Update from RTF
photo by Carol Walker of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
By a vote of 92-6, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday handed a win to wild and domestic horses by approving a Fiscal Year 2019 “mini-bus” appropriations package that included protective language for wild horses and burros as well as an anti-slaughter provision.
Our work is far from over, however.
That’s because the FY19 Interior Appropriations bill passed by the House contains an amendment that would give broad leeway to the Secretary of the Interior to decide whether a herd should be non-reproducing or single-sex – and fund dangerous, costly and unproven field sterilization surgeries that put the lives of wild mares and jennys at grave risk.
The House also approved a FY19 Agriculture Appropriations bill that does not contain a so-called “horse slaughter defund amendment”: language that RTF works to have included annually to bar the U.S. Department of Agriculture from hiring horsemeat inspectors as a way to effectively stop horse slaughter until a permanent ban is passed.
Senate and House leaders will now meet to sort out the differences between the bills in what is called a Conference Committee. We need the Senate to hold the line on both wild horses protections and horse slaughter.
Finally, it came to light recently that in May the Bureau of Land Management quietly put into place a new wild horse sale policy that allows any buyer to purchase 25 wild horses or burros at a time — with no waiting period and no questions asked. Posted online this month, the policy replaces one that limited buyers to purchasing four wild horses every six months unless granted special permission. This change opens the door wide to kill buyers.
We’re urging Congress to call on BLM to halt the new sale policy. For that message to hit home, we need your help.
Take Action
Call your members of Congress at (202) 225-3121 (to find direct numbers, click here).
Urge your senators to:
* Oppose a new, quietly implemented BLM policy increasing the number of wild horses that can be sold to individuals and the frequency of those sales. This move will only lead to the slaughter of wild horses, something Congress has strongly rejected;
* Stand strong in Conference committee on the Senate’s language protecting wild horses and burros and on defunding horse slaughter, if the senator sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee (click to see a list of members).
For senators not on the Senate Appropriations Committee: Ask them to tell members of the Conference committee that constituents do not want them to waiver either on protecting wild horses or defunding horse slaughter.
* Support the SAFE Act (S. 1706) to ban slaughter and the transportation of horses for slaughter.
Urge your congressional representative to:
* Oppose a new, quietly implemented BLM increasing the number of wild horses that can be sold to individuals and the frequency of those sales. This move will only lead to the slaughter of wild horses, something Congress has strongly rejected;
* Oppose the House version of the FY19 Interior Appropriations bill because it contains an amendment allowing for the mass sterilization of wild horses and burros; instead, ask your representative to support Senate language on wild horses being considered by the House and Senate Conference committee, instead;
* Oppose the FY19 Agriculture Appropriations bill because it does not include the horse slaughter inspection defund language; instead, ask your representative to support the Senate language being considered by the House and Senate Conference committee, instead;
* Support the SAFE Act (H.R. 113) to ban slaughter and the transportation of horses for slaughter;
* Support the Horse Transportation Safety Act (H.R. 4040) to ban hauling horses on double-deck trailers under all circumstances.
Categories: Horse News, Horse Slaughter, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Great I will call today or tomorrow. I got some rumblings about HR 113 coming close to the needed cosponsors too. If true that’s good news. I also shared the disgusting procedure with my Reps on how the BLM plans to remove the ovaries of some of these mares and young fillies. They were as shocked as I was! I premised this by saying my veterinarian would rarely.approve only in some serious emergency and he guaranteed it would NEVER be done in the field. My Rep was not impressed that the BLM over stepped boundaries on the number of Wild Horses and Burros that could be sold and who the buyers could be. He did not know about this and was glad he was notified. He wanted some documentation so I referred him to.Ginger Katherine’s Open letter which I believe covered everything. We all must keep up the pressure and with any luck we will turn these midterm elections around. And that could only be good for our Wild horses and Burros!
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Continually sending in detailed letters and emails to congressional figures. Interesting that I am located in Illinois now and Illinois Senate figures are strong animal and more specifically horse and wild horse people, so trying to use them as a bridge to get through to others. They seem to have good hearts. Still so many people are completely unaware of things going on. Trying to plan a strategy to reach others, even young people. This was a big part in the win when Velma Johnston. It takes everyone in this fight, from all angles, from all walks of life, different skills, different gifts, but everyone blasting away from all sides.
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There is a saying that “the people who stay ’til the meeting is over are the ones who make the final decisions”.
It’s all about tenacity and staying power…it just becomes a way of life
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So who are the spineless six Senators? Anyone know?
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Okay, does anyone have a link to the vote that shows who voted and how?
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I would like to know too!
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From RETURN TO FREEDOM
Tracking key legislation for wild horses, burros
July 1, 2018
Fiscal Year 2019 House Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 6147)– This bill, which will fund the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, includes an amendment that would give the Secretary of the Interior broad leeway to create non-reproducing or single-sex herds using dangerous, costly, and untested field sterilization surgeries.
Fiscal Year 2019 Senate Interior Appropriations bill (S. 3073)– The Senate’s version of the Interior bill does not include a sterilization amendment. It includes protective language that would bar the BLM from killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling them for slaughter. Status: This bill was folded into an appropriations “mini-bus” that passed the Senate on Aug. 1 by a vote of 92-6. Next step: The Senate’s Appropriations language was placed into H.R. 6147. It will now go to Conference so that the two hourses can work out the differences between versions, no date set.
https://returntofreedom.org/tracking-key-legislation-for-wild-horses-burros/
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Still would like to see a list of the Senate vote, to thank those who are doing good work and to ask harder questions of those six who waffled.
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https://friendsofanimals.org/news/foa-sues-blm-over-zinkes-wild-horse-slaughter-policy/
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