Urgent 2 young wild fillies need homes

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Visit our Facebook page for updates on LITTLE CLOUD and FEATHER: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Please share to find a home for LITTLE CLOUD (#0729), a sweet and sensitive Salt Wells yearling filly who will trust you and be your dream horse if you gentle her nice and slow. Let her come to you and she will realize you won’t hurt her. LITTLE CLOUD is a love and a rare wild horse from the American West. Go here to bid on her and know she is growing through the awkward phase. https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/onlinegallery.php?horseCategory=470

LITTLE CLOUD (#0729) needs a home or she will get another STRIKE against her! 3 STRIKES and they lose ALL protections and can legally be sold to SLAUGHTER. That’s the law on the books. It’s called the BURNS AMENDMENT. Read what BLM says about 3 STRIKES: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2811

Even if BLM got in trouble due to the Tom Davis scandal and said they would be more careful the BLM still has the legal right to sell young and old wild horses for $10 a head by the truckload. So yes it is urgent to find a home for LITTLE CLOUD (#0729) Thank you for sharing her info so she can find her person

SAVE LITTLE CLOUD! Call Steve Mantle’s son Nick Mantle at mantle0345@yahoo.com or call 307-331-1488 to get her even after the bidding stops.

Remember Sharing is Caring. Here is her Facebook post to share out: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs/photos/a.240625045996522.58710.233633560029004/720265634699125/?type=1&theater

URGENT UPDATE July 7 4pm: FEATHER (#0519) from Salt Wells needs an adopter!!! NO One is picking her because she’s not flashy. She’s supersensitive and needs someone who will love her and take their time to gentle her. She will feel your love and build trust with you Please SHARE widely to find her a home. TYVM.

FEATHER (#0519) needs a home or she will get another STRIKE against her! 3 STRIKES and they lose ALL protections and can legally be sold to SLAUGHTER. That’s the law on the books. It’s called the BURNS AMENDMENT. Read what BLM says about 3 STRIKES: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2811

Even if BLM got in trouble due to the Tom Davis scandal and said they would be more careful the BLM still has the legal right to sell young and old wild horses for $10 a head by the truckload. So yes it is urgent to find a home for FEATHER. Thank you for sharing her info so she can find her person

SHARE to HELP FEATHER (#0519) find her home. She so wants to be safe and loved. You can bid on her here: https://www.blm.gov/adoptahorse/onlinegallery.php?horseCategory=470

Call Steve Mantle’s son Nick Mantle at mantle0345@yahoo.com or call 307-331-1488 to get her even after the bidding stops. FEATHER must be saved! https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs/photos/a.240625045996522.58710.233633560029004/719868748072147/?type=1&theater

Urgent! The WY14 need strong corral fencing

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Please HELP the WY14 get panel fencing because their layover is soon to end and we need to move them soon!

Places we’ve looked at don’t have strong fencing for wild horses so we will need to put up panel fencing. These tramatized young wild horses need sturdy panel fencing for safety. We are going to need a lot of panels and posts for the WY14. This is their first panel drive and your donation is going directly to the fencing! Donate here: http://www.gofundme.com/al5tp8

Your donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law as you see here: http://www.gofundme.com/al5tp8

We will post reciepts when we purchase the fencing (panels, posts, gates) as we believe in accountability and transparency. Please keep in mind GoFundMe and WePay takes about 8% combined for this fundraising tool. We are not receiving funding from any large groups. This is grassroots aid for wild horses rescued fromt he slaughterhouse and you are part of the solution here: http://www.gofundme.com/al5tp8

The long-term goal is to create sanctuary for the 14 young wild horses (8 mo to 2 years) who were rounded up in March and purchased by the slaughterhouse for human consumption abroad. But first we need to halter gentle them for their peace and safety. They will need to be handled from time to time to have their feet trimmed regularly for example and we want that to be a calm, safe and peaceful experience. The WY14 will never be ridden. They will live in peace and hopefully inspire people to value and protect America’s wild horses.

Sadly they have already been through so much trauma.

It takes a village of caring people coming together to undo the wrong done by the horrible BLM helicopter roundup and heinous slaughter of their families. You can donate here: http://www.gofundme.com/al5tp8

The WY14 are grateful for your help.

Photos of the Wyoming 14 ~ National treasures saved from the slaughterhouse

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Horseback Magazine reported on National treasures saved from the slaughterhouse http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/28702

A special to thank you to Craig Downer who took photos of the WY14 for us.

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

Help Feed the WY14 saved from slaughter

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Dear Friends of wild horses and burros,

After a stealth Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup, paid for with tax dollars, 37 wild horses were sold to a Canadian slaughterhouse.

These wild horses from the Bighorn Basin and Pryor Mountain area were found 1 mile from a former protected Heard Area, zeroed out in 1987, known as Dry Creek/Foster Gulch. The heritage herd had been on the range for generations but the State of Wyoming didn’t want them roaming free on public land anymore so they called in the BLM to round them up.

In March the herd was chased by helicopters and rounded up at taxpayer expense, handed over to the Wyoming Livestock Board and sold at auction to a Canadian slaughterhouse for $40 a piece. 23 herd members over the age of 2 were slaughtered to be eaten abroad before we got involved.

I’m grateful actor Mark Boone Junior and I were able to secure all 14 youngsters ages 8 months to 2-years-old and get them out before they were slaughtered too. We call them the WY14. Sadly all their mamas and papas were butchered at the Canadian slaughterhouse shortly after the clandestine roundup.

On Memorial Day weekend we transported the WY14 out of the Montana feedlot to a ranch, in California near Reno where they will stay temporarily until they move down to their home in the San Francisco Bay Area.

While at the ranch , Protect Mustangs pays for all their hay and these youngsters need to eat a lot. Right now the orphans eat about 3 bales a day. We need your help to feed the 14 survivors. We have started a fundraiser here: http://www.gofundme.com/9xcfag Please share it with your friends and family so we can raise the money for hay to help the survivors of the roundup.

Grass hay locally is $17.50 for a 100 pound bale, if we buy it in 2 ton loads–otherwise it is $20 a bale at the feed store plus the gas to pick it up. We would like to buy grass hay by the ton to stretch dollars. Once the WY14 move to the Greater Bay Area, the heritage herd will need hay until we can find irrigated pasture for them. Please make a donation today to help feed the young wild horses who have lost their freedom and their families but have survived the horrors: http://www.gofundme.com/9xcfag

For more information about the plight of the WY14 visit www.ProtectMustangs.org We are a California nonprofit. While we are applying for our 501c3, donations are retroactive, but even so, for this Hay Drive we are under The Wild Horse & Burro Fund which is part of the Andean Tapir Fund–an established 501c3 so your donations are tax-deductible right now. All donations go directly toward buying hay minus the fund-raising widget fee (4.5%).

Please help by making a donation for hay right here: http://www.gofundme.com/9xcfag These 14 little orphans are skinny and need good quality hay to grow strong. Every dollar goes to nurture and feed them so they can heal from the trauma of the roundup and the loss of their families.

The WY14 know people care about them. They felt everyone’s prayers to find them before it was too late. Now they are counting on us all to come together and buy hay so they can grow strong and have the best chance at a new life. Please share this post with your friends and family because it takes a village. . .

In gratitude,

Anne

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

In the news: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=218

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

WY14 Rescue Mission update: Rescued from slaughter and arrive in California

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Ghost Dancer arrives in California © Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved.

Donations are urgently needed for hay while they stay at the Wynema Ranch temporarily. Please send your donation via www.PayPal.com to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or by mail to Protect Mustangs, P.O. Box 5661, Berkeley, Ca. 94705

Update coming soon

It’s urgent! We need donations for transportation and hay for the #WY14

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Please make a donation to help the 14 young wild horses who were rescued from the slaughterhouse after they were rounded up by the BLM and given to the Wyoming Livestock Board to sell at auction.

You can send donations via www.PayPal.com to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or mail your donation by check to Protect Mustangs, P.O. Box 5661, Berkeley, Ca. 94705

It takes a village . . .

Light a candle for the 23 Wyoming wild horses who perished after the BLM roundup

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

We invite you to join us to light a candle and say a prayer for the 23 Wyoming wild horses who perished after the stealth BLM roundup (March 18 & 19).

We promise we will work hard to ensure this never happens again and we pledge to honor the legacy of the survivors, the WY14.

We need an EPIC funding miracle for the WY14, the only wild horses ever rescued from a slaughterhouse after a BLM roundup

Posted on May 10, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Urgent: Our funding fell through

Please help the 14 orphaned wild horses in the next phase of this rescue. We need help to pay interstate transportation, get corral panels, hay, medical expenses, etc. We are a group of volunteers who will be donating our time to gentle these wild horses and prepare them for adoption so they can live happy lives. Your donation is urgent now. Please donate here.

We also need land in the San Francisco Bay Area to house them and a used truck and gooseneck stock trailer. Need a tax deduction? We have a 501c3 that is our umbrella while ours is pending.

We are a California nonprofit organization. We protect mustangs.

Read for more information: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6775 and http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6734 and http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6668

Press Release: Mark Boone Junior helps save the mustangs

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

For immediate release

Protect Mustangs rescues 14 young wild horses from slaughterhouse after BLM roundup

SAN FRANCISCO, Ca. (May 7, 2014)—Against all odds, actor Mark Boone Junior (Batman Begins & Sons of Anarchy) and Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs, saved 14 young free-roaming wild horses from slaughter thanks to donations from Alicia Goetz, the Schnurmacher family and others. This unprecedented rescue seems to be the first time American wild horses have been purchased back from a slaughterhouse following a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup. In March, the herd of 41 wild horses was rounded up by the BLM, using taxpayer funds, handed over to the the Wyoming Livestock Board and sold at auction to a Canadian slaughterhouse for human consumption abroad. The BLM claims everything they did was legal.

“If it’s legal then the law needs to change,” states Novak. “Americans love wild horses. They want to make sure they’re protected. Congress knows that and it’s time they represent the public who elected them into office—not interests who want to dispose of them.”

In 2004, former Montana Senator, Conrad Burns, added the Burns amendment to the Appropriations Act of 2005 without any public or Congressional discussion. The Burns amendment overruled many protections in the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. From that time forward, “unlimited sales” to slaughter has been legal.

Due to public outcry against selling wild horses for slaughter, the BLM uses middle men who sell the mustangs to the slaughterhouse. This time the scapegoat was the Wyoming Livestock Board, other times it’s men like Tom Davis. The 1,700 wild horses he purchased from the feds have never been accounted for. Advocates believe they went to slaughter in Mexico.

Public outcry over Tom Davis prompted BLM to revise their policy to avoid another fiasco in the future. A change in policy is not a change in law. It’s still legal for the BLM to allow slaughter and exportation of horse meat.

Out of the 41 wild horses rounded up on March 18th and 19th near Greybull, Wyoming, 37 were quickly sold to the slaughterhouse. 4 foals were saved by the co-owner of the auction house and later transferred to advocates. Protect Mustangs jumped in later on April 2nd to save the other 37 wild horses from being slaughtered. Chances were slim they would find any alive.

Boone and Novak quickly learned that a group of 23 mares and stallions had already perished. The two managed to prevent the last 14 orphaned wild youngsters from going to slaughter. The survivors are called the WY14. They range in age from 8 months to 2 years old.

“It’s a miracle we were able to get them out,” says Boone. “I can’t believe the EPA, in 2012, designated our wild horses as pests—especially when the horse originated in America.”

“American free-roaming wild horses are a returned-native species who contribute to the thriving natural ecological balance,” explains Novak. “They have value on the range because they reduce the risk of wildfires, reverse desertification and with climate change that’s really important.”

For generations, free-roaming wild horses lived in family bands north of Greybull and close to a former herd area called Dry Creek/Foster Gulch that was zeroed out in 1987 to make room for extractive uses such as bentonite mining.

In 1971 there were 339 wild herds in the West, but now there are only 179 left in all 10 western states combined.

Today the Bighorn Basin is preparing for another extractive boom but this time it’s about fracking for oil and gas with right-of-way corridors to service those fields. Is this why the small herd of 41 wild horses was suddenly ripped off public land?

The feds maintain the 41 wild horses were not wild even though they lived wild and free for generations.

Curiously reports have surfaced that a bucking string made up of wild mustangs was turned out by their original owner more than 40 years ago. If it could be proven these wild horses were on public land in 1971, they would be protected under the Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. The BLM claims the horses have been there for only 40 years not 43.

“It’s horrible for tourism that the State of Wyoming would allow this sort of thing,” states Boone. “The beauty of the Bighorn Basin is like no other place on earth but it won’t be the same now that these wild horses are gone.”

Go to www.ProtectMustangs.org to help the WY14 with your donation. Protect Mustangs is a California nonprofit based in San Francisco.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415.531.8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Tami Hottes, 618.790.4339 Tami@ProtectMustangs.org

Photos, video and interviews available upon request

Links of interest™:

Cody Enterprise: ‘Some’ horses avoid slaughter http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/local/article_99e78c52-d0a8-11e3-a6ac-001a4bcf887a.html

AP (Viral): Feds draw criticism for selling Wyoming horses for slaughter http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/20/feds-draw-criticism-for-selling-wyoming-horses-for-slaughter/

Sons of Anarchy’s Bobby Elvis wants to save 37 American wild horses http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6668

The horse and burro as positively contributing returned-natives in North America http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20140201.12.pdf

Native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562

Wild horse overpopulation myth debunked: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6721

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

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

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

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

BLM and wild horse slaughter: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=1141

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

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

2012 EPA Pesticide Information for Fertility Control http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

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

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

Princeton and the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros Population Growth Study shows BLM roundups increase population growth: http://www.ispmb.org/herd_social_structures.html

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

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

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

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

Wyoming Pipeline Corridor Initiative (Bighorn Basin) http://wyia.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/brian-jeffries.pdf

KLS News BLM horses seized in suspected slaughter ring (Aug. 5, 2011) http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=16686555#JFD7d0UvEtYOc4fi.99

Washington Post: The Story of Conrad Burns and Wild Horseshttp://blog.washingtonpost.com/benchconference/2006/10/they_reallly_do_shoot_horses_d.html

Christian Science Monitor and cross-posted by The Seattle Times (March 2, 2005) Law allows slaughter of wild horses for meat by Brad Knickerbocker http://bit.ly/K8DWIF

Now, a law signed by President Bush will allow the slaughter and export of horse meat form thousands of wild horses. Horse lovers are urging reversal of the measure, which slipped into a recent federal appropriations bill by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burro Act http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_and_Free-Roaming_Horses_and_Burros_Act_of_1971

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

Anne Novak: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak and http://newsle.com/AnneNovak

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

GREAT NEWS! We saved the last of the WY41 from slaughter

Posted on May 3, 2014 by Protect Mustangs

Update on the WY14 Rescue Mission

Boone and I saved the last of the WY41 from Dry Creek/Foster Gulch areas in the Bighorn Basin. When we jumped in, on April 2nd, 23 Wyoming wild horses had already been slaughtered. We are so grateful to have saved the remaining 14 youngsters (8 mo–2 yrs old) now called the WY14.

You can read the backstory press release here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=6668 We will post our new press release soon.

We had to keep this rescue mission completely quiet to ensure the safety of the WY14. We hope you will understand that is why we could not answer your questions during the rescue.

Now I can share with you some of the correspondence (below) during phase one of the WY14 Rescue Mission. I will be updating it, so check back often.

We were in authentic positive negotiations with the real decision makers resulting in this outcome. We are grateful for everyone’s prayers and support because together this miracle has happened. Now there is so much to do to bring the WY14 to California, find land for a sanctuary or prepare them for adoption in pairs.

Bad news: Our funding for the second phase of the WY14 Rescue Mission appears to have fallen though.

We urgently need funds now to bring them to California to create a sanctuary for them or prepare them for adoption in pairs. Please make a donation via www.PayPal.com to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or by mailing your check to: Protect Mustangs, P.O. Box 5661, Berkeley, Ca. 94705 We are a California nonprofit organization with a 501c3 sponsor so your donations are tax deductible.

We need your donations for interstate transportation, board, feed, corral panels, water troughs, medical, gas, supplements, a used truck and trailer, etc.

Here is our fundraiser for the used trailer: http://www.gofundme.com/WildHorseTrailer

If anyone wants a tax write-off and can donate a 3/4 ton truck with less than 90K miles and capable of hauling heavy loads of horses and/or anyone has a safe used gooseneck stock trailer tall enough for horses that they want to donate we will meet our goals quicker so we can serve the WY14 once they arrive.

Thank you for donating and sharing the update with your friends and family.

Many blessings,

Anne Novak

Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

Excerpt from an email on April 6th

. . .That is so great to know as we are getting closer. Very soon we will know if they are still alive. . . Please say nothing as I just want to surround this possibility with prayers and miracles. . . We are waiting to hear about their status. I learned the plant is closed on the weekend so at least they will not be killed while my contact is off work. I am relieved. Jane Velez Mitchell (CNN) called to interview me today but I was unable to speak with her because I felt it was in the best interest of the 37 horses if I kept quiet until they are safe. . .

Many blessings, Anne

Excerpt from an email on April 9th

. . .Confidential: The 14 who have not been slaughtered yet are in quarantine in Montana. . . My guess would be that they are all mares–one about to foal–except for perhaps some weanling colts maybe 9 months old. I’m going to call around to organize the haul out of Montana to Nevada so we are ready. . . There are so many rumors about this on Facebook that I want to keep this totally confidential. People have been calling the slaughterhouse and I don’t want anything to ruin this deal. Please don’t tell anyone.