BREAKING NEWS: Sons of Anarchy’s Bobby Elvis wants to save 37 iconic wild horses

© Dennis Van Tine/Future Image / WENN

Dennis Van Tine/Future Image / WENN

For immediate release

Horse advocates will protest roundups at BLM Advisory Board meeting April 14 in Sacramento

Los Angeles, Ca. (April 2, 2014)–Mark Boone Junior, who plays Bobby Elvis in Sons of Anarchy, is working with Anne Novak at Protect Mustangs, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, to get 37 Wyoming wild horses including 2 colts from a Canadian slaughterhouse before they are slaughtered for human consumption abroad.

“We hope we can get them before they slaughter them,” explains Boone. “Wild horses are a national treasure and we want them back.”

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) did not notify wild horse groups about the helicopter roundup. Instead they handed over 41 free-roaming wild horses, including 6 youngsters, to the Wyoming Livestock Board who quickly sold these living icons of freedom at auction. 4 foals were purchased a Montana buyer to save them. 37 wild horses including 2 youngsters were purchased by a Canadian slaughterhouse.

“If we had known what was going on, we would have bought the wild horses directly from the Wyoming livestock board and put them in a safe place,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “Why didn’t the BLM notify horse protection groups that the free-roaming wild horses were going to be rounded up and sold?”

The Wyoming 41 were a small herd roaming east of US 310 between Lovell and Greybull, Wyoming. They were likely descendants of the Foster Gulch/Dry Creek Herd Area that was zeroed out in 1987 to make room for other uses. In 1971 there were 339 wild herds in the West, but today there are only 179 left in all 10 western states combined.

Despite spin created by the BLM and industrial interests who don’t want to share the land with federally protected wild horses, the truth is that they are gravely underpopulated. The National Academy of Sciences reported there is no evidence of overpopulation in 2013. Therefore, Secretary Jewell’s push to control population is unnecessary.

Independent estimates report only 21,354 wild horses are left in the wild while there are approximately 240,000-480,000 heads of livestock in wild horse and burro areas. As a result of roundups more than 48,000 wild horses are warehoused in captivity at taxpayer expense. Native wild horses should be returned to the original herd management areas established in 1971.

A 13-year study of wild herds done by the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros working with Princeton University shows wild horse herds with functional social structures contribute to low herd growth compared to BLM-managed herds.

In the wild, the majority of herds need to recover from recurring roundups so they can self-regulate. Protect Mustangs is calling for a 10 year moratorium on roundups for recovery and scientific studies. Their Change.org petition to Secretary Jewell is here: http://www.change.org/petitions/sally-jewell-urgent-grant-a-10-year-moratorium-on-wild-horse-roundups-for-recovery-and-scientific-studies

Since the EPA categorized native wild horses as pests in 2012, to pass the restricted use pesticide and immunocontraceptive known as PZP, the BLM doesn’t care to notify the public about roundups on public land outside of herd management areas. These horses are sent off to auction and are purchased for probable slaughter.

The public is furious to learn the BLM rounded up free-roaming wild horses–using taxpayer funds–with no public input on the roundup. The Wyoming 41 should have been tested to see if they were descendants of the Foster Gulch/Dry Creek Herd not just handed over to the livestock board and sold off to a slaughter company.

A protest is being planned in reaction to BLM’s slaughter-friendly policies and the clandestine Wyoming 41 roundup at the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting in Sacramento April 14-15.

“Americans are outraged that their tax dollars are being used to chase iconic wild horses from freedom into the chambers of death–so they can be a eaten abroad,” states Novak.

If anyone has any information about clandestine roundups or removals please contact Protect Mustangs.org

Protect Mustangs educates, protects and preserves native and wild horses. The nonprofit conservation group strives for a 10 year moratorium on roundups for recovery and science-based holistic land management to reduce global warming.

“With this latest action, the Bureau of Land Management seems to feel that they can act with impunity and these fabulous animals should never be passed to a middleman for sale to foreign markets who wish to devour a spirit that exists only in these animals, only on our nation’s lands,” says Boone. “Wild horses are now wrongfully designated as “pests” so that they may be pursued and cleared from lands, so that those very same lands may be used solely by corporate interests (fracking, mining, and ranching) supported by tax dollars by the Department of the Interior. We need to stop this momentum now.”

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415.531.8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Kerry Becklund, 510.502.1913 Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org

Photos, video and interviews available upon request

Links of interest™:

Footage of helicopter roundups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF49csCB9qM

Celebrities speak out against wild horse roundups: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLsS9r87tRk

BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board Meeting April 14-15 in Sacramento: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2014/March/BLM_Sets_Meeting_of_National_Wild_Horse_and_Burro_Advisory_Board_for_April_14_15_in_Sacramento.html

Washington Post (Viral) U.S. looking for ideas to help manage wild-horse overpopulation  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-looking-for-ideas-to-help-manage-wild-horse-overpopulation/2014/01/26/8cae7c96-84f2-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html

The Horse Magazine, BLM Seeks Ideas on Wild Horse Management http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33289/blm-seeks-ideas-on-wild-horse-management

San Jose Mercury News, Associated Press, Nevada farm bureau, counties sue over wild horses http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_24897316/nevada-farm-bureau-counties-sue-over-wild-horses

Nevada Appeal by Scott Sonner, Associated Press (viral): Horse roundups waste money  http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/local/6813542-113/horses-blm-horse-report

Huffington Post: Advisory board recommends BLM sterilize wild horses: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121030/us-wild-horses/

Callie Hendrickson, allegedly pro-slaughter appointee to the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board: http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2012/03/callie_hendrickson_wild_horse_board_slaughter.php

Advisory Board member endorses slaughter: http://rtfitchauthor.com/2012/10/30/blm-wild-horse-burro-advisory-board-member-endorses-horse-slaughter-during-public-session/#comment-68620

BLM and the slaughtering wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=1141

BLM doesn’t track cattle on Public land: http://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/2013/01/24/blm-says-it-cannot-track-cattle-on-its-lands/

EPA Pesticide Information for ZonaStat-H http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

National Academy of Sciences report: Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13511

Rallies held in 50 states to drum up opposition to roundups, slaughter http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/80561cc4e8a64b43ae909f7d09a0473e/NV–Wild-Horses-Rallies

ProPublica: All the missing horses: What happened to the wild horses Tom Davis bought from the gov’t? http://www.propublica.org/article/missing-what-happened-to-wild-horses-tom-davis-bought-from-the-govt

Princeton University: Wildlife and cows can be partners, not enemies, in the search for food http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S32/93/41K10/index.xml?section=featured

International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros Study: http://www.ispmb.org/herd_social_structures.html

Horseback Magazine: Group takes umbridge at use of the word “feral” http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/19392

Petition to Defund and Stop the Roundups: http://www.change.org/petitions/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Petition for a Moratorium on roundups for recovery and scientific studies: http://www.change.org/petitions/sally-jewell-urgent-grant-a-10-year-moratorium-on-wild-horse-roundups-for-recovery-and-scientific-studies

Wyoming tourism “Roam Free”: http://www.wyomingtourism.org/

Anne Novak on Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/theAnneNovak

Protect Mustangs’ press releases: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=12

Protect Mustangs in the news: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=218

America’s native wild horses: http://www.Protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

Protect Mustangs.org

 

14 thoughts on “BREAKING NEWS: Sons of Anarchy’s Bobby Elvis wants to save 37 iconic wild horses

  1. Happy to see that a celebrity is trying to save them — this will definitely help bring more awareness to BLM’s illegal tactics. Hoping Mark Boone Junior is successful in purchasing these horses before it’s too late.

  2. Thank you Bobby Elvis , WE NEED YOU !!! The horses need everyone !!

  3. How do we thank this man? We also need to shut off all money from slaughter to BLM and wranglers. These horses are AMERICA’S horses not those individuals that I won’t tell you what I think.

  4. Thank God a celeb stepped up! This latest wicked tactic by the BLM can not go without notice or repercussions. These 41 wild horses belong to the American people and only by action of the people can we stop this from happening again.

  5. This is a national disgrace that our government is persecuting wild horses in this way. Shame on them! Thank you, Anne Novak and Bobby Elvis. Praying they will be saved. Slaughter is a cruel and gruesome death! Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to read this: http://manesandtailsorganization.org/captive_bolt.htm
    Transport to slaughter is torturous. Horses are extremely sensitive, intelligent animals. They are not “livestock”. They are considered to be companion animals and civilized humans do not butcher and eat their friends.
    In addition, horse meat is toxic and tainted with drugs and chemicals banned for human consumption.
    This must stop!

  6. OMG!! You people do know who is behind this, right? OBAMA. I beg you to look it up. It was all for the land(Money, Money, Money) If you Really care about animals, than wake the He%$# up….

  7. I love the news on this channel! 🙂 May it continue to be news to cheer about! For the wild ones! I’ve been imagining seeing a tearfully joyous video of the mares from the herd reunited with the 4 foals currently in foster care !!

  8. Has anyone that first hand knowledge of roundup of these wild horses contacted the DOI Office of the Inspector General with a complaint?

    “Anyone with knowledge of fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct or mismanagement involving the U.S. Department of the Interior should call or write the Office of Inspector General’s Hotline (please choose the method of contact which best suits you):

    Telephone – OIG Hotline’s Toll Free Number: 1-800-424-5081
    Fax – Complete and submit the Complaint Form to:
    (703)487-5402 (Attention: Hotline Operations)
    US Mail – Complete and submit the Complaint Form to:
    U.S. Department of the Interior
    Office of Inspector General
    1849 C Street, NW
    MS-4428
    Washington, DC 20240
    Attention: Hotline Operations
    E-mail – Complete and submit the Complaint Form by pressing the submit button below:
    You may also report fraudulent activities to the nearest regional OIG offices at the following locations:

    Eastern Regional Office, Herndon, Virginia (703) 487-8057
    Central Regional Office, Lakewood, Colorado (303) 236-8296
    Western Regional Office, Sacramento, California (916) 978-5630”

    Here’s the weblink to submit a complaint:
    https://www.doioig.gov/hotlinecomplaint_form.aspx

  9. Thank You so much Mark Boone for stepping up to save our wild horses! May God Bless you Richly.

  10. Do we have a sit rep? Have the horses been pulled and safe? Please let us know!

  11. Thank you so much for everything you are doing. Prayers that they may be saved.

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