Press Release from Grass Roots Horse
Wranglers Break Another Stallion’s Neck
Sun J Chopper at Warm Springs Stampede ~ Photo by Laura Leigh
As the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepares to enter a Reno, NV courtroom to answer charges on First Amendment rights violations and Contempt of Court charges, yet another instance of discriminatory press and public access took place.
This time it occurred at the Warm Springs, OR wild horse roundup (what the BLM euphemistically calls a “gather”). The roundup that began on Nov. 2, 2010 and is expected to continue until Nov 14, had only 2 scheduled public observations days, Nov 5 and 6, which would allow only 10 people who had put in a request with the Burns District BLM office 3 months earlier.
On day one of public observation, while no horses were captured, an additional observation day was not rescheduled. A new BLM contractor, “Sun J,” based in Utah, flew out of sight for 5 hours but could be heard nearby. It is not known what was happening out of view during that time, but no horses were captured that day. The roundup operations were ended for the day after an observer who became concerned about the length of time horses were being run, spoke with BLM’s PR person on the scene. After speaking with the contractor, the BLM decided to stop the roundup for the day, allegedly to let the horses rest.
That afternoon access to view horses at the temporary holding corrals was limited to 5 minutes of viewing from a distance of 50 feet. Access to view the mares and foals was denied because the contractor’s two year- old child was playing near the mares and foals’ pen with his grandfather and BLM did not want to disturb them. According to witnesses, the area near the mares and foals’ pen was littered with the child’s toys and the child had free rein to run and play.
“It was impossible to see the mares and foals and to see their condition, to see if any were lame or had injuries,” said Laura Leigh, a photojournalist and videographer who is well known for her work documenting and reporting on the wild horses. “So while we saw no horses captured today, we were allowed mere minutes of standing at a distant fence and seeing relatively nothing. I asked if we could have access the following day and I was told no. It was a one shot deal to visit the roundup and corrals and this was my day to visit.”
However, a videographer from an online DVD magazine that specializes in interviewing artists on video had been given access that had been denied everyone else when she was allowed an additional day.
On Saturday a stallion broke his neck on a fence panel. “The panel the stallion hit appeared to have been improperly set up since prior to the stallion breaking his neck, at least eight horses had a problem in that same corner and had contact with the panel. “The wranglers put a lot of pressure on with whips and bags and he jumped for it,” said Brogan Horton of Animal Rescue Unit. I think they all thought it was an exit, even a foal had attempted it earlier. After the stallion went down, a screen was put up but we could see him struggling and then we were asked to leave”.
Reports from eyewitnesses say a young colt of about 4 or 5 months would not go into the trap. Two wranglers on horseback, double lassoed the foal with two ropes around his neck and disappeared with him behind a bluff. The wranglers rode back without the foal, and according to video of the incident, 41 minutes had passed while the wranglers ate lunch and then went to retrieve the foal from behind the bluff. The foal walked into the trap clearly exhausted with his head hanging very low.
“It is imperative that the public knows what is happening out there and it is pretty clear that BLM does not want the public to see anything at all. Who is calling the shots out there? Why the secrecy and the brazen denial of our rights and even common decency. I think it is obvious why the BLM does not want the public to see what they are doing. If this is what happens when people are watching, we have a big problem and I hope the courts can bring relief when the lawsuits are heard,” said Maureen VanDerStad of Grass Roots Horse, the equine welfare group that is supporting Laura Leigh’s legal actions.
Laura Leigh filed a lawsuit this past September on the BLM’s prior restraint of her First Amendment rights in regard to access denied at the Silver King, NV wild horse roundup which occurred in September, and asks for full accountability on the whereabouts of all the wild horses already captured.
For the Warm Springs herd management area in Eastern Oregon, which covers more than 475,000 acres, the agency had set herd size at 111 to 202 horses and burros. The BLM plans to remove 360 horses from the Warm Springs herd.
For pictures and more information on legal filings please visit www.grassrootshorse.com
Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
What in God’s name is happening to this country??? When will the madness stop???
I hope photos were taken of this child running about while the observers were not allowed anywhere near the corrals. I’m glad the child did not suffer any injury due to his/her proximity to the corrals. NO place for children, what were they “thinking” ???????????
LikeLike
God I hope so Laura. Will the Judges in the courts get to see them? Hopefully it will provide proof positive that these people are nothing but barbarians out to hurt the Wild Ones!
LikeLike
Excellent! Keep it up out there Laura! The collective “WE” are the wind beneath your wings!
LikeLike
The BLM PR people have some questions to answer. Why isn’t the freedom of information act used in each case involving round up? and the wranglers are convicted felons who cant get a job anywhere else so why is this agency using them to abuse foals?
LikeLike
Elizabeth M. The contractor, Dave Cattoor, was convicted of a misdemeanor stealing Government property and using an unauthorized flying machine to do it.
If you slander him in public and are wrong he can sue You! I am sure you do not want that. Nor do we… get the facts straight. mar
LikeLike
Good Grief!!! I remember protecting my 2-year-old from two carpeted stairs. Could this baby be a prodigy? One of those “wild horse experts” the BLM is so fond of talking about? Talk about irresponsibility!
LikeLike
This needs to be reported to authorities and put on the record in Oregon. mar
LikeLike
I have come to the conclusion that the BLM has hired all the animal abusers they could find and sent them to get the horses. And a 2 year old child running around that close….what the hell was it doing there!!!!!!!!
LikeLike
Andi harmon, the BLM volunteer at Burns dist..who tried to dominate the roundup site with propaganda, has posted to Lauras blog…She considers herself to be the go to person on Oregons wild horses and i think it is time to set her straight..I am very sorry i did not make it on saturday as I would have just LOVED to take her on in that setting..
LikeLike
Sandra! I am SO GLAD you said that! I haven’t seen her much on FB for a while and all of a sudden today, she’s all over the place! Telling people how much acreage is needed for a horse.. Her words: 1 horse per 100 acres..
She is also telling people that BLM does NOT send horses to slaughter..
I wanted to ‘let go’ on her, tell her to mind her own business.. But I have TONS to do today.. With her it’s ALWAYS forever…
They’ve definately ‘brainwashed’ her..
Yeah, so let’s let our kids ‘play’ around a bunch’a wild horses that can smash a metal panel or perhaps decide to jump over a metal panel? Dumbasses… ALL OF ‘EM!
Laura.. I keep saying it and I keep meaning it MORE each time.. THANK YOU for everything you and Laura & Co. are doing for our Wild Ones.. You are THE strongest person I have EVER known.. Be safe and stay strong for them..
LikeLike
BLM has created a false truth about sending horses to slaughter in a really sneeky way – which in truth they do not send horses to slaughter. The real whole truth – buyers must sign a paper saying they will not do this and the 1971 Act is still intact on that issue – but in reality the type of person who would engage in sending these horses to slaughter is telling the truth when they sign that agreement on paper – I’d say nill, notta, not a one.
LikeLike
Yeah, is that 100 acres the worst land that they have fenced off in the Horse HMAs or the 100 acres of prime wetlands and water souces where i have seen the cattle grazing in the same HMAs? This is not even a question we have started to address yet..and it happens at the RMP level..where the very “best” lands in the WH HMAs are being given to the cattle..I have seen it for myself in Owyhee, where water was pouring out the sides of mountains and feed was belly high and green on the cattle allotments, and the WHs were having an “emergency gather for lack of food and water.”.then I read the RMP on this HMA, and the 2 cattle ranchers were the ONLY input in arriving at the decision to fence WHs off these riparian areas and keep them only for “scorched earth cattle grazing” I was very happy to hear WWP has filed a lawsuit on 30 something of these RMPs most of which are on WH HMAs..Hoping WWP starts going after these in oregon as well, since BLM- fish and game and FS all are letting the american taxpayer down..and WWP has the machinery experience and horsepower to get this done..
LikeLike
According to the math (and I RUE the day I ever decided to pick up the d*mn calculator), in that area of Oregon, in this PARTICULAR Herd Area, it takes over 2300 ACRES to sustain a single wild equine.
Seriously?
That’s almost 200 acres per animal per month.
And that is Ridiculous.
LikeLike
this story is being picked up across oregon in the print media as well as the local TV station, and see it has also been picked up internationally in an Egypt news site..Laura, what did the condition of the horses seem to be, I looked @ andis pictures posted on facebook last night, and they seemed to be as fat as the ones I saw at stinkingwater earlier in the summer?
LikeLike
Copy and paste from the BLM Gather Reports page: 5-8 Henneke Score, very healthy
LikeLike
I see the Humane Society of oregon has come out against this and all roundups in Oregon in a forceful way!
LikeLike
God I hope so. Let’s see if they have any weight behind them to help Laura & all of us trying to protect these animals. The media REALLY NEEDS TO STEP UP IN THIS ONE. OUR RIGHTS ARE BEING VIOLATED SO BAD & IT TAKES TO FRIGIN LONG FOR THESE DAMN COURTS TO DECIDE ANYTHING. MEANWHILE THE WILD ONES ARE DYING AT THE HANDS OF THE BLM!
LikeLike
Sandra, could you post some links for us?
So glad of this media exposure – this is wonderful.
One unfortunate Oregon reality is that my parents and many other 1/2 year summer citizens are not there in fall or winter so they are not getting this news – I can get this at least to my folks friends via mass e-mail if you have some links – especially ones with politial contacts to object.
LikeLike
We have got to stop the BLM from using the contractor as the excuse for everything. The BLM is charged with doing these gathers; doing them right; and making sure the public has access. The contractor is the hired hand. They are to follow the guidelines of the BLM. If the BLM does not have the knowledge or ability to humanely handle wild horses, they need to get someone who does. Having the contractor set up the situation and make the rules is beyond stupid and a conflict of interest. The contractor gets paid for removing horses and has no care if they live or die. Some horses, such as stallions are actually easier to remove dead. As for moving them slowly with the copter, that is just a waste of fuel and provides no benefit to the contractor.
So who is deciding how to do things and who can watch and from where?
CONFLICT OF INTEREST!!!!!
LikeLike
“Beyond stupid”. Well said!
LikeLike
Excellent points Diana!! It would be worth it while to talk with the Oregon Humane Society to get them to “officially monitor” the round ups. They represent an organization, and the BLM could not “put them off” as easily as they do some of the advocates. I have a feeling some of the BLM staff and contractors love to “play with and taunt” the advocates. If we the People do have a “right” to observe, then we have to “stand our grounds” and “don’t take NO for an answer” A person can be determined and with confidence in a calm demeneor can accomplish a lot. However if one goes there and act like an “obedient child” asking, “….can I please, please get closer?….then they say no you can’t….but look, the little kid is playing there, why can’t I?….they say, just because!” I hope some will understand what I am trying to convey. One does NOT have to be obnoxious, but being overly “compliant” is just plain ineffective.
LikeLike
If you or anyone else has not yet been to a roundup, you would not be describing the obervers who do go (drive long distances at their own expense, wake up to meet at a BLM office at 4:30 a.m., stand out in the cold or heat all day) as acting like “obedient children” and accuse us of being “compliant.” Most of us are law abiding citizens. There are usually armed guards standing with us, and if an observer were to step one foot across a boundary, they could be arrested. All observers could also be asked to leave at anytime, or all public observation could be ended. We are there as witnesses FOR THE HORSES. That’s all. We’re doing the best we can under the circumstances. We write articles about what we see. We are NOT ineffective. Please do not badmouth other advocates who are working hard on behalf of our wild ones.
LikeLike
I might add that geldings will be return to the HMA and mares will be given PZP-22 or “alternative methods of sterilization..and this is something that needs to be followed up on..as oregon has few advocates for the horses that keep a close eye on what is going on @ these facilities that are along way from civilization..This is the facility that was the” only one” to agree to experimentation on the wild horses as was requested in the “Secret-Alternatives Management Options document” which explored different ways to get rid of the horses..ALL other HMAs refused to participate in these experiments…oregon agreed to..probably for several reasons..Dean Bolstead came from this district..the isolation of these HMAs and the lack of advocates in Oregon to watchdog…Lets change that..thanks to all the advocates who showed up to let them know..WE are watching you..
LikeLike
Please contact Senator Wyden please give him details : 202-224-5244
Eugene, OR, 97401 ,541-431-0229, Portland, OR, 97232, 503-326-7525,
FACE BOOK-http://www.facebook.com/wyden?ref=ts&v=wall
LikeLike
it is time to form a delegation to meet with the Senator, Makendra met with him and had a good conversation when she was out here before stinkingwater..Now that elections are over -it should be easier to get some sit down time..I have e-mailed him and merkley, but only Wyden sits on the appropriations comittee and he has senority, and a senator who is not afraid to take on a challenge and has been very critical of the BLM in the past..He has been in negotiation with the BLM on getting timber sales for oregon and I felt he was unwilling to jeopardise those jobs to get vocal on this issue..but we want to be able to count on him when the Appropriations comittee meets again, so that we can stop the roundups by cutting the funding..and I think there is a very real chance of that happening, and its what we all should be concentrating on..If you have political clout-use it for the horses..Oregon has some fine congressmen and woman as well who signed that call for a moritorium to stop the roundups..so many are familiar here..Oregon is somewhere we have the political backing to take a stand.
LikeLike
I suggest we in Oregon contact our ‘new” govenor and make it clear we find this unacceptable..this is not Nevada..we are not T-Party people, we want cattle removed from our public lands..and in Oregon we can do it..We have the will to protect our lands from the locust effect of cattle..Since the BLM and Ranchers will not police themselves..we will and like the ‘spotted owl” you will find yourselves completely removed from public ranges rather than responsably sharing..my suggestion to you..start thinking about the prospect of “either or’ because it is coming. Remember the Hines lumber mill and all the people it employed? closed..gone ..Kaput..If reasonable logging had been employed there would still be a mill and jobs there..Learn from past lessons
LikeLike
When you bring politics into this, you alienate people, and this war needs to not lose any fighters because of internal conflict or a sense of negativity.
This is NOT a political issue! Bush signed off on it, but Obama has not stopped it. Tea party? How can one blame a small group who has no voice in such matters? Is Ken Salazar listening to the Tea Party? Since when?
Who’s really responsible if not the party currently in power? All it takes is one phone call from the top.
There are people from all parties who are VERY against what is being done. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Tea Party, Independents… MOST people don’t want this to happen. One big problem is that the people who DO want it to happen- Ken Salazar and Friends- are among the most powerful people in this country, and they are deaf to the voices of the citizens. We have to get louder, until we are heard, and we need soldiers from EVERY party to feel included, to make that happen. I think we should leave politics out of this effort. It’s the one bipartisan effort we can all work on together, is it not?
LikeLike
Breath of fresh air ~ It about the Horses ~ that’s all.
LikeLike
It IS about politics and ALL about politics..and what I stated is a FACT in Oregon..the fact that it is not about 1 party I agree with..but this is a political fight..to imagine otherwise is plain silly
LikeLike
I have to agree with Sandra on this – it is neceseary to watch the track records of political parties and political individuals to determine who will represent the interests that one is in favor of.
Facts – the Clinton/Gore administration strengthend conservation, the Bush/Cheney administration wiped it out and wiped out all real science in favor of junk science and lies throughout DOI and BLM – they did this in secret meetings – for the sole purpose of fast tracking past existing environmental and conservation laws – probably unconsitutional – this is documented – so that environmental watch dogs could not keep up. “Secret” and “behind closed doors” sound familiar? As in no observers allowed at roundups or at holding facilities? Totally in disragard of the 1st Amendment. I mean, who needs laws or a constitution when you do everything behind closed doors by signing little pieces of paper and then stacking the federal judicial system in your favor (remember all those judges that got fired for no reason and replaced fast track) so that no one can get a legitimate court ruling?
The last fiscal year roundup numbers of 12,000 were on the books 2 years ago from the last of the Bush era – the new number (I’m guessing – not really sure I understood the article on this) is 9000 that we can pin on Obama to date – it’s still 9000 too many – but I’m not giving up on him yet.
I for one am supportive of the Tea Party movement (and I hope they do get a caucus – it will make it easier to identify and follow the details of their platform and voting records) to reduce government and I suggest they start with welfare cattle ranching on Public Lands and the BLM wild horse and burro program!
And I am behind HfH Advisory Councils Lobbying efforts. We need to start hitting this at conception, at the time the 9000 or 12,000 are scheduled – 2 years ahead of time – as much as hitting the individual roundups with the lawsuites.
Acts and laws are meant to be amended – apparently – as the 1971 one has been – and can be amended back and made better. Same is true for the Taylor Grazing Act that spoon feeds tax dollars to corporate and silver spoon ranchers – its time they feed themselves the way the rest (97%) of cattle ranchrs do all acrrss the USA.
These are ALL political that control the fate of the wild horses – so politics cannot be avoided.
Support ROAM – it is still on the table – but not for long.
LikeLike
Thanks, Rox. There is no way to avoid politics as it is the History behind all the maneuvering and the events that are now removing the wild herds systematically. We are not saying we have to go after a party or make noise about who belongs to what… it is part of the factual development of the is crisis. This is government. There is no way you can leave out Political Truths and History. mar
LikeLike
PS I want to say we should be able to post who is doing, or has done what in politics without alienation. How do I understand and take appropriate action without questioning and knowing all the facts, including politics, which can be regionally different?
My experieince is that talking and debate create compromise/consensus and mutual respect – there are NO bad ideas – we can all rise above disagreement or hurt feelings on detaills – even if they make us as individuals uncomfortable sometimes.
I have myself been taken to task here – often with good reason – one thing I feel great respect for here is that we all try to keep each other honest with facts – as we must – and all the facts. So my feelings get hurt for a moment – so what?
Hurt feelings drop out of sight pretty quickly because we all do know we have to go on for the good of the horses.
There was for me discovering the source of my own political nature, the source of our current abandoment of citizen fellowship and this increased bullying – about 2 or 3 years ago – I turned off all the talking heads on all sides for just one month – and I used to listen to them ALL.
I limited myself to the Sunday morning panels where I could hear debate to stay on top of topics. Then I listened back to the talking heads – WHAT AN EYE OPENER – I will never go back again! Suggest for everyone.
I learned I don’t need to consider myself a party liner on any subject – and that the talking heads tend to keep facts buried under humor or bashing for “ratings” sake – not for “my” sake.
And lets face this fact – BLM this has been going on for 40 years no matter who was in office or who was at the helm of DOI. We got the 1971 Act passed and then did what? We did not stay on top of it “politically” or “legislatively” and the rascals did what rascals always do – and there are rascals in all political persuasions.
LikeLike
Thank you Elaine
Yes we need all our soldiers and energy for the Wild Ones.
Leave the politics out of it.
LikeLike
Right on Elaine! President Obama, with a stroke of a pen, could sign off on this tomorrow, if he wanted. The way I see it is he, the BLM and Ken Salazar are the ruling force here. The Tea Party was very instrumental in the election, because they didn’t like the direction this administration was taking us, so they spoke out loud and clear and made their voice heard on election day. If we are to have any success in helping our wild ones, we must too, let as many Americans as posssible know the facts of really what’s happening. Put out there the pictures, denials of access to roundups, horses destroyed and all the legal documentation that have encountered from the beginning. It has been a total mismanagement of our wild horses and more of the public has got to be informed! I believe there are so many people not aware, which is a total tragedy in itself. Again, thank you Laura for your constant effort and hard work in bringing us the truth.
LikeLike
Maybe only a few people are being alienated because they Think we are being political!
If we bash Obama you don’t mind one bit. If we bash Harry Reid you don’t mind one bit. If the dems are included in the criticism of the situation you don’t mind. I really fail to see why you are so over sensitive about people talking about reality and you allow all political talk except what apparently offends YOU! Get over it. You have to realize this is not a place to start censoring us! We are not GOP or Tea Party Bashers… if former President Bush gets a bad rap he very well deserves it for encouraging corruption and lies inside the Interior Department and getting caught doing it. History.
You are being hypocritical Elaine, Jean, Christy and Kathleen. Maybe that is more offensive to others than you realize.
You cannot separate the politics from this situation. When you tell people to do so you are trying to shut people up. You Can’t Shut Us Up! mar
LikeLike
I read back a ways – find no one blaming the Tea Party for anything – I for one am looking forward to them cutting the glutinous BLM and welfare ranching!
Apologies if I should have let this go already – but we can agree on most things, and must be able to agree to disagree on others – this must not be considered ‘in fighting’ – it is sharing – point counterpoint – and must not be silenced with ‘percieved’ divides that do not exist or hurt feelings – nor should we be hurting feelings (except those of BLM, etc.) – continue to participate and act no matter what.
It is not personal – this is an adventure into new territory for most all of us – and it deals with past and present Legislative and Executive branches and the individuals therein and Judicial appointees – that is just the way it is – we ALL need to bring our knowledge, even if we fear ruffling feathers. When I first found Cloud I had a lot of good ‘ole boy cowboy ideas and only learned by posting and getting ‘point counterpoint’.
No one is asking anyone to change parties or vote for anyone – but who in politics has historically been for wild horses and conservation in general and who is against is important? As is lookig to the future legislature (Poor Nevada wild horses – there was no winner for the wild ones no matter who got elected!).
Also, if we are to win this cause we need to understand the separate powers in the three branches of government and how they are designed to work – it is not my intent to talk down – but some posts, and I have done it too, seem to want to avoid this – Executive (policy making) and Legislative (law making) and Judicial (non partisan watchdog of the other two).
Now, the next Congress will have a lot of ‘new’ members to feel out and watch dog.
Congress is where laws are made and amended – and most of them have been there for eons – we must know who is likely for the wildhrorses and who is not.
Sorry for length and I’ll drop it now.
LikeLike
Please stick to the legal wild horse issues instead of threatening the cattle industry by comparing it to the spotted owl issue. I have very dear friends who are responsible ranchers, miners, and lumbermen. Mills were shut down because of the spotted owl fraud, and fraud it was that created the great Oregon/Idaho/Washington/Ca. depression. Entire communities were wiped out and mills DISMANTLED. The Burrill mill in Oregon supported generations for half a century, and Gene Burrill’s Angel non profit air ambulance saved many. There are good and decent people in the agriculture, ranching, mining, and timber industries that contributed to making this country great, before the fed and enviro wacko agenda to separate us from our inalienable rights. Many of these folks would support free roaming wild equid herds on the public domain until you threaten their way of life.
LikeLike
We are all allowed to have our own opinioins about facts – but facts are facts.
Let me start with this question and see if the rest of what I write has any merit. Are you saying the cattle ranchers jobs and profits are more iimportant or less improtant that the mining and energy jobs and profits?
Main point – we are only concerned with the cattle ranchers who use public lands – about 3% of the cattle ranching industry in the USA. Actually even less than that – the ones who keep encroaching into wild horse designated lands. Fact – out of almost 400 million acres – wildhorse advocates only want about 60 million (my mind is slipping – anyone check my numbers please) – by anyones account that is miniscul.
Cattle ranchers ‘choose’ to go beyond the boundaries from the 1971 Act. They ‘choose’ to continue encroaching out of what was already a really good deal for them – we did not encroach on them. Because of their continual encroachment BLM and FS have to remove wild horses and predators have to be killed – fewer predators means even more horses – more roundups – fewer horses means more compensatory breeding – more horses – more roundups – infinitum.
I see no offering from these 3% of cattle ranchers to stop encroaching and reverse back to the intent in 1971. Until they do they remain an enemy – unfortunalty ALL of them, not just the ones grazing on wild horse legislated land. I would have never advocated ‘taking anything away from them’ that was not theirs in 1971 – perhaps there is some compromise here on how to do this?
Then there is the welfare issue – which I am not opposed to certain welfare for people, meaning huma peole, not “the corporate person”, in times of need – but I am opposed to this ongoing welfare entitlement scheme that benefits mostly corporation profits. Perhaps a compromise of gradual increase in lease rates until they are up to the same rates that the rest of the 97% of cattle ranchers live with? Give the Salazoo land – great grazing land according to Salazar – to the true family ranchers then they don’t have to pay any leases.
Or even a partial restructing of the checkerboard that leaves larger swaths of wild horse habitats along their normal annual treks and larger swaths of cattle grazing land – then at least predators could only need to be controlled in the boundaries – I’m sure this could be a compromise in some areas, maybe many areas?
And mining and energy is also encroaching and pushing out wild horses – as well as it will cattle ranchers, they just have not figured that out yet (Elko and Ruby Pipeline). Mining and energy could be done correctly, with less environmental impact and could coexist with wildlife, all wildlife, and even with cattle ranching.
When I was in the Fire Department and we fought to get fire sprinklers to impact the 4000 people who died in their homes from fire every year – a few other industries profits were hurt and employees displaced including the fire insurance industry and fire cleanup industry – but lots of new jobs created in the fire sprinker industry – what is more important human lives or business? That in my mind that is like being concerned with the medical profession instead of a cure for cancer. You can more easily get another job in a normal economy – you cannot get another life, whether yours or your famalies own lives, the life of a wild horse or the life of the spotted owl.
I like spotted owls and old growth forests – why am I supposed to totally give up part of what is important to me for others profits – especially when once its gone its gone – as the battle between logging and timber mills continues between the wild Salmon industry – will I wake up one day and hear that wild Salmon do not belong in the Northwest rivers – that they should all be in private Salmon farms for the sake of logging and mills profits or jobs? What about the profits and jobs of the Salmon industry folks? Sound familiar – like what these 3% of cattle ranchers propose for wild horses – there should be none in the wild? I am of the same opinion for the wilderness of our public lands – it cannot be all for cattle ranching and/or mining/energy – I get to keep what is important to me too.
Hope I have swayed you on some points – if not that is ok.
LikeLike
Lets have a reality check here..Either the ranchers step up and police themselves and respect what is fair or suffer the consequences..i have spent a lifetime around ranching and ranchers..there is the Good the Bad and the just plain UGLY..My point was- before you got in a snit-ranchers better step up before they lose control of their own destiny ..the old ways are in the rearview mirror..once the horses are gone the energy and mining will kick the cattle off..time to heed the call..If the kitchen gets to hot..there is always farmville..we are here for the horses because no one else stepped up..end of story
LikeLike
But, isn’t that always it; until you threaten their way of life? Eventually all wildlife will disappear, because it threatens man inalienable right to make the same living from cradle to grave. And corporations god given right to rape the lands for every cent they can.
LikeLike
lol, the perfect end to my story would be the ranchers step up and offer to give some of the allotmens back on HMAs or offer to move to the bountiful public lands where they are not within the HMA. IF people are reading the EAs and the RMPs- you will find out for yourself what i am saying is true..AND had the forest industry NOT clearcut whole mountainsides there never would have been a spotted owl issue, but because they had done it that away for 200 years and it was more cost efficient for them to clear cut..they ignored the voices expressing concerns when the rivers started running mud when the rains came and top soil ran off and resovoirs were polluted, and salmon runs ceased..they could not compramise and the american people turned on them and it hurt everyone..it was a waste..because people were pigheaded and greedy..Now that it is too late..they use good forestry practices.. but if all you got out of that mess-was anger about spotted owls..then you missed the real story and are doomed to repeat it..BLM could have and did go for years pulling wild horses off the land and because no one made a big fuss…they decided to go for broke and wipe them off the face of the earth..sorry pardner..you just shook a spotted owl out of the tree, and if that “owl” is what it takes to stop you..then, thats fine with me
LikeLike
Thanks, Kathleen. The cattlemen may be starting to catch on that they’re “next” after the removal of the wild horses. Many city water “plans” are increasing water for INDUSTRIAL use, and decreasing water for AGRICULTURAL use. There are always inaccuracies when one group tries to stereotype another.
LikeLike
New roundup contractor? I’d like to see ‘who’ they ‘really’ are. Oldest trick in the world is to change company names, put up new front members, but its really the same bunch.
And horses being run too fast is a reason to stop for the day? Why not SLOW DOWN? Dah! Are they going to run them slower the next day?
This animal cruelty is unacceptable. Thank you Grassroots for reporting on this insanity so the world can see.
Anyway, GO Laura, push that law suit!
LikeLike
Here is the contact info for the new killers ~
Sun J Livestock, Jody And John Holmes
3277 S 1500 E
Vernal, UT 84078-9320 map
Phone:(435) 790-4928
LikeLike
Utah – I would have bet on that – Cattoors home.
LikeLike
Roxy, have you noticed that on the 2010/2011 round up schedule, the only two contractors are the Cattoors and Sun J?
LikeLike
Robin – interesting – no more Cooks?
Still two too many!
LikeLike
Awesome! Maybe they should receive a few [thousand] phone calls!
LikeLike
Hmmmmm wonder if the Cattoors have a daughter called Jody??? Sorry but that was the first thing that crossed my mind!
LikeLike
If no one is really allowed to observe anything how can they call it an observation day? 5 minutes to see the horses in the trap? Seriously? I am beginning to think we are in a George Orwell novel.
LikeLike
You are not alone in that fear – but we won’t give in.
LikeLike
Just noticed on the BML website this info: regarding Oregon AML’s
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/wh_b_information_center/Fact_Sheet.html
If you can find the chart on the right, look at TOTAL population for Oregon vs AML
2,476 (Current total) vs 2,715 (AML)
why are they removing any horses when the current population is less than the AML?
LikeLike
Here is the link to the Utah Corp’s page and Sun J’s Corp., Info. The company was formed in September, 2010.
Highly suspect . . . .
https://secure.utah.gov/bes/action/details?entity=7772705-0142
LikeLike
There has to be a government contract on file if they were hired. Will try to find. How close is Vernal, UT to Cattoors home base?
LikeLike
Not very close (but Vernal is a very small and out of the way town) the perfect place to set up a sham corp. It’s a bit North East of Moab, UT on your maps. (My old stomping grounds).
LikeLike
Sorry I meant North West . . . (getting old). 🙂
LikeLike
I mean no disrespect to the good folks of Utah – but facts are facts – this is Utah – distance is not an issue – the universal 6th degree of separation is only about 2 or 3 there – at least it is in Mesa, AZ where my good neighbors related to many in Utah joke of that fact.
LikeLike
This must be great fun for Sun J wranglers.
LikeLike
I have a copy of Sun J’s Corp., filings if anybody wants copies. It was filed on a rush basis, Sept., 1, 2010. My e-mail is: wleroy@alfn.org. I background search of the principals might prove worthwhile.
LikeLike
http://www.facebook.com/#!/note.php?note_id=498337746214&id=5810894
Please read this post by Animal Rescue Unit! Great Job-Leslie Peeples and this group of investigative workers..Lets give these folks the support they deserve!
LikeLike
Here is a copy of the Sun J Livestock Corp., Doc’s I just purchased. They will be available for anyone here to view and download for 15 days ~ “Good Hunting”. (Copy into your browser & click go . . )
Click to access e1289241782473-178843-1.pdf
LikeLike
Thanks. Downloaded. Their business statement includes capturing wild cows!
LikeLike
Hey Gang.. I know I’m late here, but I’ve been reading through all the posts and ‘listening’ to all of your amazing minds at work and something just dawned on me.. Actually kicked me in the butt..
So here’s what I thought when I saw this ‘new’ contractors name..
Sun J Could it be SON J?
Now, I know that the last name is Holmes but could it be the ‘little woman’s’ (sorry for that, no offense to anyone!).. maiden name before she married a possible John Cattoor?
Either way, If they were quickly hired in September and they are a NEW company.. Laura has some pictures of this ‘contractors’ new ‘stuff’.. New trailers, rigs (trucks), etc.. and she even said it looked expensive.
Now, how do you start up a brand new company and have THAT kind of money to buy ALL brand NEW equipment that doesn’t come cheap? Either the BLM threw them some ‘start up’ money or ‘Daddy’ Cattoor got ya set right up!
I tell ya, I just wanna hurl.. This makes me cry and it makes me hurt. I went out and played with my ‘Guys’ today. Didn’t ride or anything, just brushed ’em and chased ’em around.. (We play ‘tag’ in the round pen!) I was leaning on my big boy, Kokomo and just started bawling. Crying for each and every single soul that is gone now and each one who is slowly dying in their Horse Prison. It took a long time for the tears to stop. I was probably due for a good cry. My sweet boy just let me lean in and let ‘er go and he didn’t move a muscle till I was snuffling and wiping my nose on my sleeve.. (ewwww! Sorry.. I didn’t have a kleenex!)
Umm.. So, sorry.. I kinda got off the subject there, but this whole BLM Mustang Murder Spree has got me this upset.. I KNOW y’all are upset and some of you cry sometimes.. I mean, I know they don’t give a rat’s ass but this ‘situation’ has a LOT of people physically UPSET about what they are doing…
What about Pain and Suffering? Like the man from here.. Colorado with ‘his’ herd. (Dang, can’t remember his name.. Forgive me..) BLM is causing a LOT of it. Not just to our Wild Ones, but to all of US too..
Thanks for letting me ramble on.. I’m gonna look into the name of this new contractor that also herds WILD COWS (LMAO!) with their shiny new helicopter..
LikeLike
Joey, apparently, and I’ve lost track of the post, someone did delve into this. They reported that Cook has vanished from the roundups schedule (which we can verify ourselves at BLM). And further digging ressulted in this opinion – this is a resurected Cook Livestock Co. with many Cattoor employees also.
They are all fallen from the same animal abuser trees.
LikeLike
Thanks, Will. These ‘new’ contractors have ‘learned from the BEST’ written all over them. They may be a relation or former member of Cattoors. No surprise. We have driven around their country up by Vernal this past Spring. There is an HMA/HA with no wild horses on it for many years yet BLM has scheduled and then rescheduled a roundup there… There are wild horses on adjacent Reservation lands along the Green River where natural gas lines and platforms are all over the ground for miles. mar
LikeLike
Thanks so much, William!
LikeLike
It would cost just a few hundred (maybe we could get a break or pro bono?) to hire a PI to background search Sun J and Jody L Holms – and everyone else listed on their business license and that of Cattoor.
I wonder if Jody L Holms had any idea what she was getting into? I’ve known of these “new” companies getting unsuspecting sons, daughters, thrid cousins of freinds or employess duped into these.
I promise that the name Jody L Holms will become synonmis with Sue Cattoor – I think I’ll call it the “Punchy Sue & Jody Show”.
LikeLike
PS I am begining to think that Utah is one this continents arm pits of animal abuse – a breeding ground of animal abusers. Missouri and pupply mills, Utah and wild horse abusers!
LikeLike
RE: BLM’s sneakiness in selling horses for slaughter
There’s no sneakiness about it.
The paperwork I signed on Ghost Dancer — the Medicine Hat mare I bought as a sale authority horse (she’s over ten) — only “discourages” me from using her for commercial purposes.
If I’d wanted to trailer her from Palomino Valley to the Tuesday auction at Fallon Livestock I could have been there in a little over an hour. There, I could have sold her by the pound and made a tidy profit.
It turns my stomach to even type the words, but it’s the truth.
But I didn’t, and she’s safe.
LikeLike
The sneekyness is in that BLM do not themselves direclty deliver wild horses to sale barns or to slaughter plants.
There is a 3rd party that does that under “sale authority”.
I fear that when we say BLM sells wild horses to slaughter that we may look suspect in our facts to the public or to new comers here who are just starting their learning process – and its not necessary anyway – the truth about “sale authority” is good enough in my mind.
Of course there is the question of unreconciled numbers from roundup to holding – but that, if proven they go to slaughter, would be individual BLM employees (or holding facility personell) either directly involved or turning a blind eye – so again we should perhaps not say BLM sends horse to slaughter when it is a few/some/many individuals within BLM acting on thier own. Unless we could prove that is an unwritten BLM policy?
LikeLike
Terri how is Dander doing? I got the Breyer model mustang–Medicine Hat and named her Dancer for Ghost Dancer. Now I just have to find a nice looking chesnut/sorrel that could double for Sage.
LikeLike
Thank goodness! Ghost Dancer is a lucky girl.
LikeLike
http://www.facebook.com/feeds/notes.php?id=5810894&viewer=1370226427&key=865547c16b&format=rss20
Here you will see Blue Moons last seconds before breaking his kneck and the black foal that was brutally roped and tied down for 45 minutes..be sure to thank Brogan for the amazing job she, Brett and Leslie did! You can donate to keep them on the trail of these investigations
LikeLike
Thanks, Sandra. This is a very good ‘investigation’ and an informative read. Thanks to Leslie Peeples and Brogan.
Please read the above link. mar
LikeLike
Appropriations Commitee–let’s get started today. Review the points on Cloud Foundation memo and then call. BLM is asking for $75 million for their budget this year. Let committee members HEAR from all of us. Let them hear our ourtage. Here’s one set of phone #s—or you can call the White House switchboard:
HOUSE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Davie Obey Chairman Wisconsin Dem. (202) 225-3365 D.C. office
(715) 842-5606 Home office
Jerry Lewis Ranking Member Rep. (202) 225-5861 D. C. office
1-800-233-1700 Within California
LikeLike
Everyone can go over the the Cloud Foundation Alert and find committee members–both House and Senate–find phone #s and post here. Each person just do 1 Dem and 1 Rep. We can all get it done in no time and get started calling all of them
LikeLike
I read the animal rescue observation, they say they have footage of this horrific animal abuse allowed by the BLM horse killers!
We need to place all that footage in the publics view, I think we should post this shame of America overseas so other countries get an idea of how barbaric the BLM is.
BLM you crappy sick horse killers!! You Unamerican pieces of trash!!!
“” Our investigators filmed the trailer that loaded from the trap site ,mares, stallions and foals all loaded together (BLM is not following their own rules and is supposed to haul the horses separably using partitions) on the trailer.
we were then escorted by BLM to the short term holding site. Our investigators were held back 50-60 yards by BLM law enforcement from the horses on one side and could only catch occasional glimpses of a horse head and could see nothing of the mares and babies in the pens on the back side. It was impossible to check on the welfare or injuries to theses animals at that distance.
We documented the livestock contractors trailer full of mustangs going over 50 mph down the unmaintained, rough and rocky dirt roads for 5 miles, creating a huge dust cloud that filled the inside of the trailer with choking dust. Pulling a trailer full of horses at these speeds, in these conditions is a recipe for disaster incredibly thoughtless and inhumane. At one point, the hauler took a sharp corner close to 50mph, causing the trailer to slide around the corner, violently slamming the horses into each other, and the walls of the trailer. When reaching the highway the rig blew right through a stop sign with no regard for the horses or public safety.
Animal Rescue Unit documented this entire event from beginning to end with over 20 hours of footage. We plan on collaborating with Grassroots Horse in the future to show citizens of the United States what their tax dollars are really being spent on””””
LikeLike
Wow. Looks like Sun J cares even less about the horses than the Cattoors. Incorporated 2 months ago. Let’s find out more about these scumbags.
LikeLike
Good work and welcome to the war. mar
LikeLike
RT, can you get this photo posted of Blue Moon hitting the panels and breaking his kneck?
http://www.facebook.com/feeds/notes.php?id=5810894&viewer=1370226427&key=865547c16b&format=rss20
LikeLike
From Carol Walker:
I was told by BLM that the people running Sun J used to work for Karen Cook and Cook is the contractor I have those horrible roundup wreck photos of they treated the horses shamefully. Sun J just finished that roundup in CO where that mare was choked to death. They have no business rounding up horses.
Please, we need to get these people away from our horses. Please.
LikeLike
suggestions next steps to take. How in heaven’s name do we get these awful horrible people away from the horses? Choking a horse to death. Hog tying. Scaring a stud into the metal pipe of the fencing.
This is NOT protecting the horses. This is out and out murder.
LikeLike
Carol, This is what is needed as these people are dehumanized and so is BLM. The press, where ever they are hiding, needs to get out and learn what kind of violence the Obama administration is condoning. The contractors are not above the law and neither is BLM. They believe they are. That means they have a long way to fall one day soon. mar
LikeLike
Send all information to you Senators and Representative
LikeLike
Need to get brain and fingers in sync
LikeLike
About this Sun J outfit. I think I’m gonna be ill. Unfreaking believable. It is so gross that 4 letter words wouldn’t even do justive for it. Icky I can say legally. But it is so much worse than just icky.
LikeLike
Sun J is a 4 letter word.
LikeLike
Subj: Warm Springs Investigation
Animal Rescue Unit Press Release: Warm Springs Round Up, Burns, Oregon – November 6th 2010
Brogan Horton
Today, 12:41 PM
Animal Rescue Unit Press Release:
Warm Springs Round Up, Burns, Oregon – November 6th 2010
Animal Rescue Unit is an organization dedicated to revealing the truth about animal suffering, we specialize in investigation, rehabilitation, education and legislation for animal welfare. Over the past few years we have become increasingly concerned about the tactics the BLM is using to round up the wild horses. We decided to launch an investigation into the round ups and organized a team of investigators to go to Burns Oregon to do three days of observation of the Warm Springs Herd and the Warm Springs Round up on November 6th. We teamed up with experienced wild horse observer Leslie Peeples to guide us on this western tour.
Investigators Brogan Horton and Brett Bowen along with Leslie Peeples spent two days out on the Warm Springs and South Steens herd management areas observing the herds in the wild, documenting the ranges and watering sources. Before dawn on November 6th Horton, Bowen and Peeples met a group of 8 including a Burns Oregon BLM office public relations manager and headed out to the Warm Springs HMA to observe the round up. We arrived at 7:00am, the helicopter came in to refuel once at 9:16 and the first set of horses was pushed for at least 3 hours, getting to the trap at 10:50. We had two video camcorders and a camera documenting every moment. The rounding of these horses started on the 2nd of November, and the BLM contractors (Sun J) are planning to use only one trap site so many of the horses will have to be pushed 20 to 30 miles as the Herd management area is 475,000 acres. BLM provided only two public observation days if you preregistered. Laura Leigh and Debbie Coffey of Grassroots Horse came to observe the Warm Springs round up the day before. The helicopter pushed horses all day from great distances around this range, however no horses were brought in to the trap site.
The chute leading into the trap was not adequately set to guide the horses into the trap and the Judas horse was released much to close to the trap so the horses did not follow him well as they did not have a long enough run way to catch on and follow him. Consequently the horses were run back and forth in front of the trap relentlessly and many split off and scattered. Horses were pushed into the corrals, given a moment to regroup then herded into holding pens.
At 11:35 a black foal became separated from his herd in the helicopter chase, he ran north up the hill while his family and mother was rounded up into the corrals. The helicopter chased him at very close range for but he was to scared to turn back so two wranglers mounted their horses and ran at breakneck speed after the 6 month old black colt and roped him, throwing their hands high in the are in apparent joyous victory. One rider pulled him and one rider pushed him down the hill toward the trap. Once they reached the outside of the trap, the colt started to resist, leaping forwards, up and toward the wranglers. The wranglers then marched the colt out of our view behind the bluff directly in front of the trap site, only to come out the other side with no colt. We watched as the riders went back to the trailers, dismounted and the helicopter brought in more horses. 41 minutes later the riders remounted and went back around the bluff, this time returning with a very shaken, exhausted and scared colt. We believe the colt was hog tied on the ground until they went back for him
The helicopter soon returned with a herd of about 30 horses and was unsuccessful at keeping the group together, horses were chased back and forth and splitting of and frantically running away. Many got away over the hills.The trap was poorly designed as the horses had to run straight for a fence then make an abrupt turn left.The corrals were not padded, and offered no protection for the horses. The wranglers congregated on one side and this left one area where there was nothing scary but a fence and it looked like the only way to escape. At least 6 horses, including a 4 month old baby, tried to go under, through or over the left corner panels smashing into the fence. One stallion jammed his knee into a space between panels, getting stuck and then ripping his body out of position, severely injuring himself, several fell to the ground.
The helicopter was very close to the horses at times traveling with the skids just a few feet of the ground with the rotor blade directly over the horses. On one occasion he came within feet of crashing into the bluff next to the trap site while focused on relentlessly pursuing a horse that was trying to escape in terror.
The helicopter pilot directed his attention at a small family of three. The stallion, later to be honored with the name Blue Moon, was with his mare and filly running down the hill with the helicopter hot on their tails. The helicopter intensely chased the family into the corral and took off. There were several more bands breaking away from the site, running for their lives from the helicopter and trap site. This created pressure for the helicopter pilot, pushing him to keep the bands in close proximity, and on the wranglers to carelessly hurry and process the captured horses, and empty the entrance corral. The wranglers brought out crops and sticks with bags on the end. The stallion stood before his mare and filly, against the wranglers as they whipped the bags and crops in front of them, causing a frantic panic in the pen that lasted 5 minutes. The family kept going for that one corner panel where there were no wranglers, throwing their bodies at the panel, trying to go over it, under it, or through it. The mare finally got chased into the separation corral leaving the filly and stallion, who were frantically throwing themselves at the panels, searching for freedom.
The beautiful blue roan stallion gave one final attempt at going through the fence, throwing himself head first into the unpadded steel bars, while the whips and bags cracked behind him. Out of fear, the stallion broke his neck trying to escape the intense pressure that was applied to him. He fell back nearly missing the traumatized filly, who just witnessed the entire event. He staggered to the left, sat on the fence and finally fell on his side, kicking out and desperately trying to lift his head as the wranglers snapped a crop at the filly, causing her to jump over her fathers shuddering body.
At this point, the wranglers decided it was more important to cover the corral with jute to block our view, than attend to the dying mustang. Our cameras were able to capture the entire tragedy in great detail. Their next move was to pull the trailer in front of the struggling stallion furthering inhibiting our view. The contractors attempted to bring more horses into the trap though the dying Blue moon was still in the capture pen. We were then approached by a wrangler on horse back telling us they were done, followed by the BLM employee telling us to pack up. From the moment of impact until we all cleared out, 30 minutes or more, the stallion lay there absolutely terrified, dying in agony and fear.
When asked what they will do with the body, the BLM employee responded that they will load him in the trailer, drive him to another location on the HMA and unload his body, as a part of “natural selection”.
A band of 12 horses escaped over the horizon for their lives, unfortunately the entire process will start again tomorrow and continue until they round up every horse on the 475,000 acre horse herd area.
There are 361 horses on the Warm Springs HMA, the BLM intends to collect them all and only releasing 111 horses, 43 mares treated with fertility control vaccine, 43 stallions, 10 geldings and 15 burros, with no regard to family structures or herd dynamics what so ever.
Our investigators filmed the trailer that loaded from the trap site ,mares, stallions and foals all loaded together (BLM is not following their own rules and is supposed to haul the horses separably using partitions) on the trailer.
we were then escorted by BLM to the short term holding site. Our investigators were held back 50-60 yards by BLM law enforcement from the horses on one side and could only catch occasional glimpses of a horse head and could see nothing of the mares and babies in the pens on the back side. It was impossible to check on the welfare or injuries to theses animals at that distance.
We documented the livestock contractors trailer full of mustangs going over 50 mph down the unmaintained, rough and rocky dirt roads for 5 miles, creating a huge dust cloud that filled the inside of the trailer with choking dust. Pulling a trailer full of horses at these speeds, in these conditions is a recipe for disaster incredibly thoughtless and inhumane. At one point, the hauler took a sharp corner close to 50mph, causing the trailer to slide around the corner, violently slamming the horses into each other, and the walls of the trailer. When reaching the highway the rig blew right through a stop sign with no regard for the horses or public safety.
Animal Rescue Unit documented this entire event from beginning to end with over 20 hours of footage. We plan on collaborating with Grassroots Horse in the future to show citizens of the United States what their tax dollars are really being spent on, and what is really happening behind the scenes to our wild horses, our national treasure.
We would like to thank Leslie Peeples for her incredible cinematography work, excellent guiding and major support. We would also like to thank Grassroots Horse, Laura Leigh and Debbie Coffey for their dedication and hard work on behalf of Americas Wild Horses.
Animal Rescue Unit will be 100% focused on these issues and continue our investigative work for the humane treatment and future viability of the wild horses. We do need funding for our upcoming investigations to spread awareness of the reality of the plight of the wild horses, as our investigators work on a 100% volunteer basis. We must keep people documenting on the front lines to witness and provide awareness to the public. Please help us help the horses by donating to ARU via our website, http://www.animalrescueunit.com
LikeLike
The fire is burning, Laura, and the TAR is heating up
LikeLike
The 800 phone# for Congressman Jerry Lewis–Appropriations Committee doesn’t work. This one does:
(909) 862-6030
LikeLike
I missed the number BLM says are on the land. I saw how many they will leave and how many they will remove, but not the number they say is on the land or the date of the last population certification. Can anyone help with that recap?
LikeLike
Glad you asked this question..went back to the EA and GET THIS: April 2010 census-341 horses..counting 40 probably foals to the herd in that figure…number to be gathered…361..number to be removed 265..number returned10 geldings 43 stallions and 43 mares treated with PZP-22 OR an alternative unnamed means of infertility..so this will be a LTH facility for these animals for at least 4 years if not forever..AND they are rounding up 20 imaginary horses not in their census, and deducting from that imaginary number 265 horses..and if thats the case and their census # is right..means they are only returning 60 horses and 10 geldings…30 mares all PZP-22 or worse
LikeLike
This is unreal! This is inhumane and un-human! Someone must have a relative in government– at any level– please get that person to read this blog–just this one installment– and get it to Washington DC ( will that do any good?) Why are we signing petitions to save the polar bear and the tiger? We need to get every animal rescue group to dedicate a week (or more) of petitions/letters/funding to this one cause. Support grassroots! Post those photos/videos everywhere. Thank you to Laura and all for their vigilence and reporting— I can only imagine how distressing it must be— we must end it. How can we get Prs. Obama to recognize this as a real issue?
LikeLike
Yes, get them all on YouTube in two versions – one uncut with warnings – one family version.
Don’t stop there – visit YouTube weekly or monthly and read the comments and address the anti wildhorse/pro BLM commenters. You may not be able to sway them – but maybe others reading will get fired up to join – and may have $5 here and there to donate to the various courses of action (or more?).
Louie keeps reminding us to make regular contacts – Thank you Louie and keep it going:
This should be our main course – we can all do that from home – costs nothing but a little time that we can decide how much – let’s put it on our calendars – it all helps – I need to be reminded to keep that focus myself.
LikeLike
Off topic – but have you all seen the new report on the Freedom Fund horses? Briliant narrative, as always, from Ginger and great pictures – each group reacting so differently to their release to their new home – showcasing their individuality – especially little Pistol – so appropriately named!
LikeLike
WRONG LINK – MY BAD – here it is:
http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/
LikeLike
Yes Roxy, I have seen it, and it touched me so much, that I donated $25. I know it’s not much, but I am in a tough spot now myself, yet what CloudF. is doing for saving those horses is incredible! Somehow CloudF. managing to do the lawsuits and save horses as well, which is awesome!!
LikeLike
I dont know much about US politics and I hope this doesnt sound naieve but what are the chances of bringing a suit against Pres. Obama? There has to be a way to get his attention and a response from him!!!!!
LikeLike
No.
LikeLike
AGREE……NO!
LikeLike
Animal Rescue Unit filmed the entire November 6th the round up. We have over 20 hours of footage and 3,000 photos. We have two camcorders and one camera running at all times. Every second of that round up is documented. Leslie Peeples was our photographer and guide for the 4 days while we observed these horses in the wild, the round up, short term holding and long term holding. We just put out our field report for more information. It was a horrific event and many of the BLM’s own laws were broken along with state laws. I hope to use everything we got to make some change happen..
LikeLike
Yes, welcome to the fight. You are wild horse warriors most needed and appreciated. mar
LikeLike
Brogan, that is terrific! I hope you can get it out SOON. ‘In the future’ may be too late. BLM is moving so fast, and with increasing ferocity. It seems that even the best proof is ignored. Disappointment Valley, for example has failed to motivate the power-brokers to change course. I hope you have a plan to get your footage out on a scale big enough to be blindingly clear to all.
LikeLike
Disappointment Valley has not been released. It would grand if it could be but distribution costs money. The film has only been shown to small audiences so far. But that should be changing. How can a film fail when it has not been released? Give it a chance. I know it will be a rude awakening for many and an epiphany for others. mar
LikeLike
Roxy– Everyone–how about a CALL DAY for each Senator and Representative on Appropriations Committees? 1 from each party every day–make 2 calls a day–ALL OF US TOGETHER. Tomorrow, someone else can post another one–call out a number–like in Bingo. CONGRESS needs to hear our outrage.
LikeLike
I AGREE WIT LOUIE, LETS DO IT
LikeLike
Since they are reading our blogs–give them something to read
LikeLike
Has anyone seen or heard any comments by the “humane observer” from American Horse Protection Association that BLM is supposed to have? I think he is supposed to be from New England area?
LikeLike
Hey horse friends, I made a video to honor the life and death of Blue Moon. Blue Moon was named after the round up by a young man and Animal Rescue Unit investigator who stated ” I did not know anything about wild horses before this trip, I watched them in the wild, I fell in love with them one day and watched them die the next”.
Please watch, if you can and share, thanks, Leslie
LikeLike
First – warning to more sensitive viewers.
Then, Leslie, is this on YouTube and if so what is the title?
This is so very important and your choice of song with the pictorial so poignant.
I was torn between saying “baby, dear baby, precious Blue Mooon, sorry, so sorry that we treated you this way”! and words and descriptions that I dare not print here about Sun J, Jody L Holms and the Wranglers – I fear calling them wranglers elevates them to some status that they do not deserve and is an insult to many who share that title.
LikeLike
PS And BLM! You are a bunch of sick, I mean really sick people!
Cattle and sheep ranchers – see what you are causing? Yes YOU!
LikeLike
ooops! the link…
LikeLike
Grassroots Horse has $10,000 in Matching Funds available to November 16th.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t know about this until Laura’s most recent post.
http://www.grassrootshorse.com/
LikeLike
Thanks Will for that, on Sept. 28th, at the Cibola roundup of the burros, a BLM employee told me that they had new contractors coming on board and that the Cooks contract would not be renewed. They did not indicate ‘who’, for obvious reasons as hindsight indicates, and Joey, you might be pounding the nail on the head with your theory(s). I was ‘hopeful’ that a new contractor would provide a more humane means of gathering, I should have known better.
Need to put some of this information together and submit to some of our political leaders. Eventually, this ‘conspiracy’ will be exposed full circle.
LikeLike
BLM to Conduct Three Wild Horse Gathers in Western Nevada in November
Carson City, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District, will initiate the first of three wild horse gathers in western Nevada on approximately Wednesday, November 17, 2010, and extending into December. The three scheduled wild horse gathers include the following:
Lahontan Herd Management Area (HMA), starting approximately November 17.
BLM will gather and remove approximately 94 excess wild horses from the vicinity of the HMA, which is south of the Lahontan State Recreation Area in Lyon County, about 35 miles east of Carson City, Nev. The gather is expected to be completed in two to three days.
Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA), starting approximately November 20.
BLM will gather wild horses within the Pine Nut HMA so that approximately
45 mares can be treated with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22), a two-year fertility control vaccine, to slow herd reproduction and reduce the number of excess wild horses that would need to be removed in the future. Horses gathered from within the HMA will all be released back where they were
gathered. There are also approximately 67 excess horses residing well
outside of the HMA boundaries. Between 12-20 of these horses are 12+ miles outside of the HMA in a mix of public and private lands in the Fish Springs area of Douglas County. The rest of the 67 horses residing outside of the HMA are primarily in the Buckskin Range of Lyon County. These 67 excess horses will be gathered and removed. The gather is expected to be completed in five to seven days.
Pilot Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA), starting approximately November 27. BLM will gather horses within the Pilot Mountain HMA so that approximately 76 mares can be treated with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP-22), a two year fertility control vaccine, and released back into the HMA to achieve ecological balance. Approximately 53 excess wild horses within the HMA will also be gathered and removed. The gather is expected to be completed in seven to ten days.
The Pilot Mountain gather originally included gathering a band of approximately 104 wild horses currently residing on the Hawthorne Army Depot, but that action has been suspended to give the Depot and the BLM time to fully investigate a proposal from horse advocate groups for solving immediate safety concerns of horses drifting onto U.S. Highway 95 and for the long-term maintenance of the band of horses currently on the Depot.
The gathers, birth control treatments and limited removals are intended to reduce or maintain the herd population sizes to within the appropriate management levels necessary to achieve a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands.
The BLM coordinates closely with the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s
(NDOA) Brands Division to provide Brand Inspectors during wild horse removal efforts across the State. NDOA brand inspectors must verify the animals are excess wild horses and burros as defined by the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Once verified, the Brand Inspector will provide the BLM a certificate to transport the animals.
Without this cooperation and coordination, the BLM would not be able to remove the excess wild horses and burros which, if not removed in a timely manner, would result in degradation of our native rangelands. The NDOA also may take jurisdiction of any estray, branded or abandoned domestic
horse(s) under the State of Nevada estray laws.
Excess wild horses are scheduled to be transported to the Palomino Valley Wild Horse Adoption Facility, 23 miles north of Sparks, Nevada, where they will be prepared for adoption the BLM’s adoption program. Wild horses for which there is no adoption demand will be placed in long-term pastures where they will be humanely cared for and retain their “wild” status and protection under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The BLM does not sell or send any horses to slaughter.
Gather Visitation Protocol
There will be no closure of the public lands and therefore, the public lands within the HMAs will be open to the public during the gather operations, subject to necessary safety restrictions. The BLM has established protocols for public observation/visitation to the gather sites and temporary holding corrals to ensure overall safety of the public, the BLM and gather contract staff and the animals. The observation protocols, a Know Before You Go visitor guidelines handout for each gather and daily gather updates are posted on-line at:
http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_programs/wild_horse_and_burro.html
Public Visitation/Observation Days
Since the location of specific gather trap sites and temporary corrals may not be known until as little as 12 hours in advance, BLM will provide an escort at 6:30 a.m. each morning of gather operations to guide interested parties to the designated observation area for each day’s operation. All site observers must have their own 4-wheel drive vehicles with high clearance and spare tires. The temporary holding corrals and trap sites are usually very remote with limited access roads and possibly adverse weather conditions. Be prepared to walk cross-county for up to a mile to each day’s designated observation area.
Media or members of the public who wish to observe a gather are asked to RSVP to Fran Feinhandler, BLM Carson City District Contact Representative, at (775) 885-6000, with the date and HMA they wish to observe. BLM will meet observers at the following meeting places:
Lahontan HMA Gather: meet BLM personnel in front of Buckland’s Station (part of Lahontan State Recreation Area) on the east side of U.S. 95 Alternate, 8.6 miles south of its intersection with U.S. Highway 50 in Silver Springs. Buckland’s Station is also 22 miles north of Yerington.
Pine Nut HMA Gather: meet BLM personnel in front the BLM-Carson City District Office, 5665 Morgan Mill Road @ Deer Run Road (four blocks south of U.S. Highway 50 on the east side of Carson City.
Pilot Mountain HMA Gather: meet BLM personnel at the NDOT Highway Rest Stop in Luning, Nevada, located on the east side of U.S. 95, and about ½ mile south of its intersection with Nevada State Route 361 (highway to Gabbs).
Luning is 24 miles south of Hawthorne.
Gather site dates are subject to change depending upon weather and gather operations. A Wild Horse Gather Information Line has been set up at
775-885-6101 where the public can listen to a recorded message with information on daily gather activities and updated gather schedules.
For more information, contact Mark Struble, BLM Carson City District Public Affairs Officer, at (775) 885-6107 or mark_struble@blm.gov.
LikeLike
The legal paperwork for Catoor conviction is available online. I have a copy. He was charged with Conspiracy, but that conviction didn’t stick. he was charged with illegally using a helicopter to round-up horses illegally, because the horses were government property. He got off with $500.00 fine.
LikeLike
Please make note that the gather/roundup did not take place in Warm Springs, OR, this is located in Jefferson County. This is mis-leading. It did take place in Harney County in the Warm Springs Herd Management Area.
LikeLike
My dad hunts in oregon near the california border and he saw the rangers capturing the wild horses and he asked what the guy was going to do with them and the ranger said they had to slaughter all of the horses caught, but when my dad asked why the guy couldn’t give him an answer he said its what the bosses told him to do.
LikeLike