Posts Tagged ‘Wild Horses & Burros’

Horse Slaughter Promoter Destroys Self on Public Radio with Defamatory Rant and Hang-Up

Posted: March 31, 2012 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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OpEd (In my outraged opinion) by R.T. Fitch ~ Author and President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

“Slaughterhouse” $ue Wallis Shoots Self in Foot, AGAIN

Wallis/Duquette Standard Public Stance

Imagine, if you will, that hypothetically you found yourself in the position of representing a very unpopular cause but you pursued it as it meant great fame, even though it is all negative, and a bunch of money in your pocket and being that you have had a few iffy fiscal woes in the past you embrace the new found income source.  

In your heart of hearts you know that you are not an expert on the subject yet you sit before the computer, cut and paste from Wikipedia and issue ill-conceived statements from the safety of being behind your computer’s firewall.  

With a limited education and minimal knowledge of the subject you find that you are required to either read from a script or are forced to memorize the bogus material that your handlers and  foreign financial backers feed to you.  

It is an unsettling situation but manageable as long as you do not find yourself in a position of debating your unpopular issue with someone who knows the truth, understands the facts and has science on their side; if ever cornered by a legitimate question you would crash and burn.  But none the less, you accept an invitation to a well advertised PBS/NPR national radio show where not one, not two but three of your most feared honest advisories will be, likewise, present.  

You listen to the show and after thirty minutes realize that they have not mentioned you so it’s time to change the direction of the dialogue and point the spotlight on yourself.  

TaDah, you enter the conversation with the crisp crackle of your script’s paper rustling in the background and usher in an immediate insult to all present while misrepresenting who you are before launching off into a ten minute in-cohesive rambling until the show’s host stops you and asks you a question, you retaliate as you are not prepared and it begins to head south almost instantly.  

You reply with an unprepared, or vetted, statement on a former condition in a Texas city that you have never visited and very quickly you slide down the slope of inaccuracies by making slanderous and libelous comments about a former elected official until one of the guests calls your bluff and speaks the truth with you being identified, in his humble opinion, as a liar.  

In fear for your credibility you hang up in a panic, call your handlers and then issue a press release that attempts to disguise your poor performance while allowing you to attack not only the guests but the host as you are tucked away snuggly behind your computer’s firewall with your partner in crime and president of the organization you run from afar issuing a rant of profanities on the speaker phone.  

And then you are lame enough to go onto Facebook and publicly post the link to the show so that those who drank your Kool-Aid can wring their hands and pat your head because your lies were exposed…awwww.  

Just imagine…if you were to act, behave, think and sound like just such a person you would/could or might be the Queen of Cut and Paste and the disposable mouthpiece for the meat industry, one $ue Wallis of Recluse, Wyoming.  Here’s your sign!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, “Slaughterhouse” $ue Wallis rolled into an hour long radio show where Madeleine Pickens, Wayne Pacelle and myself had been discussing wild horse issues, primarily, never mentioning Wallis and the first words out of her mouth were that no one person present, except for herself, were horse industry “horse” people.

Guess what $ue, Madeline has owned many a horse in her day and currently has several hundred under her care.  I am a horse owner and support a vet, two horse trainers, a tractor supply and feed store with our endeavor while you ain’t got zip.  

$ue Wallis does not own horses, publicly admitted by herself, she does not represent the horse industry but instead the meat industry as she raises…ahhh, what do they call them, COWS. (I have nothing against cows, only in this case the company that they keep) Wallis, in my humble yet experienced opinion, is a sham and a fake and if ever there were a bully, she is and always has been one.

Over the past several weeks Wallis and her trusty side-kick Duquette have been handed a multitude of defeats:

1.)  Wallis issued an idiot press release about opening up a slaughter plant in Missouri where “100%”, how stupid is that, of the residents were behind it.  Guess what, she was run out of town on a rail and even her foreign money men were embarrassed.

2.)  Duquette was actually allowed to speak, live, during a Oregon PBS broadcast opposite the very knowledgable Scott Beckstead who ended up sweeping up the floor with Duquette who, by the way, ducked and dodged every ligimate question.

3.)  This past week a very successful congressional letter writing campaign was brought to D.C. by the very children who wrote the letters beseeching congress to ban predatory, bloody horse slaughter.

4.)  Duquette/Wallis canceled their “Annual” Summit of the Dead horse allegedly due to lack of support, interest, speakers and money.  Their first “Annual” summit left them in the hole and did nothing but generate bad press and public disapproval for their bloody cause.

5.)  Equine Welfare groups filed a detailed 79 page petition with the FDA listing 110 dangerous chemicals found in the non-food animal, horse, and demanded that horse meat be permanently ”unqualified” for human consumption.

6.) This weekend a Pro-Horse/Anti-Slaughter Conference is taking place in New York while another Summit (for the LIVE horse) will take place on Tuesday in the very location were their failed slaughter summit was scheduled to take place, Oklahoma City.

Bit by bit, piece by piece the fraudulent front that is posed by the anti-horse/pro-slaughter faction is beginning to crumble and the wall of lies is being disassembled by hard working, every day Americans who work for a living, do not make millions of dollars, do not take money from non-profits, pay their taxes and assume proper liability and accountability for companion animals under their care…that would be the 80%.

Keep the pressure on America; Wallis and Duquette have publicly documented that they are not credible and their platform of horse slaughter (not processing) is a phony deck of cards and is crumbling beneath them as I type.  

Call a spade a spade and shine the spotlight of truth on the cockroaches and watch them run for their rocks to crawl under, just listen to the radio shows and hear for yourselves…between the two of these snake oil salesmen there is not one ounce of credibility or sincerity.  

Sue ran and hid; she wouldn’t hear the truth but here it is, in American we do NOT eat our friends and likewise, we don’t take kindly to our friends being lied about…there will be hell to pay for that one!! 
Click (HERE) to Hear Wallis Dissolve
Click (HERE) to Hear Duquette’s Dimise
Click (HERE) to Read Juvenile and Unprofessional Press Release
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Call President Obama on Promise to Stop Horse Slaughter

Posted: December 1, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Wild Horse Freedom Federation Joins Equine Welfare Alliance in Push to Call Obama Daily to Stop Horse Slaughter

Occupy Obama's Phone

Here at WHFF volunteer headquarters we are besieged with emails, calls, press interviews on the atrocity of 3 Congressman covertly working to bring foreign owned horse slaughter plants to the United States and we, have had enough.  To echo our good friends at the Equine Welfare Alliance we are tired of mailing, faxing, calling our legislators only to get back canned and condescending responses, we are MAD and mad enough to do something about it, TODAY!

OCCUPY OBAMA‘S PHONE LINE 202-456-1111

We ask all able bodied Amercians to pick up the phone and call the, Animal Friendly, President to do something to head off this inhumane and un-American action NOW!

Spread the word to all your friends on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Yahoo, Google+ and all the social networks to call the President’s comment line at 202-456-1111 and give just one simple, to the point line that addresses the issue such as the following suggested from EWA, in your own words, of course:

- As a Senator, Obama cosponsored legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses and to stop their transport over our porous borders.

- During his campaign Obama promised to be a voice for Americans and our animals

- Ask/demand an immediate Executive Order banning the slaughter and transport to slaughter of American horses.  Obama has the power with one stroke of his pen to end it.

And we at Wild Horse Freedom Federation will be asking the President to also, in seperate messages so as not to blur the intent:

- Declare a Moratorium on the deadly roundups of our native, wild horses and burros until an accurate accounting can take place and humane management practices can be implemented.

Our federal government has not only made it easier for foreign mercenaries to come upon our American soil and prey upon our U.S. horses for their flesh, the Feds are also killing our national icons out west as we speak.  It must come to an end.

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The BLM’s Big “Fire Sale” of Our Public Lands

Posted: March 7, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, The Force of the Horse
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Story by Debbie Coffey reprinted with permission from the PPJ Gazette

Salazar and Abbey Selling Off America’s Heritage

Kiss my A**

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is selling YOUR land right out from under you.  Concurrently, the BLM is blitzing the media with PR spin to justify removing all of our publicly owned wild horses off of our public lands.  If you want to see what has really been happening to our wild horses at recent roundups, go to Grass Roots Horse or SFTHH.

Do you know how many acres of your public lands are being sold off in each state?  This is a policy being pushed by your President, your Congress, Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Dept. of the Interior) and Bob Abbey (BLM Director).  Your state and local governments have their hands out to receive part of the profits.  Your “public agencies” (like the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management) are actually corporations and their priority is to make money.

Each BLM office is required to have quarterly “lease sales” of your public lands.  The BLM is making their money off of you and the remains of your United States of America.

To keep this simple, we’ll just look at one state’s lease/sales of our public lands to oil and gas companies.

Wyoming, as it turns out, is going gung ho on oil and gas “leasing.”  The BLM calls giving the use of our public lands to extractive industries for as little as $2 an acre a “lease sale.”  These are 10 year leases and they can be renewed.  Oil and gas companies can ask for certain parcels of public property to be leased.

However, unless you’ve ever heard of an oil pipeline being ripped out after it was installed, I’d call this a “permanent” use of our public lands.   An oil or gas (or mining) company will extract all of the oil/gas/ore.  They often contaminate water, land and air.  They use a LOT of our water from aquifers in their extracting process.

The oil and gas companies pay a 12.5% royalty to the Dept. of Interior’s Minerals Management Service on the amount or value of oil or gas removed or sold from each lease.  BUT THE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES DON’T PAY ANYTHING FOR ALL OF THE WATER FROM OUR AQUIFERS, WHICH IS IRREPLACEABLE AND INVALUABLE.

Let’s look at what happened in Wyoming in 2010.

Starting with the most recent 2010 quarterly BLM Competitive Oil and Gas Lease Sale Results:

November 2, 2010, Wyoming BLM leased/sold about 108,049 acres of your public lands.

August 3, 2010, Wyoming BLM leased/sold about 77, 712 acres of your public lands.

May 11, 2010, Wyoming BLM leased/sold about 70,446 acres of your public lands.

February 2, 2010, Wyoming BLM leased/sold about 52,993 acres of your public lands.

This is about 309,200 acres.  So, it’s well over of a quarter of a million acres sold only to oil and gas  industries, in only one state, in only one year.

These lands were leased/sold with a FONSI (Finding of no Significant Impact) by a BLM Field Office Manager.  Do you consider leasing/selling over a quarter of a million acres of your public lands to be significant?

The BLM does a boiler plate Environmental Assessment, but then the BLM Field Manager just “declares” a FONSI, and it is so.  Like little mini-dictators.

BLM Field Office managers state that oil and gas extraction is of no significance.  They write something like “I have determined that the project is not a major federal action and will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment, individually or cumulatively with other actions in the general area.  No environmental effects meet the definition of significance in context or intensity as defined in 40 CFR 1508.27 and do not exceed those effects described in Kemmerer Resource Management Plan.  Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not required.”

However, the Environmental Working Group found that oil and gas exploration impacts ARE significant.  There are many documentaries available to describe the damage caused by hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” (“Gasland” and “Split Estate”) and if you want to see what one group of concerned citizens has to say about fracking, go to www.damascuscitizens.org.

The Environmental Working Group stated “Drilling often removes enormous amounts of groundwater.  Companies frequently pump out thousands of gallons of water per well, particularly in oil wells and coal bed methane operations…The removal of water can create several problems: water may be depleted from nearby aquifers if large quantities of water are pumped out of the ground…removing water from coal beds creates the potential for underground coal fires, and vast quantities of water that are saline or contaminated with drilling fluids can contaminate soils, surface water and groundwater.”

Oil companies use “thumper trucks” in exploration.  These giant trucks with tires as tall as a man, lower huge plates applying 64,000 pounds of pressure to the ground and sending a seismic jolt into the ground to measure the waves as they return.  In Utah’s red rock desert, these trucks pulverized the earth, wiped out a 15 foot swath of vegetation wherever they drove and obliterated the cryptobiotic soil, which holds the red sand in place from wind and erosion.

A USGS expert on soil damage, Jayne Belnap, had submitted an official letter to the BLM about the fragility of the desert crust, and warned that it could take 50 to 300 years for the dry soil to recover from the damage incurred by heavy equipment.  In my opinion, the BLM probably labeled Jayne Belnap an eco-terrorist, then allowed the thumper trucks to just thump away.

However, the BLM Field offices really knock themselves out doing Environmental Assessments to remove our wild horses from our public lands.  They’ll bury you in over 120 pages of minutia over some hoof prints and a measly 15 gallons of water a day per horse.

Given these extremes, which are outlandish assessments, doesn’t it seem like the BLM is perpetrating FRAUD against the American people?

In 2008, Scientific American magazine’s cover story was “Running Out of Water: A Six-Point Plan to Avert a Global Crisis” and the 2010 National Geographic’s special issue cover story was “WATER: Our Thirsty World.”   Would it be too much to hope that Dept. of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar or BLM Director Bob Abbey might have read these and consider water issues?  (Oh wait a sec, the Gulf Oil Spill happened under their watchful eyes.)  Or that as leaders of U.S. land management agencies, they’d be concerned with vanishing supplies of uncontaminated water?  Bob Abbey may have been too busy with photo ops with mining company execs from Coeur Rochester for the Nov. 4 -10, 2010 Lovelock Review-Miner (Nevada), to have taken the time to read any articles about the global water crisis.  (Bob and the execs were all smiles after Coeur Rochester’s mining expansion received a FONSI.)  The Lovelock Review-Miner stated that (Bob Abbey said, in referring to the BLM) “the agency took its time to write a decision that can withstand any potential legal challenges down the road.”

Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen Bob Abbey at any of the many roundups of our wild horses, either.  I guess it wouldn’t be such a good photo op for him, since Josh Hellyer might almost be landing a helicopter on the back of a wild horse in the background.  Or heavily pregnant mares might be seen being chased by the helicopter long distances over snow, ice and rough terrain.

I can guarantee you that similar lease sales are happening in other states.

Nevada has a lot of mining, which is sucking billions of gallons of water from the aquifers from one of the driest states in the nation.  It matters, because Nevada will need to borrow some water from its neighbors, like California, Utah and Idaho.  But what happens when California, Utah and Idaho run short on water.  Who will they borrow from?  Eventually, there will be fewer and fewer places to get any uncontaminated water.

There’s not going to be water for wildlife (that means no hunting and fishing).  There won’t be water for livestock or irrigation for farming.  What will you eat?  There won’t be water for our wild horses OR for you.

Why is the BLM perpetuating this disaster?  When will there be a Congressional investigation into the BLM’s mismanagement of our public lands and their cruel eradication of our wild horses, which the BLM is supposed to protect?

SOURCES:

www.ewg.org

The Lovelock Review-Miner (Nov. 4 – 10, 2010) “Officials Celebrate Coeur Rochester Expansion”

http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/wfo/blm_information/newsroom/2010/october/blm_issues_decision0.html

National Geographic (April 2010)   “Water – Our Thirsty World: A Special Issue”

Scientific American (August 2008)

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/programs/energy/og/leasing/2010.Par.2142.File.dat/11results.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/programs/energy/og/leasing/2010.Par.92740.File.dat/08results.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/programs/energy/og/leasing/2010.Par.79688.File.dat/05results.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/programs/energy/og/leasing/2010.Par.20000.File.dat/02results.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/og-ea/1110.html

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Ask President Obama to Support Protection for Horses

Posted: January 25, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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by Laura Allen from Animal Law Coalition

Your Voice Can Make a Difference

Today, Tuesday January 25 at 9 p.m. EST, President Obama will deliver his 2011 State of the Union Address, which will be streamed live on YouTube. We have submitted a question to President Obama for an exclusive YouTube Interview that will take place just two days later, on January 27. Votes are needed in order to have this question considered and addressed.

We want to know…

“Will you support a ban on slaughter of American horses for human consumption and begin protecting wild horses by ordering a moratorium on round ups and a full investigation and reform of the Wild Horses and Burros program?“

Watch and Vote here: (Sign in, search for “horses” and when you find the question, vote!)

http://www.youtube.com/worldview/?utm_source=changeorg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

Courtesy of Saving America’s Horses, A Nation Betrayed

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Reprint: Men, Horses, Sex and a Thing Called Love

Posted: January 9, 2011 by R.T. Fitch in The Force of the Horse
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(In My Humble Opinion) R.T. Fitch ~ author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart“

“I have broken my own unwritten rule of attempting to post something uplifting and refreshing on Sundays so that we can wash out our minds and re-energize our souls before launching into another week of attempting to protect the horses from the Dark Side.  But due to the disgusting attempt by a few to destroy the holidays of many we stayed focused on a small gathering of fringe radicals in an effort to shine the light on their agenda of lies and deceit, as luck would have it, they did a pretty good job of destroying themselves on their own.  Their demise was stunning.

But before we share with you the return of a request I would like to remind you that there are advocates out suffering in the cold along with the horses and animals and they need our help and support.  Jerry Finch is still struggling to stop the suffering of 100s of animals in the frigid Montana Mountains while Laura Leigh keeps her vigil active in an effort to protect the wild ones while the BLM is stepping up their wild horse eradication at an alarming rate.  Please do what you can to make a difference and support our people in the field.

Now, it has come to us as a special request from a great number of friends and fans on Facebook to bring back a little piece that I included, here, several months ago…I may be a few days late in keeping my promise but often it is better late than never.  Keep the faith.”  R.T.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rebecca Williams, VP of Habitat for Horses, with several of the Fitch boys ~ Photo by Terry Fitch

Recently I was engaged in an email conversation, with a group of colleagues, on the issue of the extensive cruelty exhibited by Federal agencies and our government, overall.  The discussion was centered on the unimaginable suffering that our native wild horses are subjected to at the hands of the Obama administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) headed up by Bob Abbey under the direction of 5th generation rancher, Ken Salazar the Secretary of the Department of Interior (DOI).  As the conversation progressed it became apparent that the bulk of the mindless cruelty, shown to our federally protected mustangs, is administered by and distributed through men.  Hence, the question arose;

“Why is it that men consider equines to be such a threat?”

I found the question to be of great interest as both myself and my good friend Jerry Finch, President of Habitat for Horses, have been pondering this same issue for many years.  Jerry and I have been in the horse rescue business for over a decade and we often wondered, as we looked around our ranks, where are all the guys?

Now my intent is not to insult nor do I wish to stereotype but if you will indulge me I would like to offer my observations from well over a half a century of living with and around my own gender.  If there are any gentlemen out there who might recognize themselves in these words take heart as you may be able to make a significant shift that could reap you ample rewards in your current and future relationships be they equine in nature or with human females, they all subscribe to the same forms of acknowledgment.

Overall, and this is huge, the bulk of all men are insecure…full stop.  That’s why we speak loud, push things around, believe that size matters, play with balls and call it a sport, start wars and subjugate women and animals.  Ya can’t deny that boys.

Men like things that they can control such as cars (just point it to where you want it to go and it goes), boats, aircraft, guns, tools, dogs and all things that bend quickly and directly to the male whim.  Men cannot nor ever will be able to adequately command or control cats, horses and/or women…ain’t gonna happen so the result is, often times, abuse and neglect.  Even though I claim no formal education in psychiatry it doesn’t take more than a high school education and an in tune heart to figure that one out.

Terry Fitch with her Pele ~ Photo by R.T. Fitch

Female induced abuse and neglect upon an equine is rare and is usually associated with some form of mental disorder.   When was the last time you heard of a husband having the living crap beat out of him by his wife?  Hard to conjure that image up isn’t it? (IMHO)

The male insecurity is amplified when the woman in his life falls in love with a horse and here is where real sparks can begin to fly.  Being inherently insecure the male is jealous of the fact that the human female he desires is sharing and spending love, time and attention on the horse that should be spent on him.  He feels that she must not really have the care and concern for him that he wants or needs if she can show so much affection to another creature while he only stands in the wings.  This insecurity is what has driven many equine related relationships into divorce court, we have all seen it a dozen times over.

There is also the Freudian sexual thing all wrapped up into that mess but that is more than we can go into, here.  Again, it goes back to the bigger is better syndrome and the size thing.

Now men who love women who love horses have a couple of things in their saddle bags that their brothers do not; they are comfortable in their own skins and secure with their sexuality, hands down.  If the woman of a horsemen loves a horse the man sees that women with an expanded heart and a depth of feeling that warms his insides.  Looking out across the pasture and seeing my wife hugging on her horse lights me up because she cares so much about something so special and has room in her heart for not only me but other sentient creatures it just plain turns me on, it’s that simple.

Women who love animals are special spirits as they have the unique ability to carry their compassion outside the realm of human circles and can spread sunshine to all the other travelers on this spaceship we call Earth.  And women who love horses are truly exceptional in the breadth, depth and conviction of their love as they not only have taken the leap from human ties but have bonded and partnered with a creature that is many times larger than her physical being.

Artist Leslie Anne Webb with one of the Loves of her life ~ Photo by R.T. Fitch

Horsewomen have changed the face of the Equestrian world over the last 40 or so years.  The days of using manly terms like “broke” have been replaced with gentled, partnered or bonded.  There are a few guys out there working with horses but they have become smart enough to develop and promote like techniques knowing that their largest audience is the compassionate side of the human race.

But bullies be forewarned; all of the love and compassion that a woman shows a horse can quickly be turned into the hottest and most tenacious fire that you ever hope to see if you should be guilty of harming any equines within her realm of influence.  This is something that abusers have known for a long time as you just do not want to cross a woman over being abusive to a horse and this is also a lesson that the BLM is learning at the very time of this writing.  The most honest, sincere, committed and knowledgeable equine advocates on this planet are women; we accompanying males pale in comparison.  There is something almost magical and supernatural about the ambiance of the women who are dedicated to the cause and commitment to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of our American horse be they wild or domestic.  For an enlightened male this is a tremendous blessing but for the slow to learn, it could spell their demise.

Maybe it’s genetically driven guilt for the sins that my brothers have rained down upon woman and horse alike or perhaps it’s a misplaced chromosome that bends me to their way of thinking but regardless of  the subliminal driver there is one thing for certain; if there is ever any hope of putting ourselves back in touch with the planet around us, and the other inhabitants of this world, it will not be the males of our species but the female who will save us from our own eminent self-destruction.  For within the spirit of the woman resides not only the hope for our future but the heart and the soul of the entire human race.

I am beyond pleased and proud to stand amongst the thousands of women who have made the commitment to protect the most benevolent of all animals on this planet.

I respectfully take off my hat and thank you for allowing me to share your grace; all of you special souls are my most heartfelt hero’s.

I-Team: More Horses Die in Gather, Public Not Allowed to Observe

Posted: July 20, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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Horses crossing a plain near the Simpson Park ...
Image via Wikipedia

Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp and Chief Photojournalist Matt Adams

(Be sure to watch the video, Laura and Elyse did a great job – R.T.)

ELKO COUNTY, Nev. – A deadly government roundup of Nevada‘s wild horses during the hottest month of the year has led to new accusations in federal court.

Wild horse advocates have accused the Bureau of Land Management of contempt, because the agency went to extraordinary lengths to keep the public from being able to observe a horse roundup over the past few days in which 21 mustangs died.

We would like to report that members of the press and public were able to get in and see the roundup, but that did not happen because of gamesmanship and subterfuge on the part of the BLM. The agency clearly does not want outside eyes to watch what it is doing.

To Read the Report and See the Video in it’s entirity Click HERE

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Utah Ramps Up Propaganda Against Wild Horses

Posted: June 10, 2010 by R.T. Fitch in Horse News, The Force of the Horse, Wild Horses/Mustangs
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“In My Humble Opinion” by R.T. Fitch ~ author of “Straight from the Horse’s Heart“

In a rare flash of intuitive thought, BLM Management identifies main problem with Wild Horse and Burro program

On June 9th, 2010 a public hearing was held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Salt Lake City, UT on the issue of using helicopters and motorized vehicles in the controversial round ups of native wild horses on U.S. public lands.

If you did not, personally, attend the meeting you are not going to get a straight answer on what exactly went on or hear/read anything about the questions that were posed to the BLM authorities who were in attendance.  Instead you will read local press releases containing ample rehearsed commentary from the BLM with plenty of hype thrown in for Ken Zalazar’s eastern wild horse death parks affectionately known as “Zalazoos”.

Gus Warr, head of Utah’s BLM wild horse and Burro program did throw out a caveat that the repetitive churning of helicopter blades is traumatic to the animals (and every living thing within earshot) BUT:

“Using saddle horses and roping and choking them down — well, this is the best alternative we’ve got given their sheer numbers,”

Thanks Gus, nothing like choking those stupid ole horses down into the dirt, that’s what every little school girl loves to hear; and numbers, what sort of numbers are you talking about Gus, not BLM numbers I hope.  We just documented in an article, yesterday, that the BLM couldn’t count the number of fingers on a hand without getting confused with the square root of their toes.  Come on Gus, we all know that taking a “Ciphering” class just ain’t on the BLM job application so let’s get real.

Jared Redington, Salt Lake Wild Horse and Burro manager was quoted as saying:

“We have found the use of helicopters is the most humane method in gathering horses from the open range and remote mountain areas where they live.”

Okay, so they are out on the “open range” and in the “remote mountains” where they are bothering no one and you all go and hunt them down, terrorize them, cause injury and even death, lock them up in pens, expect us to foot the bill to continue turning the helicopter contractor into a multi-millionaire and then we have to pay all of the up keep expenses for the poor horses when they used to take care of themselves for, ahhh, hmmmm, FREE?!?!?

The scientific reply is:

“Even though it is very wet out there, drought conditions might develop later on in the year and cause the horses distress.”

Wow, there’s some quantified science for you; drought conditions MIGHT happen (this is a phrase that all BLM agents learn in “BLM Double Talk School).  Using that sort of logic the moon might fall out of the sky, pigs will fly, Obama will keep a campaign promise and I will give birth to a litter wart hogs…Come on!  Can’t we do a little better than that?  Do we really, really look that stupid or is it just that you are that stupid in thinking that we are.  It is all so very, very outrageous it would be laughable if not for the fact that you buffoons are destroying the lives of thousands of wild horses and killing many in the process.  Give it a rest.

You even admit that your system does not work; you already know that over two thirds of your annual budget goes to maintaining captive wild horses and what do you consider the logical thing to do, GO OUT AND GET MORE!!!!

Those horses have been out there hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years.  The bulk of the horses are fat and happy (we have pictures) with better feet on them than most domestic counterparts.  The range and public lands were doing just fine until you guys started the “welfare ranching” business and began allowing private cattle to destroy our lands and out number the horses.  I would think that it would make more sense to clear out the cows, have one great big barbecue and let the horses take care of themselves.

Emmy award winning cinematographer Ginger Kathrens of the Cloud Foundation has been telling you guys or years that if you leave them alone and don’t decimate their herds their breeding levels off.  If you would quit trying to play God by removing their natural predators their numbers would be controlled but do you listen?  Naw, instead you let your PR agency and desk bound admins fool around with Google earth, calculators and slide rules while no one bothers to do an accurate head count, but that brings us back to the math thing again and we really don’t want to go there.

One of our avid readers wrote today,

“I wouldn’t spend one more minute of time registering complaints with BLM. I’d send them to the President and my elected representatives with a “cc” to Salazar/Secretary of Interior specifically complaining about:

(1) Poor science and management
(2) Improper execution of the 1971 Act (which (BTW) is very similar to the NEPA and waiver garbage that is the BP blowout)
(3) Lack of transparency, science, dissent criticism of the current program being considered.
(4) Extraction of all minerals and expediting of all of the wildlife that get in the way”

She’s right, right as rain.  We aren’t going away, boys.  We are here to stay and many of us have been at this longer than some of your agents are old.  It’s not that we are trying to be unreasonable or asking for something outlandish and out of the question.  Quite the contrary, we would like to see something very simple, economical and inherently humane.  The only thing that we are campaigning for is to simply leave the wild horses alone.  It’s just that simple.

Why aren’t you listening?

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