, the horses are fed at least six hours prior to departure, but may then be shipped in 28 hours.

Recent photos show horses that are densely packed in more than 20 hours in 100+ degree heat on overcrowded truck beds on their way through Texas, to Mexican slaughterhouses. At the border, the truck was stopped for more than four hours before it was allowed to run again. The heat rose significantly under the plastic roof.

Documents from the border between Texas and Mexico from one day in January of this year show that out of five loads of horses on the way to a slaughter house which export horse meat to Europe, twelve of the animals so severely injured that they were not brought into the country. The injuries were bone and vertebral fractures, serious damage to eyes and large wounds. Five horses were so weak they could not stand up.

Reports of abuse and violence against slaughtering horses even at auction, loading and unloading and at slaughter are both from Canada and Mexico.

Click (HERE) to visit METRO website and to comment in English
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Bumbled BLM Chopper Meeting Gets Bad Press and Crashes in Poll

Posted: May 30, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs, Horse News, Wild Burros
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“The News as We See It” by R.T. Fitch ~ President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Federal Grazing Agency Bullied Through Meeting but Extended Comment Period

BLM Contract Chopper Cruelty ~ photo by Terry Fitch

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) covert holiday weekend announcement of a planned public hearing on the use of controversial helicopters during much contested wild horse stampedes, to take place only hours later, drew the nation’s ire and resulted in the federal grazing agency conducting the sparsely attended meeting on May 29th  while extending the period for comment until June 12th.

The Nevada branch of the BLM, where the bulk of America’s few remaining wild horses and burros reside, claims to “welcome” comments from the public as part of it’s statewide hearing on the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles in it’s failed management of wild horse and burro operations.

The instructions for sending in comments are quite specific so, if interested, attention to detail is a must; particularly when BLM’s inability to accurately count and/or listen to comments is taken into consideration.

The issue is the use of helicopters to terrorize and stampede federally protected wild horses and burros from their rightful public lands and then to use semi-trucks, trailers and pickups to haul them off to parts unknown where the BLM is gearing up to allow all of them to be sold off for slaughter.

If you would care to be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves mail or fax to:

Carson City District Office
5665 Morgan Mill Road
Carson City, NV 89701
Attn: WHB Motorized Hearing
FAX: 775-885-6147

Email: ccfoweb@blm.gov, Attn: WHB Motorized

And here is a nice touch, in an effort to make you feel safe, warm and fuzzy the Wild Horse Harvesting Machine INSISTS that you include your physical address, phone number, email or other personal identifying information with your comment.  Nice touch, eh?

But the destructors of our National Icons are not finished, yet…they have one more twist, or threat, that they want to throw in and this is a direct quote:

“Please be aware your entire comment–including your personal identifying information–may be made publicly available at any time. While you may request we withhold your personal information from public view, we cannot guarantee we will be able to do so.”

You just gotta love it.

If you would also like to vote in an online poll on the cruelty of the BLM swing by Reno’s NBC News 4 website to take part in their poll, click (HERE)…at the time of this writing 67% were against the usage of helicopters to torment, terrorize and ultimately undo the wild equines of our public lands.

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Ginger Kathrens: Happy Birthday Cloud!

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Open letter from Ginger Kathrens, volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation

17 Years and Going STRONG!

Cloud, May 23, 2012 ~ courtesy of the Cloud Foundation

Today, May 29th, we celebrate the birthday of Cloud, son of the stunning, black stallion Raven and Phoenix, the palomino mare, who is 21 years young this spring.

Seventeen years ago today, Anni Williams and I were on Tillett Ridge in the Pryor Mountains engrossed in filming a young stallion trying to breed his father’s newly won mare. His father, Opposite, was off playing with nearby bachelors. The filly had successfully fought off the two year-old when his father returned to sniff his son, and I guessed that this young son would soon be “asked” to leave the family.

That’s when I noticed a flash of white in the trees to my left and had the presence of mind to pan my camera just as Phoenix led her newborn, nearly white son in front of us. The band followed close behind with Raven protectively pulling up the rear. As the newborn colt tottered by I whispered to Anni, “Do you know how special this is?” At the time I had no idea that the fragile colt would become an ambassador for all mustangs in the West.

Last week, Lauryn and I were elated to find Cloud and his family (Aztec, Jasmine, Breeze, the Black, Dancer, Agate, Ingrid, Lynx, Feldspar and her foal) in intermittent rain and snow.  All 11 were looking fabulous. The gray colt at Feldspar’s side instantly won our hearts. As we watched him play with Ingrid’s yearling son, Lynx (son of the deceased stallion Ferdinand), I sensed a band stallion in the making—if he survives. Cloud’s only living son is Bolder, but he was not raised by Cloud. The gray colt represents a chance for Cloud to raise a son. We laughed when the colt tried to mimic his father. Cloud had defecated on the spot where one of his mares had urinated. The gray colt sniffed the area and tried to urinate on the same spot. He missed the mark by about three feet, but he tried nevertheless!

Cloud himself looks grand as you can see. We watched him drive the band stallions Mescalero and Morning Star away. At 17 years of age, he has not missed a beat and still moves with the easy grace of his father and the fierce determination he first exhibited as a bachelor stallion. Cloud tried to start a family at the tender age of four and nearly died trying. At five, he succeeded in winning a mare in a most unorthodox way. Since that time his family has grown, and he has consistently led one of the largest bands on the Pryor Mountains

We hope you’ll share with us a birthday wish that Cloud might remain a powerful leader in his mountain stronghold. You go big boy! PBS is celebrating his birthday too with a short video update we just completed before heading up to Montana last week. Check it out on PBS Nature’s site.

Happy Trails!
Ginger

P.S. Cloud’s legacy includes his lookalike grandson, Echo, who could be removed in the upcoming summer bait trapping in the Pryor Mountains. Please send a message (or an additional message if you have done so already) to BLM asking them not to remove Echo, or any of the young 1-3 year olds that have been identified as genetically critical to the future survival this small, vulnerable population of Spanish-style mustangs.

Click (HERE) to view the dynamic, current photos of Cloud and his family

Many Warriors, but None of the Valor for Horses

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Rescue, Horse Slaughter
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By Debbie Stoutamire of the Galveston Daily News

Our horses have been willing warriors in many wars started by men

Mary Jane and Ventura recovering at Habitat for Horses

British author and ex-cavalryman J.N.P. Watson once said, “The horse is so lacking in malice and yet so dutiful and grave that when he suffers, it makes man so ashamed for the human race.”

Our horses have been willing warriors in many wars started by men. In the first world war, about 1.5 million horses were used as cavalry, and an estimated 500,000 died.

With few exceptions, horses sent to war in Europe did not come home. Some died in transit, many died from pneumonia from lack of shelter in England, and countless more died on the battlefield.

At the end of the war, those horses who survived were sold to butchers in countries desperate for food. Even in death, the horses served men.

Unfortunately, even today, horse slaughter — a cruel parade of death — continues. Canada and Mexico are the only North American countries that practice horse slaughter openly.

President Barack Obama recently signed a bill that will revive the U.S. horse slaughter industry, exporting horses north and south of our borders. Not only are horses being slaughtered in grotesque, inhumane ways, but the racing industry in our country has remained silent about slaughtered thoroughbreds.

In addition to horse slaughter and abuses by the racing industry, the Tennessee walking horse, sweet, gentle animals originally bred in the Southern United States to carry owners of plantations around their land but now trained to win championships that feature their high-stepping gait, are suffering in yet another war.

I was horrified while watching the abuse of these wonderful horses on “Nightline” on May 16, which included cattle prods, burning horses with cigarettes and applying chemicals to their pasterns and putting chains around their hoofs. What hurt my heart the most was a video showing Jackie McConnell and his helpers striking a horse around the face and head until he went down.

I cannot help but wonder if that was what happened to Ventura before he came to the Habitat for Horses in August 2011, bone thin. He bears his scars from a war that he did not enlist for — a crushed muzzle inflicted by man. He does not complain but nickers softly when I approach him. Ventura is one of the lucky ones.

He graduated from rehab at the habitat and has made a new friend — Mary Jane. Unlike Ventura, Mary Jane bears no visible scars. You can see the trust in her eyes. I shudder to think what might have happened to Ventura, Mary Jane and the rest of the horses at the habitat had they ended up on a truck bound for slaughter.

There are 150 horses who have been buried by the Habitat for Horses — casualties of their own wars. These horses were not willing warriors like those who have died throughout history.

Like Ventura and many others, they came in with many scars, but they were all loved and cherished by Jerry Finch, the man who has worked tirelessly for more than years in his rescue mission. Heartbreak has been his constant companion. He not only works to rescue horses, but also to end horse slaughter in this country.

When I see Ventura and Mary Jane waiting patiently at the gate, I see their eyes pleading — “please tell them about us, please help us to help them — please help us to end the suffering.”

Debbie Stoutamire lives in Galveston.

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Charleroi PA Passes Resolution to Support Federal Ban on Horse Slaughter

Posted: May 29, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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by ~ Pittsburgh Pet Rescue Examiner

“the right to govern is derived from the governed”

Although recent polls indicate that a vast majority of Americans are opposed to the slaughtering of U.S. horses for human consumption, a small minority of individuals have launched a  backdoor  misinformation campaign designed to re-open US horse slaughter facilities and in the worst case scenario factory farm horses for food.

Political support for  federal and state bans on horse slaughter continues to gain momentum. One political arena where elected officials have taken a stand aginst the slaughter of American horses is the borough of Charleroi Pennsylvania located along the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania. Once dubbed the Miracle City, Charleroi’s stand against horse slaughter and its support for controlling the feline population through trap/neuter/return may earn it a new name: the City of Compassion. In a proclamation supporting a ban on horse slaughter the Mayor and Council acknowledge that horse slaughter is inhumane and contrary to the values of its citizenry and the residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Charleroi’s  proclamation urges state and federal officials to support a ban on horse slaughter.

While some may argue that the proclamation is purely symbolic, that claim ignores the more significant aspect of the issue of horse slaughter. As all Americans know the United States is a nation founded on Locke’s belief that “the right to govern is derived from the governed.”  Recent polls by such groups as the ASCPA suggest that 80% of Americans are opposed to horse slaughter.

The action taken by the Charleroi council and its Mayor suggest that those elected to office in Charleroi take the concept of a representative republic to heart. Their stand against horse slaughter reflects the values and sentiments held by a majority of Americans. Simply stated, “Americans do not eat horses.”

The Borough of Charleroi is to be commended for its willimgness to take a stand against a practice which a majority of Americans oppose. It seems the the state of New Jersey will soon follow with a statewide ban on horse slaughter.  The only question that remains is why in a representative republic where the majority of the citizens oppose horse slaughter are other elected officials dragging their feet in passing a federal ban on horse slaughter?

Click (HERE) to visit Faith’s Examiner and to Comment
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Update: American Public Speaks Out on Lack of BLM Transparency

Posted: May 28, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros
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Wild Horse and Burro advocates want 30 days notice for public hearings on use of Helicopters at roundups

RENO (May 28, 2012)—Protect Mustangs has discovered that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) scheduled an important public hearing for 10 a.m. the morning after Memorial Day weekend without adequately notifying the public. The hearing is scheduled for 10-11 a.m., at the BLM Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road, in Carson City, Nev. The wild horse preservation group is requesting the BLM reschedule the public hearing—regarding the use of helicopters and other motorized vehicles for roundups and management—in order to give the public at least 30 days notice.

“What happened to government transparency and public process?” asks Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “With 80% of America’s federally protected indigenous wild horses and burros living on public land in Nevada, the whole country should be given adequate notice to participate in person as well as via email. Most members of the public are against helicopter roundups. Is BLM trying to sneak this by without public input?”

On Saturday, the preservation group’s website alerted the public about the hearing, after they saw it posted in the Mesquite News online.”Through our social media channels the public began to hear about the public hearing that no one knew about,” said Novak. “Even horse advocates in Carson City hadn’t heard about the hearing.”

“I live in Carson City and never heard a thing about a public hearing regarding helicopters and motorized vehicles for roundups and management,” says photographer and wild horse advocate Cat Kindsfather. “People would like to come to the hearing from around the country but they need proper notice.”

“I live in the Carson area and just found out about the Helicopter hearing,” says Craig Downer, author and wildlife biologist. “These hearings are mandated by the law so why aren’t we being informed out them?”

“I live in Reno and only heard about the hearing today when a friend called,” says Terri Farley, author and wild horse and burro advocate. “Mustangs are the people’s horses, but BLM’s stealth meetings make it impossible for us to stand up for their welfare.”

Advocates, as well as members of the public nationwide, would like to attend the hearing but they need 30 days notice to make arrangements.

“I live in Oakland, California and I would like to speak against the use of helicopters and motorized vehicles,” says Kerry Becklund, Outreach Director for Protect Mustangs. “But I need to give my day job notice to take a vacation day.”

“I live in Houston, Texas and work overseas,” says R.T. Fitch, volunteer president of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, “Hearing about an important BLM meeting—only a day before it occurs—continues to stack the deck against the horses and burros as our collective voices cannot possibly be present to speak to the issue.”

“I live in Richmond, Virginia and would like to speak at the public hearing against using helicopters but I need adequate notice to make travel plans,” says wild horse advocate Lisa Friday. “30 days notice is standard. Why doesn’t the BLM notifying us properly? Is this against the law?”

“I live in New York City and would like to speak at the meeting against helicopter roundups,” says Hope Smith who loves wild horses. “I want to be part of the public process but I need more notice to get out West.”

“I live on 36 acres at the base of the mountains in Arizona,” says Michael Blake, Academy Award-winner and author of Dances with Wolves. “Helicopter roundups are nothing but incessant warfare against life on earth . . . for money.”

The group is collecting comments against helicopter roundups to take to Tuesday morning’s hearing. Members of the public may email them to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

In the letter addressed to The BLM, Novak states, “The requirement for the public hearing was set in place to protect the public’s rights to participate in government and this must not be ignored.”

The BLM press release reads:

Before helicopters or motorized vehicles can be used, a public hearing is required in order to comply with Section 404 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. The BLM proposes to use a helicopter, fixed wing aircraft and other motorized vehicles to estimate population numbers and obtain seasonal distribution information for wild horse and burro herds throughout Nevada. Also proposed is using a helicopter to assist in gathering excess wild horses and burros on gathers and complexes throughout the state during the coming year. The actual number of areas where gathers will be conducted or inventoried will depend on a number of factors including funding. 

Members of the public can fax the BLM head office in Washington DC to request the helicopter hearing be rescheduled with a 30 day notice given to the public. The fax number is: 202-208-5242

Controversial helicopter roundups have harassed wild horses and burros—stampeding them for miles, often resulting in lameness and sometimes in death.

Besides being concerned about animal cruelty at helicopter roundups, Protect Mustangs believes that helicopters flying in the desert for days or weeks emit pollution that harms the environment and contributes to global warming. The group believes motorized vehicles damage the ecosystem—hurting many forms of wildlife, such as sage grouse, and other endangered species on the range as well.

The group opposes the use of helicopter and motorized vehicles (except in a state of emergency or for an accurate population head count—not an estimate.)

“If wild horses and burros are facing a water or food emergency then bring it out there but roundups must stop now,” states Novak. “A drought isn’t an excuse for roundups to zero out indigenous wild horses and remove them from their home on public land forever . . .”

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