fROM Animal Law Coalition
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/693
Senate Votes to Stop Slaughter of Wild Horses and Burros!
Posted Feb 25, 2009 by lauraallen
Wildlife
Horse Slaughter
The Senate also prohibited BLM from using funds to kill healthy unadopted wild horses and burros!
Update Sept. 25, 2009: The Senate has voted to pass H.R. 2996, an appropriations bill for 2010 for the Dept. of Interior including the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM").
BLM manages the nation's wild horses and burros. In the bill the Senate made clear to the BLM: Appropriations ... made [in this bill]shall not be available for the destruction of healthy, unadopted, wild horses and burros in the care of the Bureau of Land Management or its contractors or for the sale of wild horses and burros that results in their destruction for processing into commercial products.
This mandate was proposed by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA). This provision must still be approved by the U.S. House.
Also at Sen. Landrieu's urging
, the Senate Appropriations Committee found "the costs for gathering and holding equines to control populations on public lands have risen beyond sustainable levels. The Committee directs the Bureau to (1) consider private proposals for long-term care of wild horses and burros; (2) create a bidding process among such proposals, and (3) prepare and publish a new comprehensive long-term plan and policy for management of wild horses and burros that involves consideration and development of proposals by non-governmental entities, by September 30, 2010."
The Committee "encourage[d] all Federal agencies that need and use horses to fulfill their responsibilities to first seek to acquire a wild horse from the Bureau of Land Management, and, prior to seeking another supplier for usable horses, document why the Bureau cannot meet the needs of the inquiring Federal agency." The Committee "encouraged" BLM "to develop an expedited process for providing wild horses to local and State police forces."
Sen. Landrieu told the Senate, "We ... are down to just a few herds of horses. And the reason that i think that this is even more important than to just western states or the ranchers or landowners or humane society and others is because for the people generally, the idea of wild spaces with wild horses is something that is really part of our heritage. And we want to make sure that that heritage isn't lost, that we're being responsible in terms of the way the land is being used for multiple purposes and from the perspective of horse advocates, that the horses themselves are being treated fairly.
"And none of that right now is being done in the way that most people, i believe, would appreciate or would be satisfied with. There have been any number of studies that i'm going to submit to the record.
"Most recently, the congressional research service as well as the government accounting office has suggested major changes to the program. I'm just going to go through a few possible options. One, the creation of several public-private sanctuaries. This has been suggested by a few fairly high-profiled individuals in our country. The idea has merit. We are working with a variety of different groups along with the department to think about the possibility of creating public-private partnerships, large sanctuaries, maybe 500,000 or a million acres where thousands of wild horses could not only roam freely in a healthy way, but they also could potentially become ecotourist opportunities for some of the states and communities as it would be an attraction that could potentially make money and attract people out to some of these western areas. Or, for that matter, grant rural areas in other parts of the country.
"There is a possibility to make some smart investments to step up some of the adoption programs that might work. And there are any number of scientific and new technologies that can be brought to bear in terms of breed management, reproductive issues that could help us get a much more cost-effective, sane and humane approach to this problem."
Read Animal Law Coalition's reports below for information about the ROAM Act which would also put an end to the slaughter of wild horses and burros and killing of healthy animals and restructure the way BLM manages these beautiful American treasures.
Also, on September 29, 2009, Tuesday, 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m., join "Mustangs On The Hill" in Washington, DC. Gather on the West Front Lawn of Capitol Hill at 8:00 a.m. and spend the day meeting with Senators on the Committee of Energy and Natural Resources to urge them to support the ROAM Act. You may RSVP to mustangsonthehill@gmail.com
Before that, on September 28, 2009, Monday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. there will be a meeting of the BLM's National Wild Horses and Burros Advisory Board. Public comments are invited either in person or in writing. Plan to attend or send a statement! For more information....
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO
Find and contact your U.S. senators here and urge them to tell the BLM to stop rounding up and removing our wild horses and also vote yes on the ROAM Act, S.B. 1579.
Go here to write your U.S. representative and urge him or her to tell the BLM to stop the roundup and removals of wild horses and burros!
Contact President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden and urge them to support the ROAM Act, S.B. 1579! Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000; Fax: 202-456-2461
The ROAM Act, S.B. 1579, has been assigned to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Fax, email or call committee here and 202-224-4971 and urge members to vote yes on S.B. 1579 to restore the protections Congress intended for America's wild horses and burros under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act passed in 1971.
Update Aug. 10: Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.VA.), long an opponent of the slaughter of American horses, has introduced the Senate version of the Restoring Our American Mustangs or ROAM. The bill, numbered S.B. 1579, is the same as the House version, H.R. 1018.The House version, H.R. 1018, has already passed.
Update July 17: After some debate on the floor, the U.S. House of Repesentatives voted to pass H.R. 1018, Restoring Our American Mustangs Act or R.O.A.M., which would restore protections for wild horses and burros lost in 2004 under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. The vote was 239-185.
This bill would require the wild horses and burros have the same amount of range land that they had in 1971 when the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act became law. H.R. 1018 would also implement tracking and sterilization programs and also to improve their health and provide more opportunites for adoption. No wild horses and burros could be sent to slaughter. No healthy wild horse or burro could be killed. Here is a copy of the bill.
This bill would require an about face by the BLM in its handling of wild horses and burros which has been largely to run them down, injuring and terrorizing these animals and destroying their families; trap them in holding pens and sell them for slaughter or euthanize them. Go here for more information on the BLM's plans to destroy wild horses and burros. And, go here for more on BLM policies regarding wild horses and burros.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) proposed a substitute that would simply have banned the slaughter of wild horses and burros. It would not have stopped the BLM, however, from rounding up these animals, keeping them in holding pens at a cost of about $20 million annually, and simply euthanizing them. That substitute was defeated by a vote of 348-74 in favor of the more comprehensive approach offered by H.R. 1018!
For more information on the bill, read Animal Law Coalition's reports below.
Update April 29: H.R. 1018 has passed the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee!
The vote was 21-14.
For more on H.R. 1018, R.O.A.M., the bill to restore the protections of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and how you can help pass it, read Animal Law Coalition's report below.
Original report: Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Az) have introduced H.R. 1018 to restore protections for wild horses and burros under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.
Basically, the bill saves wild horses and burros from commercial sale and slaughter as originally intended under the Act.
The protections of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 were gutted in 2004 for many thousands of horses, leaving them at risk of sale and slaughter. That Act, 16 U.S.C. §1331, et seq., declares, "It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands."
In 2004 then Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), now a pro-horse slaughter lobbyist with the Washington D.C. firm, Gage, buried an amendment to this Act in a 3,300 page appropriations bill. That infamous amendment opened the door to the slaughter of thousands of horses. Basically under the Act there are certain horses and burros defined as excess animals. These are animals the [Bureau of Land Management] "BLM" has removed from an area "to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship in that area" or for some other legal reason. See 16 USC §1332(f).
Under Burns Amendment, these "excess" horses "shall be sold...if the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or ... has been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times." 16 U.S.C. §1333. Any horse sold under this provision is no longer subject to the protections of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. 16 U.S.C.§1333. Since this amendment became effective, thousands of horses have been slaughtered for human consumption.
H.R. 1018 reverses the Burns Amendment. Though recent federal court rulings and Congressional action as well as state laws have shut down horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S., for now, American horses are still shipped outside of the U.S., usually to Mexico and Canada for slaughter for their horse meat consumed primarily as a delicacy in some other countries.
This bill, H.R. 1018, will at least protect wild horses and burros from this fate.
A similar measure passed the House in the last session by a vote of 277-137 but remained stuck in a Senate committee.
This bill, H.R. 1018, would also prohibit the killing of healthy wild horses for any reason. Last year the Bureau of Land Management had proposed euthanizing wild horses en masse. Go here for more on that. And here.
This bill would require the Bureau of Land Management to take steps to improve the tracking and census of these animals by adopting and "[e]mploy scientifically sound methods to develop a policy for setting consistent, appropriate management levels". The bill clarifies that in doing so, the agency would be required to consult with other federal agencies and other experts including those outside of the government.
Finding more range land and sanctuaries and reducing numbers through contraception
The BLM would be required to "[i]dentify new, appropriate rangelands for wild free-roaming horses and burros, including use of land acquisitions, exchanges, conservation easements, and voluntary grazing buyouts, and negotiate with private landowners to allow for the federally supervised protection of wild horses and burros on private lands." The new law would required the BLM to "[e]stablish sanctuaries or exclusive use areas" and, significantly, "[r]esearch, develop, and implement enhanced surgical or immunocontraception sterilization or other safe methods of fertility control."
The BLM would be required to develop and implement a much more aggressive adoption program that would also more rigorously screen adopters. Notably, the bill would not allow helicopters or "other [inhumane] airborne devices" for corraling and removing wild horses and burros. Also, wild horses and burros could not be contained in "corrals or other holding facilities for more than 6 months, while awaiting disposition."
Wild horses and burros could be removed temporarily otherwise from rangeland in the event of threats to their health and safety such as drought conditions.
A more open, accessible BLM when it comes to wild horses and burros
The public's right to be involved in in determining management level standards is guaranteed under this bill. The new law would require the BLM also to post information on a website accessible free of charge to the public about herd numbers, planned removals of horses or burros, animals injured during removals, and generally the treatment of wild horses and burros.
The BLM would be required to report annually to Congress the following: (1) number of acres for wild free-roaming horses and burros. (2) appropriate management levels on public rangelands, (3) description of the methods used to determine the appropriate management levels and whether it was applied consistently across the agency, (4) number of wild free-roaming horses and burros on public lands; (5) description of the methods used to determine the wild free-roaming horse and burro population; (6) any land acquisitions, exchanges, conservation easements, and voluntary grazing buyouts that the Bureau of Land Management has acquired or pursued for wild free-roaming horses and burros; (7) any sanctuaries or exclusive use areas established for wild free-roaming horses and burros; (8) programs including budget established for enhanced surgical or immunocontraception sterilization research and development and the extent to which fertility control is being used to control the population of wild free-roaming horses and burros;(9) ratio of horses the agency has contracepted and put back on the range; and (10) herds to which contraception has been administered and with what results.
Rep. Rahall chairs the House Natural Resources Committee and Rep. Grijalva leads the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Friday, September 25, 2009
U.S. Senate Pass New Bill that Order BLM to Institue a New Plan
From Horse Back Magazine:
The United States Senate has passed a tough new bill that orders the Bureau of Land Management to institute a new plan for its management of wild horses. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D), La.
For details of the surprise legislation go to http://www.horsebac kmagazine. com.
Horseback's cover story on America's Will Horses will be out next week.
The United States Senate has passed a tough new bill that orders the Bureau of Land Management to institute a new plan for its management of wild horses. The legislation was introduced by Sen. Mary Landrieu (D), La.
For details of the surprise legislation go to http://www.horsebac kmagazine. com.
Horseback's cover story on America's Will Horses will be out next week.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Senator Landrieu, Congressman Grijalva Join Stand with The Mustangs!
From The Cloud Foundation:
BLM Capture of Iconic Wild Horse Herd Sparks Controversy
Senator Landrieu, Congressman Grijalva Join Public in Calling for an Immediate End to the Mismanagement of the West’s Living Legends
For Immediate Release
LOVELL, WY-- September 17, 2009 -- Once wild and free, living in spectacular sub-alpine meadows designated by Congress as their home, 57 wild Mustangs now wait in dusty pens in the 90 degree heat. The BLM pens sit at the base of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range of Wyoming and Montana. The corrals offer no shade for the wild horses, now branded, with ropes and numbers around their necks. 19 year-old Conquistador is no longer a proud band stallion. He is number 5336. 21 year-old Grumpy Grulla is no longer a lead mare. She is number 5321. -->-->
--> -->
The Pryor Mountain wild horses have been made world famous by the popular PBS Nature series that has followed the pale Palomino Stallion “Cloud,” throughout his lifetime. The third program will air this Fall in October, but many of the horses the world will meet next month are among those being put up for sale and adoption at the Britton Springs corrals in Lovell, WY on Sept. 26th. “They are losing what they value most – their freedom and their families,” says Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.-->-->
--> -->
“Despite a National outcry and letters from Congress demanding that the BLM halt these roundups until an acceptable long-term plan is made, we have yet to see them make a single concession to an outraged public. Somewhere along the line BLM forgot that these are the public’s horses on the public’s land.” Kathrens continues.-->-->
--> -->
Great hopes for change lie in the Restore Our American Mustang Act (ROAM- §1579), now in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Advocates are planning a gathering, “Mustangs on the Hill,” in Washington D.C. on September 29th. Supporters of preserving our wild herds will fan out and meet with key Senate staffers and Senators. “The ROAM Act comes too late for thousands of horses, but we are hopeful that Congress can ride to the rescue for our wild horses,” states Arizona advocate, Julianne French. The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 saved wild horses in the American West from complete destruction. Since then, the BLM, charged with their protection, has failed to follow the Act. Nearly 20 million acres have been taken away from the dedicated land set aside for America’s wild horses. Over 30,000 wild horses are held by the BLM at a cost of over $100,000 per day according to Ed Roberson, Department of Interior official. Advocates are demanding that the wild horses be returned to the rangelands that were stolen from them. Congressman Grijalva (D-AZ) called for a stop to all roundups and Senator Landrieu (D-LA) recently called for the management of wild horses to be taken away from the BLM altogether. -->-->
--> -->
The American public is enamored with the mustang, one of the last symbols of freedom and the disappearing spirit of the American West. "Isn’t it time that the public finds out the truth, that this gross misconduct is not a result of managing for ‘healthy horses on healthy rangelands, but is an all out eradication of America’s wild horses?” questions advocate Monika Courtney. “Will hoof beats be replaced completely by oil and gas rigs and uranium mines as the old-guard BLM regime carries forth? BLM is betraying not only our horses, but our nation.” As one advocate stated, “The West will one day be about as wild as Wal-Mart.”-->-->
--> -->
The small Spanish mustangs in the Pryor herd, descendents of the Lewis and Clark expedition horses and the original Crow war ponies, may not be aware that their highly contested roundup and subsequent removal has created a wave a protest from Thoroughbred racing forums to front porches in South Texas. “A whole new group of advocates concerned about our wild horses have come out against this roundup,” states Willis Lamm, a horse trainer noted for his work with BLM mustangs. “Moving forward with this roundup was a huge mistake on the part of the BLM.” -->-->
--> -->
--> -->
For more information contact:-->-->
The Cloud Foundation-->-->
Valerie Kennedy, Public Relations Manager 312-371-4933-->-->
Makendra Silverman, Associate Director 719-351-8187-->-->
info@thecloudfoundation.org-->-->
-->
BLM Capture of Iconic Wild Horse Herd Sparks Controversy
Senator Landrieu, Congressman Grijalva Join Public in Calling for an Immediate End to the Mismanagement of the West’s Living Legends
For Immediate Release
LOVELL, WY-- September 17, 2009 -- Once wild and free, living in spectacular sub-alpine meadows designated by Congress as their home, 57 wild Mustangs now wait in dusty pens in the 90 degree heat. The BLM pens sit at the base of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range of Wyoming and Montana. The corrals offer no shade for the wild horses, now branded, with ropes and numbers around their necks. 19 year-old Conquistador is no longer a proud band stallion. He is number 5336. 21 year-old Grumpy Grulla is no longer a lead mare. She is number 5321. -->-->
--> -->
The Pryor Mountain wild horses have been made world famous by the popular PBS Nature series that has followed the pale Palomino Stallion “Cloud,” throughout his lifetime. The third program will air this Fall in October, but many of the horses the world will meet next month are among those being put up for sale and adoption at the Britton Springs corrals in Lovell, WY on Sept. 26th. “They are losing what they value most – their freedom and their families,” says Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.-->-->
--> -->
“Despite a National outcry and letters from Congress demanding that the BLM halt these roundups until an acceptable long-term plan is made, we have yet to see them make a single concession to an outraged public. Somewhere along the line BLM forgot that these are the public’s horses on the public’s land.” Kathrens continues.-->-->
--> -->
Great hopes for change lie in the Restore Our American Mustang Act (ROAM- §1579), now in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Advocates are planning a gathering, “Mustangs on the Hill,” in Washington D.C. on September 29th. Supporters of preserving our wild herds will fan out and meet with key Senate staffers and Senators. “The ROAM Act comes too late for thousands of horses, but we are hopeful that Congress can ride to the rescue for our wild horses,” states Arizona advocate, Julianne French. The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 saved wild horses in the American West from complete destruction. Since then, the BLM, charged with their protection, has failed to follow the Act. Nearly 20 million acres have been taken away from the dedicated land set aside for America’s wild horses. Over 30,000 wild horses are held by the BLM at a cost of over $100,000 per day according to Ed Roberson, Department of Interior official. Advocates are demanding that the wild horses be returned to the rangelands that were stolen from them. Congressman Grijalva (D-AZ) called for a stop to all roundups and Senator Landrieu (D-LA) recently called for the management of wild horses to be taken away from the BLM altogether. -->-->
--> -->
The American public is enamored with the mustang, one of the last symbols of freedom and the disappearing spirit of the American West. "Isn’t it time that the public finds out the truth, that this gross misconduct is not a result of managing for ‘healthy horses on healthy rangelands, but is an all out eradication of America’s wild horses?” questions advocate Monika Courtney. “Will hoof beats be replaced completely by oil and gas rigs and uranium mines as the old-guard BLM regime carries forth? BLM is betraying not only our horses, but our nation.” As one advocate stated, “The West will one day be about as wild as Wal-Mart.”-->-->
--> -->
The small Spanish mustangs in the Pryor herd, descendents of the Lewis and Clark expedition horses and the original Crow war ponies, may not be aware that their highly contested roundup and subsequent removal has created a wave a protest from Thoroughbred racing forums to front porches in South Texas. “A whole new group of advocates concerned about our wild horses have come out against this roundup,” states Willis Lamm, a horse trainer noted for his work with BLM mustangs. “Moving forward with this roundup was a huge mistake on the part of the BLM.” -->-->
--> -->
--> -->
For more information contact:-->-->
The Cloud Foundation-->-->
Valerie Kennedy, Public Relations Manager 312-371-4933-->-->
Makendra Silverman, Associate Director 719-351-8187-->-->
info@thecloudfoundation.org-->-->
-->
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Horses from Cloud's Herd will be Slaughtered
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1025
Horses from Cloud's Herd will be Slaughtered
Posted Aug 28, 2009 by lauraallen
Horse Slaughter
Update Sept. 10: Curiously, when a concerned citizen called the BLM to ask the fate of the horses to be permanently removed from Cloud's Herd, she was told all would be adopted to good homes.
Not true. The BLM confirms on its own website that "sale-eligible horses (over 10 years old) will go through the sale authority process (oral competitive bid for one round then first come-first serve)."
That means kill buyers will be there to purchase the horses for slaughter. Jerry Finch of Habitat for Horses states, "Previous statements by the BLM were that they would remove only 70 of 190 horses. Today they are exceeding that number by going beyond their specific Herd Management Area (HMA) and rounding up bands outside of their legal perimeter in Custer National Forest, branding and tagging them and shipping them to holding pens ready to be sent away. All this is being done by a contractor previously convicted of ..capturing and killing unbranded horses, mares and colts running at large on public land."
The auction for these horses from Cloud's Herd is planned for September 26. Go here for the reaction of some members of Congress to BLM's continued harassment and elimination of America's wild horses.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Keep writing and calling! Don't wait. Do it now. Of course, be very polite.
BLM Director Bob Abbey
Call: 202-208-3801 or 866-468-7826
Fax: 202-208-5242
Robert_Abbey@blm.gov
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000
Fax: 202-456-2461
House Committee on Natural Resources 202-225-6065
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 202-224-4971
Find and contact your U.S. senators here and urge them to tell the BLM to stop this atrocity to Cloud's Herd and also vote yes on S.B. 1579. Go here for more on S.B. 1579.
Go here to write your U.S. representative and urge him or her to tell the BLM to stop the roundup of Cloud's Herd.
Plan to attend or send a statement to the meeting of the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on Sept. 28-29.
For more on this, read Animal Law Coalition's earlier reports below.
Update Sept. 9: The Pryor Mountain Roundup has been called off! The BLM is leaving alone around 25 horses - 4 family bands.
Red Raven and his family are hiding in the mountains. Two foals are thought to be with this family.
The BLM will release some horses today, including most of Cloud's family. (Cloud is pictured here in captivity.) But there is no plan to release older horses slated for sale, meaning slaughter.
Update Sept. 7: Cloud, pictured here in captivity, the namesake of the herd, has been captured. But not without a fight. Go here for more.
The BLM has also announced that of the 70 wild horses that will be permanently removed, those 10 years of age and older, will be sold. That means these animals will likely end up at Mexican or Canadian slaughter houses. Earlier BLM had said the horses would be adopted to good homes.
Sadly, the contractor hired by the BLM for the round up of Cloud's Herd in the Pryor Mountains, is Dave Cattoor, previously indicted on federal charges of illegally running down wild horses and foals in Nevada with a helicopter and selling them for slaughter. The BLM pays him $7,000 per day for this round up.
Watch video of the roundup of Cloud's Herd and discussion of the controversy.
Update Sept. 2, 2009: U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, D.C., has denied a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, (attached below) filed by Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer, Carol Walker, in their lawsuit to stop the roundup of Cloud's herd.
The motion basically asked the judge to order the roundup delayed until the lawsuit is resolved. A hearing to resolve the lawsuit on summary judgment is set for December 3, 2009.
The U.S. attorneys representing the BLM in the lawsuit agreed to delay the roundup set to begin Sept. 1 until the judge ruled on the motion. The judge issued the denial following a hearing on Sept. 2.
Watch the videos here for more information. Go here for a look at what happens to horses including foals during these roundups.
Original report: Beginning on September 1, 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the U.S. Dept of Interior, plans to begin rounding up "nearly all wild horses" in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana.
The Cloud Foundation estimates there are 190 wild horses living in the mountains that are 1 year old or older.
The herd is called Cloud's Herd for the horse filmed by Ginger Kathrens, founder of the Cloud Foundation, when he was just a colt. Cloud lives wild and free with his family. At least for now.
The BLM plans to remove permanently "up to 70 adults including foals", having decided they are excess horses. 60 mares will be treated with a fertility control, Porca Zonae Pellucidae (PZP), and released. The way the BLM put it in its Environmental Assessment or EA which the agency is required to prepare pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321, et seq., "The method of capture w[ill] be helicopter drive-trapping using temporary traps of portable panels as well as trapping directly at Britton Springs Corrals. After capture in the trap, horses would be sorted on site and treated with fertility control or taken to the Britton Springs administrative site for sorting and application of fertility control. Treated mares and stallions identified for retention would be released either during or after gather operations. ....Excess wild horses removed w[ill] be prepared for adoption or sale at the Britton Springs Facility."
Cloud or his family could well be among those horses deemed to be "excess" by BLM and sold. Certainly, it is unlikely they will be together again as a family.
Excess wild horses is a legal term that means horses BLM has decided to remove from an area "to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship in that area" or for some other legal reason. See 16 USC §1332(f).
Under a 2004 amendment to the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which authorizes BLM to manage these animals, "excess" horses "shall be sold...if the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or ... has been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times." 16 U.S.C. §1333. Any horse sold under this provision is no longer subject to the protections of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. 16 U.S.C.§1333. Since this amendment became effective, BLM has sold thousands of wild horses for slaughter.
The horses are panicked, terrified, traumatized and many times injured as they are run down by the helicopters. Families will be separated and destroyed, probably forever. It is unlikely the BLM would bother to keep even horses marked for release together in their families.
Go here for more information about what happens to these wild horses and burros when the BLM rounds them up.
As a reason for the removal of the 70 horses including foals from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the BLM says only there has been "resource damage". Its EA cites to "[d]eteriorating range and forest conditions associated with past management practices". In BLM's Record of Decision issued this month, August, 2009, the BLM says only the removal will limit the horses to their herd area, "limit competition among wild horses and wildlife" presumably for food, and "prevent deterioration of rangelands and vegetation resources". It is mentioned there has been limited water.
But, according to Cloud Foundation, there has been 3 years of rainfall that has ended the drought and left the range in "excellent condition".
The BLM also refers to a need to "maintain a multiple use relationship for the area".
The wild horses and burros are actually supposed to be protected under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. In passing that law Congress declared that, "wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West"..."[T]hey contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people". Congress recognized the wild horses and burros are "fast disappearing from the American scene". "[W]ild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331.
Indeed, the Pryor Mountain wild horses are descendants of horses in the Lewis and Clark expedition that came to be owned by the Crow tribe in the early 1800's. George Reed, Secretary of Cultural Education for the Crow Tribe Executive Branch, wrote in 2006: "We advocate preserving our heritage, culture and language, and these Pryor wild horses are part of our culture."
The WFHBA requires that BLM management activities be at "the minimal feasible level." Id. According to its own regulations, BLM must protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death and provide these animals with humane care and treatment. 43 C.F.R. § 4700.
Under the WFHBA, wild horses are "to be considered in the area" where they were found in 1971 "as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331. These legally protected areas are known as "herd areas," and are defined as "the geographic area identified as having been used by a herd as its habitat in 1971." 43 C.F.R. § 4700.0-5(d).
A brutal wholesale round up and removal, even slaughter, of so many horses is surely a direct violation of the protections of the WFHBA. It's hardly management of the herd at the "minimal feasible level".
According to the Cloud Foundation, this removal of 70 horses will leave this unique and historical herd genetically non-viable and unable to sustain itself into the future. Equine geneticist, Gus Cothran, Ph.D. of Texas A&M University, states that "a census population of 150-200 is required to achieve the minimum effective population size.... The [Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd] has been one of the most important and visible herds within the BLM Wild Horse Program and it is important that it stays viable."
Just last month a federal judge entered an injunction to stop a BLM decision to eliminate an entire herd of horses in a range in Colorado. The BLM had decided simply to eliminate the horses even though the agency agreed the horses were not "excess". The BLM has also decided to eliminate entire herds, 620 horses, from their ranges in Nevada.
The Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer Carol Walker, have filed a lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the federal district court in Washington, DC to stop the roundup and removal of horses from the Range.
The plaintiffs claim the BLM has violated NEPA by failing to prepare and Environmental Impact Statement, consider alternatives, and take a "hard look" at the environmental consequences. They claim the BLM's proposed action means the herd will not be genetically viable. Also, the plaintiffs claim BLM relied on a 2004 study to support its contention the range has deteriorated when there is evidence that since then with the end of the drought, the range conditions have greatly improved.
The plaintiffs also claim these actions by the BLM violate WHBA's mandate to manage the wild horses at the "minimal feasible level" and protect them from harassment, capture and death.
A copy of the Complaint is attached below to this article. Animal Law Coalition will bring you more information about this lawsuit as it becomes available. In the meantime:
Read about BLM's final solution for America's wild horses and burros.
Listen to Angels for Cloud on WFL Endangered Stream Live radio
Go here for information about and how you can help pass a bill pending in Congress, Restoring Our American Mustangs or ROAM, S.B. 1579, that would restore protections under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act 0f 1971 that were lost in 2004.
For more on this historic herd, go to http://www.cloudfoundation.org/
Information was provided for this article by Equine Welfare Alliance. Photographs courtesy of R.T. Fitch.
Horses from Cloud's Herd will be Slaughtered
Posted Aug 28, 2009 by lauraallen
Horse Slaughter
Update Sept. 10: Curiously, when a concerned citizen called the BLM to ask the fate of the horses to be permanently removed from Cloud's Herd, she was told all would be adopted to good homes.
Not true. The BLM confirms on its own website that "sale-eligible horses (over 10 years old) will go through the sale authority process (oral competitive bid for one round then first come-first serve)."
That means kill buyers will be there to purchase the horses for slaughter. Jerry Finch of Habitat for Horses states, "Previous statements by the BLM were that they would remove only 70 of 190 horses. Today they are exceeding that number by going beyond their specific Herd Management Area (HMA) and rounding up bands outside of their legal perimeter in Custer National Forest, branding and tagging them and shipping them to holding pens ready to be sent away. All this is being done by a contractor previously convicted of ..capturing and killing unbranded horses, mares and colts running at large on public land."
The auction for these horses from Cloud's Herd is planned for September 26. Go here for the reaction of some members of Congress to BLM's continued harassment and elimination of America's wild horses.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Keep writing and calling! Don't wait. Do it now. Of course, be very polite.
BLM Director Bob Abbey
Call: 202-208-3801 or 866-468-7826
Fax: 202-208-5242
Robert_Abbey@blm.gov
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000
Fax: 202-456-2461
House Committee on Natural Resources 202-225-6065
Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 202-224-4971
Find and contact your U.S. senators here and urge them to tell the BLM to stop this atrocity to Cloud's Herd and also vote yes on S.B. 1579. Go here for more on S.B. 1579.
Go here to write your U.S. representative and urge him or her to tell the BLM to stop the roundup of Cloud's Herd.
Plan to attend or send a statement to the meeting of the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on Sept. 28-29.
For more on this, read Animal Law Coalition's earlier reports below.
Update Sept. 9: The Pryor Mountain Roundup has been called off! The BLM is leaving alone around 25 horses - 4 family bands.
Red Raven and his family are hiding in the mountains. Two foals are thought to be with this family.
The BLM will release some horses today, including most of Cloud's family. (Cloud is pictured here in captivity.) But there is no plan to release older horses slated for sale, meaning slaughter.
Update Sept. 7: Cloud, pictured here in captivity, the namesake of the herd, has been captured. But not without a fight. Go here for more.
The BLM has also announced that of the 70 wild horses that will be permanently removed, those 10 years of age and older, will be sold. That means these animals will likely end up at Mexican or Canadian slaughter houses. Earlier BLM had said the horses would be adopted to good homes.
Sadly, the contractor hired by the BLM for the round up of Cloud's Herd in the Pryor Mountains, is Dave Cattoor, previously indicted on federal charges of illegally running down wild horses and foals in Nevada with a helicopter and selling them for slaughter. The BLM pays him $7,000 per day for this round up.
Watch video of the roundup of Cloud's Herd and discussion of the controversy.
Update Sept. 2, 2009: U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, D.C., has denied a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, (attached below) filed by Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer, Carol Walker, in their lawsuit to stop the roundup of Cloud's herd.
The motion basically asked the judge to order the roundup delayed until the lawsuit is resolved. A hearing to resolve the lawsuit on summary judgment is set for December 3, 2009.
The U.S. attorneys representing the BLM in the lawsuit agreed to delay the roundup set to begin Sept. 1 until the judge ruled on the motion. The judge issued the denial following a hearing on Sept. 2.
Watch the videos here for more information. Go here for a look at what happens to horses including foals during these roundups.
Original report: Beginning on September 1, 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the U.S. Dept of Interior, plans to begin rounding up "nearly all wild horses" in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana.
The Cloud Foundation estimates there are 190 wild horses living in the mountains that are 1 year old or older.
The herd is called Cloud's Herd for the horse filmed by Ginger Kathrens, founder of the Cloud Foundation, when he was just a colt. Cloud lives wild and free with his family. At least for now.
The BLM plans to remove permanently "up to 70 adults including foals", having decided they are excess horses. 60 mares will be treated with a fertility control, Porca Zonae Pellucidae (PZP), and released. The way the BLM put it in its Environmental Assessment or EA which the agency is required to prepare pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321, et seq., "The method of capture w[ill] be helicopter drive-trapping using temporary traps of portable panels as well as trapping directly at Britton Springs Corrals. After capture in the trap, horses would be sorted on site and treated with fertility control or taken to the Britton Springs administrative site for sorting and application of fertility control. Treated mares and stallions identified for retention would be released either during or after gather operations. ....Excess wild horses removed w[ill] be prepared for adoption or sale at the Britton Springs Facility."
Cloud or his family could well be among those horses deemed to be "excess" by BLM and sold. Certainly, it is unlikely they will be together again as a family.
Excess wild horses is a legal term that means horses BLM has decided to remove from an area "to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship in that area" or for some other legal reason. See 16 USC §1332(f).
Under a 2004 amendment to the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which authorizes BLM to manage these animals, "excess" horses "shall be sold...if the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or ... has been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times." 16 U.S.C. §1333. Any horse sold under this provision is no longer subject to the protections of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. 16 U.S.C.§1333. Since this amendment became effective, BLM has sold thousands of wild horses for slaughter.
The horses are panicked, terrified, traumatized and many times injured as they are run down by the helicopters. Families will be separated and destroyed, probably forever. It is unlikely the BLM would bother to keep even horses marked for release together in their families.
Go here for more information about what happens to these wild horses and burros when the BLM rounds them up.
As a reason for the removal of the 70 horses including foals from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the BLM says only there has been "resource damage". Its EA cites to "[d]eteriorating range and forest conditions associated with past management practices". In BLM's Record of Decision issued this month, August, 2009, the BLM says only the removal will limit the horses to their herd area, "limit competition among wild horses and wildlife" presumably for food, and "prevent deterioration of rangelands and vegetation resources". It is mentioned there has been limited water.
But, according to Cloud Foundation, there has been 3 years of rainfall that has ended the drought and left the range in "excellent condition".
The BLM also refers to a need to "maintain a multiple use relationship for the area".
The wild horses and burros are actually supposed to be protected under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. In passing that law Congress declared that, "wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West"..."[T]hey contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people". Congress recognized the wild horses and burros are "fast disappearing from the American scene". "[W]ild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331.
Indeed, the Pryor Mountain wild horses are descendants of horses in the Lewis and Clark expedition that came to be owned by the Crow tribe in the early 1800's. George Reed, Secretary of Cultural Education for the Crow Tribe Executive Branch, wrote in 2006: "We advocate preserving our heritage, culture and language, and these Pryor wild horses are part of our culture."
The WFHBA requires that BLM management activities be at "the minimal feasible level." Id. According to its own regulations, BLM must protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death and provide these animals with humane care and treatment. 43 C.F.R. § 4700.
Under the WFHBA, wild horses are "to be considered in the area" where they were found in 1971 "as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331. These legally protected areas are known as "herd areas," and are defined as "the geographic area identified as having been used by a herd as its habitat in 1971." 43 C.F.R. § 4700.0-5(d).
A brutal wholesale round up and removal, even slaughter, of so many horses is surely a direct violation of the protections of the WFHBA. It's hardly management of the herd at the "minimal feasible level".
According to the Cloud Foundation, this removal of 70 horses will leave this unique and historical herd genetically non-viable and unable to sustain itself into the future. Equine geneticist, Gus Cothran, Ph.D. of Texas A&M University, states that "a census population of 150-200 is required to achieve the minimum effective population size.... The [Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd] has been one of the most important and visible herds within the BLM Wild Horse Program and it is important that it stays viable."
Just last month a federal judge entered an injunction to stop a BLM decision to eliminate an entire herd of horses in a range in Colorado. The BLM had decided simply to eliminate the horses even though the agency agreed the horses were not "excess". The BLM has also decided to eliminate entire herds, 620 horses, from their ranges in Nevada.
The Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer Carol Walker, have filed a lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the federal district court in Washington, DC to stop the roundup and removal of horses from the Range.
The plaintiffs claim the BLM has violated NEPA by failing to prepare and Environmental Impact Statement, consider alternatives, and take a "hard look" at the environmental consequences. They claim the BLM's proposed action means the herd will not be genetically viable. Also, the plaintiffs claim BLM relied on a 2004 study to support its contention the range has deteriorated when there is evidence that since then with the end of the drought, the range conditions have greatly improved.
The plaintiffs also claim these actions by the BLM violate WHBA's mandate to manage the wild horses at the "minimal feasible level" and protect them from harassment, capture and death.
A copy of the Complaint is attached below to this article. Animal Law Coalition will bring you more information about this lawsuit as it becomes available. In the meantime:
Read about BLM's final solution for America's wild horses and burros.
Listen to Angels for Cloud on WFL Endangered Stream Live radio
Go here for information about and how you can help pass a bill pending in Congress, Restoring Our American Mustangs or ROAM, S.B. 1579, that would restore protections under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act 0f 1971 that were lost in 2004.
For more on this historic herd, go to http://www.cloudfoundation.org/
Information was provided for this article by Equine Welfare Alliance. Photographs courtesy of R.T. Fitch.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
HELP THE CLOUD FOUNDATION HELP OUR WILD HORSES
FREEDOM FUND- please help
By thecloudfoundation
We are advocating for the immediate release of the older horses who are being removed both from the designated range as well as the Forest Service. However, we have not yet made substantial progress and until the courts rule we need to keep Conquistador, Shane, Bo and Trigger’s bands intact. These horses represent an entire sub-population of the Pryor herd, unique genetic lines that will be lost forever when they are removed. We want them to stay together and we have several options lined up but will need financial backing. It is our intention to keep these horses close to their mountain.
Please help us to make this possible. We need to fundraise for these bands and for our continued legal action to preserve this herd as well. We want to see their range expanded so that the Custer National Forest lands, where Pryor Horses have lived for at least 200 years, will be legally theirs forever.
Please help us preserve this herd through action and donations
By thecloudfoundation
We are advocating for the immediate release of the older horses who are being removed both from the designated range as well as the Forest Service. However, we have not yet made substantial progress and until the courts rule we need to keep Conquistador, Shane, Bo and Trigger’s bands intact. These horses represent an entire sub-population of the Pryor herd, unique genetic lines that will be lost forever when they are removed. We want them to stay together and we have several options lined up but will need financial backing. It is our intention to keep these horses close to their mountain.
Please help us to make this possible. We need to fundraise for these bands and for our continued legal action to preserve this herd as well. We want to see their range expanded so that the Custer National Forest lands, where Pryor Horses have lived for at least 200 years, will be legally theirs forever.
Please help us preserve this herd through action and donations
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Pryor Mountain Roundup Is Over....
From The Cloud Foundation Blog:
http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/
End of Roundup: Update
September 9, 2009 by thecloudfoundation
The roundup of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses is over after six days- the wild horse and burro specialist made the decision to call it so the helicopter did not go out today and no more horses were brought in.
The reasons given for ending this roundup were:
The gather operation is nearly complete and horses were coming in sore-footed.
one mare (Brumby) tied up on Monday night
The BLM feels it would be hard on the remining horses to be brought in
There is a new little black foal on the mountain top
There were 11 horses on the mountain (including two older mares, Electra and Quelle Colour) that BLM had slated for removal. In place of those horses they are taking young horses from bands already in the pens. More on the individuals soon.
BLM stated again that they will not release Conquistador nor the other older horses removed from the Forest Service.
In total 57 horses and 3 foals (a their mothers’ sides) are going to be offered up for adoption. As we understand it, older horses not adopted will be offered for sale. According to BLM’s recent press release “most of the rest of the 146 horses that were gathered and evaluated have already been released back onto the horse range.”
The BLM released Cloud and his band first. They left less Image, Rain and Arrow and Cloud Dancer (who is going to be turned out with the young stallion Exhilaration who lives in the Dryhead desert area). The wranglers did a fine job trying to get Cloud and his band out but because of all they were leaving behind the mares were reluctant to leave and for ten minutes or more Cloud snaked his band this way and that while the riders tried to push them out the half mile to the opening of the trap. It was a relief to see them finally disappear into the rolling lowland hills and start the long journey back up to their mountaintop.
The BLM released nearly all the horses who have not been tagged for removal today– Bolder and Flint and Cloud’s mom with her band among others. The old band stallion Starman (who was to be removed in a previous roundup and has been freeze-branded before advocates convinced BLM to release him) took off an galloped back to the wild followed by his mare, Rosarita, and their black yearling daughter.
Ginger and others are on the way up to the mountaintop to check on returning horses who are in the process of climbing the 10+ miles back to the home.
Don’t stop fighting for the older horses— it is cruel and unnecessary to remove Conquistador, Grumpy and the others. We have made this request of the BLM are they are still saying no. Please work for their return.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting these horses and all wild horses across the west. Their are many new faces who have joined the work of many organizations to save our wild horses and insure that we have viable herds into the future.
It is our intent to make this blog a factual and ongoing platform for education, action alerts and wild horse preservation awareness. It has also become a community board for your comments and a good form of communication. Your suggestions for improvements are always welcome. We are doing our best to catch up on correspondence and continue work on a “plan b” for these older horses should we not be successful in lobbying for their return to the wild.
Thank you for your support.
….more soon…
www.thecloudfoundation.org
http://thecloudfoundation.wordpress.com/
End of Roundup: Update
September 9, 2009 by thecloudfoundation
The roundup of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses is over after six days- the wild horse and burro specialist made the decision to call it so the helicopter did not go out today and no more horses were brought in.
The reasons given for ending this roundup were:
The gather operation is nearly complete and horses were coming in sore-footed.
one mare (Brumby) tied up on Monday night
The BLM feels it would be hard on the remining horses to be brought in
There is a new little black foal on the mountain top
There were 11 horses on the mountain (including two older mares, Electra and Quelle Colour) that BLM had slated for removal. In place of those horses they are taking young horses from bands already in the pens. More on the individuals soon.
BLM stated again that they will not release Conquistador nor the other older horses removed from the Forest Service.
In total 57 horses and 3 foals (a their mothers’ sides) are going to be offered up for adoption. As we understand it, older horses not adopted will be offered for sale. According to BLM’s recent press release “most of the rest of the 146 horses that were gathered and evaluated have already been released back onto the horse range.”
The BLM released Cloud and his band first. They left less Image, Rain and Arrow and Cloud Dancer (who is going to be turned out with the young stallion Exhilaration who lives in the Dryhead desert area). The wranglers did a fine job trying to get Cloud and his band out but because of all they were leaving behind the mares were reluctant to leave and for ten minutes or more Cloud snaked his band this way and that while the riders tried to push them out the half mile to the opening of the trap. It was a relief to see them finally disappear into the rolling lowland hills and start the long journey back up to their mountaintop.
The BLM released nearly all the horses who have not been tagged for removal today– Bolder and Flint and Cloud’s mom with her band among others. The old band stallion Starman (who was to be removed in a previous roundup and has been freeze-branded before advocates convinced BLM to release him) took off an galloped back to the wild followed by his mare, Rosarita, and their black yearling daughter.
Ginger and others are on the way up to the mountaintop to check on returning horses who are in the process of climbing the 10+ miles back to the home.
Don’t stop fighting for the older horses— it is cruel and unnecessary to remove Conquistador, Grumpy and the others. We have made this request of the BLM are they are still saying no. Please work for their return.
Thank you to everyone who is supporting these horses and all wild horses across the west. Their are many new faces who have joined the work of many organizations to save our wild horses and insure that we have viable herds into the future.
It is our intent to make this blog a factual and ongoing platform for education, action alerts and wild horse preservation awareness. It has also become a community board for your comments and a good form of communication. Your suggestions for improvements are always welcome. We are doing our best to catch up on correspondence and continue work on a “plan b” for these older horses should we not be successful in lobbying for their return to the wild.
Thank you for your support.
….more soon…
www.thecloudfoundation.org
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Cloud's Herd to be Rounded Up by Federally-Indicated Contractor
Just in from EWA -
Cloud’s Herd to be Rounded Up by Federally-Indicted Contractor
CHICAGO, (EWA) – A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) request by The Cloud Foundation and Front Range Equine Rescue was denied September 2, 2009 in Federal District Court. The TRO was filed to stop the round up of the Pryor Mountain horses, an action unprecedented in size and scope. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has contracted with the federally-indicted Dave Cattoor to round up America’s most famous wild horse herd beginning September 3, 2009. Wild horse advocate and investigator, Julianne French, explains the situation further in a youtube.com video posted today on The Cloud Foundation website.
In 1992, Cattoor was indicted by a federal grand jury for hunting wild horses, aiding and abetting. Cattoor rounded up federally protected American mustangs, corralled them into pens and loaded them into trucks bound for a Texas slaughterhouse. He pled guilty to those charges. “Since that time we suspect that he has received at least $20,000,000,” says wild horse advocate, Julianne French. “And we know for sure, from the Federal Register website, that Cattoor has earned over $12,000,000 in the past nine years alone.”
While Cattoor is currently under investigation by the Department of Interior Inspector General for procurement fraud, BLM chooses to continue their relationship with the Cattoor Livestock Roundup Company.
“Generally, an indictment would eliminate a contractor from consideration,” added French. “However, Mr. Cattoor has been rewarded and made a millionaire many times over by the taxpayer-funded BLM—despite the public outrage.”
“If I ever had a felony charge, even if I had been exonerated, I’m not supposed to get a federal contract” stated Howard Boggess, Crow Elder and Historian. “Why are they above the law?”
A photographic report, The Use of Helicopters to Remove Wild Horses and Burros from Public Lands, displays newborn foals run to exhaustion, found hog-tied on the range, horses and burros bleeding from their nostrils, broken legs and injuries sustained during long gallops to capture pens.
Fully knowing the public’s concern about wild horse roundups BLM is still debating whether independent humane observers will be granted access to round up operations in the Pryors. “Where is the transparency and full-disclosure of this new administration?” asks Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.
In the Pryor Wild Horse herd, young foals, only days old, will be rounded up and potentially removed. BLM plans call for nearly all the 188 horses remaining in the Pryors to be rounded up in order to apply infertility drugs. Seventy horses will be permanently removed and put up for adoption and sale on September 26, 2009.
According to noted geneticist Gus Cothran Ph.D. of Texas A&M University, 150 – 200 animals are required to maintain genetic viability. This removal would leave only 120 horses in the spectacular Pryor Mountains. The Cloud Foundation is urging Americans to speak up now, or lose this unique herd forever.
For more information, contact:
www.thecloudfoundation.org
www.equinewelfarealliance.org
Cloud’s Herd to be Rounded Up by Federally-Indicted Contractor
CHICAGO, (EWA) – A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) request by The Cloud Foundation and Front Range Equine Rescue was denied September 2, 2009 in Federal District Court. The TRO was filed to stop the round up of the Pryor Mountain horses, an action unprecedented in size and scope. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has contracted with the federally-indicted Dave Cattoor to round up America’s most famous wild horse herd beginning September 3, 2009. Wild horse advocate and investigator, Julianne French, explains the situation further in a youtube.com video posted today on The Cloud Foundation website.
In 1992, Cattoor was indicted by a federal grand jury for hunting wild horses, aiding and abetting. Cattoor rounded up federally protected American mustangs, corralled them into pens and loaded them into trucks bound for a Texas slaughterhouse. He pled guilty to those charges. “Since that time we suspect that he has received at least $20,000,000,” says wild horse advocate, Julianne French. “And we know for sure, from the Federal Register website, that Cattoor has earned over $12,000,000 in the past nine years alone.”
While Cattoor is currently under investigation by the Department of Interior Inspector General for procurement fraud, BLM chooses to continue their relationship with the Cattoor Livestock Roundup Company.
“Generally, an indictment would eliminate a contractor from consideration,” added French. “However, Mr. Cattoor has been rewarded and made a millionaire many times over by the taxpayer-funded BLM—despite the public outrage.”
“If I ever had a felony charge, even if I had been exonerated, I’m not supposed to get a federal contract” stated Howard Boggess, Crow Elder and Historian. “Why are they above the law?”
A photographic report, The Use of Helicopters to Remove Wild Horses and Burros from Public Lands, displays newborn foals run to exhaustion, found hog-tied on the range, horses and burros bleeding from their nostrils, broken legs and injuries sustained during long gallops to capture pens.
Fully knowing the public’s concern about wild horse roundups BLM is still debating whether independent humane observers will be granted access to round up operations in the Pryors. “Where is the transparency and full-disclosure of this new administration?” asks Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation.
In the Pryor Wild Horse herd, young foals, only days old, will be rounded up and potentially removed. BLM plans call for nearly all the 188 horses remaining in the Pryors to be rounded up in order to apply infertility drugs. Seventy horses will be permanently removed and put up for adoption and sale on September 26, 2009.
According to noted geneticist Gus Cothran Ph.D. of Texas A&M University, 150 – 200 animals are required to maintain genetic viability. This removal would leave only 120 horses in the spectacular Pryor Mountains. The Cloud Foundation is urging Americans to speak up now, or lose this unique herd forever.
For more information, contact:
www.thecloudfoundation.org
www.equinewelfarealliance.org
Round Up of Cloud's Herd Begins.....
Round up of Cloud's Herd Begins Following Judge's Denial of Motion
Courtesy of Animal Law Coalition
http://www.animallawcoalition.com/horse-slaughter/article/1025
Update Sept. 2, 2009: U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in Washington, D.C., has denied a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, (attached below) filed by Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer, Carol Walker, in their lawsuit to stop the roundup of Cloud's herd.
The motion basically asked the judge to order the roundup delayed until the lawsuit is resolved. A hearing to resolve the lawsuit on summary judgment is set for December 3, 2009.
The U.S. attorneys representing the BLM in the lawsuit agreed to delay the roundup set to begin Sept. 1 until the judge ruled on the motion. The judge issued the denial following a hearing on Sept. 2.
Watch the videos here for more information. Go here for a look at what happens to horses including foals during these roundups.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Keep writing and calling! Don't wait. Do it now. Of course, be very polite.
BLM Director Bob Abbey
Call: 202-208-3801 or 866-468-7826
Fax: 202-208-5242
Robert_Abbey@blm.gov
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000
Fax: 202-456-2461
Find and contact your U.S. senators here and urge them to tell the BLM to stop this atrocity to Cloud's Herd and also vote yes on S.B. 1597. Go here for more on S.B. 1597.
Go here to write your U.S. representative and urge him or her to tell the BLM to stop the roundup of Cloud's Herd.
For more on this, read Animal Law Coalition's original report below.
Original report: Beginning on September 1, 2009, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), an agency within the U.S. Dept of Interior, plans to begin rounding up "nearly all wild horses" in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in Montana.
The Cloud Foundation estimates there are 190 wild horses living in the mountains that are 1 year old or older.
The herd is called Cloud's Herd for the horse filmed by Ginger Kathrens, founder of the Cloud Foundation, when he was just a colt. Cloud lives wild and free with his family. At least for now.
The BLM plans to remove permanently "up to 70 adults including foals", having decided they are excess horses. 60 mares will be treated with a fertility control, Porca Zonae Pellucidae (PZP), and released. The way the BLM put it in its Environmental Assessment or EA which the agency is required to prepare pursuant to National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321, et seq., "The method of capture w[ill] be helicopter drive-trapping using temporary traps of portable panels as well as trapping directly at Britton Springs Corrals. After capture in the trap, horses would be sorted on site and treated with fertility control or taken to the Britton Springs administrative site for sorting and application of fertility control. Treated mares and stallions identified for retention would be released either during or after gather operations. ....Excess wild horses removed w[ill] be prepared for adoption or sale at the Britton Springs Facility."
Cloud or his family could well be among those horses deemed to be "excess" by BLM and sold. Certainly, it is unlikely they will be together again as a family.
Excess wild horses is a legal term that means horses BLM has decided to remove from an area "to preserve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance and multiple-use relationship in that area" or for some other legal reason. See 16 USC §1332(f).
Under a 2004 amendment to the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which authorizes BLM to manage these animals, "excess" horses "shall be sold...if the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or ... has been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times." 16 U.S.C. §1333. Any horse sold under this provision is no longer subject to the protections of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. 16 U.S.C.§1333. Since this amendment became effective, BLM has sold thousands of wild horses for slaughter.
The horses are panicked, terrified, traumatized and many times injured as they are run down by the helicopters. Families will be separated and destroyed, probably forever. It is unlikely the BLM would bother to keep even horses marked for release together in their families.
Go here for more information about what happens to these wild horses and burros when the BLM rounds them up.
As a reason for the removal of the 70 horses including foals from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, the BLM says only there has been "resource damage". Its EA cites to "[d]eteriorating range and forest conditions associated with past management practices". In BLM's Record of Decision issued this month, August, 2009, the BLM says only the removal will limit the horses to their herd area, "limit competition among wild horses and wildlife" presumably for food, and "prevent deterioration of rangelands and vegetation resources". It is mentioned there has been limited water.
But, according to Cloud Foundation, there has been 3 years of rainfall that has ended the drought and left the range in "excellent condition".
The BLM also refers to a need to "maintain a multiple use relationship for the area".
The wild horses and burros are actually supposed to be protected under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. In passing that law Congress declared that, "wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West"..."[T]hey contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people". Congress recognized the wild horses and burros are "fast disappearing from the American scene". "[W]ild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331.
Indeed, the Pryor Mountain wild horses are descendants of horses in the Lewis and Clark expedition that came to be owned by the Crow tribe in the early 1800's. George Reed, Secretary of Cultural Education for the Crow Tribe Executive Branch, wrote in 2006: "We advocate preserving our heritage, culture and language, and these Pryor wild horses are part of our culture."
The WFHBA requires that BLM management activities be at "the minimal feasible level." Id. According to its own regulations, BLM must protect wild horses and burros from unauthorized capture, branding, harassment or death and provide these animals with humane care and treatment. 43 C.F.R. § 4700.
Under the WFHBA, wild horses are "to be considered in the area" where they were found in 1971 "as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands." 16 U.S.C. § 1331. These legally protected areas are known as "herd areas," and are defined as "the geographic area identified as having been used by a herd as its habitat in 1971." 43 C.F.R. § 4700.0-5(d).
A brutal wholesale round up and removal, even slaughter, of so many horses is surely a direct violation of the protections of the WFHBA. It's hardly management of the herd at the "minimal feasible level".
According to the Cloud Foundation, this removal of 70 horses will leave this unique and historical herd genetically non-viable and unable to sustain itself into the future. Equine geneticist, Gus Cothran, Ph.D. of Texas A&M University, states that "a census population of 150-200 is required to achieve the minimum effective population size.... The [Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Herd] has been one of the most important and visible herds within the BLM Wild Horse Program and it is important that it stays viable."
Just last month a federal judge entered an injunction to stop a BLM decision to eliminate an entire herd of horses in a range in Colorado. The BLM had decided simply to eliminate the horses even though the agency agreed the horses were not "excess". The BLM has also decided to eliminate entire herds, 620 horses, from their ranges in Nevada.
The Cloud Foundation, Front Range Equine Rescue and nature photographer Carol Walker, have filed a lawsuit and a motion for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction in the federal district court in Washington, DC to stop the roundup and removal of horses from the Range.
The plaintiffs claim the BLM has violated NEPA by failing to prepare and Environmental Impact Statement, consider alternatives, and take a "hard look" at the environmental consequences. They claim the BLM's proposed action means the herd will not be genetically viable. Also, the plaintiffs claim BLM relied on a 2004 study to support its contention the range has deteriorated when there is evidence that since then with the end of the drought, the range conditions have greatly improved.
The plaintiffs also claim these actions by the BLM violate WHBA's mandate to manage the wild horses at the "minimal feasible level" and protect them from harassment, capture and death.
A copy of the Complaint is attached below to this article. Animal Law Coalition will bring you more information about this lawsuit as it becomes available. In the meantime:
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Bob Abbey was President Barack Obama's choice for BLM Director. Write (faxes are best) or call President Obama and Bob Abbey and urge them to stop this atrocity, stop the roundup and removals in the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range and protect Cloud's herd. Don't wait. Do it now. Of course, be very polite.
BLM Director Bob Abbey
Call: 202-208-3801 or 866-468-7826
Fax: 202-208-5242
Robert_Abbey@blm.gov
President Barack Obama
Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000
Fax: 202-456-2461
Read about BLM's final solution for America's wild horses and burros.
Listen to Angels for Cloud on WFL Endangered Stream Live radio
Go here for information about and how you can help pass a bill pending in Congress, Restoring Our American Mustangs or ROAM, S.B. 1597, that would restore protections under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act 0f 1971 that were lost in 2004.
For more on this historic herd, go to http://www.cloudfoundation.org/
Information was provided for this article by Equine Welfare Alliance.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
reBlog from rtfitch.wordpress.com: Straight from the Horse's Heart
I found this fascinating quote today:
So out of the clear blue sky the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decides to round up the small, yet internationally famous, wild horse herd in the Pryor Mountains, MT while the public screams stop and they refuse to listen. We think that there is something that does not smell, or taste, just quite right, here.rtfitch.wordpress.com, Straight from the Horse's Heart, Sep 2009
You should read the whole article.
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