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All Horses Post Cloud Foundation Blog Habitat for Horses Pam Nickoles PPJ Gazette Shedrow Confessions Vickery Eckhoff Wild HoofbeatsEnjoy the award winning photographic artistry of Terry Fitch as husband R.T. spins a tale of adventure and moral conflict as they share their story of riding across Outer Mongolia on horseback while tracking the primitive wild horse, Takhi.
Click Image to View Magazine
R.T. and Terry Fitch Talk about Outer Mongolia at 2013 American Equine Summit
Update from Equine Advocates
April 27, 2013
Video #1: Opening remarks from Jeffrey Tucker, EA Board Member, followed by welcome remarks from Susan Wagner, and speeches from the Summit’s Keynote Speaker, NY Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (sponsor of legislation A.3905) and NYS Senator Kathy Marchione (sponsor of legislation S.4615).
Video #2: Victoria McCullough and Florida State Senator Joseph Abruzzo. Ms. McCullough & Senator Abruzzo’s talk is titled “Making the Vital Changes Needed for America’s Horses Starting at the Top.”
Video #3: Patricia Hogan, VMD, ACVS of Hogan Equine. Dr. Hogan’s talk is titled “Racing and Horse Slaughter – A Toxic Relationship.”
Video #4: John Holland, President of the Equine Wefare Alliance. Mr. Holland’s talk is titled “Understanding the Forces Behind Horse Slaughter.”
Video #5: Ann M. Marini, Ph.D., M.D. Dr. Marini’s talk is titled “Phenylbutazone and Human Health.”
Video #6: Jo Anne Normile, author of Saving Baby, Founder of CANTER. Ms. Normile’s talk is titled “Making Sure the Finish Line Isn’t the Slaughterhouse: Racing’s Obligation to Ensure the Humane Fate of its Horses.”
Video #7: Sue McDonough, Cruelty Consultant for the New York State Humane Association. Ms. McDonough’s talk is titled “Moving Animal Cruelty Crimes to the Penal Law Section of the Criminal Code.”
April 28, 2013
Video #8: Paula Bacon, former Mayor of Kaufman, Texas who shut down Dallas Crown, the last equine slaughterhouse in the nation. Ms. Bacon’s talk is titled “What Happens when Horse Slaughter Comes to Town.”
Video #9: Vickery Eckhoff, writer for FORBES and other publications. Ms. Eckhoff’s talk is titled “Cheval My A** – Breaking Through Horse Slaughter B.S. with Journalists, Lawmakers and the Public.”
Video #10: Stephanie Graham, Domestic & Wild Horse Advocate. Ms. Graham’s talk is titled “Update from Oklahoma.”
Video #11: Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. Ms. Kathrens talk is titled “Wild Horses: On the Trail to Freedom!”
Video #12: R.T. Fitch, Wild Horse Advocate and Author of the Book & Bog “Straight From the Horses Heart.” Mr. Fitch’s talk is titled “Outer Mongolia, Wild Horses and the Paradox of Horse Slaughter.”
Video #13: US Congressman Chris Gibson of New York’s 19th District discusses H.R. 1094, the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act.
Video #14: Kraig Kulikowski, DVM, P.A.. of Equine Sports Medicine. Dr. Kulikowski’s talk is titled “Ethics and the Modern Veterinarian.”
Bio: Billy Smith, Teacher & Natural Horseman of Billy Smih Horsemanship. Mr. Smith did a lecture demonstration with former PMU Mare, Kelli in our outdoor round pen. Due to poor audio, the video is not being posted.
Source: Written by Mark Robison as published on RGJ.com
Palomino Valley ~ by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
The number of horse deaths at the BLM’s Palomino Valley wild horse facility is vastly underreported, according to rendering receipts uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act request made by the farm animal advocacy group Animals’ Angels.
Animals’ Angels sought the Palomino Valley facility’s rendering receipts for the services of Reno Rendering, whose legal name is Nevada By-Products. Rendering is when animal carcasses are hauled away and processed into other usable materials. (Possible uses: Cartilage, tendons and hooves are turned into gelatin used in such products as Jell-O and Altoids; stearic acid is used in car tires; blood and bone meal can be used for fertilizer; and some tissue is used as “byproducts” in animal feed.)
Animals’ Angels found:
According to the contract paperwork, Nevada By-Products was chosen over landfill disposal due to cost effectiveness and the fact that “Due to the sensitive nature of the public to the wild horse and burro program, it is necessary to dispose of these large animals as quickly and discretely (sic) as possible and Reno Rendering fulfills these requirements.”
In addition to the contract itself, our FOIA request obtained all records of deceased horses and burros sent from the BLM holding facility to the rendering plant from January 1, 2010 through May 31, 2012.
During that timeframe the BLM itself reported in the official Palomino Valley Mortality Detail Report that only 241 horses and burros died at the Palomino Valley facility and 50 at the Fallon facility. However, the records from the rendering plant tell quite a different story. According to the Nevada By-Product invoices for that same time period, a startling 577 dead horses were received from the Palomino Valley Facility. This is a shocking difference of 286 animals (336 horses if Nevada By-Products does not render the horses from Fallon), a number simply too large to ignore.
The BLM’s Heather Jasinski was asked for comment. She responded:
As for Animals’ Angels and their posting about the discrepancy of numbers of deaths: as stated in my earlier response, the National WH&B Program is currently reviewing its reporting procedures for all aspects of the program and will modify them to correct any identified discrepancies. Until any modifications are identified as being needed, we will continue to respond to any requests based on the current recording procedure.
The discrepancy seems to come about mostly from the counting of baby deaths. They aren’t tracked because they haven’t reached the age where they would be branded and enter “the system.” A controversy is over whether their deaths should be counted in general but also whether they should be counted as negative fallout from roundups, with the thinking being that they may have survived if born in the wild and their mothers hadn’t endured the stress of roundup, confinement and unfamiliar food…(CONTINUED)
NEW: S. 541/H.R. 1094—The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act
Sponsors: Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Representatives Patrick Meehan (R-PA) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).
ASPCA/WHFF Position: Support
Action Needed: Call and email your U.S. senators and representative in Washington, D.C., today to ask them to cosponsor the SAFE Act. Please thank them if they are already cosponsors!
Recent revelations that horse meat accidentally entered the food chain overseas have put a media spotlight on the issue of horse slaughter. It seems that horse slaughterers are incapable of preventing horse meat from mingling with their other products. If it can happen there, it can happen here. We’re happy to tell you that Congress is responding.
Just introduced in both chambers of Congress, The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act will prohibit the slaughter of horses for human consumption in the U.S. and ban their export abroad for that purpose. This bill will protect our nation’s horses from the predatory horse slaughter industry and protect the public from toxic horse meat.
The cruelties associated with horse slaughter are well-documented. Passage of the SAFE Act will not only ensure that predatory horse slaughterers cannot reopen their doors here in the U.S.—it will also stop the trafficking of horses to slaughterhouses over our borders.
As you know, horse slaughter isn’t a humane end for horses. There is no such thing as a commercial horse slaughter plant that does not inflict cruelty on horses. And horse slaughter is not only bad for horses, it’s also bad for people. Meat from American horses is unsafe for human consumption. Our horses are not raised as food animals; they are raised to be companions, sport competitors or work partners. Horses are routinely given medications and other substances that are toxic to humans and are expressly forbidden by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in animals intended for human consumption.
Enacting a ban on horse slaughter has never been more urgent! The USDA has announced its intention to approve a permit allowing a New Mexico slaughterhouse to begin slaughtering horses. Help us prevent this and any other slaughterhouses from butchering even a single American horse.
What You Can Do
Please take a moment to send a polite email to your federal legislators in Congress and urge them to cosponsor the SAFE Act (S. 541/H.R. 1094), a bill to ban the slaughter of American horses for human consumption.
We will automatically sort out for you if your legislator is a cosponsor, so you can thank them if they’ve already taken that step.
For even more impact, make a brief, polite phone call to your representative and senators in DC. Calling is fast, easy and the best way to reach your legislators. Look up your legislators’ names and phone numbers here. Don’t be nervous about calling—it’s easy, fast, and by far the most effective thing you can do! You can use this script when speaking with the receptionist:
“Hi, this is _______ and I am your constituent residing in [town and state]. I’m calling today to urge Representative/Senator _______ to support the SAFE Act, legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses and their export for that purpose abroad. Thank you!”
On behalf of our nation’s horses, thank you for your help!
Source: By Nancy Lofholm of the Denver Post
GRAND JUNCTION — The Bureau of Land Management has no new wild-horse roundups planned for the remainder of this year and, in that lull, will be researching a new population-control measure — the promising but controversial spaying of mares in the field.
BLM’s war on America’s wild horses and burros ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
The BLM is laying out steps to study what are called ovariectomies. Initially, the agency is seeking input from veterinarians about the best way to conduct field spayings. If those veterinarians give the idea a green light, the BLM would try out the procedure in holding facilities, followed by research in the field, before implementing any widespread program.
“We will be proceeding on this soon. It’s a very high priority for us,” said Dean
Bolstad, the BLM’s wild horse and burro senior adviser.
The BLM has had to take a new look at population-control measures because contraceptive drugs haven’t worked well to reduce herd sizes. Birth-control drugs are effective for less than two years and necessitate expensive repeat gathers of the animals. BLM wild-horse managers hope for approval of a more long-acting drug, but that is not expected anytime soon.
The agency is looking at new measures such as spaying because there is a lack of space for more horses in holding facilities, which are already home to more than 37,000 wild horses and burros. Last year, the BLM spent $43 million to maintain those animals in captivity. Adoptions of wild horses have dropped from 7,600 in 2001 to about 2,500 last year.
The ovariectomy became a seriously considered option after the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board recommended — in an eight-page “Population Growth Suppression Alternative” paper last fall — that it be studied.
The advisory board laid out reasons why removing the ovaries of some mares could be an important part of controlling the population of wild horses in herd-management areas and how it could be done in a more humane way than the roundups the BLM has long relied on to thin herds.
The board recommended using water and food as bait to corral horses long enough to treat them.
“Anytime you can get the BLM to consider something new, that’s good,” said Tim Harvey, the wild-horse advocate on the national advisory board.
Harvey pointed out that ovariectomies are already a government-approved measure and have been used safely on race horses.
“Personally, I do think it can be safe in the field,” said advisory board chairman Dr. Boyd Spratling, who is a veterinarian from Nevada…(CONTINUED)
Long time Wild Horse and Equine advocate Terry Fitch, co-founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation, has garnered 11 awards for her photographic artistry in the prestigious Equine Photographers Network‘s International 2013 Winter Photography Contest.
Ms. Fitch’s artistic subjects ranged from her own horses, Mongolian wild horses to the Royal Outer Mongolian Mounted Guard. With an eye for the emotion evoked by an equine Fitch captured images that likewise capture not only the eye but the heart of the viewer. Her winning photos are as follows:
“New Friends”
3rd Place Amateur Performance
“Changing of the Guard”
6th Place Amateur Performance
“Rough Day”
Honorable Mention Amateur Performance
“Heading Home”
4th Place Amateur Horse Human Bond
“Saddling up”
1st Place Amateur Head Study
“Lazy Day”
3rd Place Amateur Head Study
“Water Hound”
4th Place Amateur Head Study
“New Friends”
6th Place Amateur Extreme Action
“Mongolian Racers”
Honorable Mention Amateur Details
“Deep Thought”
2nd Place Amateur Wild Horses
“Mongolian Stallion”
Ms. Fitch would like to thank the Equine Photographers Network and all of the kind individuals that voted for and showed appreciation for her work.
Wild Horses under attack by BLM in Nevada~ by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
According to a recent AP article it appears that Nevada politicians are pulling pages right out of Ripley’s Believe It or Not for America’s free roaming wild horses and burros by passing a resolution in their honor.
The report states that Senate Joint Resolution 1 recognizes wild horses as living symbols of American Western heritage, as well as natural resources and cultural assets.
SJR1 also expresses support for wild horse and burro eco-sanctuaries, something supporters say could encourage rural tourism in the state.
Only Sens. Debbie Smith of Sparks and Ben Kieckhefer (KEE’-keh-fer) of Reno voted against the resolution.
It now goes to the Assembly.
For a state that has been “Ground Zero”, both federal and local, for the destruction of protected wild horses and burros this comes as somewhat of a surprise to those who strive to protect and ensure the future well being of our national treasures.
Although a nice gesture it is only window dressing as the resolution will not stop the out of control Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from continuing their assault upon our nation’s wild equines, the bulk of which reside in Nevada, as they make up the law and rules as they go.
