Posts Tagged ‘Obama Administration’

NM Governor Still Opposed to Horse Slaughterhouse

Posted: May 3, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter
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Source: By   at Watchdog.org

“I think horses are a part of our culture,…”
Susana Martinez Governor of New Mexico

Susana Martinez Governor of New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE — Even though it’s looking as if the U.S. Department of Agriculture will approve a horse slaughterhouse in southern New Mexico, Gov. Susana Martinez told reporters Wednesday she’s still against it.

“I think horses are a part of our culture, they work with the ranchers and cowboys in New Mexico and I just oppose slaughtering horses in the United States.”

On Tuesday, USDA secretary Tom Vilsack said a facility near Roswell will open, becoming the first horse slaughtering facility in the United States in six years.

“We are going to do this, and I would imagine that it would be done relatively soon,” Vilsack told Associated Press. Last week, the USDA re-inspected the Valley Meat Co., which has been fighting for more than a year to proceed.

As the date of a possible opening nears, New Mexico has increasingly become a focus of passionate debate.

Back in 2006, a prohibition was placed in the U.S. preventing horse slaughter and the last plant was closed in 2007. But in 2011, Congress quietly removed the rider enforcing the ban from an omnibus spending act.

Animal organizations such as the Humane Society are urging the federal government to reinstate the ban but counterarguments have been made in favor of the Valley Meat facility.

With the rising cost of hay, more and more horses have been simply abandoned and left to starve in the Southwest. Advocates for a slaughterhouse say it’s better to have unwanted and dying horses put out of their misery in a federally-inspected facility than have them sent to plants in places like Mexico, where they often meet gruesome deaths in unsanitary conditions.

The Obama administration has come out in favor of reinstating the ban but that would take an act of Congress.

“If that doesn’t happen, then we are duty-bound to do what needs to be done to allow that plant to begin processing,” Vilsack said.

Martinez said she hasn’t changed her mind from a year ago, when she told New Mexico Watchdog she opposed the Roswell horse slaughter plant, saying her administration would send a letter to the USDA asking it to turn down Valley Meat’s request.

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Obama Moves to Block Horse Slaughter

Posted: April 11, 2013 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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By as published in the New York Times

Horse-Eaters Duquette and Wallis’ Panties in a Wad
Could become a friend of the horses?

Could he become a friend of the horses?

The Obama administration has included a proposal in its 2014 budget that would effectively ban the slaughter of horses for human consumption.

Technically, the proposal would prevent money from being spent on inspection of horse slaughtering facilities. Without inspections, facilities could not legally operate. The proposal was greeted enthusiastically by horse lovers and animal advocacy groups.

“This administration is wise to reject that path and to embrace the idea, even indirectly, that horses belong in the stable and not on the table,” said Wayne Pacelle, chief executive of the Humane Society of the United States, which contends that horses are given medicines that would be detrimental to humans who consume them.

But it was met with dismay by those who have been working to get slaughtering facilities up and running again…(CONTINUED)

Click (HERE) to read Duquette’s uneducated, unprofessional and uncertified whining.

USDA Budget 4-10-13

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Wild Horse Advocates Call for Halt to 6 State Roundup Assault

Posted: October 3, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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By Jordan Steffen as appearing in the Denver Post

“They are selling horses to known individuals that operate horse-slaughter businesses.”

BLM at Antelope Complex last year ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Wild-horse advocates are calling on the Bureau of Land Management to suspend its annual roundup following an investigative report suggesting that some animals are being sold to slaughterhouses.

A ProPublica investigative report, published Sunday in The Denver Post, revealed that Colorado livestock hauler — and longtime horse-slaughter advocate — Tom Davis has purchased at least 1,700 wild horses and burros since 2009. While Davis signed the required contract promising the animals will not be slaughtered, he also admitted to maneuvering around Colorado law to move the animals across state lines.

Since 2010, he has sought investors for his own slaughterhouse, according to the ProPublica report.

On Monday, the same day federal officials launched a roundup of thousands of horses in six states, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign called on the BLM to halt the program until it can ensure that no more animals will be sold for slaughter.

“We’re hoping this brings attention to the broken federal wild-horse management program,” said Suzanne Roy, director of the coalition, which includes more than 50 advocacy organizations. “They are selling horses to known individuals that operate horse-slaughter businesses.”

A number of horses gathered during roundups are put up for adoption. A 1971 law declared wild horses as “living symbols” of history and made it illegal to kill the horses on most federal land, the ProPublica report said. In 2004, Congress passed a law allowing thousands of wild horses to be sold for $10 a head. The BLM later installed a condition requiring buyers to sign the no-slaughter contract. Violating the contract is a felony.

The roundup, which will run through February in Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming, is expected to corral 3,500 wild horses and burros, officials told The Associated Press. Roy is calling on the public to reach out to lawmakers and demand federal funds be withheld until stricter rules are passed.

“These animals are protected by an act of Congress,” Roy said. “They need to be treated as the national icons they are. The change is only going to come when an army of citizens, willing to speak up for the mustangs, grow.”

While there are no roundups currently taking place in Colorado, the controversial practice has a long history in the state. Officials estimate the wild- horse population to be anywhere from 600 to 1,000.

Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Colorado Springs-based Cloud Foundation, called the BLM’s management of wild-horse herds in Colorado “shabby,” and said the dwindling horse population is greatly misunderstood.

“The safest place for a wild horse is in the wild,” Kathrens said. “The fate of horses, once they are captured, is murky based on some of the newest revelations of what’s going on.”…continued

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BLM Releases Tentative 2013 Wild Horse and Burro Stampede and Herd Destruction Schedule

Posted: September 28, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Update by SFTHH ~BLM live link

Covert/Secret Bait Trapping Operations Not Disclosed

Obama’s Feds to Eradicate All Wild Horses and Burros from Nevada Refuge

Posted: September 3, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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from the pages of the Mohave Daily News

War on Wild Equines Proclaimed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Future for the horses and burros of Sheldon (Antelope Stampede of 2011)~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal officials have approved a final management plan for the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada that calls for the removal of all wild horses and burros from it within five years.

The move is being made because the refuge was created for pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife, and horses and burros have a negative effect on habitat, said Joan Jewett, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Ore.

“They trample the habitat and overgraze and disturb the water sources,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re required by law to manage our refuges in accordance with the purposes for which they were established, and Sheldon was primarily for pronghorn antelope.”

Horse advocacy groups sharply criticized the refuge’s comprehensive conservation plan, which will guide its management over the next 15 years. It was publicly released late last month.

They say horses and burros lived in the area long before the refuge was created in 1931, and the animals actually heal the land and help prevent wildfires through grazing.

“We are extremely disappointed that the federal government has chosen to eradicate wild horses and burros from the lands where their ancestors have lived for more than a century and a half,” Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said in a statement.

An aerial survey in July showed the 575,000-acre refuge along the Oregon border is home to at least 2,508 antelope, 973 mustangs and 182 wild burros, said Aaron Collins, a park ranger at Sheldon.

“We’re recording the highest numbers of pronghorn antelope since we began counting them in 1950,” he said.

Federal officials began the planning process on the refuge’s management plan in 2008, and received several thousand comments from individuals, organizations and government agencies during it, Collins said.

The final plan will be signed sometime after Sept. 24 by the regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Agency, he added.

Under federal law, only horses and burros removed from lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are protected from slaughterhouses if they can’t be adopted.

“Rounding up indigenous wild horses is wrong — especially when they can be sold to the meat buyers at auctions,” said Anne Novak of California-based Protect Mustangs. “These horses are vulnerable to ending up going to slaughter … The Sheldon plan to wipe out wild horses is nuts and goes against the public’s wishes.”

Activists said the final management plan rejected a more humane alternative to phase out horses and burros over 15 years using fertility control, an option that would have allowed unadoptable animals to live out their lives at the refuge.

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Problems Arise at Desatoya Wild Horse Gather in Nevada

Posted: August 17, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Information supplied by The Humane Society on Aug 16, 2012

…BLM contractor appear to hogtie and leave a lost foal in the path of stampeding mustangs…

BLM Contract Chopper Cruelty at Antelope Stampede 2011~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

The Humane Society of the United States expressed its concerns about the actions of the Bureau of Land Management after an HSUS executive witnessed a BLM contractor appear to hogtie and leave a lost foal in the path of stampeding mustangs at the Desatoya Wild Horse Gather near Austin, Nev. The continued negligence and inhumane treatment of animals in the field is at odds with the agency’s stated vision and goal of improving and reforming its wild horse gather procedures.

The incident was witnessed by Holly Hazard, senior vice president of Programs and Innovations for The HSUS, who attended the gather as an observer to determine if BLM was incorporating HSUS recommended changes in standard operating procedures.

At approximately 12:30 p.m. PDT on Thursday, Aug. 16, after several bands of horses had successfully been herded into a trap, Hazard saw a BLM contractor ride out on horseback to collect a stray foal. When the young horse resisted moving deep into the gather trap, Hazard watched the BLM contractor appear to hogtie the foal and then leave her in the path of galloping horses. Once the band of horses was safely captured, instead of aiding the foal, BLM instead gave the go ahead for another band of horses to run around and past her again.

“The Bureau of Land Management has made significant progress in reforming its wild horse program in recent years – but the agency must set a higher standard and not allow such callous disregard for animals to take place in its operations,” said Hazard. “The public has been calling for more transparency and responsible treatment of animals in the wild horse and burro program, and it’s time for the BLM’s stated goals and objectives to be applied in the field as well.”

The Desatoya gather is slated to occur for two weeks with the goal of gathering 500 wild horses and applying the fertility control drug PZP to approximately 64 females who will be released.

As a result of the incident, The HSUS is calling on BLM to:

  • Immediately review its protocols and make all changes necessary in order to ensure that no contractor has the authority to unnecessarily stress any animal in its custody and control in the name of gather efficiency;
  • Review previous HSUS requests to develop and implement a Humane Observer program that would allow a knowledgeable, objective witness to intervene at gathers in order to prevent similar incidents from occurring during gather operations;
  • Deliver a status report on the young foal in question, including information on her overall health and well-being and whether the foal was reunited with her mother at the temporary holding facility.
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BLM Arrests Two Citizens During Contested Arizona Wild Burro Stampede

Posted: June 15, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Burros
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By Sonu Wasu of Tucson News Now

“A couple of them seized my arms, it seemed like they wanted to break my arms,”

Obama’s BLM Crosses the Line ~ click image to view video

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) – Two people were arrested during a burro roundup taking place in the Cibola Trigo herd management area, 20 miles outside of Yuma.

An independent journalist and a woman in her 70′s who was observing the event were taken into custody by BLM officials.

It happened on Sunday afternoon.  Here is a statement about the incident released to Tucson News Now by a BLM spokeswoman from the Arizona state office.

“On June 10, 2012, two public observers were contacted by BLM Law Enforcement Rangers outside the designated viewing area. One of the individuals (MROZEK-MALE) had been previously asked on numerous occasions to leave the viewing area based on his failure to comply with instructions from law enforcement officers. The other individual (HAYDEN-FEMALE), who was in a restricted area, was asked repeatedly to move to the designated viewing area, for her safety and the safety of those involved in the gather operations, and she refused to comply. Rangers had to make physical contact with both individuals to gain compliance. Both individuals were detained pending charges. Both individuals were placed in air conditioned law enforcement vehicles. Both individuals requested medical attention. Ambulances were called at their request. One individual was transported by ambulance. One individual was evaluated and released at the scene. Charges are pending against both individuals.”

Carl Mrozek spoke to Tucson News Now about the arrest.  Mrozek was there to film a documentary about burros.  It started out as in interest in the animal, but the interest grew as he observed roundups taking place throughout the country, and noticed the numbers of burros out in the wild rapidly declining.

A video Mrozek shot in 2009 in the California desert raised a public outcry.  The video showed a contracted BLM pilot chasing a burro in the desert, causing it to collapse.

BLM officials say that pilot was reprimanded, and was never used by the BLM again.

Mrozek said on Sunday, he along with several observers had set up in an area designated for the public, by the BLM.

Mrozek said their view was obstructed by a line of trucks.  He noticed an older woman step around the line to get a closer look at the action, when BLM officials approached her and took her into custody.

He started filming the arrest.  That’s when Mrozek said two BLM officials approached him and asked him to speak to them.

Mrozek said they suddenly jumped on him and started putting hand cuffs on him.

“A couple of them seized my arms, it seemed like they wanted to break my arms,” said Mrozek.

He kept asking them if he was being arrested.  He said the men said they did not know, and told him to “just relax.”

“I felt like the burro.  I had no rights.  I was under the control of the posse of men with machines and guns.  I felt like one of the burros,” said Mrozek.

He said the officials then put him in the back of a pick-up truck, he was crouched in a back seat with his hands still cuffed behind his back.

Mrozek said he sat there for a long time.  He says it was over an hour, when he started to feel hot and faint.

“I started feeling light headed and fainted.  At one point when I woke up I had trouble breathing.  My circulation was bad.  It was 103 degrees outside, we were parked in the sun for over an hour.  It was unpleasant, very unpleasant.

Mrozek said he had to be taken to the hospital, where he was given fluids and treated for heat exhaustion.

Mrozek said BLM officials returned his camera to him, but he noticed his microchip and all of the footage he had shot that day was missing.  The footage included video of the roundup from Sunday, along with video of the arrest and confrontation with BLM officials.

Mrozek said he felt like his First Amendment Rights had been violated, and he planned to seek legal counsel.

We asked BLM officials why they did not return Mrozek’s footage, along with his gear.

In an email, spokeswoman Carrie Templin stated: “I will not answer any of the questions in the second paragraph as they pertain to details of the case, at this preliminary stage it is inappropriate to respond to these questions.”

BLM officials say the roundups are conducted to save vegetation in the area.  Opponents argue it is inhumane to round up burros in temperatures over 90 degrees.

BLM officials said the roundup was now complete.  They had gathered 350 wild burros from the Cibola-Trigo Herd Management Area north of Yuma, Arizona.

BLM officials said they had met their Cibola-Trigo Wild Burro gather objectives safely with no incidents with the burros or personnel.

Officials said the Standard Operating Procedure for high temperature days was also met with gather operations shutting down when the temperature reached 95 degrees.

All animals are expected to be transported to the BLM Ridgecrest facility and made available for adoption to citizens willing and prepared to provide good care.

BLM officials said they offer wild horses and burros gathered from public lands in the West to qualified adopters who must demonstrate humane care for the animal for a year in order to receive title.

To qualify to adopt, you must be 18 years of age, have approved facilities to keep the animal, and transportation home for it from the adoption site. For more information and adoption qualifications, please call the BLM at 1-866-4MUSTANGS (468-7826) or visit BLM’s website at www.blm.gov/az/.

In addition, the goals of the gather, daily gather reports, and the 2010 Cibola-Trigo Gather video can be found at this link. http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/whb/gather.html

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