8/25/10

Newly Gelded Calico Horses Perish Due To Inadequate Vet Care

Grossly inadequate veterinary care is causing suffering and death to newly gelded young horses from Calico according to Dr. Eric Davis, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA).

Personally, I've never been impressed with the HSUS or their veterinarians. That's why this report is especially chilling.
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com

Maureen Harmonay

HSUS veterinarian expresses concerns over BLM's anesthesia protocols during wild horse castrations

Newly gelded young horses being exercised by BLM wranglers at Fallon, Nevada facility in April

After having observed the BLM veterinarian's castration of 35 "high risk" stallions from the Calico Mountain Complex at the Indian Lakes Road feedlot near Fallon, Nevada on July 1st, the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association (HSVMA)'s Dr. Eric Davis has issued a report that raises grave concerns about the safety and pain management procedures that are being used on the wild horses in BLM custody.

And indeed, at least nine recently gelded males at the facility have perished during the last three months as a direct result of the castration complications cited in Dr. Davis's report, including one (#1269) who died during the second week of August.
Read more at www.examiner.com
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8/23/10

Another Day of Blood And Lies From The BLM

Another bloody, unnecessary roundup. This is possibly the most cruel yet. The BLM is in such a hurry these days - why we don't really know - that they have abandoned all pretense of caring about these horses or giving them the bare minimum veterinary attention.

Every day I ask myself, How can this be happening in America? What have we become that our elected officials ignore thousands and thousands of pleas for help for these horses from citizens all over the country? Do the Deep Pockets of Big Cattle, Big Energy and other multinational stakeholders like BP totally OWN Washington?

All I can say is just continue to call and write your legislators in Washington informing them of what is REALLY happening. This is about far more than the horses now - it's about who is running this country, and, folks, it's beginning to look like it ain't the American People!
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com

Maureen Harmonay

More questions than answers plague Twin Peaks wild horse roundup

  • August 21st, 2010 4:25 pm

The wild horse fatalities are starting to mount, as the Twin Peaks roundup relentlessly rolls on near Susanville, California, and so are the unanswered questions.  Through Friday, August 20th, 760 horses have been helicopter-driven off their 798,000-acre Herd Management Area (HMA), and at least four of them are now dead as a direct result of having been chased and confined.

The latest "mercy killing" occurred yesterday afternoon, when a just-captured two-week-old sorrel colt was euthanized after the attending veterinarian assessed his chances of survival "in the wild" to be slim.   That's a strange comment, because this foal was obviously no longer "in the wild," but in the hands of people of questionable good will.  Could they not have treated and saved him?  
Read more at www.examiner.com
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8/20/10

Twin Peaks - BLM Drops All Pretense

This is the real BLM in action. After the reporters were gone, it was a hell-bent-for-leather stampede in the summer heat. The BLM was moving so fast, you'd have thought there was a deadline of something. What is the freakin' RUSH?

Horses were driven for miles in the middle of foaling season, rushed into the chutes so fast they got jammed in to knots, then processed without a moment to eat, drink or rest.

This is what the BLM is doing with your tax money. Terrorizing horses with plastic bags on rods when the horses are already in a panic. Mares and foals completely separated, downed mare did not receive any help and there were NO veterinarians on site.

As far as I am concerned, this is beyond unacceptable. It's an atrocity. It's illegal. Where are all the authorities who are supposed to prevent cruelty like this? Where is the oversight, the accountability?

Where is America?

Twin Peaks Stampede Outrage

Posted Aug 15, 2010 by lauraallen
Reprinted courtesy of Simone Netherlands, Founder, Respect 4 Horses
Note from Animal Law Coalition: Prior to the start of the Twin Peaks wild horse roundup, U.S. District Court Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. denied motions for an emergency stay, temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requested by citizens to stop the roundup until the court had decided whether BLM was acting legally.  In doing so, the judge in an oral opinion issued from the bench, simply said he was satisfied with the precautions BLM would take to protect the horses. For more on the plaintiffs' case....
Twin Peaks wild horse roundup
Leslie P, director of Wild Horse Investigations for Respect 4 horses, and Jennifer, volunteer for Respect 4 horses, as well as Craig and Christy and Jessica and a few others, have been on the scene of the roundup in Twin Peaks from day one. (no last names for their protection)
The first day was a stellar performance by the BLM. Horses only had to come from 20 minutes of a distance and were even observed trotting every once in a while. There were some reporters (Sac Bee) that justifiably reported that the roundup was conducted without much of a fuss.
Day two and three, no more reporters, no more pretense. Horses came from miles and miles, it took the helicopter three hours to bring them in, horses were exhausted, soaking wet with sweat, way too many horses brought in at the same time, horses turning around and then being chased again a second and a third time, all the while the babies desperately trying to keep up, helicopter unbelievably close to the horses and horses being over-chased to the point of being completely piled and stuck in the traps.
After horses are trapped and closed in, BLM men start immediately whipping their Wal-mart bag whip sticks at them separating babies from moms, and stallions from mares. After this, they are then frantically whipped into the trailers to be brought down to temporary holding. They drive at incredible speeds with trailers full of panicking horses and downed horses on the dusty roads, you would think they were trying to catch an airplane. It should be mentioned however that Troy Cattoor was so thoughtful to whip some downed horses into getting up.
Arriving at the lower holding pens they are unloaded in that same incredible hurry, falling over each other, and then, as if they had not had enough stress yet, they are immediately processed. This means they are forced into the chutes to receive vaccinations and dewormers and who knows what else. The entire group is being whipped and flagged and stressed for hours on end. These horses are in mortal fear without a break for water or rest, for literally the entire day. Advocates are carefully kept at large distances during this process. The next morning it begins all over again because then they are transported to yet another lower holding pen.
Read more at www.animallawcoalition.com
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8/14/10

Evidence Shows Wild Horses Were Terrorized Before And During Twin Peaks Roundup

Read this and get mad as hell! Then take action! This cannot be allowed to continue.
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com

Maureen Harmonay

Evidence pours in to show that wild horses were terrorized before and during Twin Peaks roundup

  • August 13th, 2010 6:06 pm
Craig Downer shows just-captured wild horses at Twin Peaks trap site on August 12th
Photo: Craig Downer
One wild horse was shot and two hundred and eighty-two others were corralled into captivity by ruthless helicopters during the first two days of the Twin Peaks roundup near Susanville, California, where the BLM intends to scour 2000 mustangs who have been roaming healthy and free on over 656,000 acres in their assigned Herd Management Area (HMA) and put them behind bars.

With a straight face, the BLM says that this amount of land can only support 450 horses.  It wants to preserve most of the forage for 3700 privately owned cattle and 10,000 privately owned sheep.
Read more at www.examiner.com
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HORSEBACK Magazine-Vote In the Poll, Read The Story!

Please vote in the poll-Should President Obama halt further BLM roundups pending further study? Then read the story about what happened at the Owyhee "gather."
Amplify’d from horsebackmagazine.com

Poll

Should President Obama order a halt to all further BLM wild horse helicopter roundups pending further study in light of a demand to do so from 54 members of Congress?
  • Yes (97%, 145 Votes)
  • No (3%, 4 Votes)
Total Voters: 149
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More Litigation Filed to Stop BLM Stampedes – Photos Damning

SAN FRANCISCO, (Grass Roots) - On August 10, 2010, Laura Leigh, filed a Motion For Reconsideration of Denial of Plaintiff‟s Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt brought against Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of the Interior, Bob Abbey, Director of the BLM and Ron Wenker, Nevada State Director of the BLM in Nevada District court. The legal actions are supported by Grass Roots Horse, http://grassrootshorse.com/legalactions.htm 
The original Motion on Contempt of Court charges levied against the BLM was denied, but a recent law change made it possible for it to be re-filed under the new standard of law. The Motion filed yesterday cites newly discovered evidence of the Defendant‟s violation of the court‟s previous order to uphold the plaintiff‟s First Amendment Rights to observe and report on the Bureau of Land Management in regard to the “gather” (“gather” is the BLM euphemism for roundups) and removal of wild horses in Owyhee Herd Management Area. The latest filing also addresses the Defendant‟s sworn testimony in open court that a „water emergency‟ existed and that an „emergency‟ roundup had to take place, or horses would die. This testimony resulted in Judge Larry Hicks lifting the Temporary Restraining Order he had put in place to halt the Owyhee gather until he could hear legal arguments in the case.

Read more at horsebackmagazine.com
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8/11/10

Oppose Massive Wild Horse Roundup in Wyoming’s Red Desert;1,500+ Mustangs Targeted for Removal in Adobe Town

Email your comments to The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign by Friday (August 13); they will hand deliver to BLM on Monday (August 16)



Please go to this link and give them your comments. It will only take a moment. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm living in America anymore. The BLM has lied, misled a Federal Judge, committed atrocities that they weren't even going to report until advocates caught them out, and even then they lied.



Of the 38,000 American Mustangs they are SUPPOSED to have in long term holding, by the BLM's own published numbers, 2000 are unaccounted for.



What is happening to our Wild Horses?

Oppose Massive Wild Horse Roundup in Wyoming’s Pristine Red Desert; 1,500+ Mustangs Targeted for Removal in Adobe Town

Email us your comments by Friday (August 13); we will hand deliver to BLM on Monday (August 16)

BLM is galloping ahead with its wild horse roundup schedule, despite overwhelming public opposition and the request by 54 members of Congress to halt the mustang captures. Among those targeted: the famed wild horses of Adobe Town in the pristine Red Desert region of south/central Wyoming. Photographer Carol Walker has chronicled the lives of these magnificent mustangs in her book Wild Hoofbeats.

Beginning in October, BLM intends to round up — via helicopter stampede — 1,951 wild horses, or 80 percent of the estimated mustang population living in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) and the adjacent Salt Wells Creek HMA. Nearly 1,600 of these wild horses will be permanently removed. BLM claims that this vast, 1.7 million acre range can support no more 610-800 adult horses in Adobe Town and 251-365 in Salt Wells Creek. Meanwhile the agency allocates more resources within this public lands area to privately-owned livestock than to our federally-protected wild horses.

Read more at www.wildhorsepreservation.org
 

8/2/10

Wild Horse Driven Over Rocks To His Death During Owyhee Roundup

This unconscionable callous cruelty to our American Mustangs must end. The BLM has killed so many and lied about it. They misled a Federal Judge in order to continue driving horses down mountains in the heat of a Nevada summer, leaving the ones that went down to die where they fell - except for the few that they shot. Now the BLM claims the deaths they DO admit to were due to "preexisting conditions" of one kind or another.

These horses were fine - healthy and HAD WATER before the BLM and Sue Cattoor, their helicopter contractor, started their "gather."

Please! Go to Maureen's article to learn more and how you can help!
Amplify’d from www.examiner.com
Equine Advocacy Examiner
Wild horse was driven over rocks to his death during recent Owyhee roundup
August 1, 5:50 PM Equine Advocacy Examiner Maureen Harmonay
Wild horse who perished on the rocks in the Owyhee desert after being chased by Cattoor helicopter

An independent observer who recently returned from scouting the Herd Area in north Elko County, Nevada where the Owyhee portion of the Tuscarora Gather took place has photographic evidence that one of the wild horses appears to have been driven to his or her death over rocky cliffs, presumably by Cattoor, the BLM's helicopter contractor.
Though no such fatality was ever reported by the BLM, Katie Fite, a Biodiversity Director for the Western Watersheds Project, was able to document it during her visit to the area on July 25th and 26th.  Her photograph depicting a horse lying dead on the rocks near the Owyhee River was submitted in support of Laura Leigh's legal motions against the BLM on the Tuscarora matter, the most recent of which was filed on Friday, July 30th.
Ms. Fite explained:
"I noted evidence that horses had been driven down the river bed and held in temporary corrals.  Also noted a horse that appears to have been driven onto the rocks."
Ms. Fite's photographs were taken at the South Fork of the Owyhee River, north of the Owyhee roundup trap site, where she observed four places at which wild horses have access to water, contrary to the BLM's prior assertions that because no water was available to the mustangs in this Herd Area (HA), an "emergency rescue gather" was justified and necessary.
Another observer, wild horse advocate Sandra Longley, also visited the Owyhee roundup area on July 16th and 17th, to document forage, water sources, cattle, and gates.  She reported:
"I stood there on the Owyhee on July 17th amidst fields of wildflowers, water pouring out of the sides of mountains, and springs with water running down and alongside of roads.  There was nothing but cattle, but over a few hills, many wild horses were dying. . .No horses could be documented except an ecosystem littered with the dead bodies of horses, who had suffered heat stroke at the hands of Sue Cattoor, the helicopter contractor. 
There is so much more to come.  We have yet to get the total of horses who died or were 'rescued' with a bullet out on the desert where they were stumbling around suffering from heat stroke from being pushed by the helicopter.  Many of those would have been foals. . .By not counting those horses as 'gather' deaths, but due to drought, the BLM is allowed to escape being blamed for the largest massacre during a roundup."
It is true that the BLM has never acknowledged, or reported, the deaths of the fallen horses Ms. Longley describes, but their stories must be told.  In a press release issued today, the agency admits that 34 wild horses have died as a direct result of the Tuscarora roundup, but it's clear that the actual number who have perished at the BLM's directive is much, much higher.

Read more at www.examiner.com

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8/1/10

Contempt of Court Re-filed Against Ken Salazar and BLM


Here we go again, folks. The BLM is clearly in contempt of court and we have another chance to prove it. Please help support Laura! The only place you can donate to Laura Leigh's legal fund is at www.grassrootshorse.com.
Amplify’d from thedesertinde.com

Contempt of Court Re-filed Against Ken Salazar and BLM

By ROBERT WINKLER


July 31, 2010

RENO, Nevada – On July 30th
 
Laura Leigh re-filed Contempt of Court charges against Ken Salazar, Secretary ofthe Department of the Interior, Bob Abbey, Director of the BLM and Ron Wenker, Nevada State Director of the BLM in regard to what BLM calls the “Tuscarora wild horse gather.” The BLM continually refers to the three herd management areas of Owyhee, Rock Creek and Little Humboldt under one umbrella name of Tuscarora. Thejudge, at the time of hearing earlier motions, recognized that Tuscarora was
three herds and not one as BLM would like people to believe.


Adding to what seems like a deliberate move to create confusion, every day the gather schedules change. At present the BLM website, touted in BLM press releases as the only place for correct information, has two completely different gather schedules posted. If a person really wants to know the true schedule they have to contact the appropriatefield offices. It would seem to even the casual observer to be a shell game of now you see it, now you don’t.  



The judge denied the original motion to hear the case based on the parameters set forth in a statute known as the Winters standard. This is the standard by which actions seeking injunctive relief are judged on their merit. On July 28, 2010, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals modified its position on the test used to determine the element, “likelihood of success on the merits” when granting or denying injunctive relief under the Winters decision. The circuit court reaffirmed the use of its sliding scale method, finding it consistent with Winters.


The law change opened the door for the re-filing under the new guidelines. “We are not going away,” said Laura Leigh, plaintiff in the lawsuit brought about through the support of Grass Roots Horse, a citizen action group. Support for Laura Leigh’s court action is coming in from people all over the country. “Some people are donating to further the cause with $3.00 donations,” said Maureen VanDerStad, member of Grass Roots Horse. “That tells it all right there. People are so fed up with the mismanagement of the wild horses and burros that they want to be a part of doing something to stop it. The blatant disregard for our First Amendment rights by BLM and the cruel and inhumane treatment of the wild horses, which belong to the American people, has spurred the movement on with a vengeance,” she further states.



Laura Leigh is an artist, author and journalist who is best known for her work in documenting wild horses. She is the founder and director of Herd Watch, a citizen group that monitors the actions of the BLM and the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Full reports documenting range conditions in herd management areas and the condition of the horses themselves are conducted by Herd Watch with a
meticulous eye for detail.




Yesterday at the Nevada State Legislative meeting, the main focus was on the implications of the Western Watershed Organization’s multi-million dollar settlement with Ruby Corporaton, representing Ruby Pipeline. The Wild Horse and Burro Program came into the discussion and Laura Leigh was there to set the record straight. “Sitting in the audience it was really interesting to see the cattlemen bringing up the very same issues of the difficulties of dealing with the BLM that the wild horse advocates have been dealing with for years. If people do not support accountability in government, it is easy to see how that failure to demand accountability and transparency can turn against them,” Laura Leigh said.
To read the legal filings, donate to the legal fund, or volunteer please visit www.grassrootshorse.com where there are links to the best sites with more information on the issue.
Read more at thedesertinde.com


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"From my earliest memories, I have loved horses with a longing beyond words." ~ Robert Vavra