Posted on 01/23/2018 7:37:02 PM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
A wild mustang charging across an open plain is a symbol of the untamed majesty of nature. But the predators chasing these horses are anything but natural.
Controversy has broken out over the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) practice of using helicopters to herd horses off public lands and sometimes permanently put them into holding facilities in an effort to control their population.
"Sometimes these horses get stampeded for miles and miles," said Simone Netherlands, an animal rights activist and a spokesperson for the American Wild Horse Campaign.
Now the government is considering culling these animals for the first time in nearly 50 years, putting the lives of thousands of wild horses at stake.
Most of the U.S.'s estimated 75,000 wild horses live on public lands, usually vast expanses that the government controls in the American West.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
And for the ones left there is glue and dogfood.
Funny how the adage that if the GVT were to control the Sahara desert there would soon be a shortage of sand does not apply. Must be a corollary the GVT controls a nuisance it will soon be plentiful.
There has been a successful adoption program for years. Problem is there are still too many.
I’m not going to bother to read it. I’m sure the bottom line is Trump is cruel.
We have caligula’s horse , oprah , as the new leader of the demnocrap party . This cow faced moron is their LEADER !! HEIL!!
However, note this: “In accordance with the agreement, the Foundation created the Extreme Mustang Makeover, a wild-horse training event that gives horsemen and women 100 days to gentle and train an assigned, untouched Mustang in preparation for an all-around equine competition. At the conclusion of the event, the competing, gentled Mustangs are offered to the public for adoption through competitive bid.”
I think they should be given away free gratis, just come pick them up. Yes some control against horse meat production would be needed.
True, the BLM has had an Adopt-a-Horse program for many years and backcountry pack stations in my area take advantage of it, adopting many wild mustangs. Colt Heart is right, there are too many wild mustangs on the range in my area - the Great Basin of Eastern California and Western Nevada.
State’s won’t even control deer. Imagine the liberal tears should they start controlling horses.
“Seems like there should be an adoption program basically giving the horses away as long as you come pick them up.”
There is and always has been. Nobody wants them anymore.
To many horses, the results of shutting down the horse meat industry.
Have you ever tried to load a wild Mustang into a horse trailer?
40,000-50,00 waiting to be adopted. About 2,500 a year are. The math says “Shoot!”
I do not buy that there are too many. Challenge is cattle ranchers want them gone so they can graze cattle.
I do not buy that there are too many. Challenge is cattle ranchers want them gone so they can graze cattle.
I can imagine there are that many. Here in Reno, north of town is a collection and adoption center. A couple years ago was packed full. This past year, virtually empty all year.
Check out Hwy 6 area around Montgomery Pass in Nevada, tons of wild horses, no range cattle.
Controlling deer is an urban issue, inside city limits. Getting out of town, rarely see any deer, or antelope, or even less bear, elk, moose, etc. So few.
I’ve got a BLM mustang and a half mustang. Like them both, but they aren’t every rider’s cup of tea.
It is a sad fact that these horses multiply too rapidly for the range they occupy. There are few or no natural predators.
There has been a successful wild horse adoption program for a long time and it can’t absorb all the excess animals.
People get horses and don’t know what to do with them except feed them and then they find out feeding them is expensive and work and not all that needs to be done.
From my vantage point I can see at least a dozen horses that do nothing but roam empty pastures. They are never ridden, never exercised, hooves seldom if ever trimmed. Why people keep them I have no idea.
As for me. I rode horses almost every day when I was a kid having worked for a fellow who broke them and then I took the green broke horse and rode it until it was a good animal for work or pleasure. Now I won’t have a horse on the place. They eat three times as much grass as a cow, graze the grass down to the roots and compact the soil worse than a cow. On top of that they are a liability and worse, they deserve use and care and I don’t have the inclination for either.
For people that use and love horses I welcome them to have them so long as they are well taken care of. They are beautiful animals and a good working cutting horse in action is a beauty to behold.
“As of March 1, 2016, there were 67,000 horses and burros on public lands and 45,000 in government holding pens. Computer models show that the current population, including foals born in 2016, is approximately 75,000 wild horses and burros. The controversial nationwide Appropriate Management Level (AML), defined as “the number of horses to have thriving ecological balance with the vegetation, wildlife, and livestock usage,” is 27,000...
...The horses have accumulated in holding across the country to the 45,000 we have today. The vast majority of the BLM’s budget goes to feeding horses in holding pens, which prohibits limits the agency’s ability to gather other horses off the range...
...As our society changes and regulations tighten, annual adoptions have fallen from a high of 8,000 per year to about 2,500 per year currently. “
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/environment/wild-horses-part-one/
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