Showing posts with label Cloud Foundation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cloud Foundation. Show all posts

6/17/11

Equine Welfare Groups Ask Congress To Save American Horses From Slaughter



We won this round in the House. The full House passed the Budget with the Moran Amendment intact. Still, this must pass in the Senate without alteration for it to become law.

Also in the Senate, American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 (S. 1176) needs all the support we can muster. Let's DO IT THIS TIME! Let's make this baby pass! The points against horse slaughter in this statement to the House will be just as relevant in the Senate. Let your Senators you want horse slaughter banned in the US once and for all!
Amplify’d from rtfitch.wordpress.com
Equine Welfare Groups Ask Congress To Save American Horses From Slaughter
Agricultural Appropriations Bill to defund USDA Inspections for Post Mortem Inspections of Horses Slaughtered in the U.S. for Human Consumption to be voted on June 15th 2011
  Dear Congressman,

We, the undersigned Organizations urge you to consider the following when voting on the Agricultural Appropriations Bill that currently contains Congressman Jim Moran’s Amendment to De-fund USDA Inspections for Post Mortem Inspections of Horses Slaughtered in the U.S. for Human Consumption.

The major market for horse meat from this country is the EU. FDA and EU standards ban Phenylbutazone in all food animals. After 2012 it will require lifetime documentation proving that they have not received a prohibited substance.

Since our American horses are not bred for slaughter, no record is kept of medications they have received and the EU is currently depending on affidavits from their previous owners. Killer buyers come by these horses at auctions where sellers are supposed to fill out the affidavits.

Advocates were able to photograph 23 of these affidavits (called Equine Identification Documents) at the New Holland auction and found none that had been filled out properly. Most had simply been signed and left blank for the kill buyer to fill in. A subsequent report by the EU [Ref.Ares(2011)398056]found that 27 horses had tested positive for prohibited substances and all 27 were carrying falsified affidavits.Horses that are slaughtered include former pets, riding horses, racehorses, performance horses, wild horses and work horses. Most of them have received the toxic substances like phenylbutazone (bute), de-wormers and inoculations that are not approved and illegal for use in animals intended for human consumption. It clearly states this on the labels of these drugs. Bute is so commonly used in the US that it is sometimes referred to as horse Aspirin.

By allowing American horses to be sent to slaughter, we are encouraging illegal activity and sending a possibly harmful product to other countries for human consumption.

If we were to fund USDA inspection of horse meat, we would put the USDA in charge of verifying eligibility and verifying false documentation in order to keep the banned substances out of the food chain. It will be far more costly than 5 million dollars. It will only benefit foreign corporations and consumers; Americans don’t eat horse meat.

By allowing our American horses who are not bred for slaughter, to be slaughtered anyway, we in fact become responsible for compromising the health of unsuspecting consumers in other countries. The future ramifications of this could be extremely serious.

You will hear from those few with a financial interest in slaughter, that ending horse slaughter will destroy the horse Industry. Their arguments are easy to see through. They are NOT speaking for the horse industry (WE are the horse Industry, millions of responsible horse owners), they are speaking for the Horse Slaughter Industry.

It is an outright fabrication that the horse industry has been negatively affected because horse slaughter is not available, it is available at every auction in the country and they know that. The horse industry has taken a fall because of the state of the economy and because it has damaged itself through over-breeding, in the same way the housing market and the banking industries damaged themselves by overcrowding the market.

Horse slaughter promotes over breeding and creates the overpopulation problem we have today.

Home builders have stopped building homes, because there is no market for them. While breeding has slowed some in recent years it is still being supported by the slaughter market. Some breeders are responsible breeders breeding for quality all around. However many are not. They can still breed 100 horses, pick out the million dollar winner discarding the rest to slaughter. It’s like buying 100 lottery tickets, cashing in the 5 winning tickets, and getting your money back for the loosing 95 tickets.

We need to slow down breeding until the market balances out again. We need to bring back the population of horses to a population that America can sustain, so that they all can have good homes.

Dear Representative, an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the slaughter of horses for human consumption for the many obvious reasons, which we have not even mentioned here.

We stand firmly together as Respect4Horses Organization (R4H), Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA), Animal Law Coalition (ALC), Habitat for Horses Advisory Council, (HfHAC), Animal Recovery Mission (ARM), The Cloud Foundation (TCF) and Americans Against Horse Slaughter (AAHS), representing our combined almost one hundred thousand supporters, members and volunteers when we urge you to;

Please vote against any amendment that may be presented on the floor (possibly from Rep.Cynthia Lummis) that would appropriate funds to the USDA to inspect horse meat. Please vote to keep Congressman Moran’s amendment in the language of the bill to keep horse slaughter OUT of the business of the USDA and illegal in the United States of America.

Sincerely,

Simone Netherlands, Director, Respect4Horses Organization, (R4H) (928) 308-6718

John Holland, Director, Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA)

R.T. Fitch, Director, Habitat for Horses Advisory Council

Laura Allen, Director, Animal Law Coalition

Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director, The Cloud Foundation

Richard “Kudo” Couto, Founder/Investigator, Animal Recovery Mission (ARM)

Debra Lopez and Shelley Abrams, Directors, Americans Against Horse Slaughter (AAHS)

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7/9/10

NV Woman Files Suit to Stop Mustang Roundup 7/9/10

PDFMedia Contacts: cloud_foundation_logo_cmyk

Makendra Silverman
Tel: 719-351-8187


Anne Novak
Tel: 415-531-8454

For Immediate Release:
Mustang Advocate Finds BLM Violates Own Rules, Files Lawsuit

Hundreds of young wild horse foals risk death in imminent Nevada roundup

Reno NV (July 9, 2010)—One woman from Herd-Watch, a program of The Cloud Foundation, studied the newly published Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro handbook and caught BLM in the act of violating their own protocol for the Tuscarora (Owyhee Complex) roundup. The handbook states roundups are prohibited until six weeks after foaling season which ends on June 30th. Therefore the earliest date to start the roundup is August 11th. Laura Leigh, Project Manager of Herd Watch filed a lawsuit today in US District Court in Nevada to stop the roundup.

"I found their error right in the BLM's management handbook," explains Leigh adding, "The BLM disregards their own rules when it comes to ‘managing’ wild horse population.”

Based on past experience and the current rush to remove 6,000 wild horses in three months, The Cloud Foundation believes that the BLM's priorities are based on contractor availability not humane treatment of wild horses—especially foals, some of whom may be only weeks or days old.

The Foundation is requesting that humane observers and members of the public be present during all phases of all the roundups. Since the deadly Calico roundup in NW Nevada, BLM has tightened restrictions, preventing the public and humane observers from viewing the horses adequately. In the case of Tuscarora, the public will not be allowed to view any round up activities for the first two weeks.

Image of Ginger Kathrens from Facebook
Ginger Kathrens
Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, shares Leigh’s concerns that "more foals may have their feet literally run off because they are too young to be chased by helicopter over sharp, volcanic terrain for miles in the hottest month of the year. At least two foals died a horrible death like this in the Calico roundup. Didn’t BLM learn anything from Calico?”   

More than 100 wild horses died and more than 40 spontaneous abortions occurred as a result of the Calico roundup.

“Currently, the only way to gain accountability—with an agency apparently left to police itself—is for a member of the public to file suit,” remarks Leigh. Leigh’s efforts are being supported by Grassroots Horse, an organization based in grassroots activism to prevent cruel wild horse roundups.

“If this roundup were being conducted in a safe manner,” says Leigh’s attorney Gordon Cowan of Reno, Nevada “one would make the assumption that the BLM would want the public to witness its entirety. Barring observers and press raises concerns.”
 
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6/14/10

Spin Drs Hired to Wipe Out Wild Horses

Is this the way you want your tax money spent? If not, follow these links and TAKE ACTION! 




June 2010


Media Contacts:


Makendra Silverman

Anne Novak


For Immediate Release:
Spin Doctors Hired for the Destruction of America’s Wild Horse and Burro Herds
BLM uses MMS’s PR and Public Affairs agency to facilitate Salazar’s agenda at June 14th public workshop in Denver—protest on June 15th
Denver, CO (June 14, 2010)—The Cloud Foundation has learned that the San Francisco based public relations and public affairs firm, Kearns and West, with ties to big energy and offices across the country, has been hired to push the Salazar Plan for Wild Horses and Burros through Congress in Fall 2010—despite public outrage. Kearns and West has expertise in crisis management as well as accomplishing policy and regulatory goals. Their clients range from Mineral Management Services (MMS) and PG&E to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The Department of Interior (DOI) has enlisted the firm using the Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (ECR) as the go between. Senior mediator of Kearns and West, J. Michael Harty will facilitate an unprecedented public workshop in Denver, Colorado at the Magnolia Hotel, 818 17th Street, on June 14th followed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Advisory Board Meeting on June 15th. Both days will be live-streamed and viewing available on www.thecloudfoundation.org. The public and members of Congress are encouraged to watch. The public will protest on June 15th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a press conference at noon.
BLM’s recently announced and highly polished but unsubstantial, “Strategy Plan” as well as their association with PR firm Kearns and West, appears designed to manipulate the public and marginalize the opposition to the Salazar Plan for wild horses and burros. The plan calls for the purchase of Eastern and Midwestern “preserves” populated by sterilized wild horses, captured from their Western ranges.
"This is ALL about manipulating public opinion. And ramming ONE thing – Salazar’s Plan – through” states author R.T. Fitch.
The Kearns and West Salazar Plan Executive Summary states, ‘The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (‘Institute’) is assisting BLM in assessing stakeholder interests and developing an effective stakeholder engagement plan for the Strategy.’ Disturbingly, BLM often does not include the public as a stakeholder in their planning documents regarding the management of wild horses and burros.
“Who is the biggest stakeholder in the discussion of the public’s land and its wild horses if not the public?” asks Terri Farley, author of the Phantom Stallion series, adding “A public agency must represent the public and utilize taxpayer dollars responsibly—not spend excessively on another private contractor.”
According to their website, Kearns and West offers their clients (in this case the BLM) ‘A compelling credible, resonant case. True, high-impact support for your position.’ Advocates support a new direction that abandons the endless, expensive cycle of roundup, removal, and warehousing. BLM must adopt a far less expensive path that is kinder to the land and the wild horses legally living there, one that contains truly transparent solutions, not a slick, taxpayer-funded PR campaign.
“By hiring a high powered PR and Public Affairs firm, it seems that BLM is aiming to extinguish the opposition rather than solve the controversy over their management of our wild herds,” explains Ginger Kathrens, Volunteer Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation. “The public by the thousands has shared their opposition to the Salazar Plan. I hope we can sit down at this public forum and seriously talk about a moratorium on roundups while we work to reinstate protections that are consistent with the intent of the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.
According to The Holmes Report, “Kearns & West recognizes the important value of collaborating both with our clients and their stakeholders. For more than 20 years, the firm has employed its unique brand of stakeholder-centric strategic communications and collaboration processes to design innovative, but pragmatic programs, achieving superior results for clients in the federal, state and local government, private and nonprofit sectors. Kearns & West works with tough issues and big ideas.”
Besides specializing in ‘accomplishing policy and regulatory goals’ Kearns and West also represents PG&E—a primary customer in the Ruby Pipeline natural gas project threatening public lands and five public herds with environmental devastation from Wyoming to Oregon. Kearns and West also represents Duke Energy, the Association of Western Governors and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, among others.
While Secretary Salazar vowed to restore the Interior Department's ‘respect for scientific integrity’ he has failed to consider science, reason, or even the law when it comes to managing our wild herds. Kearns and West has been known to gather scientific experts and build a movement of common interest “stakeholders” to crush public outcry and true environmentalism. Wild horse advocates feel the Kearns and West prepared Salazar report for Congress will be biased in favor of big energy ties with DOI at the expense of federally protected wild horses who somehow are in the way of ‘The New Energy Frontier’.
“We hope Monday’s workshop will be a productive one rather than a demonstration of BLM’s inability to change,” concludes Kathrens.
# # #
Lnks of interest:
Interior Department Wild Horse Public Workshop, Livestream June 14, 8 a.m. -4 p.m. and Advisory Board Meeting June 15, 8 a.m. -5:00 p.m. http://www.thecloudfoundation.org/
Fact Sheet on Wild Herds & The Salazar Plan http://bit.ly/bfdX1y
Kearns and West http://bit.ly/deT894
CNN Report, Issues with Jane Valez-Mitchell, March 25th http://bit.ly/dvl7NE
Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western Trailer- excellent sample of interviews regarding the issues http://bit.ly/awFbwm
Rolling Stone: The Spill, The Scandal and the President. June 2010 http://bit.ly/d3Bjcm

Vanity Fair: A Solution to America’s Wild Horse Crisis? June 2010 http://bit.ly/a7Esyd
Wild Horses: Management or Stampede to Extinction? Reno Gazette Special http://bit.ly/stampede2ext
Ken Salazar's "candy shop": Denver Post Guest Commentary, June 2010 http://bit.ly/aNbLz9
‘Herd-Watch: Public Eyes for Public Horses’ http://bit.ly/9Wvh58
Roundup Schedule- updated May 2010 http://bit.ly/a0xcq7
Informative Blog: American Herds http://americanherds.blogspot.com/
Photos, video and interviews available from:
The Cloud Foundation  ~ makendra@thecloudfoundation.org
The Cloud Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the preservation and protection of wild horses and burros on our Western public lands with a focus on protecting Cloud's herd in the Pryor Mountains of Montana.
107 S. 7th St. - Colorado Springs, CO 80905 - 719-633-3842 www.thecloudfoundation.org

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3/28/10

The Silence Is Deafening


This time they brought the issue to Washington. President Obama, you saw them in Reno, but made no response. You weren't in Washington while they were there, but how could you be unaware that they were there and what they wanted?



This brief statement by Paul Killington says it all. Did you hear him, Mr. President?




Did you see this on CNN, Mr. President? This is what's happening to our wild horses. We've been trying to tell you, but you don't seem to have heard us. The horses don't have much time left, Mr. President.


Here are some of the people who have been frantically writing to you, begging for help. Now they have come to Washington to plead the case for the horses. So what happened when they got to the Department of the Interior - these American Citizens exercising their right to peaceful assembly, paperwork all in order and nary a firearm in the entire group? They were met by armed guards - unfriendly armed guards - outside the door of the DOI. Then the Mounted Park Patrol joined the group, followed by Homeland Security and a motorcycle policeman. This for peaceful citizens carrying nothing but signs and information?

As they stood in front of the Mounted Patrol, facing the DOI, they could see people at the windows, but no brave soul ventured out amongst these horse hugging terrorists. Finally, someone did come down to get the packet of information from them, and probably ran all the way back up the stairs. It all made me so proud, Mr. President, of the Advocates. As for my country and its leadership - I don't believe I have ever been so sad and disappointed. Although, I suppose we should thank the DOI for providing those wonderful horses to help make the point.



On the other side of the Pond, our soul mates in London made their own demonstration in front of the US Embassy. We can never thank you enough, dear friends, for helping our precious wild horses. They obviously mean more to you than they do to their own government. The horses know. They always do.

The ball in in your court, President Obama. Do you remember your campaign promises that you were squarely for protecting our wild herds? But once elected, your ongoing silence has become a deafening roar as concerns and pleas for intervention continue to be meet with absolutely nothing.

The vast majority of us voted for you because of these campaign promises. You promised to protect our wild horses. Since you made that promise, so many horses have been removed from the ranges - or killed in merciless roundups - that there is real doubt as to how many are actually left in the wild.

We are waiting for you to keep your promise, Mr. President. The horses are waiting for your promised protection, Mr. President. They don't have much time.


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3/13/10

March for Mustangs!


March for Mustangs

Rally for wild horses and burros in
Washington DC ~ March 25th 

Take Action for Wild Horses and Burros! Over 25 protests have taken place from coast to coast and now the hoofbeats are headed to Washington DC. Please join us on Thursday, March 25th in Washington DC: March for Mustangs. Take action today to save these incredible animals who are currently being managed to extinction on our public lands.
Cloud's Flag by Vivian Grant
Time: 1:00-3:00pm, Press conference and speakers at 1:30pm (Hope Ryden, author "America's Last Wild Horses," Filmmaker Ginger Kathrens, Author RT Fitch, Friends of Animals Director Priscilla Feral, In Defense of Animals President Dr. Elliot Katz, Filmmaker James Kleinert, mustang owner Jo De George and many more- including special guests to be announced!)
Where: Lafayette Park located directly across from White House at 16 Street and H Street, NW. Around 3:00pm protesters will march with homemade signs and large banners to the BLM office at 1849 'C' Street.
Friday: Mustangs on the Hill II - On Friday morning we’ll brief people on meeting with their Senators and Congressional Representatives to save the mustangs and burros. Please schedule an appointment with your US Senators and Representative for Thursday morning or Friday. More details will be posted on our events calendar soon.

Driving? Check out the Ride Share to connect with other advocates in your area to get to DC - Click here


Plus Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western  Special DC Screening of the new documentary on our wild horses and burros in the West by James Kleinert on Wednesday evening, March 24th from 6:00-8:00pm at Busboys and Poets. Ginger Kathrens will join James for a Q&A afterwards- please ask media to attend. Details here


DC Rally co-sponsored by The Cloud Foundation, the Equine Welfare Alliance, Friends of Animals, In Defense of Animals, Int'l Fund for Horses & many more with thanks to co-organizer Jo De George.
March for Mustangs images: Vivian Grant, Int'l Fund for Horses


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3/8/10

BLM's Final Solution for the Wild Horses and Burros

BLM's Final Solution for the Wild Horses and Burros

Originally Posted Dec 21, 2009 by Laura Allen

 
© Copyright Elyse Gardner

Horse Slaughter Information provided courtesy of Valerie James-Patton and Equine Welfare Alliance, http://www.equinewelfarealliance.org/

Internal documents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) shed light on the agency's motives and plans for the wild horses and burros.

Two reports issued by the BLM for internal use only, The Herd Management Option Plans from October 2008, and the Team Conference Calls Report from July-September 2008 contain astonishing proposals to manipulate the WFRHBA and NEPA, eliminate the wild horses and burros altogether from the wild, and until they can be euthanized or sold most likely for slaughter, sterilize them and place them in feedlots paid for by rescue organizations duped into thinking the animals are in private "preserves".

BLM is the agency within the U.S. Department of Interior that is tasked with protecting the wild horses and burros pursuant to the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, 16 U.S.C. §1331 et seq. (WFRHBA) as free roaming animals in their historic herd areas and designated ranges. "All management activities are to be at the minimal feasible level." 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1333. Wild horses are not to be subject to "capture, "harassment" or "death". 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1331

BLM team members involved in these discussions included Jim Stratton, Rob Jeffers, Al Kane, DVM; Jim Johnson, John Neil, Lili Thomas, Gus Ward, Alan Shepherd, Bud Cribley, and Don Glenn.

These reports are almost certainly the precursor to BLM's current proposal issued by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in October, 2009. The plan as announced is essentially to:

(1) work with non-profits and  wild horse enthusiasts to create "preserves" in the Midwest or east, an idea that runs counter to the  WFRHBA mandate to maintain free-roaming behavior and avoid zoolike settings for these wild animals,

(2) designate additional ranges that under WFRHBA are to be "devoted principally" to the wild horses and burros, but under BLM they have been afforded the same or even less preference than grazing cattle and sheep and other uses of the land, and

(3) work to restore the "sustainability" of herds and public lands which, translated  from BLM-speak, means more slaughter and euthanasia of wild horses and burros and extinction of the herds through continued removal of  wild horses from their herd areas and ranges, aggressive "fertility control", monitoring of sex ratios, and introduction of non-reproducing herds.

This proposal is floating around Congress and the Obama Administration. There has been no indication there will be a hearing or any changes made to the laws or authorization of appropriations that may be necessary to implement the plan. The full plan has never even been made generally available to the public.

Indeed, BLM has already begun to implement this plan.  The removal or gather schedules for 2009-2010 are aggressive, and BLM has shown no signs of reconsidering these plans despite increasing calls for a moratorium on gathers and a pending request for a preliminary injunction on a large gather of 2,432-2,736 wild horses in Nevada set to begin December 28.  Indeed, just a couple of days ago, BLM announced plans to roundup 1,977 wild horses and remove 1,506 from the Antelope Complex in Nevada. The BLM has yet to issue the Environmental Assessment for this action.

And, earlier during the first week in December, without any public announcement, BLM rounded up 217 wild horses on the Nevada-California border. This gather of what are known as the Buckhorn wild horses had been scheduled for the summer, 2010. The roundup was conducted in secret, and it is not known how many horses were injured or killed or what happened to them.

Currently, allegedly "excess" horses, those deemed necessary to remove from designated herd areas or ranges basically because of overpopulation or to "maintain a thriving natural ecological balance", are generally held in short-term (STH) or long-term holding facilities (LTH) on private lands. 16 U.S.C. §§1332, 1333 As of May 31, 2009 there were 8,532 horses and 57 burros in short-term holding facilities that have a total capacity of 15,645 animals. As of that date there were 22,126 horses in long-term holding facilities that have a total capacity of 22,100. The long-term holding facilities are full. BLM claims there are 10,350 excess wild horses and burros that must be removed from herd areas and ranges. Since 2000, BLM has removed more than 74,000 wild horses and burros from the wild, 40% of the population.

Manipulating the WFRHBA

In these 2008 reports BLM employees and consultants discussed placing the wild horses and burros in LTH facilities on public lands by converting grazing rights for cattle. To do this legally, requires changing the status of the horses and burros from wild to titled or owned livestock. The WFRHBA protects wild horses on public lands, meaning they can't be corralled in LTH there.  BLM team members discussed that to keep the animals in LTH on public lands, they would create non-reproducing herds:  "One could argue that a non-reproductive herd is not self-sustaining. Also refer to [43 CFR 4700.0-6  (c]) which states: "Management activities affecting wild horses and burros shall be undertaken with the goal of maintaining free-roaming behavior." By managing for sterile animals we may be taking away their "free-roaming" behavior by altering the social interactions."  If the animals are no longer ‘free-roaming", they are not wild and arguably could be considered livestock and kept in LTH on public lands.

In effect, BLM proposed to manipulate the WFRHBA by actually intentionally destroying herd behavior, free-roaming behavior, which as an agency they are supposed to protect, so that they could get around another provision of WFRHBA to allow the horses to be kept in LTH on public lands.

BLM team members also considered ignoring the WFRHBA prohibition on"relocat[ing] wild free-roaming horses and burros to areas of the public lands where they do not exist" but noted,  "However, a solicitor's interpretation concludes BLM is not prohibited from moving excess wild horses to LTH areas on public lands because no case law implies such a prohibition. Should BLM elect to move excess horses to LTH areas on public lands, appeals or litigation would be likely and could take years to resolve."

BLM team members discussed that the LTH facilities could be nothing more than feedlots. "BLM (or others? ie horse advocacy groups? would buy livestock permits with the objective of managing the allotments for a non-reproducing herd. Due to trouble finding additional pastures for excess horses, we may need to have feed lots. If the humane organization did take over payment of feeding excess horses they would need to pay for whatever type of facility is available."

Note that BLM's current plan as described by Interior Secy. Salazar, calls, in part, for humane groups to take over the cost and care of wild horses and burros placed in "preserves" in the midwest and eastern states. "Preserves" is presumably a euphemism for "feed lot".

In this way, BLM would also manage the animals to extinction. The BLM team member discussed, though, "This alternative may require a change in regulations based on 43 CFR 4700.0-6 (a), which states: "Wild horses and burros shall be managed as self-sustaining populations of healthy animals in balance with other uses and the productive capacity of their habitat."

Actually, for this plan to be legal, Congress would be required to repeal the WFRHBA requirements that BLM manage wild horses and burros as free-roaming "components" of the public lands at the "minimal feasible level" and avoid "capture", "harassment" and "death". 16 U.S.C. § §1331, 1332, 1333.

 
© Copyright Elyse Gardner

Aggressive sterilization and manipulation of herd ratios

Other plans discussed by the BLM team to reduce the wild horse and burro populations included adjusting herd ratios from 50/50 to 70/30 male/female ratios with some of the horses returned to the wild after being gelded and an increased use of PZP, as well as using other unauthorized fertility drugs called Gonacon and SpayVac.

Team members acknowledged Spayvac was "barely available" for research, let alone approved for use as a contraceptive.

With PZP the BLM Instruction Memorandum requires field officials to consider using fertility control and justify when it is not used. During a June 15, 2009 meeting the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board noted the liquid the longer term effectiveness of the pelleted form of PZP is unproven. It is also well known that PZP may cause out of season foals.

In the 2008 team reports, BLM team members noted, "This alternative may require a change in regulations based on 43 CFR 4700.0-6 (a), which states: "Wild horses and burros shall be managed as self-sustaining populations of healthy animals in balance with other uses and the productive capacity of their habitat.  ...One could argue that a non-reproductive herd is not self-sustaining.  Also refer to (c) which states: "Management activities affecting wild horses and burros shall be undertaken with the goal of maintaining free-roaming behavior." By managing for sterile animals we may be taking away their "free-roaming" behavior by altering the social interactions."

Despite the clear language of WFRHBA and some of its own regulations, the BLM team asked,  "Do we have an obligation not to affect horse herd behavior?...Does it affect behavior and do we care? Burger stated in the late 80's that you should aim at a ratio favoring females, but BLM thinks a 50/50 ratio is natural. Would having more stallions change the band structure, will mares and colts be beaten down at water bottlenecks? Since we do not have any evidence [changing the sex ratio] is bad, the BLM should be allowed to do this on a large scale. We do not know if it is bad so should we wait until we know?"

BLM team members discussed options such as filling herd areas with only geldings or sterilizing all mares. BLM also discussed placing wild horses in non-reproducing herds and wanted to look in each state for possible places for these herds.

In one discussion team members proposed it would be easier to "justify" a non-reproducing herd rather than zeroing out herd areas.

The idea was to eliminate a herd management area for every non-reproducing herd area that was created.
The team noted, "When making changes on HMAs (sex ratio, gelding, etc) the implementation would be a trial and error".

BLM knew the aggressive sterilization of mares would mean an increased death rate of at least 10% and admitted that "herd behavior would be out the window". BLM admitted, in effect, these aggressive sterilization plans would not only be potentially dangerous to the wild horses and burros, destructive of their herds and families, but also illegal and ultimately cause their extinction.

Euthanasia and Slaughter

The BLM team's favorite ideas for eliminating wild horses and burros appear to be euthanasia preferably in the field and also by reducing restrictions on sales.
  
The team considered, "How many could be euthanized at a gather without having a NEPA?" The BLM is required by National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321, et seq., to prepare Environmental Assessments or EAs or, if indicated, Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) or Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), for any proposed changes to public lands that may have a significant environmental impact.  The law directs the agency to identify environmental concerns, consider alternatives including no action at all and take a "hard look" at the problem and minimize significant environmental impact. A significant environmental impact includes actions that are likely to be highly controversial or have uncertain effects on the quality of our lives and that affect cultural and historical resources. 40 C.F.R. §1508.27(b).)

In other words, BLM hoped to be able to kill as many wild horses and burros in the field as possible without implicating NEPA.

BLM also discussed drastically reducing the time wild horses and burros are available for adoption or sale before they would then be euthanized.

The team observed, "People willing to put down healthy horses at gather sites could be a problem....Having vets put down healthy horses at preparation facilities could be a problem...Provide counseling due to stress for employees and contractors that have to euthanize healthy horses".

Team members also asked how many more horses could be euthanized without affecting disposal practices. It was noted that Reno Rendering, for example, "will take as many as could be sent". They checked on the capacity of other rendering plants to take more wild horses.

One team member questioned, "Are we euthanizing horses to save money to complete gathers?"

Under the WFRHBA,  "[a]ny excess animal or the remains of an excess animal shall be sold if--
      (A) the excess animal is more than 10 years of age; or
      (B) the excess animal has been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times." Currently, a wild horse or burro must be offered for adoption at 3 specific satellite or adoption events before qualifying for sale under subsection (B). Wild horses and burros sold in this way are called 3 strikes horses. Animals sold under this provision lose the protections of the WFRHBA. 16 U.S.C. §1333(e).

Adopters can take possession of 4 wild horses or burros at a time and title is not transferred for at least one year. 16 U.S.C. §1333(c) Only then do the wild horses or burros lose the protections of WFRHBA.

The team notes indicate, "The team needs to address selling horses without limitation....We need to make horses easier to [sell] by changing our policy on the criteria for what constitutes a three strikes horse."

The team discussed selling eligible horses at the gather site.

The team discussed that a horse would get a "strike" after each adoption event and also each 30 day period where a facility is open to the public by walk up or by appointment. In that way, BLM could say the horse had been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times for a period of 30 days, even if no one ever even looked at the horse let alone considered the animal for adoption. After the third 30 day period of unsuccessful adoption offers, the horse would be euthanized on day 31.

A note from a team member states, "Sally had an e-mail from a person in Canada who wants 10,000 horses that he would slaughter the horses and send them to a third world country.  Don is going to send the email....Making horses easier to sale by changing policy on the criteria for what constitutes a 3 strike horse, which could be horses that have been in facility for 90 days or 3 weeks. Jim said he has a demand for horses going to Denmark, but they are having a problem getting titled horses."

Another note advises, "Address the need for congress to change the adoption law and allow instant title."

Notes from a June 15, 2009 Wild Horse and Burros Advisory Board meeting indicate "that BLM [should]advertise and market sale eligible animals (with the intent clause) in foreign countries with known good homes by offering "select sales" for sale eligible animals 11 years of age and over, and for younger animals that have been offered for adoption three times during a 90 day period and that BLM continue to explore opportunities to foster foreign aid by providing sale eligible animals (with the intent clause) to foreign countries for agricultural (nonfood) use."

Only BLM would call a slaughter house a "known good home". The BLM is obviously in contact with kill buyers, those that buy horses and transport and sell them to slaughter houses. Despite the mandate of the WFRHBA, BLM, the agency charged with protecting wild horses and burros as free roaming components of the public lands at the "minimal feasible level" is clearly attempting to smooth the way for their slaughter.

During its discussions in the past year BLM considered ways to keep the public away from round ups and the killing and sales of healthy horses and burros and planned to brand protests as "eco-terrorism".  This was all to be done in secret. Unless Congress or the courts step up and stop this rogue agency, it looks like BLM's plan may succeed.

 
© Copyright Elyse Gardner

  
© Copyright Craig Downer

Go here for information about the WFRHBA and how BLM has eroded the protections for the wild horses and burros
Go here to find out how you can join the call for a moratorium on BLM roundups of wild horses and burros.

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1/31/10

The Death of The Calico Colt

"reposted with permission, copyright Ginger Kathrens/The Cloud Foundation/Carol Walker"

The Death of the Calico Colt
An Essay by Ginger Kathrens
January 2010

He was wild and free, roaming the vast expanses of the rugged Calico Mountains with his mother and father and the other members of his family. This would be his first winter, a time when life slowed down for all the wild ones—the elegant pronghorn he watched on the distant horizon, the tiny pygmy rabbits that foraged in the sage brush undergrowth and darted into their dens when he tried to touch them, the fat sage grouse that were some of his favorites. When he was just days old, he heard their strange, booming sounds and saw the males strutting and displaying for a mate. When he wandered toward them, it was his father who gently guided him home. His mother softly nickered to him. She smelled of sweet sage and invited him to nurse.

Then, one day while his mother and father and the others in his family were quietly foraging, conserving their energy in the growing cold, he saw his father jerk his head up. Ears forward, the stallion watched and listened and the colt did too, mimicking his father. The colt could hear a rumbling drone. In the distance, he could see something flying toward them. It was even bigger than the majestic golden eagles that soared over his home. It came closer and closer, dropping low over the sage. The drone grew into an earshattering roar. His family began to run and he followed, galloping beside his mother where he would be safe. Mile after mile the menacing, giant bird chased them. His legs ached and he wanted to rest, but he could not leave his mother. He kept running, struggling to keep up. Fear gripped the Calico colt.

Then he saw a horse in front of his father and it too began to run. Safety must be ahead. His family followed the stranger and suddenly they were trapped inside walls of steel. His father tried to jump over the wall but it was too high. There were two legged animals running at them with long sticks and something white that fluttered madly. Suddenly, he was separated from his mother when a two-legged moved between them, striking out at him with the frightening stick and the fluttering bag. He was driven into another corral. When he whinnied for his mother, she answered. He raced around the corral calling for her, but found his feet were too sore to run anymore and he stopped. He could hear his father calling and he knew the proud stallion had been separated too. The colt answered him. He could see his mother through the bars of his cage and this gave him strength and hope.

Days passed. It was cold and there was no place to get out of the wind. In his home, his mother would have led the band below a rocky outcrop that blocked the wind. The colt began to fear he would never again smell the sweet sage of her breath or taste the warm milk she offered to him. His feet, so sore, became worse. Shooting pains darted through his whole body when he tried to walk so he moved as little as possible, hobbling a few steps to eat the plants the two-leggeds had thrown on the ground for them. One frigid morning, the two leggeds came and drove him into a truck with others that were his age. The pain was constant now and when the truck moved out, he stayed on his feet but the pain riveted him with every jolt and bump. He called for his mother, but there was no answer. Would he ever see his parents again?

Hours passed and the truck moved onto smoother ground and it turned into a place where he could hear the calls of his kind. He whinnied as loud as he could, but the answering voices were unfamiliar. The two-leggeds drove the colt from the truck into a bigger cage and he struggled to keep up with the other foals. Some of them were limping too. His eyes scanned the horizon, looking for something familiar but the flat horizon looked nothing like the land of his birth. Days went by and he spent hours laying in the dirt, the pain growing. He could feel something happening to his feet. His once strong, dark hooves were beginning to separate from the bone designed to hold them fast. He laid flat and closed his eyes, imagining the home and family he feared he would never see again. The two leggeds walked toward him. He wanted to jump up and dash away but he could not. Over the next few days he grew too tired to move at all. The wind howled and as it began to snow, he closed his eyes for the last time and dreamed of his family. Then two leggeds came again and killed the Calico Colt.

In death, the lively spirit of the Calico Colt was released to roam free once more. He has returned home to his family and the land of his dreams. He is not just a statistic. Neither he nor what he symbolizes will ever be forgotten. (Ginger Kathrens is a filmmaker, author, and founder of The Cloud Foundation, dedicated to preserving our mustangs on public lands. The Foundation is calling for a
stop to the roundups that are robbing public lands of our legendary, native wild equids—the very embodiment of freedom for many Americans. The Calico colt is only one of many who have died as a result of the ongoing roundups this year alone. Find out what you can do at www.thecloudfoundation.org

Photo: Living Images by Carol Walker



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1/23/10

Cloud's Herd & Rescued Bands Update

This is the newsletter from The Cloud Foundation with an update on the 15 Freedom Fund horses that they were able to purchase back from the BLM after the hateful roundup in September, 2009. It was hard to believe that the BLM - against its own regulations removed older horses like the 19 year old Conquistador and the 21 year old mare, Grumpy Grulla. Then they put them up for sale! I don't even want to contemplate what might have happened to them if the Cloud Foundation hadn't been able to buy them back.

So I put on my Conquistador t-shirt, make some coffee in my Conquistador mug and just rejoice in these pictures. Enjoy!

Cloud's Herd & Rescued Bands Update
A letter and travel journal from Ginger Kathrens
Dear Friends of Cloud and his family and all our wild horses;


After Christmas, Ann Evans (owner of Cloud’s sisters- Smokey and Mahogany and my dear friend), Connor (my Irish Terrier), and I traveled north to Montana. First we visited our Freedom Fund horses on the ranch just north of the Pryor Mountains.
 

 Only with your help and immediate action were we able to adopt and purchase these 15 after the disastrous roundup in September 2009.


BLM removed every horse from Commissary Ridge in the Custer National Forest at the request of the Forest Service. In their defense, I do not believe that the Forest Service managers knew that BLM was permanently removing all of them, but were under the impression at least some would be allowed to go free in the designated range. But, BLM surprised all of us and did not let one horse go free—not even the 19-year-old band stallion Conquistador or the 21-year-old mare, Grumpy Grulla.
It is my great pleasure to report to you that all 15 in four bands look fabulous! They have settled in to a pasture in the shadow of the Pryors, an expansive, scenic area bisected by a willow-lined creek below colorful red rock cliffs.



 


Conquistador has assumed his role as “king of the stallions” and, while we were sitting with him and his mare Cavalitta, Wild Blue, the lone bachelor stallion, came across the creek and ventured a bit too close for Conquistador’s comfort. The proud old stallion marched up to Blue and they did their ritualized pooping and snorting. Then they sparred, rearing and biting. When Conquistador grabbed the back of Blue’s neck, the bachelor fought to get away.

 


With the snow flying, Conquistador pushed him down hill. He released Blue and they pranced side-by-side, before Blue took off kicking and bucking. I sensed this was great fun for the four-year-old and that he was pleased with himself. After all he got a rise out of the “king.”

   
Band stallions Bo and Shane

True to her name, 21-year-old, Grumpy Grulla, is happily bossing around every one of her family members in Bo’s band, including the chestnut mare, Sierra, Bo and his bay mare, Chalupa, have the only youngster in the small herd, a coming yearling we named Star. But, Star may soon have young companions as four mares look pregnant including a very round-bellied Mystery (Wild Blue’s mother), one of Shane’s two mares. And Trigger’s mare, Mae West looks as if she could foal at anytime, but we think she’ll wait until spring. This new life will allow for the continuation of rare bloodlines that can one day rejuvenate the main Pryor herd.


 

Trigger, Mae West and Evita in background

The weather was even warmer when we drove into the horse range and began looking for mustangs. On Tillett Ridge, right near the road, we found Diamond, Cloud’s palomino mother, Trace’s mother, and her daughter. The four looked great. In fact, Diamond and the Palomino look better than they have in years—since Diamond’s injury during the 2006 bait-trapping of horses and the Palomino’s 2007 abscess from an infertility drug dart. 



The young bachelors we saw just above them also looked wonderful and included Cloud’s four-year-old half brother—a flashy light-colored roan with stockings and a blaze.  On Sykes Ridge the four-year-old blue roan bachelor, Fool’s Crow and the older sabino bachelor, Medicine Bow, eyed us warily from the crest of a hill near Cougar Canyon. 



Connor and I took a hike where we had seen Flint and his little family disappear the day before when it was getting dark. From the top of a flat-topped rocky hill, I glassed and glassed and on a distant, snowy ridgeline far above us, I spotted Cloud! He shone in the mid-day sun and I could see others with him but couldn’t make out who they were or how many. I knew that reaching them was impossible which was a disappointment, but that is the reality of winter. 


Flint's band: Feldspar, Jasper and Heather


As I glassed the canyons nearer my lookout, I saw a horse who looked very familiar. It was Flint and he was with his family. Ann and I were able to hike through the snow to them. Flint, Feldspar, their son Jasper and a new mare foraged amongst the juniper breaks. We watched as they scooped up snow and chewed, water dripping from their mouths. I recognized Flint’s new mare, Heather, a pretty little red roan two-year-old  (featured as a foal in our 2010 Cloud Foundation Calendar by Carol Walker—she was the March “pinup”). I was proud of Flint and whispered, “Good for you.” He had lost a young filly who was removed in the round up, so Heather was a great catch for the young band stallion. 



As we watched, I saw Fool’s Crow appear on the hilltop and peer down at Flint’s family. Flint stood very still, watching the young bachelor intently. Then Flint crossed the little draw toward the blue roan who walked downhill to meet him. They greeted, sparred a bit and were joined by another bachelor bright mahogany bay. 



Their sparring was strictly for fun, but it also gave Flint a chance to warn them not to come any closer. Medicine Bow appeared atop the hill and Flint accompanied the two bachelors uphill where he and Medicine Bow sparred ever so briefly. Then the three bachelors dashed off. Every so often I turned to see what Feldspar, Jasper and Heather were doing. The mares looked around and started grazing while Jasper watched his father with the bachelors. There is much for a foal to learn just by watching. Jasper and Flint are two of the closest fathers and sons I have ever seen. The colt clearly loves his father, much like Flint loved Cloud when he was a baby.


On our last day we walked from the Red Buttes across Turkey Flat to the mouth of Big Coulee and found Bolder and his band in the sagebrush flats that lead into the deep canyon. Like all the horses we saw, they looked plump, with Autumn and Cascade looking especially round.


There may be two more Bolder babies in the spring. The dark palomino ate snow with Texas as I had seen them do together through the years when they were both in Shaman’s band.


The grand, old stallion died just days before the round up. If Shaman had to go, I was thankful he did not have to go through that awful ordeal. Bolder’s buckskin filly daughter wandered up a snowy gully toward us.


She looked spectacular—the black on her legs is above her knees and her pale coat shone in the sun. It was as if her great-grandmother had returned. We call the filly Jewel and she is a gem. My hope is that she will be allowed to live free in her home forever.

With this in mind, the Cloud Foundation’s top priority in the coming year will be to work on expanding the boundaries of the Pryor Wild Horse Range to reflect the large historic use area of the horses. When we are successful with this effort (which will require continuing education and potentially litigation), the removal of entire families like what happened in the Custer National Forest last September will never happen again! And the BLM will have no excuse to manage the herd at the current, non-viable number.
Meanwhile, the struggle goes on to protect wild horse and burro herds all over the West. We are leading a fight to raise public awareness, focusing attention on BLM’s extraordinary mismanagement of our horses and burros at the expense of not only the animals, but the American taxpayers. A staggering 12,000 wild horses and burros are to be rounded up in 2010. With your continued support we will keep fighting for their right to remain where they belong—in their homes, with their families on our wide western landscapes.

Happy Trails!
Ginger Kathrens
Volunteer Executive Director






Cloud tries to snake his band back to get missing family members. September 2009 roundup



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