Posted on 02/24/2005 1:05:27 PM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
RENO, Nev. - For the first time in more than a generation, the mustang - the very symbol of the American West - can be slaughtered for horsemeat.
In December, Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on the slaughter of the wild horses that run free across the West. The move has brought a powerful backlash from activists, who want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs.
"It is really a slap in the face to the American people," said Betty Kelly, co-founder of the horse protection group Wild Horse Spirit in Virginia City, Nev.
Acting on behalf of ranchers who say the horses eat forage needed by cattle, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., attached the amendment in December to a spending bill that President Bush signed into law.
It allows for the sale for slaughter of some older and unwanted horses that are captured during the periodic government roundups aimed at reducing the wild population, now estimated at 33,000 across 10 Western states. About 19,000 of the horses are in Nevada.
A bill to reinstate the slaughter ban was introduced in Congress last month.
Responsibilty for rounding up horses on federal land and selling them rests with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which has yet to send any of the animals to slaughter.
BLM officials said the agency is reaching out to animal protection groups and is optimistic that before the summer, it will find new homes for the 8,900 horses and burros that could be subject to slaughter.
"We realize it is a challenge, but we think there are owners out there that would provide the kind of care we are looking for," BLM spokesman Tom Gorey said from Washington, D.C.
The issue has dogged the Interior Department and Congress since Nevada's Velma Johnson, also known as Wild Horse Annie, and a legion of schoolchildren persuaded Congress to outlaw the use of motor vehicles to hunt the mustangs in 1959. That was followed by the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971.
Sylvia Fascio, a fifth-generation Nevada horse breeder, said there are too many wild horses roaming the BLM land next to her ranch, and some should be sold for slaughter.
"I enjoy the wild horses. I'm blessed to live out here among them and it's a very romantic thought. But there is such a thing as reality," Fascio said. "Since they can't seem to find homes for all of these horses all of the time, there is only one thing left. There are foreign countries that eat horsemeat. We don't now, but we did during World War II. I see nothing wrong with that."
The fate of the horses is also a question of cultural values, according to Mike Schroeder, a Washington state wildlife biologist. "I think of them more as livestock. But a lot of tribes I work with think of them as wildlife that should not be touched," he said in a speech to a Western Governors Association conference earlier this month.
It is a volatile issue. Scott Freeman, a defense attorney in Reno, defended one of three young men who were accused - and eventually acquitted of most charges - in the 1998 shooting deaths of 33 horses on the edge of Reno. The shootings outraged animal protection groups around the world and led to death threats against Freeman.
"I have lots of experience doing homicide cases, but I have never experienced the emotional outburst I did with the horse case," he said. "The rallying cry was for the defenseless animals and that the individuals - who in my case turned out to be innocent - should basically be strung up."
Burns said the repeal of the slaughter ban is necessary to manage the herds and protect the range. The measure allows the sale of horses more than 10 years old, as well as any that go unadopted three offerings in a row.
The BLM said it believes the 37,000 free-roaming wild horses and burros on the range are about 9,000 more than natural food supplies can sustain. Its aim is to bring the population down to about 28,000.
BLM Director Kathleen Clarke said the agency already is getting some responses in its effort to find homes for the animals and hopes to find a solution "in a way we feel good about."
ON THE NET: http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov
I'm a horse lover, dog owner, was a cattle/sheep rancher...but the most intelligent animal I ever had was a pig. Not one of those fat-bellied asian slobbering mutant pigs, but an honest-to-goodness Hampshire pig.
It didn't matter - we raised our animals to eat and he was pretty tasty.
Life is very different when you can't buy food from the corner grocery store - it takes on a whole new meaning.
"most intelligent animal I ever had was a pig"
I fully agree, pigs are smart and - when theyre young at least - very friendly and personable. Now sheep on the other hand are some of the dumbest beasts on earth.
"Now sheep on the other hand are some of the dumbest beasts on earth."
And I hear they're cute in lipstick.
P.S. I'm a gal...so don't go there
hahaha --- Wasnt there a movie where Gene Wilder falls in love with a sheep?
Actually you are correct. Indians ate the horses and no horse existed in the land for over 400 years until the spanish brought them back.
You will lose 500 PC points for pointing out the truth 85.671% of Amerians do not want to know.
Sorry, your facts and now not listened to.
Friend used to raise a couple beef and a couple pigs a year... I used to take care of his place.
I used to say I couldn't eat an animal I'd raised. Until I had to feed his two steers that were being grained for slaughter and were pushy as heck. I could have shot those two myself, on pushed me into the water trough.
And same with the pigs.... but with the pigs it was because they got out. An hour chasing, luring and herding pigs made me think they were about ready to butcher right then and there! :~D
I don't get offended if you want me to be removed.
Consider yourself added. This can be a very high volume list so if you ever change your mind just let me know.
You are always welcome at the Saddle Club thread.. ;')
Thanks Miss - I am on the Saddle Club ping list - I was sort of saying that in jest.
I'm not sure you'll want me though, after I tell you that I think the wild horses need to be culled. I'm sorry, but they are interlopers and need to be controlled. I just don't know any other way.
(1) in subsection (d)(5), by striking ``this section'' and all that follows through the period at the end and inserting ``this section.''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(e) SALE OF EXCESS ANIMALS.--
``(1) IN GENERAL.--Any 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.
``(2) METHOD OF SALE.--An excess animal that meets either of the criteria in paragraph (1) shall be made available for sale without limitation, including through auction to the highest bidder, at local sale yards or other convenient livestock selling facilities, until such time as--
``(A) all excess animals offered for sale are sold; or
``(B) the appropriate management level, as determined by the Secretary, is attained in all areas occupied by wild free-roaming horses and burros.
[Page: H10306]
``(3) DISPOSITION OF FUNDS.--Funds generated from the sale of excess animals under this subsection shall be--
``(A) credited as an offsetting collection to the Management of Lands and Resources appropriation for the Bureau of Land Management; and
``(B) used for the costs relating to the adoption of wild free-roaming horses and burros, including the costs of marketing such adoption.
``(4) EFFECT OF SALE.--Any excess animal sold under this provision shall no longer be considered to be a wild free-roaming horse or burro for purposes of this Act.''.
(b) CRIMINAL PROVISIONS.--Section 8(a)(4) of Public Law 92-195 (16 U.S.C. 1338(a)(4)) is amended by inserting ``except as provided in section 3(e),'' before ``processes''.
Time to get real. These horses are FERAL, do you understand that? Most of the modern "wild horse" populations can trace their roots back to horses that were abandoned during the great depression.
The damage they do to the habitat is not to be underestimated. Have you ever hear of "carrying capacity"? Do you know what happens to ALL the wildlife when the habitat is severly overgrazed by feral horses?
Oh, and by the way, vegetables are what food eats.
Maybe they should have a hunting season for the horses. Charge for hunting licenses, pack trips etc. If they have to take them out, I would rather see it done that way, instead of stressing those poor beasts out. I would rather see the meat donated to a zoo or wildlife sanctuary then sent over seas for human consumption.
The cattle ranchers don't even want the buffalo on the lands. Kill the wolf, cougar for killing calves then you have a problem with over population of horses.
I thought the original wild horses of North America were wiped out by the Indians at the end of the last ice age, 12,000 years ago, when the Mammoths, Mastodons, and giant ground sloths, saber tooth cats, and all forms of pleisotcene megafauna etc were introduced to the clovus point.
There is a delicate balance in nature. Man is a part of nature, but a lot of leftist want to believe that we're not - that we're somehow an enemy. I don't believe this.
If we allow predators to take a role in harvesting animals, why can't we allow ourselves that same role. We ARE predators - that is just a simple fact. Can you imagine what our world would be like if we stepped back and said, "humans cannot affect the environment in ANY way." We must have an effect or we will just cease to exist. We might as well detonate all the nuclear bombs right now and get it over with.
I agree with hunting seasons, or paying people to control the herds. That way we still experience the joy of watching wild horse herds without the pain of having to see them suffer with starvation and illness.
Death is inevitable. Modern society doesn't want to accept this. We put people who are dying far away from us but, it doesn't change the fact. We will all die, hopefully without suffering.
What people? Name them! Each one of them! Is any person starving because the horses are depriving them of hay or prairie grass? Will the selling of the horses for meat export actually remedy starvation in any part of the world? The US spent one hell of a lot more than $29.5 million dollars sending money and food to the worlds poor and the dumb bastards are still starving! You think that adding $29.5 million dollars and 5,000 lbs of horse meat is going to make a dent in world hunger. Well, do you? Make a real case for your position rather than making a pile of manure.
How many centuries in North America?
Well said, Willie. These morons do not comprehend the distinction between livestock raised for consumption and those raised for domestic utility. They might if we legalize slavery once again, without any race restrictions, and promoted cannibalism to ameliorate overpopulation. After all, it's the "practicality" of the idea that is so important to so many people.
In other word, you're an "open season" kind of person.
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