AG King Leads Fight Against Horse Slaughter in New Mexico

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Gary King

AG’s Request for TRO Granted; In Effect Until Jan. 3 Hearing

(SANTA FE)—New Mexico Attorney General Gary King applauds the efforts of his office as they together continue working to stop Valley Meats from beginning commercial horse slaughter operations in Roswell, New Mexico.

At AG King’s request, First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew Wilson has issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that stops Valley Meats from opening as they planned January 1, 2014.

Attorney General King sought the TRO because Valley Meat had stated it would begin operating even though it lacked the required regulatory approval. With the newly scheduled hearing, the court can now more fully consider the dangers posed by commercial horse slaughter and Valley Meat’s long history of non-compliance with existing laws.

The hearing on AG King’s request for a longer-term injunction is January 3, 2014 in the First Judicial District courthouse in Santa Fe.

The filed TRO is available on the AG’s web site, www.nmag.gov, under news releases.

On December 19, Attorney General King filed a lawsuit against Valley Meat Company, its owner and two related companies that want to bring commercial horse slaughter to New Mexico.  Commercial horse slaughter is a new, untested enterprise that poses health and environmental risks to New Mexicans. Horses in America are not raised to be eaten, and are widely administered drugs that are forbidden for use in food animals.

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Fundraising dollars go to care for wild horses in the outreach program

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Thanks to donations for the Outreach Mustangs, Tibet was able to get his feet trimmed.

Good foot care is essential to keep a horse healthy and for youngsters to grow properly. In the wild, mustangs wear their feet down but once they are living in captivity quality foot care is one of the best things you can do for them. Sadly the Bureau of Land Management neglects captive wild horses feet in the pens. We are grateful to be able to give excellent corrective foot care to the wild horses in our Outreach Program.

Every trim is always another learning experience. Today Tibet (Divide Basin, Wyoming) was trimmed for the first time in the big barn at the boarding facility with other horses around in stalls, horses walking in and out and being saddled up and hosed off. His back was facing a lot of the activity so he learned to be OK with that.

Terry Johnson, one of our the farriers, is so patient with young horses and has no prejudice against wild horses. Sadly some farriers think wild horses will be difficult and refuse to work with them. Wild horses are just like green horses once they are gentled.

Tibet is only 2. We saved him a year ago from facing his 3rd Strike and possibly being sold to a kill buyer for $10 in a truckload of wild horses ending up at slaughter.

One hoof trimmed and 3 more to go.

Then he got squirmy so I hand fed him some hay. A lot dropped on the floor. We had to keep his head up so the farrier could work on him without Tibet moving about.

Tibet heard the tractor going to get the hay for dinner and he became more squirmy.

The farrier suggested we give him some alfalfa pellets and boy was Tibet a happy camper! So that’s how we finished the job.

Blondie got a trim also thanks to her sponsor

Blondie was distracted by so much activity in the big barn but the grain worked wonders for her also. Such a great learning experience for Blondie too!

Val and Sol need their feet trimmed next please donate to help the Outreach Mustangs

Val and Sol need sponsors

Contact us if you would like to sponsor Val, Sol or Tibet to be a very special part of their lives and an essential force in our Outreach Program. These Ambassadors are educating many people about the plight of America’s wild horses.

You may also make a one time or monthly donation for the Outreach Mustang Fund that pays for hay, board and trims. We are 100% volunteer non-profit organization with all the money going directly to the wild horses. We donate our time to care, train and engage in outreach with the wild horses in our program.

Right now on Facebook we have a fundraiser for the Fund. You can donate $150 and receive a one of a kind handmade turquoise bracelet as a thank you.

Here is a slide show of Blondie & Tibet during their first turnout after we gentled them.

Wild horses are dying in BLM’s care

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BLM’s Statement Regarding Horse Fatalities at Ridgecrest Corrals

December 6, 2013

In the past 30 days, the Ridgecrest Regional Wild Horse and Burro Corrals have reported 15 horse fatalities that appear to be related to a single undetermined cause. The Bureau of Land Management is working closely with state and federal animal health authorities along with a local veterinarian to determine the cause and decide the best course of action to protect the health and well-being of the wild horses and burros at the Ridgecrest Corrals.

At this time, the cause of the deaths does not appear to be contagious. The California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory in San Bernardino is testing samples from affected animals and feed supplies. Results are still pending.

A wild horse and burro adoption planned for December has been cancelled and no animals have been adopted since October. Animals are not being received or shipped from the facility. The Ridgecrest Corrals have approximately 800 wild horses and burros.

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Contact: Stephen Razo (951) 697-5217

Temporary restraining order to prevent horse slaughter plant from opening filed by Gary King

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From Gary King

Dear Equine Advocates,

Gary King

Today I announced that I have filed a lawsuit asking for a temporary restraining order to prevent Valley Meat Company, the proposed horse slaughter plant in Roswell, from opening in two weeks.

Valley Meat has a very poor track record of compliance with environmental and safety laws, racking up literally thousands of violations over the years, and we have no reason to believe they plan on improving their practices. These violations pose serious dangers to public health and safety. For example, the company has requested a state permit that is required before it can discharge wastewater, but has now stated publicly that it will begin operating on January 1, 2014, whether or not it receives the permit.

The slaughter of horses, no matter how it’s done, presents a genuine risk to New Mexicans’ health and to our natural resources. Horses in the US are not raised to be eaten, and therefore are administered drugs that are banned for use in food animals. These drugs are either harmful to humans or their effects are unknown. Combined with the risks to our groundwater, I simply cannot stand by and let this plant open.

Thank you for standing with me on this important issue. Please visit my website to find out how you can help in this continuing fight. Together we can do what’s right for New Mexico.

Best,

Gary King

20 Nevada horses are slated for slaughter in NM January 1st

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Despite overpopulation myths and fear tactics that wild horses must be sterilized and given restricted use pesticides in the form of birth control, slaughtering wild horses is against the law and must be upheld. Please donate to our legal fund to fight to keep America’s mustangs safe from slaughter.

We are working hard to keep wild horses out of the clutches of Kill Buyers. Our lawsuit was very effective. http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=5144 Our settlement stopped 2 more years of Ft. McDermitt wild horses from being rounded up and sold to slaughter under their agreement. They will try to round up the wild horses with a new agreement and we need to be ready. Please help donate to our legal fund. Write “legal fund” on your donation. It takes a village to save wild horses! 

December 18, 2013

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A New Mexico horse slaughter plant plans to open Jan. 1 after a federal appeals court rolled back a court order that had kept the Roswell facility from beginning operations.

According to KOB-TV (http://bit.ly/1eqMdg1 ), Valley Meat Co. owner Rick De Los Santos says the plant will start off slow, but already has multiple meat contracts lined up.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 13 lifted an emergency order that blocked the opening of the Roswell plant, another in Gallatin, Mo., and one in Sigourney, Iowa, that has converted to beef.

Animal protection groups have been trying to block the slaughtering of horses.

De Los Santos says Valley Meat has employees ready to work and 20 horses from Nevada for slaughter.

Note in this newscast (http://bit.ly/1eqMdg1) Rick De Los Santos says he has a huge contract with China for horse meat. The Asian market is only going to skyrocket so we must fight for our wild horses to stay off their dinner plates. Please donate what you can. Thank you very much!

This has been cross-posted for educational purposes.  Please leave respectful comments so we can publish them. Thank you.

Comments needed on BLM’s proposed Great Divide Basin wild horse roundup in Wyoming

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Release Date: 12/10/13
Contacts: Shelley Gregory
307-315-0612

BLM Seeks Public Comments on Proposed Great Divide Basin Wild Horse Gather
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Rock Springs Field Office is launching a 30-day public scoping period prior to preparing an environmental assessment (EA) for a proposed summer 2014 wild horse gather in the Great Divide Basin Herd Management Area (HMA).

The Great Divide Basin HMA is partly located in the checkerboard pattern of mixed public and private land ownership in Sweetwater County and extends from Interstate 80 north to the southeast point of the Wind River Mountains in Fremont County.

The HMA has an appropriate management level (AML) of 415-600 wild horses as identified in the 1997 Green River Resource Management Plan. Population surveys conducted in May found approximately 439 wild horses. Wild horse populations will increase about 15 percent yearly based on previous fertility control; the current population is estimated at 504 and predicted to be 579 in summer 2014.

The BLM proposes to remove approximately 164 wild horses from the HMA. All wild horses on private lands in the checkerboard would be removed in conformance with the 2013 court ordered Consent Decree; some wild horses may be relocated north of the checkerboard. Excess wild horses in the remainder of the HMA would be removed to meet the low AML of 415. The proposed operation would possibly include fertility control.

Public participation is a key component of the EA process. The public is encouraged to identify specific issues, concerns, ideas or mitigation to help ensure the best possible analysis. Written substantive comments may be emailed only to DivideBasin_HMA_WY@blm.gov with “Divide Basin Scoping Comments” in the subject line; or mailed or delivered to the BLM Rock Springs Field Office, Attn: Jay D’Ewart, 280 Highway 191 N., Rock Springs WY 82901. Comments will be accepted until Jan. 10, 2014.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the individual below during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the below individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

For more information, please visit www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/rsfo/divide_basin.html or contact Wild Horse Specialist Jay D’Ewart at 307-352-0331.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2012, activities on public lands generated $4.6 billion in revenue, much of which was shared with the States where the activities occurred. In addition, public lands contributed more than $112 billion to the U.S. economy and helped support more than 500,000 jobs.
–BLM–Rock Springs Field Office   280 Highway 191 North      Rock Springs, WY 82901

Help needed for captive wild horses and burros with no shelter

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Screenshot for educational purposes

Screenshot for educational purposes

 

Dear Friends,

It’s 5ºF right now at the largest wild horse processing and adoption facility in Palomino Valley, Nevada.

Close to 2,000 captive wild horses nave no shelter from the harsh winter elements at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Palomino Valley Center alone.

The BLM’s Rock Springs, Wyoming facility is also housing more than 600 wild horses with no shelter in below zero temperatures. Traumatized wild horses become at risk of upper respiratory infections post-roundup–especially without access to shelter.

In the wild they can migrate to natural sheltered zones. Trapped in pens under the “care” of the BLM they are being cruelly held without shelter–a basic necessity in animal husbandry.

It’s time to take action. If you live in the United States please contact your congressional representative and your senators with a link to this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros  Ask them to intervene and take immediate action to end the cruelty in captivity.

Please share the petition with your friends, family and network via email, Facebook and other social media asking them to sign and share so we can all help the wild horses and burros.

If you live outside the United States please email your friends and family. Ask them to sign and share this petition via email and on social media. It’s a huge help and we thank you!

Together we can end the suffering in captivity while we work to return them to the wild where native wild horses belong.

Thank you for taking action.

In gratitude,

Anne Novak

Executive Director of Protect Mustangs™

www.ProtectMustangs.org

 

Greetings from Blondie & Tibet

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PM Blondie & Tibet Dec 2 2013
Blondie (rt) & Tibet (lft) were yearlings facing their 3rd Strike with no adopters. We kept our pledge to find homes for them and others. Many found homes but Blondie & Tibet did not. We welcomed them into our Outreach Program and gentled them last winter. We are grateful to Blondie’s anonymous sponsor and hope someone will come forward to be a special part of Tibet’s life by becoming his sponsor.  www.ProtectMustangs.org

Energy Committee Passes 12 Public Lands Bills

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Washington, D.C. (November 21, 2013) – Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed 12 bills that would designate certain lands as wilderness, fund rural water projects in the West, establish new segments of wild and scenic rivers and protect historically significant battlefield sites in several states.

Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Ranking Member Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, praised their colleagues for their work on one of the bills passed during the markup, the Grazing Improvement Act (S. 258), introduced by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. Committee members amended the bill to continue existing policies for reviewing grazing leases, while also creating pilot programs in Oregon and New Mexico that would allow ranchers to voluntarily relinquish grazing permits to the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service, something long sought by conservation groups.

“This bill as amended brings together a very broad coalition, including ranchers and environmental folks,” Wyden said. “My colleagues worked together creatively to find common ground on grazing rights and it’s my hope that their work will serve as a building block on similar types of issues going forward.”

“Managing grazing through a series of appropriations riders, as we are doing now, is not a sound long-term policy for our western rangelands,” Murkowski said. “This bill, as amended, would allow the agencies to get back to what really counts – stewardship of our rangelands to support multiple use, including grazing. I hope we can emulate the example my colleagues have set as we work through the hard issues presented in managing our public lands.”

The committee also passed a bill that authorizes $150 million in funding for vital rural water improvements across the West, including Oregon, and for water infrastructure on Indian lands.

The committee has now passed 79 bills in 2013, the most of any Senate committee. Wyden and Murkowski also said they expect the committee to consider their bipartisan Nuclear Waste Administration Act (S. 1240) before the end of the year.

Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., asked to be recorded as voting against S. 258. Sens. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Tim Scott, R-S.C., Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and Landrieu asked to be recorded as voting against S. 715. Flake and Scott also asked to be recorded as voting in favor of the Barrasso amendment to S. 715.

Below is the full list of bills passed today by a voice vote:

  • S. 258, a bill to amend the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 to improve the management of grazing leases and permits, and for other purposes
  • S. 364,   a bill to establish the Rocky Mountain Front Conservation Management Area, to designate certain Federal land as wilderness, and to improve the management of noxious weeds in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, and for other purposes
  • S.715, a bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to use designated funding to pay for construction of authorized rural water projects, and for other purposes
  • S. 782, a bill to amend Public Law 101-377 to revise the boundaries of Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station, and for other purposes
  • S. 995, a bill to authorize the National Desert Storm Memorial Association to establish the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial as a commemorative work in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes
  • S. 1044,  a bill to direct the Secretary of the Interior to install in the area of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia a suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the United States on D-Day, June 6, 1944
  • S. 1252, a bill to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Missisquoi River and the Trout River in the State of Vermont, as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System
  • H.R. 507, an Act to provide for the conveyance of certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona, and for other purposes
  • H.R. 697, an Act to provide for the conveyance of certain Federal land in Clark County, Nevada, for the environmental remidiation and reclamation of the Three Kids Mine Project Site, and for other purposes
  • H.R. 862,  an Act to authorize the conveyance of two small parcels of land within the boundaries of the Coconino National Forest containing private improvements that were developed based upon the reliance of the landowners in an erroneous survey conducted in May 1960
  • H.R. 876, an Act to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on National Forest System land in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in the State of Idaho, and for other purposes
  • H.R. 1033, an Act to authorize the acquisition and protection of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 under the American Battlefield Protection Program

Permalink: http://www.energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2013/11/energy-committee-passes-12-public-lands-bills