Posted on 04/29/2014 6:15:10 PM PDT by blueplum
...This recent roundup ended a season of wild horse “gathers” in which the government captured and removed thousands of mustangs from nearly 32 million acres of public land in 10 Western states.
Afterward, the Bureau of Land Management reported new numbers likely to shock many Americans unfamiliar with the economics and politics surrounding the roundups: A record number of wild horses – almost 50,000 – are now living in captivity, far more than the 32,000 left on the range.
:snip:
In January 2013, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order halting another roundup after Leigh produced photos of a BLM helicopter driving wild horses through a barbed wire fence
:snip:
Judge Miranda Du later lifted the order, but barred the BLM from using “hot shot/electric prod treatment” on weanlings and “rushed and aggressive loading tactics.”
:snip:
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 states that wild horses and burros “shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death,” but activists say the BLM program subjects them to that very treatment.
(Excerpt) Read more at investigations.nbcnews.com ...
There are four times as many desert tortoises living in the wild right now than wild horses living in the wild.
The treatment of the Bundy cattle by the BLM is no surprise to wild horse advocates who've seen BLM animal cruelty up close, as the graphic video at the link douments. The BLM had become accomplished in running rangestock to death long before the appauling treatment of Bundy's cattle caused an outrage. It was only a matter of time before the practices used against wild horses carried through to treatment of all rangestock.
If any good can come from the destruction and maltreatment of Bundy cattle, perhaps it will be cattle ranchers finally hearing the voices of wild horse advocates and joining with them to ensure BLM abuse of ALL rangestock is brought to an abrupt and absolute closure.
and just because I'm feeling froggy, here's a side-connect between former DOI secretary Salizar, and his buddy Tom Davis:
http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/14/17708998-the-case-of-the-missing-mustangs-what-happened-to-1700-wild-horses
http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/11/u-s-secretary-of-interior-threatens-to-punch-out-local-reporter/#.U2AwIZtcZ8N
i hate big brother. /winston smith, 1984
I made it 2 minutes through that...I can’t watch anymore. Does BLM stand for “Barbaric Land Management?”
Isn’t horse meat the foundation of a lot of dog/cat food?
Wild Mustangs are exported for human consumption.
There’s a lot of dog food going to waste.
I’m pretty sure horsemeat in petfood has been outlawed since the 70’s, at least in the US.
Horsemeat isn’t bad as people food.
If not culled, wild horses degrade the rangelands by overbrowsing. As long as the contractors hired do it an accepted manner, we should allow it. Wild means hard to control, so a few horses getting broken legs happens. Those are put down to limit suffering.
Once caught, not all get bought for riding or pets, the rest should go to slaughter or pet meat or exported for human consumption. Holding them for long times in pens is more cruel than prompt disposition.
I hate the BLM and their extraordinarily cruel treatment of these wonderful animals. Not watching the video link, I’ve seen all I can stomach of gorgeous little foals run down by helicopters until their hooves are ground off by rocks.
Here’s a link to American Wild HOrse Preservation, an organization that has the horses’ best interests at heart and often prevails over the BLM…but too often on a temporary basis. The bloodthirsty BLMers can hardly wait to murder another wild horse. http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6931/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1291006
Yes, I’m beyond logic, just furious and extremely sad.
I have a story for you, of how removed urban folks are from the reality. I was talking grizzly bears with a liberal vegetarian. She seriously advised that instead of wiping out all the grizzly bears on the coast of California, as was achieved by the mid 1800s, people could have (and still can) address the problem adequately by not leaving their garbage outside.
All you can do is shake your head.
“Wild Mustangs are exported for human consumption”
Not from this country. Get your facts right. There is no way you can sell a BLM branded horse for slaughter, especially overseas.
But you can breed them for slaughter.
>> “Horsemeat isn’t bad as people food.” <<
.
It is forbidden by God.
Take your chances?
Not me!
>> “Isn’t horse meat the foundation of a lot of dog/cat food?” <<
.
No.
Cheap brands use corn and soy with animal renderings for fake flavor.
Good brands use chicken, duck or trout for protein.
.
There is no such thing as a wild horse in the US. These are feral horses. Many of these are horses that are dumped for various reasons, particularly a poor economy. There are very few that can trace their ancestry to the Spanish settlers.
By what reasoning should these animals stay and someone who pays for a lease and does mandatory improvements and manages the lease to have feed forever available out there be forced out? By what reasoning should the tax payer foot the bill for these animals and forego the income from the leases? In any of these videos does anyone see any reasonable amount of grazing available for these animals (Note that one horse eats considerably more than one cow calf unit). No one cries for the preservation of wild cows (and feral cows do exist).
We should note that this is what they want us to see. One woman says it is better they die of old age. Does anyone see any animals in the wild die of old age? They eventually slow down, become prey or fail to make it to food and water and starve or then become prey. No “wild animal” dies of old age.
They play on your sentiment. THey play you for a sucker. They lie and say they feel as you do. They never appeal to your logic or reason. Their entire pitch is the noble horse. Watch the documentray “Cloud” and tell me how noble the stallion that dismembers the colt is.
Read the NYT Magazine article about the lawyer who is suing for personhood for chimps. Do you really think it will stop there? THis animal sentimentality is a slope waaay more slippery than the gay marriage transgender issue.
to be fair, Jesus made all things clean in the new testament. However, I would not eat horse out of ethics, I consider them like dogs... that’s to say man’s best friend.
Ummmm - tell that to Peter.
No horse may legally be sold for slaughter in the US. If you breed a horse, it clearly is not a BLM horse, besides all BLM horses adopted are geldings and I believe all mares are spayed which would make breeding rather difficult.
There are some horses that are sold in the US and shipped to Mexico for slaughter. These generally go for under .10 a pound. No BLM horse may be transported across the border. At under ten cents a pound you would never cover the adoption fee even if you could somehow send them over the border.
this is the same argument being used nowadays by the BLM to force ranchers to cull cattle below numbers required to maintain water rights. Gophers destroy more rangeland annually than wild horses ever could.
Wild means hard to control, so a few horses getting broken legs happens.
. No doubt when you run any rangestock hard, the chances of them stepping in a gopher hole and breaking their leg is pretty high. But there's no legitimate purpose in running panicked rangestock to the point of exhaustion. If people become desensitized to animal atrocities, they can become desensitized to human atrocities.
The BLM has stated most wild horse fatalities during takings are caused by broken necks, head trauma and castrations. Only 1-1/2 percent of the BLM's wild horse program budget is actually spent on "population suppression". Tying tubes in mares and vasectomies in colts who are then returned to the wild to live normal lives would go a long way towards controlling populations without the need for inhumane takings, where broken legs, gashed faces, and broken necks are considered acceptable collateral damage, or for maintaining a caged herd of 50,000 animals with little to no chances of mainstreaming.
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