Horse Slaughter

Video Commentary: Wild Horses, Burros, Slaughter and Zinke

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Video by R.T. Fitch – President/Co-Founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

“Sorry, our live broadcast was cut off on Facebook…sort of odd, but I picked it back up, hence, two parts with a whole lot of the middle missing, sorry. Make sure the volume is turned on, lower right had corner” ~ R.T.

Categories: Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs

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16 replies »

  3. Thank you, R.T.
    I am not trying to put you on the spot … but I wish to point out that our Congress has been given FALSE information.

    Question: Who exactly has the power and continues to give false information to our Congress? And why is that person NOT BEHIND BARS?

    What I am specifically speaking about is the falsehood of over-population of our wild horses and burros on their legally designated lands.
    BLM annually publishes biologically and mathematically IMPOSSIBLE annual wild horse population rates and here are just a few of many examples that BLM published:
    Carter Reservoir Herd Area – a 1257% increase in one year. That would be 7 horses having 95 foals in one year.
    Centennial Herd Area – a 1281% increase in one year. That would be 40 horses having 487 foals in one year.
    Nut Mt. Herd Area – a 417% increase in one year. That would be 6 horses having 25 foals in one year.

    WHY is this so important? Because these are the figures that BLM gives to Congress when requesting funding for wild horse and burro capture and management plans including the current “management” proposal to murder all of our wild horses and burros in holding and on their legal wild lands.

    My point is that the perpetrators (BLM employees) of these fraudulent population increases are in violation of Title 18 (18 U.S.C. § 1001). Making false statements (18 U.S.C. § 1001) is the common name for the United States FEDERAL CRIME laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information, in “any matter within the jurisdiction” of the federal government of the United States, even by mere denial 18 U.S. Code § 1519 – Destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in Federal investigations Current through Pub. L. 114-38. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)

    Per the US Department of Justice, the purpose of Section 1001 is “to protect the authorized functions of governmental departments and agencies from the PERVERSION which might result from concealment of material facts and from false material representations.

    I again ask … why is this BLM person not behind bars for violating this federal law???

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  6. we need to march on Washington when the WH&B Advisory BOD meeting in early 2018
    Don’t blame wild horses for the spread of Cheatgrass!!

    Click to access pellant.pdf

    Cheatgrass is native to Eurasia and the Mediterranean.
    It was accidentally introduced to the United States in packing material.
    READ ABOUT IT! Cheatgrass (
    Bromus tectorum
    ) is an introduced annual grass that is widely distributed on
    rangelands in the western U.S. The origins of cheatgrass are probably southwestern Asia (Young
    and others 1987) via contaminated grain from Europe in the late 1890’s (Mack and Pyke 1983).
    Cheatgrass was preadapted to the climate and soils in the Great Basin Desert (parts of Idaho,
    Nevada, Oregon, and Utah) and filled the void left vacant by the reduction of native herbaceous
    vegetation by historic livestock grazing (Young and others 1987). This opportunistic grass is able
    to maintain a superiority over native plants in part because it is a prolific seed producer (Hulbert
    1955), able to germinate in the autumn or spring giving it a competitive advantage over native
    perennials (Martens and others 1994) and is tolerant of grazing and increases with frequent fire
    (Klemmedson and Smith 1964).
    Cheatgrass is found in most of the western states having reached its range of current
    distribution by 1930 (Mack 1981). Hull (1965) reported that a survey of 11 western states
    showed that cheatgrass was present on at least 60 million acres. In a more recent survey, Pellant
    and Hall (1994) found 3.3 million acres of public lands in the Great Basin Desert dominated by
    cheatgrass and another 76.1 million acres either infested with or susceptible to cheatgrass
    invasion. The spread of cheatgrass could increase in the future due to its ability to evolve to
    survive in new environments and presence of multiple genotypes (Novak 1994).
    The art and science of managing or restoring cheatgrass rangelands is advancing.
    However the prophetic words of Aldo Leopold (1949) in his classic, “A Sand County Almanac”
    are still cause for thought,
    “I listened carefully for clues whether the West has accepted cheat as
    a necessary evil, to be lived with until kingdom come, or whether it regards cheat as a challenge
    to rectify its past errors in land-use. I found the hopeless attitude almost universal”
    Cheatgrass can also survive periodic drought because viable seeds
    survive in the soil for up to 5 years
    The life cycle of cheatgrass also contributes to its competitive advantage over native

    3
    herbaceous plants. Cheatgrass can germinate in the fall or spring (Mack and Pyke 1983).
    Cheatgrass can out compete natives for water and nutrients in the early spring since cheatgrass is
    actively growing when many natives are initiating growth. Cheatgrass also completes its
    reproductive process and becomes senescent before most native plants. As a result cheatgrass
    does not efficiently utilize the sun’s energy throughout the growing season reducing the efficiency
    of energy flow in cheatgrass dominated communities. In comparison, most native plant
    communities contain a sufficient assemblage of plants to insure that photosynthesis is occurring
    throughout the growing season.
    The short growth period of cheatgrass relative to native plants also increases the
    likelihood of wildfire starts and spread (Pellant 1990). Platt and Jackman (1946) reported that
    cheatgrass became flammable 4-6 weeks earlier and remained susceptible to wildfires 1-2 months
    later than native perennials. Cheatgrass is usually dry by mid-July whereas perennial plants can
    still contain 65 per cent moisture on the same date (Murray and others 1978).
    Standing dead cheatgrass and litter are extremely flammable
    Vigorous cheatgrass plants are better adapted to efficiently utilize nutrients and soil
    water than native plants after a wildfire.

    Since cheatgrass was introduced into the Great Basin it has been either a curse or blessing
    depending on which land use one valued the most. Cheatgrass has certainly had a positive impact
    on the livestock industry of the region. Hull and Pechanec (1947) stated that cheatgrass was the
    most important forage plant in Idaho providing more than half of the forage on spring ranges in
    the southern part of the state. Cheatgrass probably provides more forage for livestock in Nevada
    than any other species (Swanson and others 1987). As discussed earlier, annual forage
    production of cheatgrass is highly variable (Stewart and Young 1939; Klemmedson and Smith
    1964,) requiring variable livestock stocking rates. Carrying capacities for cheatgrass dominated
    rangelands have been estimated at 1.5 to 3.0 acres per Animal Unit Month (AUM) on “good”
    cheatgrass range (Hull and Pehanec 1947) to 5-8 acres per AUM on other Idaho rangeland

    Cattle may continue to utilize cheatgrass after it is dry if adequate water is present or the
    cheatgrass is softened by rain (Hull and Pehanac 1947). DeFlon (1986) recommends the use of
    cheatgrass for winter grazing by cattle. He states that cheatgrass use in the spring is detrimental
    to stand maintenance whereas winter grazing reduces the need for costly livestock feeding
    programs and maintains a good stand of cheatgrass. Another rancher in Nevada (Tipton 1994)
    extolls the value of cheatgrass rangeland for winter livestock use and adds a side benefit of fuels
    reduction for wildfire control

    on an ungrazed island in Pyramid Lake, Nevada (Tausch and others 1994).
    In fact, this island has been isolated from human disturbance for nearly 80 years yet cheatgrass is
    still the dominant species on 35 per cent of this 90 ha island. These studies demonstrate the
    competitive ability of cheatgrass allowing it to invade and sometimes dominate native plant
    communities protected from disturbance from man and domestic livestock.

    No one should be lured
    into the trap of viewing cheatgrass with a “hopeless attitude” or as a “necessary evil” as Aldo
    Leopold cautioned almost 50 years ago (Leopold 1949). We must accept the reality that
    cheatgrass is now a permanent component of many Great Basin rangelands (Young and Evans
    1978). We must also explore new management and rehabilitation/restoration approaches for
    cheatgrass infested areas to stem the tide of additional losses of fiscal and natural resources.

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  7. Don’t blame water hole problem on horses stopping birds from drinking: add a 2nd level bird bath above trough for birds. Use solar panel to work water system. Creative engineers please step up! Don’t kill our mustangs!

    GET OUR SCHOOL KIDS and Declan Greg to rally the kids to write to Trump, Melania, Ivanka and their Senators & Reps and BLM NOW

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  8. The advocates need to organize a march on Washington, DC when the next WH&B Advisory BOD meets in early 2018.

    Maybe there a place to camp out or a school or college or church or SPCA that could be used to meet at?

    I will ask a few horse people I know outside of DC what they think?

    I know you can rally the troops better than anyone.

    We need to get school kids writing letters again and all the animal welfare and rescue advocate groups sign up together.

    An get media coverage. Maybe need to bring horses to DC.

    Winter can be bad weather, so that is the big deterrent Spring is beautiful in DC so maybe if they meet early March it would be possible to do this.

    Need to hear from advocates of how many would attend and how many live within an hour drive from DC.

    Denise Brown Portsmouth NH

    From: Straight from the Horse’s Heart Reply-To: Straight from the Horse’s Heart Date: Monday, October 23, 2017 at 8:46 PM To: Denise Brown Subject: [New post] Video Commentary: Wild Horses, Burros, Slaughter and Zinke

    WordPress.com R.T. Fitch posted: “Video by R.T. Fitch – President/Co-Founder of Wild Horse Freedom Federation “Sorry, our live broadcast was cut off on Facebook…sort of odd, but I picked it back up, hence, two parts with a whole lot of the middle missing, sorry. Make sure the volume “

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  9. This could be a “KICK THE BUMS OUT” year
    Mid-term elections are just around the corner so…it’s time to CLEAN HOUSE
    The public is aware of which representatives voted in favor of destroying it’s Wild Horses & Burros.

    The Election Is Finally Over, So Let’s Talk About the Next One: What’s at Stake in 2018

    Americans will have plenty of choices to make in two years, as ALL 435 VOTING SEATS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTIVES – where members serve two-year terms and the number of representatives is based on a state’s population –and 33 out of the 100 Senate seats (two for each state) will be up for grabs. In addition,
    there will be 36 governorships in the mix
    http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7573296/presidential-election-over-2018-midterm-elections-next-whats-at-stake

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      • A 2018 wave is building. But how big will it be

        Don’t look now but the 2018 midterm elections are just over a year away!
        That may well be very unwelcome news to members of the House and Senate up for re-election next November, according to a new CNN national poll, which paints a very grim picture for incumbents – especially on the Republican side.
        Asked whether “most members of Congress” deserve re-election, just 22% of Americans say they do while 68% think they don’t. Among registered voters, only 20% want most members re-elected while 70% would rather the majority of members not return to Congress.
        http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/26/politics/cnn-poll-incumbents/

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  10. Horse meat, it’s what’s for dinner-if the U.S. House gets its way

    House Speaker Paul Ryan voted against a horse slaughter ban in 2006 before Congress defunded inspectors. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell co-sponsored a 2014 bill allowing for controversial horse training practices, so groups that oppose animal cruelty worry about his views, though he has opposed horse slaughter in the past. Democrats’ minority leaders in the Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, have consistently backed the ban.

    Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., has been pushing legislation for years called the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act that would permanently ban the killing of horses for human consumption, and block export to foreign slaughterhouses.

    Five Texas Democrats support the SAFE Act and a permanent ban on the horse meat industry, but the delegation is divided.

    In 2015, Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas was among 13 Republicans who urged House leaders to legalize slaughter in budget negotiations with the Senate. The other side prevailed, and the ban has remained in place.

    All four Texans on the panel
    Republicans John Carter of Round Rock,
    Kay Granger of Fort Worth, and
    John Culberson of Houston, and
    Democrat Henry Cuellar of Laredo- sided with the pro-slaughter forces.
    None of the four responded to requests for comment on the vote

    https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/09/29/house-repeal-horse-slaughter-ban-animal-groups-watching

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