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Tag Archives: Nevada
Virginia Range wild horses safe after auction
Safe after the auction. Virgina Range 30 rescued Sept 26, 2012 (Photo Willis Lamm)
Happy babies were saved thanks to the team effort. Saved from kill-buyers. Saved because you spread the word and donated. We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped.
Urgent donations, foster homes and adopters needed for historic mustangs or kill buyers will get them
Captured wild horses Nevada Jan 2012 (Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)
Wild Horse Annie’s horses are being pushed through the livestock auction again next Wednesday September 26th in Fallon, Nevada.
Update 10:30 p.m.
“Miracles are happening. Hidden Valley has found a large pasture for the 25 wild horses for tomorrow as a very, very temporary holding area. Thank heavens.” ~Anne Novak
Update 6:00 p.m.
News 4 Reno aired Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund’s call for help here.
Update at 5:50 p.m. Tuesday September 25, 2012:
“I just got off the phone with Shannon Windle, President of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund. She’s still at her 9-5 job and told me that only $13,000 has been raised so far to buy the horses but that’s not enough to house them.
She will look into other donations coming in when she gets home from her day job. I have heard other groups are raising money for this and we are so grateful that everyone is helping save these wild horses.
We have been looking for solutions because the foster care pens are maxed out and it’s hard to find people with 6 foot fencing to hold in the wild ones. She decided that getting panels to build more corrals is a good solution. So Hidden Valley is raising money for the corral panels and looking for horse people with extra space who are willing to foster Wild Horse Annie’s beloved Virginia Range horses. Hidden Valley will provide the corrals, feed and is responsible for vet care, etc.
Tomorrow is the auction. Hidden Valley cannot save the wild horses from the kill-buyers if they don’t have the money to purchase them and if they don’t have a place to put them. Pray for miracles and take action to save these historic wild horses.”
In gratitude,
Anne Novak
Executive Director for Protect Mustangs
Check back for upates
Wild War Horse (Photo © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.)
Update from Sunday September 23, 2012
“It’s 10:30 p.m. Sunday night and I just finished talking with Shannon Windle, president of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund. She told me they only have $3,300. in donations to buy the 25 wild horses next Wednesday September 26th. Last week they paid $11,000. for 23 wild horses. If the money isn’t raised they can’t buy the horses. Please help save these horses from the kill-buyers. Please donate and save a life.” ~Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs
Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund was prepared financially to save the first South Reno 23 but their funding and foster care is maxed out so here is what we need to do:
- Raise money for Hidden Valley to get the South Reno 25 horses at auction, pay for feed, care and transportation
- Find adopters in and out of state.
- Send the Sept 19th wild horses to adopters ASAP
- Recruit new foster care for the new load coming in Wednesday
- Line up adopters for the Sept 26th wild horses
- Get hay donations to feed all these horses
- Get 150 MUSTANG panels to house the Sept 26th load of horses
Because the livestock auction staff likes to bid against the wild horse advocates to jack up the price and their commission, the small wild horses are going for up to 3 times the market value of a heavier horse. A mare and foal pair sold for $1000 last week.
The foster-cares are full after last week’s rescue of 23 Virginia Range horses. So we need to create solutions and build more corrals with panels to hold 25 more horses until we can adopt them out.
Mustang panels are 6 ft high and must be made of sturdy steel. We found a bulk price of $126. a piece. Hidden Valley needs 150 panels.
Let’s all chip in whatever we can and hope the auction house will be compassionate this week and not bid against us.
Laura Bell filming the Reno 23 saved by Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund on September 19, 2012 (Photo © Cat Kindsfather)
Please send your donations to save Wild Horse Annie’s horses directly to Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php?c=donate
You can also send a check/money order to:
Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund
P.O. Box 20052
Reno, NV 89515-0052
For information about donating, fostering or adopting please call:
Shannon Windle: 775-297-2955
Anne Novak: 415-531-8454
Thank you for doing what you can to help save America’s wild horses from going to slaughter.
Protect Mustangs flag designed by Robin Warren
Have wild horse advocates been falsely accused?
Advocacy groups have released wild horses with Nevada Department of Agriculture in the past
Photo courtesy of Let “Em Run Foundation
In the recent KRNV story about the south Reno horses going to the livestock auction, Nevada Department of Agriculture’s staff appeared on camera claiming that the cooperators weren’t being used because they released horses onto the range. Where is the proof?
A Virginia Range pinto gelding named Dickie disappeared from the Tahoe Reno Industrial Complex (TRIC) property around March 2012 and magically appeared overweight later on in another county at Clearwater in Reno. How does this happen?
Photo of Dickie on July 14, 2012 used ot compare with his file photo for ID
The Department of Agriculture’s statement implied that the wild horse groups were involved in something improper. Yet in the past groups did release horses – belonging to the department – at the direction of the department – under the direct supervision of the department.
The largest release involved 55 horses freed at TRIC. It was covered by the media and a short film was made of the release. The short still can be found on the Internet. Here’s a link to one copy.
Call Governor Sandoval and ask him to stop Nevada from selling historic wild horses at auctions frequented by kill-buyers 775-684-5670 or 702-486-2500
Sources:
Let ‘Em Run Foundation: http://www.letemrun.com/index.html
Least Resistance Training Concepts group: http://www.whmentors.org/
Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates Sept 7th update: on Dickie and livestock sale: http://www.aowha.org/war/ndoa_horse_sale_1203b.html#dickie
KRNV Story: http://www.ktvn.com/story/19548710/wild-horse-controvesey-heating-up
The controversy over wild horses in Nevada is heating up again. A group of about two dozen organized a demonstration in front of the Capital in Carson City on Friday. And earlier this week an emotionally charged confrontation between a private landowner and a wild horse advocate took place in south Reno. (It was later posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6uZPdD_PWM )
An unidentified woman charged at the camera protesting that horses were being trapped and moved rather than simply fenced out. The landowner caught it on his cell phone and launched it on YouTube.
“This is a fence out state!,” insists Tonia Tavcar. “If landowners don’t want horses on their land they don’t have to trap them and send them to slaughter, they can just fence them out!”
“It seems logical, I admit,” says Ed Foster, Public Information Officer with the State Department of Agriculture. “But we are charged with responding to complaints when stray animals, including horses, are a nuisance and doing something about it. But we don’t have the authority to make a landowner put up a fence!”
Foster adds the drought is fueling problems as more horses search for food and water. And he says for a while they did sell horses back to the advocates at a very low price. That he say, seemed to work until those same horses resurfaced on the range and were picked up again.
It’s all resulted in a lawsuit filed Friday, by the State of Nevada against the advocates for releasing the animals.
Foster says since his department no longer gets funding to house or administer birth control to the animals and has no option but to remove any problem animals and sell them as livestock.
Horse advocates say they’ll continue to fight for the future of animals so many other states would love to have roam their land.
The lawsuit names advocate Willis Lamm. It charges the ‘Let ‘em Run Foundation’ with failure to brand or mark their animals, abandoning an animal and allowing an animal to be injured or deprived of food and water – all misdemeanor charges.
We also contacted the office of the landowner, Mike Diloretto about this story, but he is out town.
KRNV story Written by Erin Breen
Wild horse advocates endure bidding war to rescue horses
Virginia range 23 rescued from auction house fate
From a Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund press release:
Captured Virgina Range Horses
The Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund (HVWHPF), in an effort to save the first 23 of an estimated 74 Virginia Range wild horses trapped by the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA), attended an auction today, September 19th, at the Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC, located 1025 Allen Road, Fallon, NV where the horse were sold to the highest bidder.
NDA Brand Inspector Blaine Northrop diligently and methodically organized the delivery of the horses to the auction floor in a manner specifically designed to minimalize stress and trauma to these animals and ensure the bands or families would remain intact. Once the bidding started at approximately 7:15 pm, HVWHPF successfully out bid several kill buyers and one individual who obviously ran the bid up far higher than what any of these horses should have sold for. A normal bid price for such horses should not have exceeded $175 – $200 per head, however by the sale of the 12th horse the individual had raised the price to over $1,000 for a mare and baby pair.
At that time, one of the auction attendees recognized the individual to be that of Jack Payne, the owner of the auction house, Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC. After Mr. Payne was recognized, he continued to bid on the remainder of Virginia Range 23 and continued to intentionally raise the bid. The Department of Agriculture agents on locations at that time were questioned by HVWHF volunteers about the legality of Mr. Payne bidding without first disclosing that he was the owner of the auction house and also the act of intentionally raising the bid to an amount obviously much higher than the expected bid range price. The agents were unable to confirm whether this action was appropriate, commenting that it was a public auction and open to anyone. Representatives from the NDA were able to confirm the identity of the individual as that of Mr. Jack Payne, the owner of the Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC.
The HVWHPF is questioning the legitimacy of the transactions that took place this evening at the auction of the Virginia Range 23, formerly the property of the NDA until all were safely acquired by the HVWHFP. Is it appropriate for an auction house owner to partake in and intentionally raise the bid on any product to be sold in that auction house? Did these actions cause the auction house to gain financially by increasing its commission on the sale? Did this auction house cause the people of the State of Nevada to overpay the commission charged by the auction house to the Department of Agriculture to handle the sale of these 23 horses?
The HVWHPF will be requesting a full and immediate refund from Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC of all the funds spent at its facility in the acquisition of the Virginia Range 23 wild horses. All the money allocated to the rescue of the wild horses comes from donations received from local, national, and international sources. The HVWHPF is an all-volunteer registered 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the Virginia Range wild horses.
Additionally, another 31 Virginia Range wild horses are scheduled to be sold at auction at this very same facility on Wednesday, September 26th. The HVWHPF will be requesting that the NDA stop all plans for this auction pending a full investigation of the activities of the management of the Nevada Livestock Marketing, LLC related to the auction of the Virginia Range 23. The HVWHPF will also ask NDA to reconsider a plan that would allow for all NDA horses removed from the range to be placed with qualified, accredited rescue organizations, allowing the organizations’ donated funds to be better spent on efforts to find permanent placement for these creatures rather than lining the pockets of those who would deceive and do wrong.
HVWHPF asks that, in the spirit of Velma “Wild Horse Annie” Johnson, children of all ages write to Governor Sandoval asking him to reinstate a Wild Horse Commission that will work with all interested parties to ensure that our Nevada Heritage Horses become a vital and valuable part of our state culture and will show that we can live harmoniously with these precious relics of our past.
Please donate to the fund to save Wild Horse Annie’s horses here: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php?c=donate
Breaking News: Horse lovers from around the world unite to save Nevada’s wild horses from kill-buyers
Advocates were bidding against auction house staff who kept raising the bids
Virginia Range Wild Horses @ Peace (Photo ©Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)
For immediate release:
RENO, Nevada (September 20, 2012) –Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund spearheaded and saved 23 historic Virginia Range wild horses from going to the kill-buyers last night. The herculean effort lead by Shannon Windle, president of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund. Country singer Lacy Dalton’s non-profit, Let ‘Em Run Foundation, also raised funds for the rescue.
“We are very grateful everyone joined together to save the horses from Wild Horse Annie’s herd,” says Shannon Windle, president of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund.
Last night many wild horse advocates and groups from the greater Reno area joined forces to help with transportation and foster care to make this rescue effort a success. The list includes the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, Let ‘Em Run Foundation, Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC) Horse Power and The Starlight Sanctuary with support from many other groups in the West. The efforts were coordinated through the Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates.
California-based Protect Mustangs joined in to help with outreach, raise awareness about the issue and contact Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval to stop the sale.
Donors contributed from across the USA and abroad to save Nevada’s indigenous wild horses from being sold to kill-buyers who sell the horses to slaughter plants for human consumption in foreign countries.
A staff member of the auction house was bidding as well as a kill-buyer against the wild horse advocates. Is it legal for the house to drive up the bids?
“How much did the auction house make with the owner driving the price up? ” asks Windle “Is this illegal?”
During the auction, a thin Virginia Range wild horse mare sold for over $500. while a stocky domestic buckskin sold for $200. A wild mare and foal sold for $1000 which is grossly abnormal at a livestock auction frequented by kill-buyers.
Advocates paid more than $11K to save the 23 wild horses–more than three times above market value.
31 additional wild horses will arrive at the auction house next week. More than 60 wild horses have been rounded up and face a horrific end if more foster homes, adopters and donors are not found quickly.
Essential donations are also needed to feed the wild horses rescued last night who will live in foster care until they are adopted or accepted into a sanctuary.
Send donations to the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund here: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php?c=donate
Governor Brian Sandoval ignored public outcry and took no action to save America’s iconic wild horses from going to an auction frequented by kill-buyers tonight.
“We hope Governor Sandoval realizes that outside of Nevada 80% of Americans are against horse slaughter,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of California-based Protect Mustangs. “This could be a pivotal point in his political career–the point where he tarnishes himself to the extent that he will never win the hearts of the 80%. He still has time to take action and become a hero and we hope he does.”
# # #
Follow Protect Mustangs on Facebook for updates
Media Contacts:
Anne Novak, 415-531-8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org
Kerry Becklund, 510-502-1913, Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org
Links of interest:
News 4 reported on the story last night: http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/default.aspx
News 4 reporting continues: http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Wild-Horse-Advocacy-groups-go-through-bidding-war/k57ef-ffOkq2QbDJKkhPEg.cspx
Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php
Let ‘Em Run Foundation: http://www.letemrun.com/index.html
Lacy Dalton bio, president of Let ‘Em Run Foundation: http://www.letemrun.com/Lacy-Bio.htm
Least Resistance Training Concepts: http://www.whmentors.org/
Starlight Sanctuary http://thestarlightsanctuary.webs.com/
Governor Brian Sandoval: http://gov.nv.gov/
Plea to Governor Sandoval to stop Nevada from selling wild horses to killer-buyers at auctions: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2459
Information on the Virginia Range wild horses: http://www.aowha.org/war/virginia_range0901.html
Protect Mustangs: http://www.ProtectMustangs.org
Governor Sandoval: Stop the sale of Nevada’s wild horses to kill-buyers
Reply
Governor Brian Sandoval ~ Photo from Wikimedia Commons
Call Governor Brian Sandoval and politely let him know you want the trapping and selling of Nevada’s indigenous wild horses at auctions frequented by “kill-buyers” to STOP now.
80% of Americans are against horse slaughter.
Does he want Nevada to stay on the top of the bad list as perceived by Nevadans and everyone else?
The first auction is this Wednesday in Fallon, N.V.–a town where he once lived.
More than 22 Virginia Range wild horses from ‘The Meadow’, on the outskirts of Reno, are going to be sold by the pound. Kill-buyers will be bidding on America’s icons to sell them to slaughter for human consumption in foreign countries.
Politely ask Governor Sandoval to step in–to stop the removals and the sales. Ask him to RELOCATE all the wild horses who have been trapped already by the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDOA) and bring them food and water if needed on the range.
Rotten development planning and urban sprawl is removing habitat from wildlife–including wild horses. Not only is the sprawl causing global warming but now it’s causing strife in communities over wild horses.
It’s the developers’ responsibility to fence out wildlife to prevent entry on their property if that is what they wish. Nevada is a “fence out” state by law.
Back in August several wild horses were taken by people connected with a development. The horses ended up at the prison where they process wild horses to go to the auction frequented by kill-buyers. Who were these people and are charges being prosecuted against them? Are they connected to the current trappings at a development now conducted by the NDOA?
Taxpayers should not pay for the NDOA to remove wild horses when the developer is not taking responsibility for putting up fencing. Nevada wants fiscal responsibility.
Land development does not need to ruin indigenous wild horse habitat, break their families apart and sell them at auctions where kill-buyers purchase horses to sell to slaughter.
We are asking for a win-win NOT for Nevada’s wild horses go to their brutal death–to slaughter.
More wild horses are needed to stop Nevada’s mega-million dollar wildfires. According to a report by CoreLogic, U.S property exposed to wildfire is valued at $136 billion.
If some wild horses do need to be brought in then the mustangs should NEVER be sold at an auction frequented by kill-buyers but should be cared for by the State of Nevada or given to sanctuaries and rescue groups. Their lives are the responsibility of the Silver State if they are not on Federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. We know Nevada can do the right thing.
80% of America’s population are against horse slaughter. If Governor Sandoval wants to run for President someday, then he needs to be aware that he is smearing himself by delaying taking action to stop the sale of Nevada’s beloved wild horses to kill-buyers. His character is being measured during this time of crisis.
He has an opportunity now to make history and win the endearment of 80% of Americans nationwide.
Contact the Governor here:
Governor Sandoval
Tel: 775-684-5670
fax: 775-6845683
Emails can be sent via this link.
http://gov.nv.gov/contact/
Send us a copy of emails you send him. Our email is Contact@ProtectMustangs.org
Also contact Governor Sandoval on Twitter @GovSandoval
Here is an example of wild horses not causing damage from Barbara Warner’s comment against the Sheldon Refuge wild horse wipe out:
“The 1990-91 GAO ( Government Accounting Office) study proved that horses do not over-graze or destroy riparian areas. Sheldon is still recovering from the damage that cattle have been proven to cause. Horses have flat hooves which don’t cut into the ground and constantly move as they graze. The increased population of pronghorns proves that wild horses benefit them and no doubt many other species as well.”
Here is an excellent scientific example of wild horses as native wildlife: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562
Indigenous wild horse families living in peace on the Virginia Range in Nevada, January 2012. (Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)
This photo shows several Virginia Range wild horse families at ‘The Meadow’ on the outskirts of Reno.
These wild horses are loved around the world. Tourists enjoy observing them at ‘The Meadow’ and elsewhere. Eco-tourism businesses could boom taking customers on wild horse safaris. This would create jobs for Nevada.
Now the Virginia Range wild horses are being trapped, castrated and ripped apart from their families only to be sold at a series of auctions, frequented by kill-buyers in Fallon, N.V. starting September 19th, 2012 and ending around October.
As of this date, the Nevada State Department of Agriculture has trapped more than 60 indigenous wild horses–of all ages–and is planning to dispose of them by selling them at the auction frequented by kill-buyers.
Please contact Governor Sandoval and ask him to take this opportunity to make history.
Links of interest:
Governor Brian Sandoval’s website: http://gov.nv.gov/
Governor Brian Sandoval on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GovSandoval
News 4 reports: Sixteen Virgina Range wild horses captured http://www.mynews4.com/mostpopular/story/Sixteen-Virginia-Range-horses-captured/EB28hJXRfkG2koVMTe7lgQ.cspx
Nevada policy change ~ sells its wild horses by the pound: http://www.examiner.com/article/nevada-policy-change-sells-it-s-wild-horses-by-the-pound
U.S. property exposed to wildfire valued at $136 billion: http://www.artemis.bm/blog/2012/09/17/u-s-property-exposed-to-wildfire-valued-at-136-billion-says-report/
2012 Nevada wildland fires: http://forestry.nv.gov/fire-program/2012-nevada-wildfires/
Nevada is a fence out state: Rural Fencing Rules in Nevada | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7148677_rural-fencing-rules-nevada.html#ixzz26mvCdAOj
Video of wild horses in ‘The Meadow’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02I_W761f4M&feature=youtu.be
Nevada is a “fence out” state
Rural Fencing Rules in Nevada
Nevada is one of many western states that are primarily comprised of “open range” land. The open range designation means that cattle, horses, sheep and other livestock are free to roam and feed over any property that is not fenced. Nevada, and other open range states, legislate “fence-out” laws that essentially say: if you don’t want other people’s livestock coming on your property, then it is your responsibility to fence your land adequately to prevent ingress. Your fencing also prevents egress for your livestock
Read more: Rural Fencing Rules in Nevada | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_7148677_rural-fencing-rules-nevada.html#ixzz26mvCdAOj
Madeleine Pickens’ Eco-RESORT?
By U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
September 12, 2012 by ppjg
Debbie Coffey (c) Copyright 2012 All Rights Reserved
_______________________________________________________________
When you read Madeleine Pickens letter to friends and supporters yesterday (9/11/2012), did any of you catch the fact that she called her planned Mustang Monument a “Wild Horse Eco-resort?” So when did this plan go from being a wild horse eco-sanctuary to an eco-resort?
(Not to even mention that the word “monument” can mean something erected as a memorial or as a marker at a grave or tombstone.)
Mrs. Pickens’ explains that her eco-resort plan will supposedly reduce the numbers of wild horses held in short term holding pens. Let’s do the math. If you take 900 horses out of short term holding to put in this eco-resort, but then you round up all of the horses off of the 3 HMAs, and they are then sent to short term holding, then haven’t you just added about the same amount of horses TO short term holding as you took out? Maybe you’ve even added more.
Mrs. Pickens wants us to believe this eco-resort “serves the greater good for our wild horses.” Let’s see, they’ve all had their “nuts” chopped off and will live with the same sex for the rest of their lives, without any children around them. Is this good? It’s certainly not natural.
In this letter Mrs. Pickens states “Already there are many people on both sides of this issue making assumptions and concluding the worst possible scenarios based on ‘proposed’ alternatives in the scoping documents.” (Doesn’t this sound dismissive of REAL concerns?) Well, yes, to some of us, removing horses from 3 Herd Management Areas and knowing that these 3 Herd Management Areas will then most likely be zeroed out and NOT Herd Management Areas anymore, and replaced with an eco-RESORT, is an assumption. But we see a pattern to what the BLM is doing. We can foresee that the BLM is removing ALL of the wild horses and slowly replacing them with non-reproducing herds.
Maybe the BLM and Mrs. Pickens would assume we wouldn’t think ahead and assume anything about Mrs. Pickens eco-resort plan and BLM’s other eco-sanctuary plans. Maybe they, and the BLM, didn’t assume anyone would care enough to spend many hours poring over Dr. Gus Cothran’s genetic analysis reports (thank you Bonnie Kohleriter, who is almost blind by now because she prepared spreadsheets that will soon be available to the public) and realize that the herds that are left are either not viable or at risk of losing viability. But we do.
We see what the BLM is doing. When we look at the facts, we see that the worst case scenario IS happening.
Mrs. Pickens also claims “I will never accept any proposed plan that threatens the life of a wild horse. We will do everything we can to hold all the existing horses harmless” But, the BLM’s eco-sanctuary plans DO threaten the lives of wild horses when they plan to remove more horses off of their federally protected HMAs. When the BLM removes horses from the HMAs, it DOES threaten the lives of horses during roundups and in holding facilities. We see this in person with our own eyes at roundups and when we look at the BLM’s own facility reports. Most importantly, the eco-sanctuaries could be on public lands that are NOT HMAs. And they should be, so that other wild horses won’t have to be removed from HMAs.
Mrs. Pickens’ letter states: “If any horses are required to moved, they will have a permanent home at Mustang Monument.” Really? Even those wild horses that will be removed from the 3 HMAs after your eco-resort is up and running? Will they also be left in their family bands? Mrs. Pickens states “I hope you will continue to put your trust and faith in me and Saving Americas Mustangs to find the best way to do this… I pledge to do this in the most benign way possible, always bearing in mind that the ultimate goal is free-roaming wild horses but so many that will never have that experience again without the creation of Mustang Monument.” This isn’t about putting trust and faith in you, it’s about holding the BLM accountable for the details and asking for their transparency.
It is NOT benign is that the public is not yet aware of all the details, which by BLM’s own admission are not even formulated yet. This is like buying a car without taking a test drive.
Is Mrs. Pickens going to make the trust, which will detail what will happen to the eco-resort in the future, available to the public, so that we can read it? Otherwise, this is asking you to go along with and support something you know little about. Would you sign any legal document without reading it?
Mrs. Pickens says that the “Mustang Monument is going to seem like a “dream come true” to the wild horses who go there. Will it be a dream come true when the remaining wild horses on these 3 HMAs are rounded up? Or will it be the usual nightmare that roundups are, and be a part of a BLM plan to whitewash the fact that it’s removing all of the wild horses off of their HMAs.
Mrs. Pickens states “we must work with the BLM to reach a conclusion that involves compromise.” Why do we have to compromise? This is all paid for with tax dollars (including BLM’s salaries, lest they forget), and we’ve already had to compromise way too much.
Madeleine Pickens states that “the ultimate goal is free-roaming wild horses” but the millions of dollars spent for this eco-resort would have gone a long way in legally stopping the BLM from removing the wild horses off of their HMAs. Otherwise, this is just a shell game.
Link to the original article: http://ppjg.me/2012/09/12/madeleine-pickens-eco-resort/
Nevada policy change sells its wild horses by the pound
Cross-posted from The Examiner
By Carrol Abel
Some of the Virginia Range horses to be sold at auction by the pound
Photo credit: S. Bains
Not many people are aware that the state of Nevada is the legal owner of all wild horses in the state except those on public lands. Fewer yet are aware that Nevada will be making their horses available at a September 19th livestock auction where they will be sold by the pound.
“A livestock auction sale yard does not differentiate whether a person is a horse lover or a kill buyer that’s the unfortunate part of this,” stated Ed Foster , Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) spokesman, on a News 4 broadcast in Reno, Nevada.
Kill buyers transport horses to slaughter across the border. The meat then ends up on dinner plates in other countries.
Late in 2011 NDA Director, Jim Barbee, created a policy in which horses removed from the range were offered to the public on a first come first serve basis for a price of $90 each. These sales were open to “anyone with a checkbook”, but most attendees were wild horse advocates.
The announcement of a change in policy resulted in an overwhelming number of calls to Nevada Governor, Brian Sandoval. Most of the calls were referred to Mr. Foster. Governor Sandoval’s office had not responded to this mornings Examiner.com questions at the time of publication.
In conversation with Examiner.com, Foster cited the reason for a change in policy centered around the third public sale at which the advocates did not buy the horses from NDA, but waited and purchased them at auction. “They kind of jerked our chain a little bit”, said Foster. “I think the Director had a very reasonable offering to the groups to have these horses before anybody else had a chance to. They basically spit on that and I don’t think the Department was willing to go through this little exercise again with them.”
Advocates cite questions regarding the legality of the paperwork involved at that particular sale and say they were advised by their attorney not to participate.
There were subsequent sales in which the advocates purchased all the horses made available to them. Why would Director Barbee change policy after successful sales?
Foster stated he was not aware of any subsequent sales and was doubtful they had occurred, but promised to look into it.
The 23 horses involved in the auction were removed as “nuisance” horses along the Virginia Range foothills of east Reno. Foster indicated in the broadcast that Virginia Range horses were coming down into residential areas of Reno because they were starving. When asked about emergency planning by Examiner.com, he stated, ” There is no emergency plan for the horses due to the drought… The big picture is, and this is the rule of the planet, it’s survival of the fittest.” Foster spoke of the lack of funding and went on to point out, “There’s nothing other than for us to respond to citizen complaints regarding the horses.”