By Horsetalk.co.nz on Oct 01, 2012 in News
“This is not a game…”
photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
The president of a wild horse advocacy group has reacted with dismay over the publication of a report by Propublica.org questioning the fate of a significant number of wild horses sold under the Bureau of Land Management’s adoption and sales program.
Wild Horse Freedom Federation volunteer president and co-founder R.T. Fitch argues the report is incomplete and had gutted an investigation by advocates “that could have actually helped and saved the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses”.
Fitch said writer Dave Philipps “grievously failed to wait for the story to conclude with final proof and verification of exactly when, how and where the horses actually went”.
He said Philipps’ “itchy trigger finger” had resulted in the outing of an investigation that could have had significant legal merit and long-term benefit for wild equines.
Fitch argued its publication was premature, given that it lacked documented proof of where the horses actually ended up, and said the piece would ultimately compromise other investigations.
“This is not a game. It is about the wild horses, burros and the brave people who voluntarily put their lives on the line to investigate the operations of kill buyers …”
Philipps’ inquiries would have tipped off parties involved, making it harder for those in the field to track the movement of the shipments of wild horses and to observe hauling and the drop-off points.
“Carelessness like this puts the lives of volunteer investigators in the field at risk and does not encompass the big picture of shutting this blood trade down once and for all,” Fitch said.
“The end result of what occurred above produced nothing more than a ‘he said, she said’ tale that touches on some verifiable facts – which is good – but in the end misses the entire point as the final facts are not verified.
“What will this limited information accomplish? Will the BLM, which acts with impunity, just continue its shell game by replacing Tom Davis with another hauler?”
“The BLM’s investigation of Tom Davis seems to be another internal investigation, and we know what happens with those.”
Fitch said advocates had been “screaming from the rooftops” for years that wild horses had been going to slaughter.
He said advocates had been close to getting the facts that would have verified what was happening, and in doing so would have saved the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses.
Click (HERE) to read the article in it’s entirety and to Comment
Related articles
- Money, Ego and the Failure to Save Wild Horses and Burros (rtfitchauthor.com)
- BLM to Attack Antelope Valley Wild Horse Herd, AGAIN! (rtfitchauthor.com)
- Wild Horse Letters to the President Swell in Support (rtfitchauthor.com)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
It was TOTALLY IRRESPONSIBLE and STUPID of Phillips to compromise the potential suit. As for stupidity, the modern “Wild Horse Annie” couldn’t help but know, and should have made him aware of the implications of premature release. Lord knows she’s spent enough time in court! Egos, fame, and a lust for donations have now put the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses at risk. I’m not surprised they continue to point with pride they “broke the story”. I wonder if they’ll ever admit that, by holding off until the the entire body of evidence had been collected and confirmed, they could have aided in breaking everyone who participated, shed light on the failure of the program itself, and perhaps prompted meaningful reform. Shame on those who put their self-interests and greed above safety and the lives of wild horses and burros!!!
LikeLike
Should have proofed before I posted, but I’m sure you get the idea.
LikeLike
Journalists have few paths to tread…ultimately truth is the foremost; some try to do good in the process…I can’t see the good done by Phillips. Maybe his co-conspirators…err informants can explain WHY?
BTW…Phillips doesn’t give a $hit about judicial review and litigation….nuff said.
LikeLike
Mr/Ms Fitch:
I defer to you both, your knowledge and expertise…more importantly, your collective humanity.
If this article is a problem for wild equines…I support your conclusion.
LikeLike
As most journalist, they just can’t wait to get the story out. Phillips should of waited but unfortunately was hot to report this story. Wishing all of the Wild Horses and Burros a free life on their land. I know in my heart that all of the wild equines lives are in danger. Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Fitch for all of the hard work you do in helping the Wild Horses and Burros.
LikeLike
As much as this fundraising junkie wants to believe she is the new and improved “Wild Horse Annie,” she missed and misses and will always miss that mark. Velma Johnston would have perished before she would have knowingly allowed information she knew would stop the slaughter of her beloved free roaming horses and burros to be used instead to brighten the spotlight on herself.
But we know, it wouldn’t matter what the real consequences are, she and those who support her interference in progress, will declare a victory. Just as she calls herself an award winning illustrator, a journalist, a videographer – our work has been delayed by her presence and the harping of her protectors. They really have got to see the destruction they have allowed to happen. For me, it was clear long ago – long ago, that her mission was not safeguarding or seeking justice for the horses. It is confirmed for all to see now.
Its not for the horses and burros or even about them .
That is an interesting statement on the young Mr Phillip, who surely knows a fact from a premise. Surely, those definitions were covered in his “journalism” courses. Maybe in a book or two he has read over the years, maybe reading some history? Come on!
LikeLike
Will “advocates” threatening those with differing opinions about certain other “advocates” actions PLEASE QUIT!!!
LikeLike
Hummpth!!! I remember back in the day when writers working for months on a really big story that would shake everyone from the Governor’s office to freshman tutors on a college campus would work on a story for two or three years if necessary to reveal a dishonest, fraudulent, and unethical program. They realized that the stakes were not about just one or two characters, but had tentacles that reached into the political, business, academic, athletic integrity of an entire state and its university system. Sometimes when you start an investigation, you think you are only looking at one or two issues, but the more you look, the more you discover, and the more involved and entangled and yes, even dangerous, it gets. That was back in the day when reporters had some self-discipline and understood their role as the thin line of sunlight shining on the government to keep the government honest. While there might have been an appearance that the lines were being blurred in order to chase a story, in actuality, good reporters never lose sight of the side that they are on which should be to find the truth, no matter where it leads, and to reveal it at the right time, in the right way, for the right reasons.
Let’s say Tom Phillips continued with his story, and he decided to visit some of the agricultural extension services in some of those states Tom Davis said he delivered our wild horses to, and low and behold, he found a wild mustang trainer who told him that Mr. Davis has been bringing him and several other trainers wild horses to train and to sell to local people who enjoyed mustangs for trail riding. A real journalist would have followed the story to the end instead of just kind of pooling some characters and details together after cursory research as if all investigative stories follow the same pattern. Clearly, Mr. Phillips is practicing the nuevo journalism that can be expected of all the cheap little ebooks published by would be spin-doctoring PR men, whose objective is not the pursuit of the truth—wherever it lies, but the pursuit of money and notoriety—exactly as R. T. points out.
Personally, I do not think it hurts our advocacy if we speak out about a situation like this. I think it helps it. Not to speak out about a violation of an unwritten ethical code shared, I think, by most of us might make it appear to the BLM (Hi Sally, et al) that we are easy to hoodwink, or that we accept the actions of advocates willing to sacrifice the well-being of our horses for well, eh, er, a money, of all things. Is it possible that even we, holier than thous as we are (tongue-in-cheek) have our price?
And isn’t this the very spark that kindles the flame in all of us? After watching the constantly shifting battle lines, it seems that there is almost no one who has placed a value on the freedom of our wild, free roaming horses and burros who does not have his or her price? We search for a hero or a heroine anywhere and everywhere who will ride across the great divide, draw a line in the sand, and dare the BLM with their base mentality to cross it. A super-hero who could not be prosecuted as a terrorist because he or she dared to defy our murderous, horse hating BLM/FWS/FS? We long for someone great or small to stand up and say that there some things that you simply cannot buy or sell, and the blood of our wild horses and burros is one of them. We want a warrior/guardian to look our for our wild horses and burros wherever they roam to keep them free and safe on the range-land home. And deep down inside we know that as much as all of us who would never have heard of one another were it not for the horses are here for the horses, we know that this is about much more than horses, that perhaps the fate of America’s most iconic species with all their strength, speed, heart, intelligence, courage, and relationships could be the harbinger for us all, and life in America as we have known it most of our life times.
The answers to the questions about just who are we fighting and what exactly is it that they could possibly want that would require the removal of such a small number of wild horse and burro herds that share, but do not necessarily compete with livestock and wildlife for the same forage? How can there not be 15 gallons of water a day for a wild horse when there are millions of gallons available a day for a mine or a failed wind farm? What can be so important that someone would remove the very species most able to heal the land (and that is definitely not Sage Grouse, Mr. Sierra Club). We know that wild horse enemies think that facts and the truth are fatal, and we know that the flee from any contact with either one. Time to sharpen our aim, throw in a little misdirection, maybe a little stealth in the night—and remember to trust no one if you cannot see the fire of truth in their eyes.
LikeLike
The Burns Amendment has been in effect since 2004……EIGHT LONG YEARS during which wild horses have been sold by the truck load and without limitation. Yes the Burns Amendment does indeed allow wild horses to be slaughtered for meat and other commercialized products. It is LEGAL, but because of public outrage after learning through a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) that wild horses were indeed being slaughtered years ago, the BLM opened up “long term holding” pastures. However this does not change the fact that the Burns Amendment is still legal….not morally on target with how American feel about wild horses and public lands, not right, not good, but “legal”.
IF trucks are indeed being followed, photos and videos being taken, testimony and reports taken and written up and filed, then WHY has it been EIGHT long years and still except for this recent FOIA request by Philipps for bulk receipt records (for horses sold by the truckload), there have been no other FOIA requests by ALL wild horse advocacy groups or hard core individuals?
Everyone needs to come together to file a FOIA for the following: (if it has not happened already)
One: Long term and short term holding: total number of horses, sex, age, branded or not, condition of health, pasture locations, how animals are fed and care for, and length of contract and any violations since contract began. AND how many horses leave long and short term holding, why and where do they go.
Two: List of contractors, what they are paid and how, how many horses die, become injured, separated on the range, mares spontaneously aborting foals during round ups and deaths in the pens within 30 days of being rounded up. (YEAH I know….the BLM reports all this on their site, but many advocates across the board have found much of this information to be falsified.)
Three: How many horses have been adopted and returned and where did the returned horses go after coming back to BLM holding.
Four: Out of all horses adopted, how many adopters within that one year period prior to being titled by the BLM are actually inspected.
Five: How many foals less than 6 months of age born in long term and short term holding are removed and placed up for adoption and die before they are adopted or reach the age of 6 months after separated from their mothers.
Six: A list of all buyers who purchase from long term and short term holding that buy in bulk/by the truck load.
Seven: USDA and US border records for all horses crossing our borders that have the BLM brand and line up names of BLM buyers with shippers to Mexico and Canada.
THIS CAN BE DONE and needed to be done YESTERDAY.
Forget the bickering and name calling and yahooing. Enough! Time for a complete FOIA report from A to Z. (I say this to ALL of us)
FACT: Did you know that only TWO men are responsible for monitoring ALL long and short term holding across the United States? Oklahoma, Kansas, Utah, Iowa and South Dakota, and Nebraska……6 states and 23 long term holding pastures with supposedly 51,000 mustangs.
It is time to take official action through a complete and thorough FOIA.
Here is a video from TED with Martha Mendoza explaining why this is crucial, how it works and that yes it does indeed help create major change. Check it out…..wild horses mentioned and how a FOIA helped create long term holding. WATCH and then take action.
LikeLike
The Blm in Challis Idaho yesterday filed it’s final report on the Challis wild horse gather, that started on the 24th of Oct.
In that report , the BLM claims 192 gathered, no injuries and one death they claim was a 3 yr old mare with ” previously broken legs.
They also report how many were released and how many have been ” shipped “, but when you do the math,it would appear that 62 horses are missing from the count .
Two things of importance here.
The BLM commenced 2 days early, closing the roads,securing the area with armed BLM guards, denying access to any one not officially on the staff.
The contractor for the Challis gather, Dave Cattoor, has been recently exposed by the New York Times, caught on video, explaining to the crew how to get the injured into the truck and out of there so ” they ” don’t get the shot ” they ” want.
My problem is, the information is false to begin with, I am quite certain of this, so that means the truth can never be known , if it has been falsified in the field.
We have a very small population of wild horses here in the mountains. the terrain is rugged and the living is hard on the wild bands. so when they pushed them into a terrified frenzy the last time, 2 died in the stampede, and 9 in the pens during the processing phase. So excuse me if I do not believe a word of this report from yesterday.
With 62 individuals now unaccounted for, and knowing what we all now know, I am just a little concerned.
LikeLike
Horseshoe Angel, great ideas and I look forward to reading your information from the FOIAs you file. But one correction: when you stated “IF trucks are indeed being followed, photos and videos being taken, testimony and reports taken and written up and filed, then WHY has it been EIGHT long years and still except for this recent FOIA request by Philipps for bulk receipt records (for horses sold by the truckload), there have been no other FOIA requests by ALL wild horse advocacy groups or hard core individuals?” This is incorrect. I filed for the bulk sales records before Dave Phillips, and an investigation was underway. Debbie Coffey
LikeLike
Wow, Horseshoe Angel – thank you so much – great video – hopefully if it encourages anyone or lots of people to look into any of the problems – great. Gave me incentive to keep up on this site.
Only one mention of the horses but its good to have it brought out in a venue that quite possibly does not have any knowledge of whats happening to these horses.
Debbie Coffey – I have no doubt that you have already filed for these records – hopefully the investigation wasnt completely ruined by the article and there will be something gained by it.
LikeLike
I’m just wondering where other horses are going while everyone is watching Tom Davis? Still never got an accounting for the mares UT BLM confiscated enroute to MX. What happened to them?
LikeLike
Wow I’m deeply saddened by all the hatred by our modern Wild Horse Annie. She has busted her tail, sold everything, documentated on documentation. She has incurred legal fees that would flatten most of us.
She has released video when she can, has tried to tell us in human what the bleepers is going out there. And for this she is being vilified?
I heard over the weekend that nothing is lost by the release of this piece.
“Annie” should have a clearer picture of what is cause she and Her lawyer have made slow but steady steps toward legal decisions.
LikeLike
On Oct. 3, 2012, Tom Gorey, BLM PR spokesperson sent the following e-mail to an advocate:
From: TGorey@blm.gov
To: the advocate (e-mail address removed by me), jworley@blm.gov, janevelezmitchell@yahoo.com, smcmillan@denverpost.com, mjaffe@denverpost.com
Sent: 10/3/2012 5:51:50 A.M. Mountain Daylight Time
Subj: Re: Jane: BLM selling horses to kill buyer? (Denver Post)
“The ProPublica/Denver Post article provides no evidence to support its insinuation that wild horses bought by Mr. Davis ended up in slaughterhouses.
The BLM will investigate any credible claims that wild horse buyers are not fulfilling their sales agreement, which stipulates that horses are not to be resold or transferred to parties that intend to process the animals into commercial products.”
If only Dave Philipps had carried out his unvestigation until he had the proof.
LikeLike