Story by Aisling Maria Cronin as published in OneGreenPlanet
This picture by the Wild Horse Freedom Federation reveals the heartbreaking reality of roundups.
BLM chasing protected mustangs from the air ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Animal agriculture certainly takes an enormous toll on our planet. It consumes around 70 percent of the Earth’s freshwater supplies, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that livestock production is responsible for 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions while other organizations like the Worldwatch Institute have estimated it could be as much as 51 percent. Not only that but it also occupies around 50 percent of the world’s land. This destructive industry is also having a devastating impact on wildlife. In the U.S. alone, livestock grazing impacts 14 percent of threatened or endangered animals, but some of the most frequent victims of livestock expansion are the wild horses.
In the U.S., wild horses have been particularly hard hit by the meat industry’s demand for more land on which to raise cattle. In recent years, The Bureau of Land Management‘s (BLM) practice of “rounding up” horses using cruel helicopter-driven chases has drawn widespread criticism from animal advocates and concerned members of the public, who know how this traumatic practice impacts animals.
The BLM has continuously maintained that the roundups are “necessary and justified,” with Joan Guilfoyle, head of the Wild Horse and Burro Program, insisting that the numbers of wild horses on U.S. land doubles every year and that the herds must be thinned out to preserve ecological balance. She said, “If we stopped gathering animals, the population would continue to grow and grow and the rangelands would continue to be overgrazed.”
However, as Suzanne Roy – director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign – pointed out: “The reality is that there are a small number of wild horses out there, fewer than 32,000, and there are millions of cattle and sheep. We don’t have an overpopulation of wild horses. We have an overpopulation of livestock on our public lands.”…
…Once the horses have been captured, they are often sent to live in captivity or put up for auction (where most end up being sold for meat). The separation of families, friends, and even mothers and babies is a routine occurrence. There have also been a number of recorded cases of BLM contractors selling the horses to slaughterhouses. It is an unspeakable tragedy that wild horses – the animals traditionally regarded as an emblem of freedom, beauty, and grace – are being subjected to this treatment.
However, by leaving meat off your plate, you can take a stand against this outrageous practice. With a lower demand for meat, less land will be required for cattle ranching, and fewer wild horses will suffer. To learn more, read some of the articles below:
- 3 Shocking Facts About the Treatment of Wild Horses
- What Do Your Food Choices Have to Do With Saving Wild Horses?
- Is the Government Destroying the American West Ecosystem by Favoring Cattle Over Wild Horses?
- Wild Horses in Oregon Threatened By Livestock Industry. How You Can Help Now!
Image Source: Wild Horse Freedom Federation/Facebook
To read this article in it’s entirety click (HERE)
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Reblogged this on "OUR WORLD".
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This is very heart breaking .I wish I could help the horses in some way but I am a very poor person and I love horses a lot and I don’t understand why they have to do this to a horse that is been here for many of years and part of our history. The Greedy people who seem to make money of these horses for meat just make me sick. They won’t be happy until they get rid of all these wild horses.
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Everyone must do whatever they can to get Cowspiracy circulated.
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Distribute Cowspiracy as much as you can
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The original story on ONE GREEN PLANET has disappeared from the web
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I checked – you are right, it was their just a couple of days ago. I have noticed that lately their are quite a few articles that are disappearing
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Louie & geri
the story is still there – I just commented. Most of the comments are from people who have NO idea whats going on!
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Well I was wrong! The article is still there but not my comment.
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A couple of food fraud updates, around the horsemeat scandal
http://www.newfoodmagazine.com/21754/news/industry-news/food-fraud-lessons-from-the-horsemeat-scandal
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http://pressreleases.responsesource.com/news/89573/140-increase-in-fresh-produce-quality-management-since-the-horsemeat-scandal#.VpY60snn_qA
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I can assure that horsemeat fraud is way more prevalent than what you image… And it is not just a thing of the UK or some eastern-european mafia, chances are Americans are inadvertently eating their own horses:
Click to access Horsemeat_In_US_Food_Chain_-_Kane_Hellberg_2015.pdf
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And look what Israel is doing – would sure make a difference in the way animals are treated – something we need in this country
http://www.care2.com/causes/live-video-cameras-in-slaughterhouses-israel-says-yes-in-a-big-way.html
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If you haven’t already done so, please watch the documentary “Cowspiracy” and read Howard Lyman’s book “Mad Cowboy”. Both of these will open your eyes about the meat industry.
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Well, I’m not too sure they aren’t selling them to supermarkets! We no longer get the information about where the animal was raised and sold and slaughtered on the labels. We know that some in the BLM sell the wild horses to slaughter without being prosecuted, who can say they don’t sell them back to us. They use tactics of domestic terrorism and are proud of the fact that they get a 10% kill rate with their roundups. They worry about $11M so invent a program to spend it without care for the public or its opinion or the genetic diversity of the bands. They kill without a care and destroy our heritage with impunity and even though we write and plead, they don’t give a damn about us, it is our land and they are our horses that they kill.
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I cry and pray for these magnificent creatures. Tried spreading awareness. People don’t want to know the horrid ugly truth. I’m continuously haunted by the way animals are inhumanely treated by humans and the disrespect and treatment of these wild horses. We want changes and I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall and that the people who have the authority and in a position to bring about positive changes for animals are more concerned about their own selfish greedy needs than doing the right thing. I pray and pray and pray for change and pray and pray for God’s creatures. My heart breaks for the one’s that had their precious lives taken by the evils of man. Can you imagine a planet without animals and nature! … And man want’s to distroy a part of our history, the iconic horse! These animals have done so much for man. What a betrayal to distroy them. Makes me sick! The human race needs to wake up and start living and doing right.
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