Tag Archives: Anne Novak

Comments against Wyoming’s Checkerboard roundup

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Wyoming wild horses (Photo ©Rachel Anne Reeves all rights reserved)

Wyoming wild horses (Photo ©Rachel Anne Reeves all rights reserved)

Send your original comments in today!

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: Wild Horse Scoping Comment

From: <@protectmustangs.org>

Date: Fri, September 27, 2013 11:53 am

To: BLM_WY_RockSpringsRMP@blm.gov

 

Dear Sirs,

We request you do not roundup, remove, kill, give birth control or sterilize wild horses in Wyoming’s Checkerboard area.

We call for a moratorium on roundups in the Checkerboard and elsewhere for immediate scientific population studies lasting 10 years.

Fertility control (birth control, sterilization, etc.) must not be used before 10-year population studies.

We request an investigation into conflict of interest governing discussions and decisions for removals of the Checkerboard wild horses in Wyoming.

Federal law cannot be violated under a consent decree.

American wild horses are legally allowed to roam on the 2.3 million acres under the Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Act of 1971. It’s important to uphold the law.

Non-reproducing herds are not protected wild horses according to the 1971 Act as they would be harassed in order to be sterilized. Also their social structure and their natural behaviors would ruined if sterilized.

The wild horses mentioned are a national living treasure and historically significant. They benefit the ecosystem as well.

We request you:

  • Do not remove horses from or zero out the Divide Basin herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or zero out the Salt Wells herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the AML (number of wild horses) for the Adobe Town herd and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the horses at White Mountain and do not kill or sterilize.
  • Do not remove horses from or reduce the horses at Little Colorado and do not kill or sterilize.

Members of our organization have visited the herds for research, inspiration, photographic and other artistic projects and plan to do so in the future. We request you do not interfere in their work by removing wild horses.

Rounding up and removing any wild horses in the Checkerboard area or performing killings or sterilizations in the field will increase global warming due to increased motorized vehicle usage on the range as well as damage the fragile ecosystem.

Tourists, researchers and students don’t want to hear about a bunch of killed horses nor do they want to see a bunch of sterilized horses out on the Checkerboard. Sterilized horses loose their natural behaviors. The essence of their social structure–the family band–would be destroyed.

Removing American wild horse to frack the land is wrong.

Have you seen GASLAND 2? It talks about why beloved American wild horses are being removed in Wyoming! Millions of people have seen the new film on HBO and around the world. Now everyone realizes you are willing to remove the wild horses to facilitate fracking and other energy/mining interests on the Checkerboard area because of the money you receive from the extractive industry.

We look forward to hearing from you regarding our request for an immediate 10-year moratorium on roundups, trapping and removals for population studies.

The wild horses in question belong to the American people. The Bureau of Land Management has been put in charge to protect them. Please do your job.

Thank you for your kind assistance.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs.org

San Francisco Bay Area

Legal win creates public transparency and halts 2-year roundup contract

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Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

For immediate release

Legal victory stops illegal USFS Gather Agreement that was sending horses into alleged kill buyers hands

RENO, NV. (September 26, 2013)–Protect Mustangs, the California nonprofit, dedicated to protecting native wild horses and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter (CAES), the Oregon nonprofit, won their lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS). The groups fought for public transparency and to halt the government’s two-year roundup agreement.

The United States Forest Service and the Fort McDermitt Tribe signed a Gather Agreement on May 30, 2013, which directed taxpayer dollars and federal personnel to illegally roundup unbranded, wild, free-roaming horses on Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest lands and tribal lands until May 31, 2015.

However, as a direct result of the complaint and injunction filed by Protect Mustangs and CAES, the USDA Forest Service terminated the Gather Agreement on September 3, 2013.

The groups specifically requested the court order “the USFS and the BLM to withdraw the Notice and 2013 Horse Gather Agreement until such time as the agency demonstrates to this Court that it has adequately complied with the law.” Instead of litigating the legality of the Gather Agreement, the USFS did exactly what the two groups requested and terminated the Agreement.

“The McDermitt nightmare was the first of what could have been two solid years of heinous roundups authorized by the USFS Gather Agreement,” says Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We are grateful the lawsuit resulted in the Forest Service terminating the agreement because so many horses were ending up in kill-buyers hands. Many were saved by equine welfare groups but sadly a lot of horses ended up allegedly slaughtered.”

“It’s unfortunate the first McDermitt roundup wasn’t stopped before horses were sold at auction, but we’re glad we got rid of the underlying Agreement that made the McDermitt roundups possible and authorized an undisclosed number of similar roundups until May of 2015,” explains Dr.Lester Castro Friedlander, DVM, president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter.

Academy Award-winner and member of Protect Mustangs, Michael Blake (Dances with Wolves), stated in his declaration that he received “great inspiration watching wild horses roaming free in Nevada”. He believes if they are rounded up, removed, killed or slaughtered he would suffer harm by loosing that inspiration. Blake is pleased the two year roundup agreement was terminated.

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter were represented in this case by Jones Law Firm of Reno, Nevada and Beckett Law Office of Ashland, Oregon.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Jordan Beckett, 541-510-0333. jordan@roguevalleylawyer.com

Photos, interviews and video available upon request

Links of interest™:
PM Protect Mustangs CAES Win 30 Day Notice Forest Service & Ft. McDermitt USDA 17 Sept 2013
 
PM Protect Mustangs CAES McDermitt Participating Agreement Termination September 3 2013
Academy Award-winner, Michael Blake, joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups (August 24, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5060
Lawsuit filed to save wild horses from alleged slaughter (August 16, 2013): http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5001
 
U.S. Judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale, The Associated
Beckett Law Office, P.C. http://www.roguevalleylawyer.com/
Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm
Link to this press release: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5185

Where are all the wild horses?

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PM Anne TP Sept 2013

 

How many are left in freedom? 50,000 are stockpiled in government holding facilities. We call for a moratorium on roundups for population studies. This is urgent!

A big thank you to Cindy A. Lee of Wags and Menace Make a Difference Program Foundation for sponsoring our trip! We are so grateful that Cindy A Lee realizes how important scientific field research is to protect America’s heritage–America’s wild horses.

BREAKING NEWS: Michael Blake joins lawsuit to stop ongoing wild horse roundups

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Michael Blake with Twelve

Michael Blake with Twelve

For immediate release

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter file preliminary injunction Friday.

RENO, NV.  (August 24, 2013) — Academy Award Winner Michael Blake, author of Dances With Wolves, and member of Protect Mustangs, joins Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs versus The United States Forest Service, a department of the United States Department of Agriculture; Jeff Ulrich, Santa Rosa District Ranger; The United States Bureau of Land Management, a department of the United States Department of the Interior, to stop alleged illegal and continuous roundups of federally protected wild horses and burros through the duration of the agreement ending on May 31, 2015. Attorneys, Jordan Beckett, of Ashland, Oregon and Charles A. Jones, of Reno, filed a preliminary injunction friday to safeguard federally protected wild horses in the vast Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

Blake states in his declaration he has received great inspiration, for decades, watching wild horses roaming free in Nevada. He believes that if they are rounded up, removed, killed or slaughtered, he would suffer harm by the loss of his inspiration.

Michael Blake writes in his book Twelve, The King:

“But he and hundreds of thousand like him are gone now from this beautiful land, and for that reason alone I could not stop as I traveled over four hundred miles of Nevada roads. Something evil is still afoot in this land, and it has left its imprint everywhere. In all those miles of open, free country, the mark of evil is present in what is absent. The wild horses are missing from the land.”

Blake is a long time admirer of the american wild horse. His book and acclaimed screenplay Dances with Wolves prominently features horses in the American West.

In the early ’90s he commissioned the first independent aerial survey of wild horses. They found the population on the range was much lower than the BLM’s overpopulation claim.

This summer the National Academy of Sciences announced there is no evidence to support the BLM’s rampant chant alleging overpopulation. Protect Mustangs has called for a moratorium on all roundups in order to conduct scientific population studies before using widespread fertility control. The conservation group is concerned wild horses are being managed to extinction by the BLM–the agency put in change of allegedly protecting America’s iconic wild horses.

“We filed in court to end this nightmare,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We believe federally protected wild horses are at risk of going to slaughter as a result of the flawed roundups. We want this to stop now.”

“We are very thankful people have come together to save wild horses from auction but we never want to see this happen again,” says Dr.Lester Castro Friedlander, DVM, president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter.

Esteemed wildlife biologist and author, Craig Downer, a member of Protect Mustangs, filed a compelling declaration filled with details from decades of studying the area.

“Most of the legal wild equid herds throughout the West have dangerously low populations and the ratios of wild equids to livestock/big game animals are ridiculously low,” explains Downer.  “For example, in the Spring Mountain Complex of wild horse and burro herd areas, the Las Vegas BLM District and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest plans to allow only one wild equid per seven thousand-plus legal acres. Here big game and to a lesser extent livestock outnumber and out-consume the wild equids many times over . . . . And here most of the Spring Mountain public waters have been fenced off so that wild horses cannot access them, but game animals, such as trophy bighorn sheep, can.”

Protect Mustangs and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter are challenging the entirety of the USFS decision authorizing an undisclosed number of roundups and an undisclosed number of horses to be removed from the range over the next two years. They filed their original complaint on Friday, August 16, 2013.

“While the first roundup has already been conducted, without further legal action these unbranded, wild horses will be continuously rounded up and removed from the range, impounded, and auctioned off to the highest bidder until May 2015,” explains Jordan Beckett, attorney for Plaintiffs. “The public’s unbranded wild horses are under the jurisdiction of the USFS and the BLM. They need to be managed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act.”

Protect Mustangs is a California-based non-profit organization devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horses, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is an Oregon-based non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Photos, interviews and  video (Preview)  available upon request

Links of interest™:

Preliminary Injunction filed Friday: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=5056

Read the complaint here: PM Complaint CAES Protect mustangs v USFS BLM

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

 

Last week’s press release with links of interest:

 

For immediate release

Alleged violations put iconic wild horses at risk of disappearing

Coalition against slaughter and for the protection of mustangs files lawsuit

RENO, NV. (August 16, 2013)–Protect Mustangs, the California-based conservation group, dedicated to protecting native wild horses and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter(CAES), the Oregon nonprofit, have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service asking for an injunction on their intent to impound unauthorized livestock in conjunction with the Fort McDermitt Tribal Council on and in the vicinity of the Humboltd-Toiyabe National Forest. The coalition hopes to prevent wild horses from loosing their protections and going to probable slaughter.

“This may be the first time that protected mustangs are being auctioned off for alleged slaughter en masse and publicly with the tacit approval & cooperation of federal officials,” explains Anne Novak, executive director for Protect Mustangs.

Right now hundreds of wild horses are being fattened up at a Fallon, Nevada auction yard for the sale because the Forest Service allegedly rounded up wild free roaming horses in violation of the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and in violation ofNational Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

“Horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and we need to stop it,” says Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM and president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter. “This stealth roundup is a heinous act toward our icons of liberty.”

“The U.S. Forest Service needs to comply with the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act as well as NEPA before rounding up hundreds of potentially wild horses–especially when the BLM’s nearby Owyhee gather plan doesn’t authorize this action,” states Jordan Beckett, attorney for Plaintiffs Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs.

The Judge has not ruled on the complaint filed by Protect Mustangs and Citizens against Equine Slaughter as of this moment.

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Patience O’Dowd, 505-610-7644, patience_odowd@yahoo.com

Photos, interviews and  video (Preview)  available upon request

Links of interest:

Read the complaint here: PM Complaint CAES Protect mustangs v USFS BLM

U.S. Judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale, The Associated Press,http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/15/3565447/us-judge-in-nv-asked-to-block.html

Protect Mustangs www.ProtectMustangs.org

Citizens Against Equine Slaughterhttp://www.noequineslaughter.org/

Beckett Law Office, P.C. http://www.roguevalleylawyer.com/

Jones Law Firm http://cjoneslawfirm.com/

Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm

NEPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act

Roundup footage & abuse:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF49csCB9qM (Preview)

 

PLAINTIFFS’ PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court:

1. Declare that the USFS and the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and their implementing regulation in implementing the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather;

2. Order the USFS and the BLM to withdraw the Notice and 2013 Horse Gather Agreement until such time as the agency demonstrates to this Court that it has adequately complied with the law, including but not limited to putting the 2013 Agreement through notice and comment procedures, ordering DNA testing to determine the origin of captured wild horses, ordering the BLM and USFS to comply with the law to determine ownership of the wild horses, and ordering the BLM and USFS return to public lands or the HMAs all seized or removed wild, free-roaming, and unbranded horses being held at Fallon Livestock Auction;

3. Enjoin the USFS, the BLM, and their agents from proceeding with the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather, or any portion thereof, unless and until the violations of federal law set forth herein have been corrected to the satisfaction of this court;

Press Release: Lawsuit filed to save wild horses from alleged slaughter

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For immediate release

Alleged violations put iconic wild horses at risk of disappearing

Coalition against slaughter and for the protection of mustangs files lawsuit

RENO, NV. (August 16, 2013)–Protect Mustangs, the California-based conservation group, dedicated to protecting native wild horses and Citizens Against Equine Slaughter (CAES), the Oregon nonprofit, have filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service asking for an injunction on their intent to impound unauthorized livestock in conjunction with the Fort McDermitt Tribal Council on and in the vicinity of the Humboltd-Toiyabe National Forest. The coalition hopes to prevent wild horses from loosing their protections and going to probable slaughter.

“This may be the first time that protected mustangs are being auctioned off for alleged slaughter en masse and publicly with the tacit approval & cooperation of federal officials,” explains Anne Novak, executive director for Protect Mustangs.

Right now hundreds of wild horses are being fattened up at a Fallon, Nevada auction yard for the sale because the Forest Service allegedly rounded up wild free roaming horses in violation of the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and in violation of National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

“Horse slaughter is cruel and inhumane and we need to stop it,” says Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM and president of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter. “This stealth roundup is a heinous act toward our icons of liberty.”

“The U.S. Forest Service needs to comply with the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act as well as NEPA before rounding up hundreds of potentially wild horses–especially when the BLM’s nearby Owyhee gather plan doesn’t authorize this action,” states Jordan Beckett, attorney for Plaintiffs Citizens Against Equine Slaughter and Protect Mustangs.

The Judge has not ruled on the complaint filed by Protect Mustangs and Citizens against Equine Slaughter as of this moment.

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Their mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of America’s wild and domestic horses.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415-531-8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Patience O’Dowd, 505-610-7644, patience_odowd@yahoo.com

Photos, interviews and video available upon request

Links of interest:

Read the complaint here: PM Complaint CAES Protect mustangs v USFS BLM

U.S. Judge refuses to block NV tribe’s mustang sale, The Associated Press, http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/15/3565447/us-judge-in-nv-asked-to-block.html

Protect Mustangs www.ProtectMustangs.org

Citizens Against Equine Slaughter http://www.noequineslaughter.org/

Beckett Law Office, P.C. http://www.roguevalleylawyer.com/

Jones Law Firm http://cjoneslawfirm.com/

Wild Free Roaming Horse & Burro Act http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/92-195.htm

NEPA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Environmental_Policy_Act

Roundup footage & abuse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF49csCB9qM

PLAINTIFFS’ PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Plaintiffs respectfully request that this Court:

1. Declare that the USFS and the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and their implementing regulation in implementing the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather;

2. Order the USFS and the BLM to withdraw the Notice and 2013 Horse Gather Agreement until such time as the agency demonstrates to this Court that it has adequately complied with the law, including but not limited to putting the 2013 Agreement through notice and comment procedures, ordering DNA testing to determine the origin of captured wild horses, ordering the BLM and USFS to comply with the law to determine ownership of the wild horses, and ordering the BLM and USFS return to public lands or the HMAs all seized or removed wild, free-roaming, and unbranded horses being held at Fallon Livestock Auction;

3. Enjoin the USFS, the BLM, and their agents from proceeding with the Fort McDermitt Horse Gather, or any portion thereof, unless and until the violations of federal law set forth herein have been corrected to the satisfaction of this court;

4. Award Plaintiffs their costs of suit and attorneys fees; and

5. Grant Plaintiffs such other and further relief as the Court deems just and equitable.

 

Official Request to stop federally protected wild horses from being sold to probable slaughter

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Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

Photo James Marvin Phelps / Foter.com / CC BY-NC

August 15, 2013

By Electronic Mail

 

Sally Jewell, Secretary of Interior

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street, N.W.

Washington DC 20240

Tel: 202-208-3100

feedback@ios.doi.gov

 

Neil Kornze, Principal Deputy Director

BLM Washington Office

1849 C Street NW, Rm. 5665

Washington DC 20240

Phone: 202-208-3801

Fax: 202-208-5242

director@blm.gov

 

Joan Guilfoyle, Division Chief

Division of Wild Horses and Burros

20 M Street, S.E.

Washington, DC 20003

Tel: 202-912-7260

jguilfoy@blm.gov

 

Amy Leuders, Nevada State Director

Bureau of Land Management

Nevada State Office

1340 Financial Blvd

Reno, NV 89502

Tel: 775-861-6400

nvsoweb@blm.gov

 

Jill Silvey, District Manager

Bureau of Land Management

Elko District Office

3900 E. Idaho Street

Elko, NV 89801

Tel: 775-753-0200

elfoweb@blm.gov

jsilvey@blm.gov

 

Gene Seidlitz, District Manager

Bureau of Land Management

Winnemucca District Office

5100 East Winnemucca Blvd.

Winnemucca, NV 89445

Tel: 775-623-1500

wfoweb@blm.gov

gseidlit@blm.gov

 

Jeff Ulrich, District Ranger

U.S. Forest Service

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest

1200 East Winnemucca Blvd.

Winnemucca, NV 89445

jlulrich@fs.fed.us

 

Tom Tidwell, Chief

U.S. Forest Service

1400 Independence Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20250-0003

ttidwell@fs.fed

 

Official Request to prevent federally protected wild horses from being sold to probable slaughter

We request for the Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service ensure that no federally protected wild horses are removed from the range and transported to auction anywhere, nor sold to anyone, nor used nor held by anyone, nor claimed by anyone, in connection with the Service’s June 14, 2013 Notice of Intent to Impound Unauthorized Livestock in cooperation with the Fort McDermitt Paiute Tribal Council.(http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5427742.pdf)

In addition we request opportunities for daily public observation be provided at all trap sites, holding facilities, sites of use, auction houses and shipping centers, etc.

We require you inform us of the casualties (moralities & injuries) in this roundup.

Now with hundreds of wild horses at the Fallon Livestock Auction yard awaiting sale this Saturday August 17th we request DNA testing be performed immediately on all unbranded wild horses as well as you provide immediate public observation at the livestock auction facility for members of our group and other members of the public to document with photos and video the situation.

We request you pull from the auction–where alleged kill-buyers purchase horses for slaughter for human consumption abroad–all unbranded or branded federally protected wild horses who could have been living on BLM or Forest Service land yet were pushed by helicopter or other motorized vehicle or by cowboy to be trapped on federal land or elsewhere.

You are required by law to protect the American wild horses–please do so immediately.

We await your response, via email, to our urgent and official request.

 

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

 

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

San Francisco Bay Area

 

 

As seen on the news and in print

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562 

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Protect Mustangs on YouTube

Protect Mustangs in the News

Donate to help Protect Mustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is devoted to protecting native wild horses. Our mission is to educate the public about the indigenous wild horse, protect and research American wild horses on the range and help those who have lost their freedom.

Why end natural selection in the Pryors?

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http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/main_story.Par.31432.File.dat/TopStoryHorse.pdf

Should humans run a wild horse breeding program or does nature know best?

From: (http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/main_story.Par.31432.File.dat/TopStoryHorse.pdf) The BLM welcomed a new partner this spring. The adept volunteer efforts of the Cloud Foundation’s Effie Orser, Lauryn Wachs, and Ginger Kathrens contributed to the successful completion of this year’s fertility treatments in record time. The trio worked in concert with two BLM employees, Ryan Brad- shaw and Jerad Werning, who were darting wild horses elsewhere on the Range.

Statement from Protect Mustangs

We are against the Cloud Foundation and BLM partnership for extreme PZP in the Pryors for the following reasons:

1.) It ruins natural selection.

2.) According to the National Academy of Sciences there is no evidence of overpopulation.

3.) Reserve design is the healthy choice for management.

4.) Risks of sterility could ruin the herd’s genetic viability.

5.) Unnatural and increased stress on wild mares from wild stallions continuously trying to breed them month after month, year after year, until they are allowed by mankind to have one foal.

6.) Man made fertility control drugs endanger the wild herds’ ability to adapt through reproduction to environmental stresses.

7.) The “Restricted Use Pesticide” known as PZP is not allowed on domestic horses–surely for safety concerns and therefore should not be allowed on native wild horses who have been misclassified as “pests” by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Natural selection has allowed native wild horses to evolve and survive for more than a million years. We believe it is unethical for a government agency and a nonprofit organization to go against natural evolution and manipulate breeding through excessive roundups and drugs approved for use as “restricted use pesticides”.

Now the public is witnessing the final phase of the Salazar Plan announced in 2009 (managing wild horses to extinction) using an EPA fast-tracked “Restricted Use Pesticide” called Porcine zona pellucida–a form of zona pellucida extracted from the ovaries of pigs.

And speaking of pigs, where are the pigs’ ovaries coming from? How were the pig’s ovaries extracted?

The Pryor Mountain Herd is already one of the two herds designated with “Treasured” status–that means they are protected and will never disappear. No need to sell out to  “restricted use pesticides” for “pest” control!

“We are proud to be working with the BLM, and we hope our partnership with them will continue and may set an example for the management of other wild herds throughout the West,” said Ginger Kathens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation in the BLM’s top story released on August 12, 2013.

What happened to The Cloud Foundation fighting for America’s wild horses’ right to live their natural lives in freedom?

“Why is Ginger Kathrens now supporting the extreme use of PZP when a couple of years ago she appeared to be against using the drug, against ruining natural selection and against creating zoo-like settings on mountaintops?” asks Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs. “We want a moratorium on roundups and call for immediate population studies before blasting wild horses with fertility control and sterilization.”

 

Links of interest:

Ginger Kathrens’ paper PZP-22… Do Unintended Side-Effects Outweigh Benefits? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=3270

Cloud Foundation Partnership with BLM to dart the Pryor herd with the “Restricted Use Pesticide” known as PZP to “control” fertility http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/mt/main_story.Par.31432.File.dat/TopStoryHorse.pdf

Ecologist Craig Downer speaks out against using PZP in the Pryors http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4178

Salazar presents ambitious plan to manage wild horses, Washington Post: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2009-10-08/news/36823356_1_wild-horses-burros-wild-herd

Ken Salazar’s wild horse plan fuels accusations that he’s in the pocket of ranchers, Huff Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/17/ken-salazars-wild-horse-p_n_324799.html

BLM announces The Salazar Plan (press release) http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2009/october/salazar_seeks_congressional.html

Report from the Spinshop #Shade4Mustangs

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Shade 4 Mustangs BLM Workshop 1 August 6 2013 Marked

August 6, 2013

The BLM Workshop in Reno eroded down to a presentation of BLM spin with:

1.) Ph.D.s making statements with NO EVIDENCE and NO RESEARCH on native wild horses. (FYI the Ph.Ds’ research is only on DOMESTIC horses)

2.) A facility DVM avoiding questions regarding the true number of DEAD foals

3.) Fabulous questions repeated but NOT answered by the BLM nor their contractors.

4.) BLM personnel NOT providing answers to questions and evading transparency.

One of the Ph.D.s explained the “basic necessities’ for humane horse care yet she avoided listing “shelter”. That same Ph.D. is known for citing failure to provide shelter as “Neglect”.

Anne Novak, our Executive Director, asked her, “Why are you not including shelter as a necessity in your presentation but are putting it over into a secondary category of optional horse care elements? Why are you saying this when you wrote a paper titled “Managing Equine Neglect Cases” in which it states at the top, in the definitions, quote, ‘NEGLECT: is the failure to provide proper shelter, food, or water. Neglect may also include failure to provide veterinary care to a horse that is ill or injured.”

The Ph.D. avoided the question and made the statement that her study was for California domestic horses not wild horses.

Captive wild horses deserve shade.

Adopters are required to provide not just shade but also shelter in order to adopt a wild horse that the BLM wants to dispose of.

We ask you~

Should the BLM be allowed different care standards than they demand of their adopters?

Why is a Ph.D.s skewing their published studies and standards of care to avoid requiring shelter for wild horses?

Later the workshop facilitator was pushing for the attendees to accept the BLM’s idea to give shelter to only the sick and injured wild horses but advocates would not be duped into supporting such an offer. Advocates stayed on focus and requested shelter for all captive wild horses and burros.

During the meeting, Anne Novak was in communication with Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM and President of Citizens Against Equine Slaughter. She presented his statement that “All captive wild horses must have access to shade at the Palomino Valley facility.”

We are grateful the advocates in the room and many viewing the web transmission saw through the Delphi Technique used at the meeting and left more empowered and unified to get shade and shelter for the wild horses at Palomino Valley Center and elsewhere.

We want to thank our supporters who donated toward the gas to get the Protect Mustangs delegation to the meeting.

Please email your friends and relatives to meet the challenge for 50,000 signatures. Here is the petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-emergency-shade-for-captive-wild-horses-and-burros  Thank you!

 

Links of interest:

U.C. Davis expert cites failure to provide shelter as neglect http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4867

 

Managing Equine Neglect Cases by Crolyn L. Stull, PhD, UC Davis

Delphi Technique: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4422 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi_method

Protect Mustangs’ investigation creates furor, advocacy group requests #Shade4Mustangs

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Video Investigation reveals wild horses are dying in the heat wave!

As a result of public outcry, the Bureau of Land Management is holding a public workshop at the Reno City Council Chamber in Reno, Nev., on Aug. 6 from 5:30 to 9:00 p.m.

Tune in to participate via Webinar if you cannot attend in person. Registration information is here:  http://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/412191850

Links of Interest:

July 20, 2013 CBS San Francisco BLM seeks ways to protect wild horses from heat after pressure from Bay Area advocate http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/07/20/blm-seeks-to-protect-wild-horses-from-heat-after-pressure-from-bay-area-advocate/

July 20, 2013 Kansas City Star by Martin Griffith, The Associated Press BLM seeks ideas to protect wild horses from heat http://www.kansascity.com/2013/07/20/4357157/blm-seeks-ideas-on-how-to-protect.html

BLM’s wild horse and burro program looks to community for ideas at workshop: http://thisisreno.com/2013/07/blms-wild-horse-and-burro-program-looks-to-community-for-ideas-at-workshop/

Captive wild horses need relief from heat says HSUS http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/07/18/captive-wild-horses-need-relief-heat-says-hsus/#axzz2ZcyetMGy

Captive wild horses need shade, advocates say http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/07/02/captive-wild-horses-need-shade-advocates-say/#axzz2ZcyetMGy

How many foals are dying after roundups?: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4246

BLM’s email revealing they are not counting the unbranded dead amongst the 37 dead mustangs at the Nevada facility http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4220

NPR: Fertility drug, nature, better than horse roundups  http://newsle.com/article/0/78084688/

Information on native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

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

Animals Angels investigative report: http://www.animalsangels.org/the-issues/horse-slaughter/foia-requests/497-blm-nevada-mortality-records-a-nevada-rendering-animals-angels-foia-request-reveals-discrepancies.html

Palomino Valley Center: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b/palomino_valley_national.html

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

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

NOTES:

4 horses died during the last heat wave but only 3 deaths (A,C,D) could be related to the heat wave. (see email from BLM below). Strangles is a respiratory illness (Equine Distemper). Horses with repiratory illness have a higher chance of death when enduring a heat wave, because they are already having difficulty breathing and the heat aggrivates that.

BLM’s Debbie Collins responds to Anne Novak’s email:

 

So, I am listing a response to the specific questions you submitted to Jeb below:1.  How many unbranded foals, etc. have died from June 27 to July? Jeb has already provided you a response to this, but at this time no records are kept on unbranded animals that die.3.  For the listed time period, what were the dates of any deaths, how old were the horses and what were their id #s?A. #12620475 – 1yr old Female – Died 6/28/13 from stranglesB. #06619316 – 7yr old Gelding – Died 6/28/13 from Neck/Head injuryC. #10617585 – 3yr old Female – Died 6/30/13 from Unknown*D. #12619358 – 1yr old Female – Died 7/2/13 from Unknown*

 

* PVC’s Vet and staff reported no signs of heat-related symptoms prior to the deaths of #10617585 & #12619358. In addition,  these animals had a continuous supply of water, quality hay, and sprinklers present; therefore, there was no life or death issue present. It is not always possible to make a determination of the cause of death. But, if the BLM has any future deaths at PVC that are not associated with a particular illness or injury, a necropsy will be performed.  

Urgent Signature Challenge: Petition for Emergency Shade for captive wild #horses & burros

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Take Action to increase petition signatures.

Sample email:

Dear friends and family,

Captive American wild horses and burros have suffered roundups and are now kept in pens without shade–in the sweltering desert heat. In the wild, our national treasures can migrate to cooler zones as well as find trees or mountainsides for shade. In the pens they are trapped and must be provided for humanely. We need to bring shade to them immediately.

Many groups and advocates have joined the call for shade yet the feds are stalling. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) highly publicized sprinkler mitigation is inadequate.

Horses have died in the triple digit heat wave since the handful of sprinklers were installed.

Using water from a few sprinklers during a drought doesn’t make sense especially when shade can be provided if the BLM will make the commitment to humane care.

Protect Mustangs has called for Secretary of Interior, Sally Jewell, to utilize the Army Corps of Engineers to bring emergency shade to America’s captive wild horses and burros.

When there are at least 50K signatures on the petition then we will go to Washington to deliver the petition to Secretary Sally Jewell’s office.

Hurry! Email all your friends the link to the petition for shade.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=545541502171540&set=a.240625045996522.58710.233633560029004&type=1&theater

Ask them to sign it and forward a copy of this email on to their friends.

Thank you for taking action right now to bring emergency shade to the captive wild horses and burros.

Together our voices for the voiceless can be heard.

In gratitude,

[Your name]