Posts Tagged ‘animal cruelty’

Obama’s BLM Announces Wild Horse and Burro Stampede and Abuse Schedule for Summer 2011

Posted: June 20, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Unedited BLM News Release and Propaganda Communication

“Let the Death and Destruction Begin”

More terror for the horses to be relased by the Obaman Administration, soon.

The Bureau of Land Management announced today its tentative summer schedule for gathering wild horses and burros from overpopulated herds on Western public rangelands.  The gathers are needed to bring herd sizes into balance with other rangeland resources and uses, as required by Federal law and approved land-use plans.

“With the new gather season starting in July, we must carry out these gathers in a fully transparent manner,” said BLM Director Bob Abbey.  “That includes taking full ownership of what we do and by sharing both the positive and negative news with our various publics, whatever criticism may come our way.”

Abbey added, “Our work on a forthcoming new strategy for managing wild horses and burros is part of our commitment to a ‘new normal’ of doing business.  Among other things, the strategy calls for greater reliance on population-suppression techniques, including increased application of the fertility-control vaccine known as PZP.”

The goal will be to treat more than 1,200 mares per year (over the current level of about 900 in FY 2011) through implementation of “catch, treat, and release” gathers.  These gathers will be principally aimed at applying the fertility-control vaccine porcine zona pellucida (PZP) to mares.  In some herds, the BLM will adjust sex ratios in favor of males to reduce the number of on-the-range pregnancies or potentially manage non-reproducing herds (such as geldings) in some Herd Management Areas.

The public and media are invited to observe the gathers.  Observation points will be determined by the BLM in a manner that recognizes the need for good viewing sites, along with the need to ensure viewer and animal safety.

Click (HERE) for dates of when the Feds begin killing and maiming wild horses and burros

Related articles

Nevada Demands Obama Stop Wild Horse Roundups

Posted: April 22, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Advocates Want Waste of Tax Dollars to Cease

Reno, NV (April 21, 2011) —Taxpayers and wild horse advocates join with The Cloud Foundation to protest on the streets of Reno as well as at the airport. They demand roundups stop and for the government to cease warehousing the last living symbols of the American West. A new wave of protests is sweeping across the country after yesterday’s successful Save Wild Horses~Yes We Can! protest in San Francisco, sponsored by The Cloud Foundation, composed of primarily disgruntled democrats rallying outside the Democratic National Committee fundraiser for President Obama.

“Since the movement began a year and a half ago to ‘re-protect’ the mustangs the White House response has been ‘no comment,’” explains Anne Novak spokesperson for The Cloud Foundation. “Now that the president is campaigning for reelection we ask him to work with ‘wild and free’ advocates to create real solutions—not just finding a trendy way to package long-term holding while destroying the genetic viability of the American wild horses and burros still on the range.”

Secretary of Interior, Ken Salazar served with the president when both were junior Senators. He is a lifelong rancher from southern Colorado and appears to favor the ranchers’ livestock over wild horses and burros point of view. Salazar’s 2010 defective solution for the wild horse issue is based on bad science —claiming an overpopulation of wild horses and burros on public lands. During America’s heartbreaking recession, Salazar called for the purchase of seven parcels of private land in the East and Midwest at a cost of $46 million per parcel and shipment of the legendary mustangs back East. He plans on stockpiling geldings (neutered stallions) and barren mares for life. The proposal fell flat with both Congress and the public.

Offering a nearly cost-free alternative, the Cloud Foundation is advocating the release of the recently incarcerated wild horses and burros—those who are in unsheltered and often filthy BLM short-term holding facilities at a cost over $2,000 per horse per year —back onto millions of legal herd acres designated for them since 1971. This solution would save taxpayers more than $25 million yearly and allow the wild animals to live naturally in their family bands on western ranges.

“Disgruntled taxpayers are taking to the streets to demand BLM stop costly roundups and lifelong incarceration of the last of America’s wild mustangs,” states Ginger Kathrens, Director of The Cloud Foundation. “The immediate solution is to release wild horses back into zeroed out herd areas originally designated for their use by Congress. BLM admits this is an option, but has failed to move on it—perhaps fearing reprisal from extractive users, many of whom are large multi-national corporations trying to enlarge their profits at the expense of taxpayers.”

“The death of the West is coming unless wildlife advocates, ranchers, hikers and hunters realize we’re all on the same side against corporate giants industrializing the range,” states award-winning author from Nevada, Terri Farley.

Americans throughout the country will continue protesting to protect wild horses and burros until they are safe, and those suffering in short-term holding are returned to their legal ranges in the West.

Pickens Responds to BLM Director’s Pro-Slaughter Stance

Posted: December 2, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Madeleine Pickens Echos Concern over Summit of the Slaughter Attendance

December 1, 2010
Mr. Bob Abbey
Director, Bureau of Land Management
Department of the Interior
Washington, D.C.

Bad move on part of BLM to allow Abbey to speak at Slaughterfest

Dear Mr. Abbey,
I read with great concern for the program at the upcoming “Summit of the Horse” and that you are noted as one of the speakers. While I recognize that you are obligated to reach out to a wide variety of constituents groups to seek input on the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, the cast of characters attending this event reads more like a who’s who of the pro-slaughter and anti-wild horse community.

It seems that whenever the pro-agriculture groups dangle a dollar in front of individuals or outside groups, they automatically become equine experts, and are first in line to reap the economic benefits of the latest pitch. As a matter of fact, it’s the economics of grazing on public lands that has generated the issue with the overpopulation of wild horses in holding pens and the costs associated with that program. Suggesting giving more money to the pro-agriculture crowd as a solution to the boondoggle is misleading and is sure to fail as it will only create more issues with the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Since the BLM has openly stated that they will not engage in any attempt to euthanize or slaughter wild horses, it is even more interesting that you are participating in a discussion of exactly that issue with the pro-slaughter crowd.

If the “Summit” participants were seriously concerned about what they refer to as the “unwanted” horses driving the demand for slaughter in this country, they would have to look no further than the boutique breeding industry in this country. We are producing somewhere in the range of 250,000 registry horses in this country every year. It is very hard to make the argument that the few thousand new wild horses born each year can match the numbers of breed horses contributing to the overpopulation of horses in this country. The answer to the “unwanted” horse population in this country is to ensure responsible breeding and responsible care, and not driving 10,000 wild horses each year by helicopter into a trap for removal.

One only has to glance at the details of the program and the recurring reference to “feral” horses to understand what the intentions of this group are. I encourage you to read an article that ran in the Reno Gazette Journal recently stating that, “Modern horses evolved here and that’s an adequate reason to consider them a native American species and not ‘invasive’ or ‘introduced feral animals.”Perhaps you could share this conclusion with the participants at the forum.

I appreciated the opportunity to meet with you and others recently to discuss possible solutions to the problems that plague the Wild Horse and Burro Program. I am now engaged in a good faith effort, at a considerable personal cost, to work with BLM personnel in Nevada to develop a new model to keep and manage excess wild horses. As I told you then, leveraging private dollars and creating a pilot program to handle wild horses coming off the ranges in the Western U.S. takes us in a new, positive direction and offers a new vision for an applicable solution. I fear the group gathering at the Summit of the Horse is recycling many of the ideas and actions that have perpetuated the controversial problems we now see in the strategy to gather and hold our wild horses.

I hope you will continue to engage with people of good faith who want to see the Wild Horse and Burro Program managed in a way that all the stakeholders, including the wild horses and their advocates, are content with and will have a say in the final outcome. I am always available if I can be of service in working on this issue for the betterment of all concerned.

Respectfully,

Madeleine Pickens

There Was No Warmth, There Was No Love

Posted: October 18, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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by R.T. Fitch ~ author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart“

He was young, so young that life had no fear or pain.  His life revolved around the warmth that he felt from his mother, her milk and the sun.  All the warmth made him feel happy, it made him glow, it made him feel loved.

His family was not large but they made him feel safe, they did not play often as he was the only baby but they made him feel loved.  There was his father, bold and strong; his young mother, his older sister and two aunts that kept an eye on him if he should stray far from his mother.

It was an autumn day as he danced around the brush and nipped at his sister’s back feet.  Sometimes she would strike out at him but through persistence he learned that she would turn and run him off.  To him, that was playing.  But today, as he nipped at her hocks, there came a great sound, a rushing, roaring noise the likes of which he had never heard before.  He saw the tension in his sister’s stance then watched her legs lung her forward as his family bolted away from the sound roaring at them from behind.

He did not know what to do, there was the ever increasing sound, a pressure from behind and above, dust, running family and he could not keep up.  The harder he tried the further away his family band seemed to pull away.  The dust stung his eyes, his lungs were on fire, he gave his small legs the freedom to run as fast as they could to escape the giant, mechanical bird that threatened to consume him.  He never saw the gulch, the drop-off, the dried creek bed as he went airborne over the edge in a cloud of dust and landed on the hard gravel bed, below.  There was a snap, a bolt of searing hot pain and his right front let would not work nor let him stand.  He struggled and flopped about the dried creek as the roaring, man-made condor descended upon him; from out of nowhere strange horses appeared with odd creatures on their backs.  He felt no warmth, he felt no love, he now felt only one thing, fear.

One of the back riders slid off from a strange horse, he tried to crawl away, the two legged creature planted one of its feet on his neck so he could not move while the noisy bird of prey sped off.  The rider pulled something from his hip, pointed it at his head, he felt a moment of insurmountable panic and in a flash of white light and a bang, he was no more, ever, finished, destroyed.  He felt no warmth, he felt no love, forever.

His mother heard the shot, the giant buzzard was bearing down on the band from behind and she could not see her baby.  Without thinking of her own safety she pulled from the running band and ran back directly underneath the snarling bird of prey.  Underneath and back she ran until she found the strange horses with riders standing over a crumpled body on the floor of the dried creek bed, it was her baby.  She charged at the rider on the ground to drive him away from her baby, he jumped back just as snake like things reached out and grabbed her neck.  She spun around to attack again and another serpentine vine flew out from one of the strange horses and rider and choked itself around her neck.  She lunged against the pressure and their grip only tightened.  She reared and twisted as the strange horses pulled back and increased the strangling grip on her neck as she watched the ground rider return to her crumpled baby.  She could no longer breath, there was fire in her chest, her vision was blurred and began to go dark as she saw the rider look at her, smile and then kick the crumpled form of the baby squarely in the chest with only a hollow thud heard in reply.  Her heart exploded, she felt no warmth, she felt no love, she was destroyed from within and without; gone, forever.

Later that day, far across the now silent plains, a computer screen flickered with the written text:

Friday, Oct 15

Summary: Operations continued at Magnolia Bench in the morning. Helicopter-assisted roping west of County Road 5 took place in the afternoon.

Animals gathered:  4
Animals shipped: 0
Gather related animal deaths: 1
Cause: During helicopter-assisted roping a seven-month-old colt broke its leg and was euthanized onsite.
Non-gather related animal deaths: 1
Cause: A three-year-old mare died with no visible injuries after being roped. A necropsy was performed, which found a pre-existing heart condition. Significant changes to the musculature of the heart was found, indicative of a chronic and progressive problem.

There was no warmth, there was no love, there was only a cold and empty silence while a nation wept and no one listened.

Second TRO Attempt to Stop CO Wild Horse Roundup Denied

Posted: October 17, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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(In My Humble Opinion) by R.T. Fitch

Case Headed to Court this Wednesday

I wrestled with how I would present this situation to our readership; should it be a press release simply stating the facts or one of my personal notes that could give readers some insight into the big picture and what is actually going on…with your indulgence, I opted for the later.

Not highly publicized but on Friday we filed a Temporary Restraining Order and attempted to stop the Bureau of Land Management’s deadly Piceanse- North Douglas roundup as the BLM’s contractor had choked down and killed a mare on Thursday, the preceding day.  The court issued a stern warning to the BLM but allowed them to proceed while on the very same day of our filing the BLM killed a 7 month old foal and 3 year old mare bringing their murder count up to 3 which is a total mortality rate of 10% of all horses gathered up until that date.

Once again, our legal team reapplied for a TRO on Saturday with a teleconference scheduled with the court on Sunday morning, again, we were denied.  A great disappointment for anyone with a shred of decency or a sliver of compassion for other living creatures but in the big scheme of things, this is why the order is denied…remembering that we DO have a hearing scheduled on this case Oct 20th…our preliminary injunction is arguing a much bigger picture and not only a temporary injection.  We are going after the failure of the BLM to do their business correctly by using outdated and inaccurate data as a basis for decisions to wipe out entire wild horse herds and their inability to clearly understand several major points of law including (but not limited to) their expressed assignment to protect these American horses versus destroying them.  We are focused on that big picture and so is the court.

The BLM has assured the court that the horses will be returned to the range should they lose their case,  the court is holding the plaintiffs to the letter of the law regarding damage due to the deaths of the horses and the everyday individual is saying, “Huh?”

That’s the way it is, we are only days away from a hearing and we cannot beat the court over the head with what we feel is right in our heart of hearts.  This is about law and not about emotion.  As wrong and painful as it may feel we need to move forward and argue the case at hand in an effort to expose the legitimate weak points in the BLM’s tarnished and mildew covered armor.

I, personally, consider ourselves to be lucky to have a judge that is not under the thumb of the BLM as it appears many western judges are.  Likewise, the fact that he is actively studying the issue is both important and enlightening.  We need to maintain the positive mind-setand stay in the “upper loop” as we move forward.

But at the time of this writing, at several locations in the western U.S., the BLM in their twisted perception of the scope of their responsibilities is stampeding and killing American wild horses.  Ken Salazar, Bob Abbey and Don Glenn have managed to get themselves so very twisted up into and in bed with so many varied special interests and political agendas that they no longer serve the greater good of the American people or the wilderness/wildlife that they are charged to protect.

Tomorrow is another day.  Wednesday is the day of the hearing and we are all crossing our hooves that for the first time in many years something positive will happen for the wild equids of the Unites States.  May their pain be diminished and the tax payers of the U.S. gain back just a small fraction of control over a federal agency that is running totally out of control with leaders who are, obviously, breaking the law.

We “tack-up” for yet another fight.

Keep the faith.

(Special thanks to Bruce Wagman of Schiff Hardin for his untiring efforts to be the voice for the horses)

Part II: For the Love of Wild Horses

Posted: October 2, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Part II in a Series by R.T. Fitch ~ author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart“

Click (HERE) for Part I

A Whisper to the Soul

(Sept. 2009) We had been waiting for quite some time.  The BLM guards told us that the helicopter was bringing in another family band of Pryor Mt. wild horses but the clock continued to tick.  High up atop the observation bluff we equine advocates sat down and crouched behind a feeble jute fence, as ordered,  in an alleged effort to “hide” ourselves from any approaching wild horses that would be some 200 yards away.

We were a small group but a potent one to say the very least, Ginger Kathrens, Ann Evans, Makendra Silverman, Ben Sussman, Pam and Tom Nickoles, Carol Walker, Elyse Gardner, Sandy Elmore, Terry and I were present with others who I may have forgotten to name.  We sat, we waited and we prayed as the guard with the radio said that the helicopter pilot reported that he “had” Cloud and his family.  All of us shared a collective shiver and drop in spirits, Cloud was running for his life.

At first we could hear the sound of the helicopter and after several moments we could see its blades just above a hill about 2 miles away.  It appeared that it would try to progress towards the mouth of the valley and then it would retreat back out of sight and try again, back and forth.  Someone whispered, “Give em hell, Cloud, give em hell.”

Sandy was on my left with a camera in one hand, Terry was on my right with a camera in her free hand as I had both of my hands in their spares and we squeezed hard and held on for dear life while we prayed.

“Run Cloud, Run” I screamed inside my head, “Don’t let them do this, don’t let them win, run free Cloud, run”.  And that’s when we saw them.  Cresting the distant hill like a darting and weaving black snake with a white head came Cloud’s band.  A wiggling and darting line of horses first going to the right and then to the left in a ordered single file line they came down the hill and onto the valley floor.  As we all inhaled a rouge gust of wind burst upon our faces and ripped my hat from my head, it shocked us, it moved us, the feeling of a great spirit rushing through and beyond us riveted us to the ground that we sat upon and no one uttered a sound. We only watched until someone remembered to breath.

Across the valley floor Cloud ran up the hills to his left only to be chased down into the valley by the marauding helicopter so Cloud would run, with family following, up the hills on the right only to be met again by the inhumane chopper.  Back and forth, back and forth went the exhausting game of tag with the band inching ever closer with each pass across the valley.

“Make them work for it, Cloud.” I heard Ginger whisper.

Slowly the giant horse snake worked its way ever closer to the chute of the trap with the funnel of jute fencing that would force the horses into the awaiting jail cell.  Foot by foot they came closer, closer and then close enough for Cattoor to release his “Judas” horse so that it would run into the trap with the wild horses right behind.  Cloud never flinched; he never looked at the traitor to the horses; he simply slowed to walk, looked and realized what was ahead and quickly came to a full stop as his family gathered around him.

We were frozen by his intelligence and transfixed by the moment as Cloud slowly turned and faced the helicopter with a contemptuous stare; it seemed as if the wild horse and the mechanical bird of prey were locked in that deadly glare for hours but I am sure it was only seconds until Cloud slowly turned and walked into the awaiting jail cell with his family close behind.  His speed on his terms, he made his way into the confining pen.

The gate slammed shut, the chopper flew away, the blood had been squeezed out of both of my hands, someone sniffed back a tear and Terry leaned into my right ear with tension and pain behind her strained whisper,

“This cannot go on, this has to stop.” She hissed, “We have to do something.”

Our souls were touched, our hearts were broken and the direction of our lives’ work was forever changed.

Tomorrow Part III: “Why are They Killing All the Wild Horses?”

Judge Rules Against BLM in FOIA Case

Posted: September 15, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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from Advocates for the West

Tide is Turning Against BLM Corruption

BLM removing native wild horses in favor of private cows ~ Photo by Terry Fitch

On September 13, 2010, the District Court of Idaho granted Advocates for the West a victory in an important case under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and ordered the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to disclose to the public basic information on its grazing program – including the names of livestock permittees authorized to grazing the public lands.

For the past 10 years or so, BLM has repeatedly refused to disclose the names of ranchers it allows to graze private livestock on your public lands across the west.  BLM claimed that disclosing this basic information would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy – even though these ranchers are operating on your public lands.  And without this information, the public was unable to determine who grazed public lands, on which allotments, and with how many livestock.

In 2009, Advocates sued the BLM, claiming that it was violating FOIA by withholding this information, and Advocates argued that the public interest in BLM’s grazing program outweighed any normal privacy interests.  On September 13, 2010, the District Court of Idaho agreed, and held that there was “substantial public interest in understanding the scope of the grazing and rangeland program, particularly in light of the environmental impacts associated with grazing and the amount of tax dollars spent on the grazing program itself.” This case is an important victory limiting BLM’s ability to hide information from the public.

Advocates‘ Senior Staff Attorney Todd C. Tucci handled this case representing WildEarth Guardians and Western Watersheds Project.  We would like to thank everyone involved in this case and Mark Salvo of WildEarth Guardians in particular for all his tireless work on this case.

Read the Judge’s Order Here.

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