Tag Archives: Anne Novak

Protect Mustangs comments against spaying wild mares in Wyoming

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——– Original Message ——–
Subject: IMPORTANT White Mountain & Little Colorado EA Comments
From: <X@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Thu, January 14, 2016 4:02 pm
To: blm_wy_whitemtn_littleco_hma@blm.gov

BLM Rock Springs Field Office
WMLC Scoping Comment
280 Highway 191 North
Rock Springs, WY 82901

Email to: blm_wy_whitemtn_littleco_hma@blm.gov
Fax: (307) 352-0329

January 14, 2016

Dear Public Servants at the BLM:

We represent thousands of supporters who love America’s wild horses in Wyoming and request you halt your plans to spay wild mares for the following reasons and others:

1.)  We object to using tax dollars to experiment on, forcibly drug with PZP, SpayVac® or Gonacon™ and / or sterilize America’s wild horses on the White Mountain herd management area located in Wyoming (http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Rock_Springs/wildhorses/whitemtn.html) or elsewhere.

2.)  We do not want federally protected wild horses to be used for research experiments using radio collars, devices in tails and spaying America’s federally protected wild mares. Research and Sterilization is a form of harassing wild horses. This is heinous and cruel. The public is outraged and they are calling for nationwide protests to bring awareness to this wrongful act against American wild horses.

3.)  Wild horses found in the White Mountain and Little Colorado HMA’s are not “excess” according to the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. For example, there is only 1 wild horse per 6,000 acres in White Mountain. The BLM fraudulently inflates population growth (see: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8551) and never performs a real headcount.

4.)  We support natural selection and we are against fertility control especially before reintroducing the natural balance of predation because America’s wild horses deserve to live on public land set aside principally but not exclusively for their use according to the law. Allowing more than 50 to 1 units of livestock to wild horses is unfair and goes against the 1971 wild horse protection act. We request you follow the law and give America’s wild horses and burros back all the public land you have taken from them since 1971.

5.)  Fertility control, such as spaying and/or PZP, will destroy the beloved White Mountain herd’s genetic viability, wreck havoc on their behavior and social structure–so therefore we are against it.

6.)  PZP sterilizes after multiple use and we do not want these wild horses sterilized by way of PZP either

7.)  Spaying to sterilize a wild mare can cause complications, infections and death. Even petMD advises against it. Below is an except from their article:
Why You Don’t Spay When the Animal Eats Hay
by Dr. Anna O’Brien

“Spaying a mare is a more complicated medical procedure than gelding, involving entering the abdominal cavity. Although there is more than one way to spay a mare, each resulting in the removal of the ovaries, the procedure tends to be painful and there can be scary complications, such as bleeding from the ovarian artery, which can be difficult to control.

More recently, many veterinarians elect to spay mares using laproscopic methods, which means using small incisions and inserting small cameras on the ends of lasers to view the ovaries and remove them. . .

. . . Then comes the question of population control, since I feel this is the strongest argument to spay and neuter dogs and cats. Although there is the problem of unwanted horses in the United States, you simply don’t have the hoards of stray horses roaming the streets as you do cats and dogs. Rare is the kid who comes in saying, “Mommy, look what followed me home. Can we keep this horse?” ‘

(From: http://www.petmd.com/blogs/thedailyvet/aobriendvm/2014/august/why-you-dont-spay-when-animal-eats-hay-31930)

8.)  BLM has been inflating wild horse population estimates to justify removals and appears to be fleecing the American taxpayer. The Appropriate Management Level (AML) is a biased number favoring the livestock industry and does not represent the true carrying capacity for wild horses on public land. AML needs to be updated and management needs to be revamped to utilize the wild herds to reverse desertification. They are an asset.

9.)  Where is the accurate and detailed headcount to justify BLM’s claims of excess? Where are the videos and/or facial recognition photographs cataloguing each individual wild horse in the herd management areas to ensure no double counting occurs?

10.)  Tourists come to Wyoming from around the world to see the wild horses at White Mountain. They are easily accessible and inspiring. Experimenting on this herd or any other herd is wrongful, cruel and against the majority of the public’s wishes. Any claims you may eventually produce stating that you have not received thousands of hands off comments is a direct result of your poorly publicized proposal on a national and international level.

11.)  In 2011, we sent one of our founding board members to Wyoming to study the White Mountain wild horses because we are interested in this treasured and accessible herd. Here is a slide-show on YouTube of the White Mountain Herd before the 2011 roundup:

12.)  We want to be able to come to Wyoming to see, photograph, study and film the White Mountain and Little Colorado wild horse herds with foals exhibiting natural behaviors–without radio collars and other devices–and definitely not sterilized.

13.)  We are also against radio collars because they are dangerous for wild horses for various reasons including but not limited to hooves getting stuck in collars causing injury or death, EMF related sickness, stress inflicted on federally protected wild horses which lowers their immune system and makes them more susceptible to disease, etc. The public will hold BLM accountable for any injuries or deaths related to radio collars or any other assault on the bodies of America’s wild horses during experimentation that is being white-washed as “research” or “studies”.

14.)  I am making a documentary on wild horses and want to film the White Mountain and Little Colorado wild horses exhibiting authentic natural behavior. My documentary might end up being a series so I want to be able to come back to the White Mountain and Little Colorado herds to film them years later and document how the foals have grown up and joined their own family bands with foals of their own, etc. The public likes these sort of nature films.

PM Checkerboard ROundup Sept 20 2014

15.)  The proposed roundups for your proposed spay research / experiment would contribute to global warming with all the motorized vehicles used. The environmental cost is too great for this proposed research. The Bureau of Land Management must take actions to reduce global warming–not contribute to it.

16.)  America’s wild horses are a native species having been returned to their native lands–if they ever all died out in the ice age. Fossil findings are pushing back the die out date. Now the theory of wild horses going extinct is being questioned. These are exciting times.

17.)  Wild horses contribute to the ecosystem, heal the land and reverse desertification. They must not be sterilized. America’s wild horses are a resource who must be protected in genetically viable numbers to ensure survival–especially with environmental challenges ahead of them.

18.)  The public is outraged about the BLM’s proposal to research and experiment on the White Mountain herd using Little Colorado as a control group. It’s clear the American taxpayers don’t want their tax-dollars to be used for cruel roundups destroying family bands, engaging in experimentation, sterilization and birth control assaulting their right to freedom. More than 20,000 people have signed our petition against the roundups and more are signing every day. (https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups)

We officially ask you to immediately stop your proposal to spay the White Mountain herd which you allege is research. Americans and citizens of the world do not want iconic wild horses of the West to be used as laboratory test animals.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

.Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.





BLM Fakes Population Growth to Wipe Out America’s Wild Horses

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The feds’ mustang population “data” is a fraud 

By Marybeth Devlin

While pretending to rely on the assumption that herds grow 20% a year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) posts numbers up to 8 times higher than that to justify roundups, which are pre-scheduled on a rotation-basis, seeming to target particular herds. For instance, the Agency recently claimed that the famous Kiger herd in Oregon grew from 21 horses to 156 horses in just four years — an increase of 643%, which equates to a yearly average increase of 160%, which is 8 times higher than the 20% BLM supposedly uses. [1] Such growth is biologically impossible. Kiger is not an isolated example, although it is the worst found so far. Here are some other phony figures on population-growth recently claimed by BLM to make it appear that gathers were necessary:

Blawn Wash (UT)
297.4 % increase in 3 years, averaging 99.1 % per year

Fish Creek (NV)
80% increase in one year

Green Mountain (WY)
281% increase in four years, averaging 70.3% per year

Stewart Creek (WY)
311% increase in four years, averaging 77.8% per year
But herd-growth is unlikely to reach even 20 percent a year. It is important to understand that the birth-rate is not the same as–and should not be equated to–the population growth-rate. Here’s why: Horses die. An independent study reviewed BLM roundup-records for a representative sample of four herd management areas composed of 5,859 wild horses (Gregg, LeBlanc, and Johnston, 2014). While the researchers found an overall birth-rate of just under 20 percent, they also found that half of foals perish in their first year of life. Thus, the effective foal-to-yearling survival-rate is just 10 percent. Further, adult wild horses also perish. They succumb to illness, injury, and predation. Their death-rate must be taken into consideration as well. But BLM ignores mortality–foal and adult–in its population-estimates. Given the 50% foal mortality-rate, and the 5% or higher average annual death-rate of adult wild horses, herd-growth could not increase 20% a year, and a herd-population could not double in 4 years–refuting yet another BLM myth.

Stealthily inserting bogus birth-rates into the data, wrongly conflating birth-rates with population growth-rates, and failing to factor in mortality-rates–that is how BLM creates the false impression of a population-explosion. But “cooking the books” is not the only way BLM falsifies the population-picture. Another ruse BLM employs is restricting maximum herd-size below minimum-viable population (MVP) size. Then, whenever a herd is made to appear–via fictitious figures–to exceed the arbitrary management level, BLM screams “excess!” and declares an immediate need for mass-removals and sterilizations. It should be noted that more than 70 percent of the herds are “managed” below MVP.

BLM also fails to consider another factor limiting herd-growth–stochastic events–which are random catastrophes such as wildfires or contagious diseases that suddenly wipe out mass-numbers of herd-members. Stochastic events can result in no-growth or even negative growth.

Now BLM is distributing grant-money to universities and researchers to study more ways of dealing with the phantom overpopulation. All manner of sicko experiments are being carried out on the wild horses, such as treating them with endocrine disruptors and sterilizing them surgically. Why? Because BLM is a corrupt agency. It invented this counterfeit crisis to create a sense of urgency, which will pressure Congress to give the Agency extra money to “solve” a non-existent problem.

TAKE ACTION: Sign and share by email the Petition to Stop the Wild Horse and Burro Roundups and Slaughter here: https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-amp-burro-roundups

Contact your elected officials to make them aware of BLM’s fraudulent population claims to get funding for wild horse roundups and warehousing at great taxpayer expense: http://www.contactingthecongress.org

Click “Like” https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs for updates and alerts

Visit www.ProtectMustangs.org for more information and click on the donate button help fight the injustice! You can make a difference.

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

(Photo by BLM. Roundup paid for with your tax dollars.)
Addendum:

[1] Using simple division to calculate the average increase is how most people would “do the math”–dividing the percentage increase (643%) by the number of years (4). Expressing the average that way is readily understandable. However, another way of calculating it is what is called the “compound annual growth rate” (CAGR). Per that method, herd-growth can be likened to compound interest that you earn on a savings account; except of course that horses do die, which complicates the computations. But for now, let’s assume that horses never die, because that’s the assumption that BLM makes.

Using the free, online CAGR tool linked below, you would enter Kiger’s beginning population–21–and its alleged ending population–156–and the number of years that had passed–4. Then press the “Calculate CAGR” button, and the tool will compute the compound annual growth rate. For the Kiger herd, the CAGR is 65%, which is “only” 3.25 times higher–instead of 8 times higher–than 20%.

Here is the tool to compute CAGR:

http://www.miniwebtool.com/cagr-calculator/?present_value=100&future_value=200&num=4

Here are the other herds cited and their CAGRs. Fish Creek stays the same because its growth is just for one year.

Blawn Wash (UT)
38 = Population-estimate 2012
151 = Population-estimate 2014, including new foals

297.4 % = Percentage increase in three years
99.1 % = Simple average annual growth-rate
58.4 % = Compound annual growth-rate (CAGR)

Fish Creek (NV)
256 = Population-estimate 2013
461 = Population-estimate 2014, before foaling season (January)
80.1% = Percentage increase in one year

Green Mountain (WY)
258 = Population-estimate post-gather at the end of 2011
982 = Population-estimate in 2015 — including that year’s foals*

281.0 % = Percentage increase in four years
70.3 % = Simple average annual growth-rate
39.7 % = Compound annual growth-rate (CAGR)

Stewart Creek
124 = Population-estimate post-gather at the end of 2011
509 = Population-estimate in 2015 — including that year’s foals*

311.0 % = Percentage increase in four years
77.8 % = Simple average annual growth-rate
42.3 % = Compound annual growth-rate (CAGR)
* BLM’s population-modeling criteria said foals were not included in the AML. Evidently, they were.

Further Insight into Calculating Population-Growth

At the link below, you will find a discussion posted by the University of Oregon, providing a comparison between the simple average and the compound annual growth-rate methodologies for calculating annual percentage population-growth.

As will be readily apparent, the simple average approach is “straight-line” and … simple. Forgive yet another pun, but the average person can easily understand it and “do the math.”

The compound annual method, on the other hand, is extraordinarily complicated to compute, which is why the online tool is almost a necessity.

What is important is that both are legitimate ways of describing the data.

http://pages.uoregon.edu/rgp/PPPM613/class8a.htm

It should be kept in mind that population-growth estimates must consider births and deaths, not just births. That’s one reason why the Gregg et al. study was so important — it established, per BLM’s own documentation, a slightly-less than 20-percent birth-rate and a 50-percent foal mortality-rate. So, a wild-horse herd growth-rate of, for example, 65%, would have to mean a birth-rate that was much higher than 65% to offset foal deaths (50%) and adult deaths (5%).

 





AMORE was rescued from slaughter thanks to supporters

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AMORE Kill Pen with Braids

An American mustangs escapes a cruel death

AMORE’s owners never thought she would be bought at the auction by a Kill-Buyer who would sell her to slaughter. Someone who loved her braided her hair and made her look pretty hopping she would go to a good home. Poor baby ended up in the clutches of the killers!

Thanks to an angel named Clare Staples and with the help of Jim McQuillen, Protect Mustangs got her away from the killers!

Then the little mare got sick and had to stay in Quarantine in Oklahoma for about 2 months. She was well taken care of by Tonni and we are so thankful for her wonderful care. Now AMORE is ready to go back out West where she is from.

PROTECT MUSTANGS and AMORE want to thank everyone who pulled together to donate and share her Quarantine and Transportation fundraiser making it a success in less than 3 days. It takes a village and you all are part of this special rescue. We are grateful you are friends of AMORE. She sends her love and blessings.

AMORE is going to be safe in CALIFORNIA. She will live with some of the other mustangs from our Outreach Program. She’s about 15 years old now and when she gets older she will retire with the other mustangs and NEVER be at risk again of becoming meat on someone’s dinner plate in a foreign country.

If you are interesting in sponsoring AMORE and being a very special part of her life please contact Anne Novak at 415-531-8454.

Red Alert: America’s wild horses are disappearing! Staff lawyer needed ASAP

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It’s URGENT to hire a staff lawyer quickly so we can get the most out of the legal genius and save America’s wild horses in court before they are killed! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation today: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

The lawyer will be the only paid professional at Protect Mustangs. The rest of us are volunteers because we care so deeply about America’s wild horses and their right to freedom.

Most organizations are paying their Presidents and Executive Directors big salaries. They pay other staff good salaries and benefits too. At Protect Mustangs it’s different. We are here for the wild horses not for the paycheck.

As you know I’m deeply committed to protecting America’s mustangs so I donate all my professional time as do our other wonderful volunteers. Sadly pro-bono lawyers won’t donate enough time to take a big case through the end. And we want to pound BLM with more than one lawsuit that will really protect wild horses.

Time is running out . . .

Mustangs are being persecuted and forced off their legal land because greedy people want the resources and don’t care about wild horses. Roundups are cruel and deadly. Afterwards wild horses are traumatized even more by being ripped apart from their families that they love. Once mustangs are offered for adoption 3 times by the feds and not picked–they can be sold to slaughter because the Burns Amendment made it legal. This is heinous!

Today is a special day of giving. Please help America’ s wild horses survive and live in freedom with a tax-deductible donation to our legal fund to hire a staff lawyer. Click here to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

Protect Mustangs is a boots on the ground organization saving mustangs with a great track record of 3 out of 4 successful legal actions that have saved thousands of wild horses. (Pine Nut, Wyoming and Fort McDermitt). Now our hands are tied without our own lawyer on staff because there is so much to do!

You can change that.

If you want to make a difference and you want to save America’s wild horses then make a donation to our legal fund right now by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

Together we can turn this around!

For the mustangs,
Anne

Anne Novak
Volunteer Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs

P.O. Box 5661

Berkeley, Ca. 94705

Protect Mustangs is dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses

PM Pine Nut 332 90K meme

Protect Mustangs.org

Protest Horse Slaughter Med

PM WY14 Saved May 2014 Neutral Zone

H.H. The Dalai Lama wisdom

H.H. The Dalai Lama wisdom

Happy Thanksgiving!

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We want to thank you for all you do to help America’s wild horses. Know you are needed now more than ever–because there are hardly any left in the wild.

Keep them in your prayers, ask for miracles and keep protecting them.

Bless you and thank you!

With gratitude,

Anne

 

Anne Novak

Volunteer Executive Director

www.ProtectMustangs.org

(Photo of Val (Twin Peaks) saved from BLM)

 

Outrage over feds hauling Cold Creek wild horses to private facility in Utah

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BOONE-June-6-2014-©SOA

Mounting concern they will end up unadopted and go to slaughter

For immediate release:

LAS VEGAS, NV. (September 14, 2015)—Protect Mustangs, Mark Boone Junior and members of the public are outraged that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) moved the captive Cold Creek wild horses out of Nevada to a remote private holding facility in Axtell, Utah—with limited public accessibility and allegedly owned by a BLM employee. Earlier near Las Vegas, the BLM shot and killed more than 28 wild horses who were not well enough to make the long haul to Utah when the haulers were scheduled to pick them up. The skinny roundup survivors were exhibiting complications of re-feeding syndrome and severely dehydrated. Protect Mustangs has filed a complaint requesting the the Inspector General investigate matters leading up to, during and after the Cold Creek roundup.

“It’s outrageous for the BLM to move the Cold Creek wild horses out of Nevada to a private facility—in the boondocks of Utah—without public accessibility 6 days a week,” says Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “We need to be able to watchdog the mustangs and help them get adopted.”

Novak is a horsewoman who has a good track record of helping American wild horses get adopted from coast to coast. She uses Facebook and works with her vast network of supporters at Protect Mustangs to find good homes for wild horses.

“Why are the feds taking the cherished Cold Creek wild horses away from the public’s eyes especially after killing 28?” asks Novak. “It’s time for the BLM to stop violating the public’s trust. There is plenty of room at Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center outside of Reno, Nevada. It’s an accessible location for potential adopters to visit and fall in love with a Cold Creek mustang. They need to be there.”

Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center near Reno currently has 941 wild horses. Their holding capacity is 1850. They are located 27 miles away from the Reno International Airport and 4 hours by car from San Francisco. The Utah facility is 780 miles from San Francisco.

Some horse advocates and environmental researchers believe the Cold Creek wild horses are showing signs of impaired immunity because they were given PZP, the pesticide for birth control several years ago. Does BLM wants to hide the long term side-effects of PZP from the public? Is this why they whisked them off to a private facility in Utah or is there another reason?

Utah congressman Chris Stewart is pushing legislation to give individual states and Indian Tribes control of federally protected wild horses and aggressively manage them as they wish. His Wild Horse Oversight Act is proposed in Congress. http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-chris-stewart-introduces-bill-giving-states-the-ability-to-manage

“Utah is notorious for being a pro-slaughter state and we must ensure the Cold Creek wild horses are safe forever,” states Novak. “Horse slaughter for human consumption is inhumane and barbaric. Just because horse meat sells on the foreign market doesn’t mean that the United States of America should allow our icons of freedom to be eaten abroad.”

After 3 failed attempts at adoption—live or internet—the BLM can legally sell wild horses by the truckload to middlemen who claim they won’t sell wild horses to slaughter. . . According to the Burns Amendment of the free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act, the BLM can also get rid of all wild horses over the age of 10 the same way.

“We won’t sit by and watch America’s wild horses fall through the cracks,” says Hollywood actor Mark Boone Junior a member of Protect Mustangs. “I spent a lot of time in Vegas and I’m mad as hell 28 Cold Creek wild horses were killed by the feds. The herd was managed poorly because BLM isn’t doing their job.”

# # #

Media Contacts:

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

Kerry Becklund, Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org, 510-502-1913

Links of interest™:

Nevada: Federal Inquiry Is Sought After Starving Horses Are Euthanized (New York Times): http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/nevada-federal-inquiry-is-sought-after-starving-horses-are-euthanized.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Horse advocates want review; 28 Nevada mustangs euthanized (Associated Press article went viral) http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/18109922-113/horse-advocates-want-review-28-nevada-mustangs-euthanized

Horse Advocates Call For Investigation After BLM Euthanizes 28 Emaciated Mustangs http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/09/09/horse-advocates-call-for-investigation-after-blm-euthanizes-28-emaciated-mustangs/#.VfD_tm8dYN8.facebook

Horse advocates seek probe of mustang killings: http://www.kezi.com/news/Horse_Advocates_Seek_Probe_of_Mustang_Killings.html

PZP proposal for research on Cold Creek wild horses (2013): http://nyecounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=576&meta_id=31471

Federal horse, burro adoption event designed to help manage population (Washington Post August 2014): https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/federal-horse-burro-adoption-event-designed-to-help-manage-population/2015/08/14/cdc3f3f6-4205-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html

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

Chris Stewart WHOA bill: http://stewart.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-chris-stewart-introduces-bill-giving-states-the-ability-to-manage

Mark Boone Junior on IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095478/

Protect Mustangs on the web: www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

BLM delays responding to simple questions about the Cold Creek killings

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Federal agency in charge of managing wild horses avoids transparency and holds back information about public viewing

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Urgent request KILLING Cold Creek wild horses
From: Brenda Beasley <bbeasley@blm.gov>
Date: Thu, September 10, 2015 10:21 am
To: Anne protectmustangs <@protectmustangs.org>

I apologize Anne, between media calls and meetings, I’m still gathering the information to address your original questions. It may take a little longer to respond now that you’ve added more questions, but I’ll do my best to respond in a timely manner.

Thank you for your patience,
Bren

Brenda L. Beasley
Public Affairs Specialist
Wild Horse and Burro Program
Bureau of Land Management – Nevada
Office of Communications
Office: 775-861-6594
Cell: 775-315-5391
bbeasley@blm.gov | www.blm.gov/nv

From:@protectmustangs.org
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 5:00 AM
To: Brenda Beasley
Subject: RE: Urgent request KILLING Cold Creek wild horses

Dear Ms. Beasley,

Kindly respond to my questions below that you received on September 8th and said you would respond to on the 9th but I heard nothing. In addition we would like to know the following:

  • How many wild horses were transported in each trailer?
  • Who hauled them?
  • Please provide a copy of the brand inspection, coggins and health certs.
  • What sort of injury or death occurred during transport?
  • Did any arrive showing signs of illness?
  • Are they all alive at the Axtell Utah facility?
  • What are they eating right now at the Axtell facility?
  • Of the 28 Cold Creek wild horses who were killed what were their ages?
  • What did you do with their bodies?
  • What hours is the Oliver Ranch open for temporary holding public viewing?
  • How long is the public visit?
  • Where is the Oliver Ranch?
  • How does the public observe the roundup?
  • Where are the trap sites?
  • How many more days will BLM be rounding up more Cold Creek and/or neighboring wild horses?
  • Are you rounding up wild horses over the weekend?
  • Why where were some members of the public told by BLM staff that as long as the wild horses could get into the trailers there would be no euthanasia?
  • Why did BLM change their mind and kill them?
  • When will the vet reports be available?
  • Is the BLM rounding up wild horses from Forest Service land too?
  • Who is coordinating volunteer aide as well as rescue organizations who want to provide aide?
  • Who is coordinating adoption of all the Cold Creek wild horses that haven’t been killed?

The public doesn’t like to hear that older wild horses are being killed because there is a stigma against them amongst BLM staff. Older horses often find homes in sanctuaries or compassionate homes as lawn ornaments. It’s time for BLM to start forging partnerships with sanctuaries who care about wild horses–especially the older ones.

I assume you have read this article in the Nevada Appeal: http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/18109922-113/horse-advocates-want-review-28-nevada-mustangs-euthanized and this article in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/nevada-federal-inquiry-is-sought-after-starving-horses-are-euthanized.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Please don’t delay in responding to my simple questions. Thank you and have a nice day.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Urgent request KILLING Cold Creek wild horses
From: <@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Tue, September 08, 2015 6:22 pm
To: “Brenda Beasley” <bbeasley@blm.gov>

Hello,

I am officially requesting a copy of all photos and videos from the Cold Creek roundup (before during and after) as well as the killing of 28 Cold Creek wild horses near Las Vegas.

  • What is the BLM feeding them? Are they receiving any medication?
  • Where are they being taken for short term holding after the roundup?
  • Is the public welcome to observe or is this hidden from the public?
  • Is there cattle on this range? Or other livestock?
  • Was any water source fenced out on this range?
  • How many pregnant mares were killed?
  • How many mares with nursing foals were killed?
  • What method did BLM use to kill them?
  • Where are the orphan foals right now?

This is what I found on your website:

Thursday,
September 3
Summary: Gather operations have been suspended
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 49

Acute related animal deaths: 0
Cause: none
Chronic/pre-existing related animal deaths: 11
Cause: Eleven (11) horses, 3 studs and 8 mares, body condition score 1.5 or less were euthanized due to “poor prognosis for recovery or improvement” as identified within BLM’s Animal Health, Maintenance, Evaluation and Response Instruction Memorandum 2015-070.
Friday,
September 4
Summary: Gather operations have been suspended
Animals gathered: 0
Animals shipped: 37

Acute related animal deaths: 0
Cause: none
Chronic/pre-existing related animal deaths: 16
Cause: Sixteen (16) horses, 3 studs and 13 mares, body condition score 1.5 or less were euthanized due to “poor prognosis for recovery or improvement” as identified within BLM’s Animal Health, Maintenance, Evaluation and Response Instruction Memorandum 2015-070.

Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak
www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Urgent request
From: Brenda Beasley <bbeasley@blm.gov>
Date: Tue, September 08, 2015 5:46 pm
To: Anne protectmustangs <@protectmustangs.org>

Hello Anne,

I just checked my desk phone’s call log and saw I had a missed call from your phone number at 1:26 p.m. today. I’m so sorry I missed you.

I wish you would have left me a message so I would have been able to research the information you’ve requested today. As it stands now, the people I need to get some of the information from (such as age and photos) are not available. I will get with them first thing in the morning and provide you with a further response.

Unfortunately, 28 of the 201 wild horses gathered were euthanized due to a “poor or extremely emaciated body condition” and were determined by a veterinarian to have a “poor prognosis for recovery or improvement.” The horses were in a severe state of starvation.

All of the 201 gathered horses were in a severe state of starvation with Body Condition Scores ranging from 1 to 3 on a scale up to 9. The majority of the population having a BCS of 2. The horses that were euthanized had body conditions of 1 to 1.5. The on-site Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) veterinarian made the animal body condition assessments.

Lack of forage in the area caused the horses to eat desert shrub species and Joshua Tree bark, which has little or no nutritional value. The entire herd was showing signs of severe starvation evident by lethargy, signs of depression, and slow response to stimuli.

The BLM had been providing food and water to the horses, in some cases for as long as six days, in an attempt to improve their condition so they could withstand shipping to the holding facility in Axtell, Utah, where they will continue their recovery.

The emergency bait-trap gather was conducted to alleviate the suffering of the horses, protect the range and decrease competition for limited resources during severe drought conditions.

The sex of the 28 euthanized animals, along with statistical gather data, is listed on our Gather Report page, which is accessible by the public, at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo/blm_programs/wild_horse_and_burro/Cold_Creek_Emergency_Wild_Horse_Gather/gatreports.html

Again, I’ll research the information regarding age and photos in the morning and get back to you.

Thank you for your patience.

V/r
Brenda L. Beasley
Public Affairs Specialist
Wild Horse and Burro Program
Bureau of Land Management – Nevada
Office of Communications
Office: 775-861-6594
Cell: 775-315-5391
bbeasley@blm.gov | www.blm.gov/nv

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From: anne@protectmustangs.org [mailto:anne@protectmustangs.org]
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 5:09 PM
To: Brenda Beasley
Subject: Urgent request

Dear Brenda,

I tried to reach you by telephone today but there was no answer.

Exactly how many wild horses were killed since the beginning of the Cold Creek gather? Please provide the age and sex of each animal as well as photographs taken of these wild horses before and after they were killed with out delay.

I look forward to receiving the requested information today to demonstrate the agencies willingness to be transparent.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

Complaint to the Office of the Inspector General regarding BLM killing 28 wild horses near Las Vegas

Posted on by
10

 

To the Office of the Inspector General at the United States Department of Interior

Dear Sirs,

We officially request a full investigation into the management of wild horses and land use planning 6 years before the roundup, the roundup itself, feeding, veterinary care and killing of the 28 Cold Creek wild horses who had become skinny.

  • Why didn’t the BLM help these federally protected wild horses get the forage they needed earlier?
  • Why didn’t the BLM move the native wild horses up to areas with more forage?
  • What happened to their forage?
  • What about the livestock grazing permits? (see attached)
  • What organizations were pushing for BLM to use PZP, a controversial EPA restricted use pesticide for “birth control”–made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries–that sterilizes after multiple use? http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf
  • Are the wild horses getting pushed out and killed as part of the New Energy Frontier–to put massive solar farms on fragile desert land and therefore impacting wildlife? https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/lup/2900/49868/54310/LV-RMP_Poster_Renewable_Energy.pdf
  • Why aren’t the Cold Creek wild horses getting their fair share of the land that is for their principal but not exclusive use according to the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act?
  • Why is the agency appointed “appropriate management level” (AML) for wild horses so low when a genetically viable herd needs more members?
  • Why is the BLM limiting access to the public to bare witness to this cruel roundup?
  • Was euthanasia chosen for convenience and the bottom line, pure and simple?
  • Did they look at the feed and labor involved vs adoptability and take the cheap and easy way out?

Rescues and members of the public would have helped bring the Cold Creek wild horses back to health if manpower was an issue. Adoption would have been simple once they healed because people know about them and cherish them.

Tourists from around the world, visiting Las Vegas, love the wild horses of the American West.

The BLM continues to roundup more beloved Cold Creek wild horses and we pray they will not kill any more but nurse them back to health.

The public is outraged.

We thank you for investigating into the wrongdoings surrounding the management, roundup and killing of 28 Cold Creek wild horses, provide transparency and shine the light of truth.

Sincerely,
Anne Novak

 

Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs
In the news: https://newsle.com/AnneNovak

www.ProtectMustangs.org
Protect Mustangs is a nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.

Washington Post reports: Federal horse, burro adoption event designed to help manage population

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By Will Greenberg      August 14, 2015

The wild horses and burros that are part of the federal Bureau of Land Management’s latest adoption effort were notably calm Friday as they moved slowly in the early afternoon heat. The mustangs were looking for a new home, and their potential owners were looking for more than just a pet.

About a dozen people sized up the 20 wild horses and 24 burros in a makeshift pen at the Meadowood Recreation Area in Lorton — offering grass to the animals to see which were friendly. Some people were there ahead of Saturday’s adoption event looking for a gentle companion that a child could ride; others came just to admire the animals.

Makayla Cardova, 16, arrived with her mother and sister. She’s hoping the family adopts their third horse, having already trained two just this year. Cardova said her love of horses was fostered by her grandpa, saying he “created a monster.”

Bill Blake, 65, probably isn’t ready to adopt one right now — maybe next year, he said. But to him, mustangs are a pure animal, a sight worth coming from Culpeper, Va., two hours away.

“They’re just real,” Blake said, talking as he tousled the hair of a gentle brown mustang. “Nobody’s fooled with them.”
Saturday’s event — which is first come, first served and begins at 8 a.m. — is one of about two dozen adoptions being held by the bureau during the second half of this year. Adoptions are held at a variety of locations across the country in addition to online.

It’s just one of the ways the federal government is working to contain the burgeoning population of mustangs and burros in the western United States. As of March, according to bureau’s Web site, there were more than 58,000 horses and burros living on wild lands of 10 Western states in an area that can handle only about 26,700 animals.

Contraception and adoption, among other methods, are used to curb population growth, said Davida Carnahan, who works with bureau’s Eastern States office. Crowded federal lands don’t just harm the other wildlife, Carnahan said: In the long-term, the area can run out of food and end up harming the horses.
Adoptions cost about $125 per horse, but not just anyone can leave with one. Adopters must be at least 18 years old and have an enclosed facility with food, water and at least 400 square feet per animal. And, a year after the adoption, a bureau official must check up on the animal to ensure that it’s healthy.

But taking in a mustang is a project: It needs to be taught to trust humans.

For Kimberly Loveless, a horse lover and trainer from Fredericksburg, the difference between owning a wild horse and a domesticated horse is patience. Loveless has adopted five mustangs and is a volunteer for the program. Wild horses, which rarely have any human contact in nature, are generally terrified of people, she said, and it takes considerable time to gain their trust.

But for Loveless, befriending a wild animal has been one of the most rewarding experiences of her life.
“Just to see some of the horses when they’re wild — nobody’s brushed them, nobody’s trimmed their manes and nobody’s cleaned them up — if you can just kind of look past that and see what’s in their eyes and what’s in their faces, you know, and maybe find something special about one of them, it’s worth every bit of your time and effort,” Loveless said.

Another trainer, Steve Mantle, has a Wyoming-based private horse-training facility: Mantle Ranch. Mantle, 58, often trains horses for the bureau’s program and said that making a mustang comfortable around people — or “gentling” them — can take from days to weeks. People need to be ready to put in the work when they adopt a wild horse, he said.

It’s “not the quantity of horses adopted, it’s how many horses stay adopted,” Mantle said.

Still, what if the horses were better off in the wild?

Anne Novak, the executive director of Protect Mustangs, a wild horse advocacy group, said the federal government misrepresents the need to remove mustangs from their natural habitat, and she questions the agency’s head count of animals as well as its estimate of how many horses the land can support.
The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 protects mustangs from harm and capture, although the law does allow the government to remove “excess animals” if they are damaging an environment.

Although Novak’s organization isn’t against adoption, it says that when that’s not necessary, the horse should remain in the wild.

“If they were able to gather the number of horses that they adopt out annually, then there wouldn’t be this problem,” she said. “They need to reestablish a fair allocation of public land to the wild horses who legally have a right to it.”

Ultimately, the debate over the best place for these horses – in the wild or with people – boils down to a question that’s hard to get a firsthand answer for: Which would the horse prefer?

“If you asked the horse, they would be perfectly fine being wild and living the way they’ve always lived,” Loveless said. “I guess if I had my say-so in the matter, that would be wonderful, but it’s not realistic because there are things like droughts, and there’s wildfires and because the government’s been charged with looking after them, they have to take steps to do that.”

Cross-posted from the Washington Post for educational purposes. The original article is here.

Seeking a place to gentle 14 wild horses rescued from slaughter

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4

 

In the next phase of the WY14 Rescue Mission, Protect Mustangs needs to gentle, feed and care for 14 Wyoming wild horses who were rescued back from the slaughterhouse last year and who will live at the Eco-Sanctuary in about 12 months once it is completed. Please contact Anne Novak, Executive Director via email at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or by phone at 415-531-8454 if you have any leads for places in the Bay Area. Thank you!