Shootin' (Down) the Bull

Showcasing Catoor/Highlightin' the Bull & Annotatin' the Lies 

Bull in bold & Lies in ( )

From article in "Cowboy Showcase" In the distance, you can hear the helicopters coming to the corral with another band of wild horses. Near the mouth of the capture corral Dave Cattoor stood, looking out into the vast expanse of wild horse country in Central Nevada’s, Antelope Valley. Dave was holding his “pilot horse” Shorty by his halter. When the wild horses approached the mouth of the trap, herded along from behind with the helicopters, Dave turned Shorty loose and he ran to the front of the wild horse band, leading them safely into the capture corral. Dave said in his quiet way, “I can put wild horses in your barn with Shorty’s help.”

Cattoor Livestock Roundups, Inc has repeated this scene many times in locations throughout Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, since 1975. This premier wild horse-gathering outfit has been in the business for over 32 years working with the BLM, USFS, NPS and private individuals and has captured over 200,000 wild horses, wild burros, and wild cattle. During this period, they have purchased and built new livestock holding equipment, improved air-to-ground radio communications, purchased three helicopters, fuel trucks, water hauling trailers, horse hauling equipment and improved gathering techniques. They have learned the best methods available to assure safety for their employees and the animals they capture.

Dave Cattoor grew up in mustang country on the Western Slope of the Colorado Rockies near Maybell, Colorado. He learned the ways of wild horses from the old-time wild horsemen in northwestern Colorado and southern Wyoming. (Of course, he is an old "Mustanger," from an old Mustangin' famolee) He caught his first wild horse when he was 12 years old and from then on, he has followed wild horse trails throughout the west.

The Roundup

In the early days, wild horses were caught either from horseback or by water trapping. These capture methods were slow, dangerous, (for whom?) and sometimes not very efficient (Seems efficiency would depend upon the quality and quantity of the ranglers involved.) In the early 70s, Federal laws were changed to allow the use of helicopters to gather wild horses. This improved the gathering process a great deal and it became much easier on the wild horses and their colts. 

Dave says this about helicopters and pilots, “A good helicopter pilot does not run wild horses during a round up. These pilots must be experienced and understand livestock habits. The horses are gathered with the helicopter and herded along much as you would move cattle. The animals going to the capture trap travel at their own speed and unless they need to be turned, the helicopter backs off and just follows the animals. If the horses in the lead start to run off, they can be turned back in order to slow the herd down. Even most of the mares with small colts can keep up using this method. Helicopter roundups are the most efficient and safe way to gather wild horses, burros, and wild cattle.(Safe and effiecient for whom, I ask again; most certainly NOT the animals) During the past couple of years, we have started using two helicopters to gather in the same area. This has worked out very well and has cut our gather time in half and is much easier on the wild horses and their colts.” (How so? To have TWO terrifying loud-ass flying machines in the air chasing them, instead of one. Better yet to have NONE) Dave explained how they select a capture site in a roundup area. “Preliminary scouting both by air and on the ground is done to find the natural routes wild horses travel .The capture site needs to be close to the animals you want to catch and somewhere that they would naturally go, so that you do not attempt to force horses but they will travel there more or less on their own.ROTFLMAO An example would be a natural spring or livestock water where horses have been going for water. (Such as used to be used but now abandoned, as a more humane ("water-trapping") method of capture?) Easier to chase them down with helicopters, eh? Once the capture site has been chosen, proper capture pens and wings must be installed. These pens are constructed of materials that do not harm the horses (Like the barbed wire fence that Freedom ran through?) and will make gathering, sorting, and loading easier for the animals and wranglers alike.”

When asked about what happens when colts or horses are left behind on a gather, Dave said, (I thought as stated above, that the mares w/ their babies have NO PROBLEM keeping up - make up our minds, will ya guys? You know we are easily confused (NOT) lol) “We have wranglers and saddled horses ready at the capture pens. When the helicopter pilot radios that a colt or horse has fallen back, we send the wrangler and his horse to bring the animals in.” (You mean to run the exhaused animals even harder and longer, dont you,...i.e.; the colt that you ran his feet off)

Once the animals are safely in the capture corrals, (there IS NO safety in the capture pens, it is pure and utter confusion, fear and pandamonium for them ) they are sorted or sometimes loaded in semi-trucks and horse trailers and hauled to a separate set of sorting corrals at a holding facility.(By BLMs own laws, they are not supposed to be immediately loaded for transport but are supposed to be given PLENTY OF TIME (as in a day or so) to settle down before transport.) At these corrals, Dave’s wife Sue Cattoor, and their son and business partner Troy along with several wranglers and a BLM Horse Specialist ( Bebop Cowboy Aassholes, all.) proceed with the sorting operation. When needed, a State Brand Inspector and a veterinarian assist them. (When needed? The vet should be there ALL OF THE TIME, you know, as sort of a casual or humane observer) The horses are sorted, studs in one pen, dry mares in a pen, and mares with colts in another. Extreme care is taken to keep the mares and their colts together. (At least til they get to the holding facilities where they are immediately taken away from their mothers and processed as "young adoptables.") All of the horses are run through a chute and are “mouthed” to determine their ages.

Sue Cattoor said, when asked about what will be done with these captured horses, “According to the most recent estimates, the wild horse and burro population grows at a about a rate of 18 % a year. Since the enactment of the Wild and Free Roaming Horse and Burro act of 1971, horse and burro populations have increased dramatically. (BIG FAT LIE: there used to be nearly 1 million wild equines on our public lands, they HAVE NOT increased in numbers due to ranchers killing them off and the BLMs managment for extinction which has continously through the years DECIMATED their numbers - BLM and their rancher friends WOULD NEVER allow the herds to grow - remember, they STILL have (secret) bounties on them,..so much an ear) Recent estimates of wild horse and burro numbers exceed 31,000 (whos estimates? lol) living on Federal lands. (How many privately owned cows do you run on public land, Sue? If there were 100,000 wild horses out there, it still would not be enough to do all the damage that MILLIONS of privately owned cattle do - AND at a cost of $500 MILLION DOLLARS a year to the taxpayers to run all of them privately owned cows, which, by the way, are the ones POUNDING our public lands TO DUST) Nevada has over one half of these wild horses and burros. These animals have virtually no natural predators, (That is because the BLM kills off all the preditors at the ranchers request,.....taxpayers pay $29 MILLION a year for BLMs Preditor Control program) except for an occasional mountain lion, (Dont worry, the Big Game hunters taking over our lands will take care of them) and their herd size can double about every four years. This leaves the BLM and other federal land managers in the very difficult position of managing the AMLs (appropriate management levels) for wildlife, livestock, and wild horses and burros to the best of their ability in these multiple-use areas.” (There is NO mandaory multiple use requirements for wild horse (and burro) countrys.....BLM is IGNORING the FLPMA exceptions to the "multiple use" and "sustained yield" requirments. Remember the 1971 Act? Its designates WFH&B historic lands as PRINCIPALLY FOR THEIR USE. What part of BLACK & WHITE / CUT & DRY dont you or the BLM understand?)

Problems

“If the BLM waits too long to make a gather, wild horses can get into such bad physical shape from lack of water and feed that many may die. This is what happened to the Jackson Mountain wild horses, north of Winnemucca, Nevada, in September 2007. They were gathered too late. There had been fires and a terrible drought in this area for many months. The cattle permittee had already removed his cattle from the allotment due to lack of water and feed. (BLM LOCKED THEM OUT of water sources - we have the pics, thank you) We gathered the wild horses and shipped them to the BLM holding facility at Palomino Valley, north of Reno. Over 100 horses died after being transported there. Salmonella was said to be the cause. However, salmonella is present in many healthy horse’s digestive tracts. When horses are in a weaken condition, as these were when we gathered, they are more susceptible to succumbing to it’s effects. Wild horses are not wildlife that will migrate to a better area when food and water run out. (WHAT?!! Now horses are stoopid?) They are livestock (NOT)(LIVE STOCK is something owned,...that is why they call it "STOCK," it is the owners STOCK-IN-TRADE and wild horses ARENT OWNED by any private individual so therefore are NOT livestock in the traditional sense) that must be managed and their numbers must be controlled out on the range so that they have enough to eat and drink.” (So WHY don't you do as you say and control them ON the ranges instead herding them off? Is this what you call a managment plan?)

Dave explained, “We have gathered at this same Nevada location in Antelope Valley five times in years past and this area is overstocked with wild horses once again. The livestock permittee has been cut back to 200 cows for two months out of the year on his federal grazing permit and he owns the private water source where most of these horses are drinking. (BLM HAS A DUTY to provide the equines with water sources, NO MATTER if privately owned) The BLM Horse Specialist will make the determination as to how many of these horses are shipped and how many will be turned back out on the range. The horses that are shipped will be hauled by semi-truck to a BLM holding facility held, and fed there. There presently are more wild horses in holding facilities than there are out on the range. These horses are on welfare. (So are the public land ranchers, the grazing program is nothing but SOCIALISM in its purest form,..costing $500 Million a year to taxpayers) They are the wild horses and burros that no one wants. (Guess you are speaking for the whole Nation here, huh Sue? No, not presumptious of you at all (for an asshole) Over half of the BLM wild horse federal budget is going to feed these gathered unwanted horses& burros” (And who's fault is that?..Of course, you just have to know, the BLM planned it that way, just so they could use it as an excuse for mass euthanasia, which by the way, as you also should know, America will never allow. )

The Future

When we asked Sue Cattoor what the answer is to all this, she replied, “There has to be somewhere to take these excess horses that are gathered. Holding facilities are filling up. It has become very difficult to get people to adopt wild horses anymore. It would seem that the only answer to this huge problem is for various special interest groups to find additional homes for these horses and burros (Yeah, sure, FOIST the duty of care away from the BLm and onto private hands) or allow the un-adoptable ones to be humanely destroyed like we do dogs and cats. (Join the No-Kill Shelter Revolution Today - it is the modern trend; NoKill.Com) With the current purposed changes in the horse slaughter laws in the United States, this country is filling up with unwanted horses. (NO SUCH THING as an unwanted horse) In this November gather alone, there were at least 25 branded horses. (How hard is it to trace the brands and charge the owners with abandonment?) We could one day be gathering more privately-owned horses that have been turned out on federal lands because their owners did not want to feed and care for them than we are gathering wild horses.” (Can you say "Against the Law?") If you want to learn something about wild horse gathering, spend a day in a mustang capture corral in the middle of wild horse country in Central Nevada with Dave and Sue Cattoor and their crew. You will get an education on what wild horse and burro capture is all about from people who spent a lifetime, watching, following, and catching these animals throughout the west!--(and shipping them off to slaughter.)

Contact information:

Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc. www.wildhorseroundups.com
Dave and Sue Cattoor
Troy and Sandy Cattoor
PO Box 289
Nephi, Utah 84648

Story by Mike Laughlin - A version of this article was published in Range Magazine, Spring 2008 Issue. Photos by Lee Raine

 

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LIFEBLOOD OF THE WEST

This is only one of many excellent reports from the book Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West

LIFEBLOOD OF THE WEST

Riparian Zones, Biodiversity, and Degradation by Livestock

J. Boone Kauffman, Ph.D

Riparian, or streamside, areas are critical habitat for many plants and animals in the arid West. Livestock grazing is the leading cause of riparian degradation. Impacts to vegetation, stream hydrology, and geomorphology can separately or synergistically affect stream functioning and many wildlife species. Thus, riparian restoration, including the removal of livestock, must be a high priority for the conservation of biodiversity.

J. Boone Kauffman is professor of ecosystem sciences in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis. He studies the ecology and restoration of riparian zones in the arid West, as well as tropical forest ecology in Central and South America, and has written more than a hundred scientific papers on natural ecosystems. He grew up on the West Texas plains and holds a Ph.D. degree in forest ecology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well a B.S. degree in range management and an M.S. degree in range ecology.

Riparian zones are a unique wetland environment adjacent to rivers or streams. People have long recognized that riparian zones and rivers are the lifeblood of the western landscape, being more productive and home to more plants and animals than any other type of habitat. Scientists refer to riparian zones as hotspots of biodiversity, a characterization that is particularly apparent in arid and semiarid environments, where such zones may be the only tree-dominated ecosystems in the landscape. The presence of water, increased productivity, favorable microclimate, and periodic flood events combine to create a disproportionately higher biological diversity than that of the surrounding uplands.

Cattle graze in a wet meadow along Blacktail Creek, Beaverhead National Forest, Montana. Streamside vegetation is cropped low, parts of the stream bank are bare, and other parts are sloughing into the creek.

In the Intermountain West and Great Basin, about 85 percent of native animal species are dependent on riparian zones for all or part of their life cycles. In these same riparian zones, more than 100 plant species commonly can be found on a single gravel bar of about 150 feet in length. In Oregon and Washington, about 71 percent of the native animal species utilize riparian zones. Given that riparian areas make up only 0.5 to 2 percent of the landscape, their value in terms of biological diversity is incomparable.

Healthy riparian zones are of special importance to native fish, aquatic insects, and other stream-dwelling organisms. Particularly in headwater areas, most of the nutrients and energy used by aquatic organisms come from riparian zones--either plant materials that fall into the stream or nutrients dissolved in groundwater flows. Riparian zones are also the source of large pieces of wood that provide important in-stream habitat. Riparian vegetation gives shade over creeks, strongly influencing water temperature and thereby the distribution of coldwater species such as bull trout and other salmonids. Roots bind soil together and create resistance to stream erosion, resulting in complex habitat features such as overhanging banks, deep pools, and clean gravels. Finally, riparian zones are important in influencing water quality through nutrient uptake, chemical transformation (such as the conversion of nitrogen compounds into forms more useful for a variety of plant and animal species), and the mechanical filtering of sediments when flood waters flow high over stream banks.

Many of the same attributes of riparian zones that result in high productivity and high biodiversity are of great economic value to human society. Unfortunately, many current uses of riparian corridors and wetlands by society do not correspond with preservation of these places as wildlife habitats or as providers of important natural services, such as the reduction of flood velocity and intensity. Broad floodplains formed along streams through the millennia have been productive not only because of their complex wildlife habitats and linkages to the aquatic biota but also because of their nutrient-rich soils. In fact, although the best lands for tilled agriculture, livestock forage, and timber growth are riparian zones and wetlands, these same activities, along with a variety of others, have been conducted in such an abusive fashion as to diminish greatly the value of riparian and stream ecosystems, from both utilitarian and ecological viewpoints.

A multitude of land uses show a lack of respect for, or ignorance of, the value of healthy and vigorous riparian zones and have resulted in the deterioration of not only riparian areas, but the entire landscape. In general, land abuses that have degraded riparian zones include logging, water diversion for irrigation or municipal uses, mining, roads, channelization, urbanization, industry, and agriculture. In the western United States, it is likely that livestock grazing has been the most widespread cause of ecological degradation of riparian/stream ecosystems. More riparian areas and stream miles are affected by livestock grazing than by any other type of land use.

Livestock, especially cattle, prefer riparian zones for many of the same reasons that so many species of wildlife use them: high plant productivity, proximity to water, favorable microclimate, and level ground. As much as 81 percent of the forage removed by livestock within a grazing allotment can come from the 2 percent of land area occupied by the riparian zone. Without controls on animal numbers, timing, and duration of use, cattle can rapidly and severely degrade riparian areas through forage removal, soil compaction, stream bank trampling, and the introduction of exotics. These factors have been defined as the direct effects of domestic livestock grazing on ecosystems.

Through time, the direct effects of livestock can have many additive or even synergistic impacts that dramatically change the structure, function, and composition of the riparian zone. Of particular importance are the effects of livestock on streamside forests of cottonwood, aspen, and willow. The highest densities of breeding songbirds in the West are found in these habitats. Long-term overgrazing can eliminate these stands, which are of inestimable value as centers of biological diversity. In the short term, herbivory can depress both plant growth and reproductive output. Depressing the vigor of native plant species, along with increased soil disturbance due to livestock trampling, facilitates the spread of exotic weeds. Herbivory also causes a corresponding decline in the root biomass of riparian vegetation.

This stream in northern New Mexico has become “entrenched.” Over time, grazing and trampling of the soils and banks by livestock have caused the stream to widen and cut downward. Typical results of this stream degradation process include lowered water table, drier soil in the zone adjoining the waterway, and riparian-type plants (such as willows) gradually replaced by more drought-resistant plants (such as sagebrush).

At stream edges, the combination of root loss and trampling weakens and collapses banks. Bank loss and the resulting sediment loads contribute to downcutting, channel widening, and degradation of water quality and fish habitats. As the channel downcuts, overbank flows cease, and subsurface water exchange between stream and floodplain is lost. Floodplain forests evolved to grow and develop in the environment created by large floods. By altering or eliminating the natural flood regime, channel downcutting impedes or halts the development of multi-layered, multi-aged--or "gallery"--forests, such as those composed of cottonwood trees and willows, along with other riparian plants. Loss of the riparian forests negatively affects not only the terrestrial wildlife, but the aquatic biota as well. Loss of shade and organic inputs from riparian vegetation results in increased stream temperature, altered water quality, and a change in composition and abundance of the aquatic biota.

Although occupying a small portion of the landscape, riparian zones are keystone ecosystems because of their high level of biodiversity and provision of other ecosystem services. The restoration of riparian zones would yield many positive benefits, including the return of flood events to something resembling their natural patterns. Because riparian plants have adapted to survive frequent floods and other natural disturbances, they often show great resilience after the cessation of human activities that are causing degradation. Such removal of harmful activities is termed passive restoration, and in the arid West, the most significant act of passive restoration would be the removal of grazing livestock. Logically, passive restoration should be implemented first, and its effectiveness assessed, before the initiation of more active measures, such as structural modifications and reintroductions of species.

Among the greatest barriers to effective riparian recovery are political and social factors. Land and river managers have often been limited to, or limited themselves to, band-aid approaches that do not address the real causes of degradation. For example, salmon have continued to decline in the Columbia Basin of the Pacific Northwest, despite the input of billions of dollars for restoration projects and mitigating measures, because, among other reasons, livestock continue to degrade riparian zones. A prominent and popular project on public lands in the Columbia Basin has been the installation of artificial structures in smaller streams, in an attempt to re-create aquatic habitat that has been lost to decades of poor resource management. However, artificial stream structures can be expensive and often are sited and constructed poorly.

In many cases, the most effective, cheapest, and simplest approach to restoring these river courses would be to halt grazing damage and allow the streams to recover their own natural vegetative and morphological characteristics over time. But it can be extremely difficult politically for managers to make such decisions. And restoration results can take a long time to appear, whereas political demands arise much more rapidly. Yet, given the inestimable natural values that arise from healthy riparian zones, a long-term commitment to riparian restoration, preservation, and sustainable management should receive high priority. The reduction or removal of livestock from vital riparian and wetland habitats throughout the West needs to be given serious consideration by all those concerned about ecosystem health.

References available in printed version of article

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  Welfare Ranching: Lifeblood of the West
  
  
  
  

BLM Official Says Wild Horses Are Not Starving

Time to "rein in" BLM's wild horse and burro program

December 18, 2:31 PMLA Equine Policy ExaminerCarrol Abel

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A wild stallion on the Pine Nut Range in Northern Nevada

photo by Carrol Abel

Was last years Bureau of Land Management announcement of plans to euthanize 33,000 wild horses a prelude to the BLM program's swan song?  A clamor of voices rapidly growing in number has brought the wild horse and burro program under the spotlight of mainstream press. Conducting business as usual is no longer acceptable to the American public.

The BLM has been operating the program with an omnipotent mind set for so many years they can't seem to function otherwise. Evidence that detail of program policies will not hold up under scrutiny is popping up from all directions.  Can it stand the final test of President Obama's promise of transparency in government.

There seems to be little connection between the left and right hands of upper management. Don Glenn, head of the national program, stated to this examiner, "Wild horses are not starving.  The press repeatedly gets that wrong.  We don't know of any that are starving right now.  The range is in good condition."  Apparently, Glenn did not communicate that to his boss, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

"One of the first things he said was something must be done because the horses are starving." said singer Sheryl Crow of her conversation with Salazar in a recent interview with AP reporter Martin Griffith.

The Surprise Field Office recently conducted an unscheduled removal of  over 200 wild  horses near the Nevada/ California border giving advocates no opportunity for legal filing to stop the action. Apparently, Glenn was not aware.  Either Glenn is hiding the truth or management has no idea what the field offices are doing.  Any way one chooses to look at it, this makes a huge statement.

Even Department of Justice lawyers seem to be tripping over their tongues.  Erick Petersen defended BLM's position in a district court hearing to determine the merits of a request for injunction to stop the Calico Complex roundup.  "Removing the animals also will help preserve the endangered and rapidly disappearing rangeland where they live." Petersen said.  Maybe Glenn didn't tell him "The range is in good condition."

Petersen also said "The 1971 law requires removal of excess horses to ensure they are treated humanely." He was joking wasn't he?

Animal welfare groups have been frustrated with BLM contradictions and inconsistencies for some time.  The program istelf would seem to be a contradiction.

District Court Judge Rosemary M Collyer ruled against a Colorado roundup in August of this year saying,
 "It would be anomalous to infer that by authorizing the custodian of the wild free roaming horses to 'manage' them, Congress intended to permit the animals' custodian to subvert  the primary policy of the statute by capturing and removing from the wild the very animals that Congress sought to protect from being captured and removed from the wild."

Celebrities, scientists, Animal welfare and Wild Horse Advocate organizations along with private citizens are supported by members of Congress in their call for an immediate moratorium on wild horse roundups pending Congressional investigation.  And yet the roundups continue at an escalated pace.  By all appearances, it's a last ditch attempt at the annihilation of America's wild horse herds.

A call is growing to remove the wild horse and burro program from the BLM altogether..... a movement also supported by some members of congress.

In all fairness to Ken Salazar, he has been on the job for less than a year.  He inherited the problem. Corralling the BLM herd of management dinosaurs in that period of time is an unrealistic expectation.  A anonymous source stated to this examiner," This is a timely moment.  For the first time in history, this has gotten the Secretary's attention."  The statement is pleasant to the ears.  But the questions remain.  Can Ken Salazar bring the program into the 21st century?  Will the program be removed from the BLM before America's symbol of freedom is no longer free?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FWefEkv85Q&feature=player_embedded
Disappointment Valley... A Modern Day Western
 

More About: wild horses · BLM · animal rights
 

I-Team: Injunction Filed to Fight Wild Horse Roundup

 Chief Investigative Reporter George Knapp and Photojournalist Matt Adams

I-Team: Injunction Filed to Fight Wild Horse Roundup

Posted: Dec 16, 2009 8:06 PM EST Updated: Dec 16, 2009 8:10 PM EST  

The fate of thousands of Nevada's wild horses was on the line Wednesday in the nation's capital. Advocates for the horses asked a federal judge to stop a massive roundup planned for later this month in northern Nevada.

The focus of the court battle is the proposed Calico roundup. The Bureau of Land Management says it needs to remove 2,700 horses from an area larger than 500,000 acres and it needs to happen even in brutal winter weather. Advocates for the horses argued the BLM action is cruel, dangerous and clearly illegal.

"The whole idea of the Wild Horse Act was the horse living in its natural state on the continent of its origin. Now that's being perverted and they are being made into slave horses, against their will and against the will of the people," said Wildlife Ecologist Craig Downer.

Downer is one of two Nevadans who lent their names to the lawsuit filed in Washington by the group In Defense of Animals to stop BLM in its tracks.

BLM had planned to start the roundup December 7, 2009 but delayed its plans for a few weeks. Unless Judge Paul Friedman orders otherwise, BLM will unleash its wranglers and choppers on December 28, 2009. The three-month project could cost $1.7 million in taxpayer money and remove 90-percet of the estimated 3,000 horses that live on more than half a million otherwise empty acres of public land.

The Calico gather is one of many on the BLM schedule. The bureau wants to capture another 12,000 horses to join the 33,000 already living in government pens. Earlier this year, Downer said the BLM's new found sense of urgency goes too far. "It's totally in your face extremism. It's a bold faced attempt to obliterate, and those few they leave, they sterilize them, cut them down to such miserably low numbers that they will become inbred or some rancher is going to come out and shoot the rest of them," he said.

In its public statements, BLM argues it needs to remove the horses right away to protect the range from overgrazing, even though last year the bureau approved an increase in cattle grazing in the very same range, saying then that damage from horses was negligible.

The lawyer representing Downer and the other parties thinks a winter roundup will kill many of the mustangs but his arguments in federal court focused on the law. "It does not include a roundup such as what is contemplated here. In fact, it is quite the opposite," said attorney Bill Spriggs.

Spriggs told the judge that the law lays out specific steps that must be taken before mustangs can be removed from public land, and that BLM hasn't followed any of them in the Calico Hills. He further argued BLM has no legal authority to warehouse horses in out-of-state holding pens, which is where most of them end up, in part because BLM puts minimal effort into adopting them out.

The judge said that if he agrees with the argument and stops the roundup, he's concerned what would become of the horses already captured. Mustang advocates say its BLM's own fault for not following the law. "That was a self-inflicted wound since they're spending 70-percent of their budget on horses in Kansas and should have spent it managing the horses in the first place," said Spriggs.

Because the roundup is slated to begin December 28, a decision on the preliminary injunction will have to come soon, most likely by next week. If it is granted, the mustang advocates will have the time to launch a much broader legal assault on the BLM's entire approach to the wild horse issue.

The I-Team special report on wild horses, Stampede to Oblivion, is re-airing this Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. and it covers many of the central issues in this debate.

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The Ballad of Slaughterhouse Sue

This Glorious Presentation is dedicated to that tireless and dedicated Advocate of Horse Slaughter for Profit, the disgrace of Wyoming, your enemy and mine - Slaughterhouse Sue!

Okay, everyone - Get out your captive bolt pistols! Pull on your tall boots so the blood won't get on your good pants, and lets do the Slaughterhouse Boogie all around the old kill chute!

After the celebratin' is over, we can set down to a wonderful meal of Horse-meat Chili eaten off our beautiful horse hide tablecloth! Hey! The chili and the tablecloth were made from the same horse!

Yeehawwww!

Image via Wikipedia

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• Save Horses From The Slaughter House Auctions (thepetitionsite.com)

Takin' It to the Street - And the Beltway Too

November 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

John Holland Equine Welfare Alliance 540.268.5693 john@equinewelfarealliance.org Ginger Kathrens The Cloud Foundation 719.633.4933 news@thecloudfoundation.org

Unified Call for an Immediate Moratorium on Wild Horse & Burro Roundups
CHICAGO, (EWA) – On November 18, 2009, American Citizens and partners in Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa, delivered the following letter to the President, Congress and the Department of the Interior.


A Unified Call for an Immediate Moratorium on Wild Horse & Burro Roundups
And a humane, fiscally responsible plan for preserving and protecting the iconic,
free-roaming wild horses and burros of the American West President Obama, Members of Congress and the Department of the Interior:
We, the undersigned, request major changes to the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro program. This must begin with an immediate moratorium on all roundups. While we agree that the program is in dire need of reform, and we applaud your Administration's commitment to avoid BLM’s suggested mass-killing of horses, the plan outlined in October by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar raises numerous concerns. These include:

1. Perpetuating the flawed assumption that wild horses and burros are overpopulating their Western ranges. In reality, the BLM has no accurate current inventory of the 37,000 wild horses and burros it claims remain on public lands. Independent analysis of BLM’s own numbers reveal there may be only 15,000 wild horses remaining on public lands.
   
2. Continuing the mass removal of wild horses and burros from their rightful Western ranges: The BLM intends to spend over $30 million in Fiscal Year 2010 to capture more than 12,000 wild horses and burros. This stockpiling of horses continues even as an astounding 32,000 are already being held in government holding facilities at enormous taxpayer expense.
   
3. Scapegoating wild horses and burros for range deterioration even though they comprise only a tiny fraction of animals and wildlife grazing our public lands. Far greater damage is caused by privately-owned livestock, which outnumber the horses more than 100 to 1.
   
4. Moving wild horses and burros east off their Western homelands to “sanctuaries” in the east and Midwest at an initial cost of $96 million creates significant health concerns if animals adapted to western landscapes are managed on wet ground and rich grasses.

Removing tens of thousands of horses and burros from their legally-designated Western ranges and moving them into government-run facilities subverts the intent of the 1971 Wild Free-roaming Horse and Burro Act, which mandated that horses be preserved “where presently found.” A 2009 DC district court case held that “Congress did not authorize BLM to “manage” the wild horses and burros by corralling them for private maintenance or long-term care as non-wild free-roaming animals off the public lands.”
We appreciate your Administration's recognition of the horses’ value as an ecotourism resource. However, the display of captive, non-reproducing herds in eastern pastures renders them little more than zoo exhibits, further discounting the contribution to our history and the future of the American West.
We believe that workable solutions to create a healthy “multiple use” of public rangelands, protect the ecological balance of all wildlife, and preserve America's wild horses and burros in their rightful, legally protected home can be achieved. We are calling on the Obama Administration to reform the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Management Program.
We ask that you reverse the current course and immediately take the following actions:

1. Place a moratorium on all roundups until accurate and independent assessments of population numbers and range conditions are made available and a final, long-term solution is formalized.
   
2. Restore protections included in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act. Update existing laws that protect wild horses by reopening certain public lands to the mustangs and burros, thus decreasing the number in captivity. Return healthy wild horses and burros in holding to all available acres of public land designated primarily for their use in 1971. If these lands are not available, equivalent and appropriate western public lands should be added in their place.
   
3. Support federal grazing permit buybacks. Reduce livestock grazing and reanalyze appropriate management levels for herd management areas to allow for self-sustaining, genetically-viable herds to exist in the west.
   
4. Conduct Congressional hearings regarding the mismanagement of our wild herds and further investigate the inability of BLM to correct the shortcomings of the program as audited by the Government Accountability Office’s 1990, 1991 and 2008 reports.

Supported by the undersigned on November 16, 2009

Individuals - Go here to sign a petition for a moratorium.

Please note: The following groups and individuals were signatories on the petition at the time it was sent to President Obama. Additional groups and individuals are continuing to sign on. This list is produced in alphabetical order.

Autonomous Makana Ndlambe Horse & Livestock Association, South Africa
Adapting Gaits, Inc.
Alex Brown Racing
American Horse Defense Fund
Americans Against Horse Slaughter
Americans Against Horse Slaughter in Arizona
Andean Tapir Fund
Angel's Gate Hospice & Rehabilitation Home for Animals
Animal Healing Connection
Animal Health and Safety Associates/Pixie Projects
Animal Iridology Center
Animal Law Coalition
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Animals' Angels
Beauty's Haven Farm & Equine Rescue, Inc.
Brad Woodard, Reporter
Canadian Horse Defence Coalition
Castleton Ranch Horse Rescue, Inc.
Chantal Westermann, former ABC reporter
The Cloud Foundation
Colorado Wild Horse and Burro Coalition
The Conquistador Equine Rescue and Advocacy Program
Cornwalls Voice for Animals
Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and author
Senator Dave Wanzenried, Montana
Deanne Stillman , Author of Mustang
DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary
Ed Harris & Family
Emthunzini
Equine Advocates
Equine Protection Network
Equine Rescue and Protection Humane Society of the US, Inc.
Equine Welfare Alliance
For the Love of Jenny Animal Rescue
For the Love of the Horse
Force of the Horse© LLC.
Friends of A Legacy
Front Range Equine Rescue
George Wuerthner, ecologist
Glen Glasscock (long distance rider, world record holder)
The Golden Carrot
Gray Dapple Thoroughbred Assistance Program
Greater Houston Horse Council
Gypsy Heart Horse Rescue
Habitat for Horses, Inc.
Hacienda de los Milagros, Inc.
The Healing Journey Rescue
Helping Hearts Equine Rescue, Inc.
Hidden Creek Friesians
Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund
Home At Last Equine Rescue and Sanctuary
Honeysuckle Farms
Hope Ryden, congressional advisor on 1971 Act, Author America's Last Wild Horses
Horse Play
Horse Power
Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund, Inc.
Horseback Magazine
Humanion Films
Illinois Equine Humane Center, NFP
In Defense of Animals
Joe Camp, filmmaker, author The Soul of A Horse
Journey's End Ranch Animal Sanctuary
KBR World of Wild Horses and Burros
Lacy J. Dalton, singer/songwriter
Laura Leigh , Illustrator/writer
Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC)
Let 'em Run
Lifesavers, Inc.
Live and Let Live Farm Rescue
Madeleine's Mustangs - Madeleine Pickens
Manes and Tails Organization
Maria Daines , Singer/Songwriter
Mary Ann Kennedy, Singer/Songwriter
MidAtlantic Horse Rescue
Mustang Spirit
Mylestone Equine Rescue
Native American Church of Ghost Dancers
Natural Horse Magazine
Natural Horse Talk
Old Friends Equine , A Kentucky Thoroughbred Retirement Facility
Paul Sorvino, Actor
Paula Bacon, former mayor of Kaufman, TX
Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary
Quarter-Acre Rescue Ranch & Equine Advocacy Center
Rainbow Meadows Rescue and Retirement, Inc.
Redwings Horse Sanctuary
Reinfree.org | Mestengo
The Rescue Friends
Sacred Heart Equine Rescue
Santiburi Farm
Saving America's Horses A Nation Betrayed
Saving America's Mustangs
Saving Horses, Inc.
Saving Our American Wild Horse
Second Chance Ranch
Silent Voices Equine Rescue
South Florida Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Spirit Riders Foundation
Spoiled Acres Rescue Inc.
Spring Farm CARES Animal Sanctuary
Star Lit Stables
Summer Haven Rescue
Sustainable Obtainable Solutions
Terri Farley , author of The Phantom Stallion Series
Tranquility Farm
Triple H Miniature Horse Rescue
trueCOWBOYmagazine
Wayne McCrory, Wildlife Biologist and Conservationist
Wendie Malick, Actress
Valhalla Wilderness Society
WFL Endangered Stream Live
Whispering Winds Equine Rescue
Wild Burro Rescue and Preservation Project
Wild For Life Foundation
Wild Hoofbeats
Wild Horse Observers Association
Wild Horse Preservation League
Wild Horse Spirit
Wild Horse War Room
Wild Horses In Need
Win Animal Rights
Wind Dancer Foundation, Inc.
Winecup/Gamble Ranch

The Managed Extinction of Cloud's Herd - KEEP CALLING AND WRITING! THIS IS NOT OVER!

This is NOT over! We MUST keep the pressure on the BLM. They have been extremely careful on this roundup because of the glare of worldwide publicity. We DID make a difference! Keep it up! There is also hope that more horses will be released, but only if we keep calling, posting and writing. If you wrote your Congressmen, write again. Tell them the old stallions and the babies need to be freed! SPREAD THE WORD!

The Managed Extinction of Cloud’s Herd « Straight from the Horse's Heart

And while a deep silence lay over the witnesses, Cloud, the leader, the master of the mountains turned from the gate and took a stance starring back directly at his aggressor, the helicopter.  His intent was obvious, his message was clear, his point was well taken and a few quite sobs were heard within Cloud’s family of human followers.  He made his stand, then turned and walked towards the gate.  He had done all he could do, the observers had tried all that they could and collectively the humans and horses knew that they had lost all control, their future and fate was no longer in their hands, Cloud’s family was to be ripped apart and all that remained for them was a few final moments of togetherness, a gentle touch, while they huddled in fear against the gate that lead to their group’s destruction.  Their cries intermingled with those from their human friends high above who felt their loss and shared their helplessness, they cried together and bowed their heads.

The betrayed innocent, Cloud

We are told that Cloud will once again run free, that the blue mark on his rump dictates that he is one of the lucky ones that can go back to living his life in the beauty of the Pryor Mountains.  But he will do so with several of his loved ones ripped from his band; he will, now, love mares that have been chemically sterilized so that they will bear him no foals and he will be forced to do all of this while surrounded by a herd that will not be able to genetically sustain itself.

This is the gift of managed extinction that we give to our native, American horses, this is the legacy that we leave to our children and this is the image that we Americans project to the rest of the world.

It is not a pretty picture