First four Virginia Range wild horses move to Colorado

Nevada’s historic wild horses arrive safe and sound

Virginia Range wild horses Brittany and Spencer arrive in Colorado 2012 Photo curtesy HVWHPF

 

Virginia Range wild horses Jesse & JJ arrive in Colorado Photo curtesy HVWHPF

Thanks to everyone’s participation to save 53 Virginia Range wild horses from being sold to possible slaughter!

23 wild horses have been adopted, they are waiting to have their Coggins tests and be shipped out.

30 wild horses need their forever homes. Please help if you can.

Adoption applications are on Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund’s page.

Breaking News: Horse lovers from around the world unite to save Nevada’s wild horses from kill-buyers

Advocates were bidding against auction house staff who kept raising the bids

Virginia Range Wild Horses @ Peace (Photo ©Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

For immediate release:

RENO, Nevada (September 20, 2012) –Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund spearheaded and saved 23 historic Virginia Range wild horses from going to the kill-buyers last night. The herculean effort lead by Shannon Windle, president of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund. Country singer Lacy Dalton’s non-profit, Let ‘Em Run Foundation, also raised funds for the rescue.

“We are very grateful everyone joined together to save the horses from Wild Horse Annie’s herd,” says Shannon Windle, president of Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund.

Last night many wild horse advocates and groups from the greater Reno area joined forces to help with transportation and foster care to make this rescue effort a success. The list includes the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, Let ‘Em Run Foundation, Least Resistance Training Concepts (LRTC) Horse Power and The Starlight Sanctuary with support from many other groups in the West. The efforts were coordinated through the Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates.

California-based Protect Mustangs joined in to help with outreach, raise awareness about the issue and contact Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval to stop the sale.

Donors contributed from across the USA and abroad to save Nevada’s indigenous wild horses from being sold to kill-buyers who sell the horses to slaughter plants for human consumption in foreign countries.

A staff member of the auction house was bidding as well as a kill-buyer against the wild horse advocates. Is it legal for the house to drive up the bids?

“How much did the auction house make with the owner driving the price up? ” asks Windle “Is this illegal?”

During the auction, a thin Virginia Range wild horse mare sold for over $500. while a stocky domestic buckskin sold for $200. A wild mare and foal sold for $1000 which is grossly abnormal at a livestock auction frequented by kill-buyers.

Advocates paid more than $11K to save the 23 wild horses–more than three times above market value.

31 additional wild horses will arrive at the auction house next week. More than 60 wild horses have been rounded up and face a horrific end if more foster homes, adopters and donors are not found quickly.

Essential donations are also needed to feed the wild horses rescued last night who will live in foster care until they are adopted or accepted into a sanctuary.

Send donations to the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund here: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php?c=donate

Governor Brian Sandoval ignored public outcry and took no action to save America’s iconic wild horses from going to an auction frequented by kill-buyers tonight.

“We hope Governor Sandoval realizes that outside of Nevada 80% of Americans are against horse slaughter,” explains Anne Novak, executive director of California-based Protect Mustangs. “This could be a pivotal point in his political career–the point where he tarnishes himself to the extent that he will never win the hearts of the 80%. He still has time to take action and become a hero and we hope he does.”

# # #

Follow Protect Mustangs on Facebook for updates

Media Contacts:

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

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

Links of interest:

News 4 reported on the story last night: http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/default.aspx

News 4 reporting continues: http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Wild-Horse-Advocacy-groups-go-through-bidding-war/k57ef-ffOkq2QbDJKkhPEg.cspx

Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund: http://hiddenvalleyhorses.com/main.php

Let ‘Em Run Foundation: http://www.letemrun.com/index.html

Lacy Dalton bio, president of Let ‘Em Run Foundation: http://www.letemrun.com/Lacy-Bio.htm

Least Resistance Training Concepts: http://www.whmentors.org/

Starlight Sanctuary http://thestarlightsanctuary.webs.com/

Governor Brian Sandoval: http://gov.nv.gov/

Plea to Governor Sandoval to stop Nevada from selling wild horses to killer-buyers at auctions: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2459

Information on the Virginia Range wild horses: http://www.aowha.org/war/virginia_range0901.html

Protect Mustangs: http://www.ProtectMustangs.org

Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada to remove all wild horses, burros within 5 years

Cross-posted from The Republic

  • MARTIN GRIFFITH  Associated Press
  • September 02, 2012 – 8:04 pm EDT

RENO, Nev. — Federal officials have approved a final management plan for the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada that calls for the removal of all wild horses and burros from it within five years.

The move is being made because the refuge was created for pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife, and horses and burros have a negative effect on habitat, said Joan Jewett, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland, Ore.

“They trample the habitat and overgraze and disturb the water sources,” she told The Associated Press. “We’re required by law to manage our refuges in accordance with the purposes for which they were established, and Sheldon was primarily for pronghorn antelope.”

Horse advocacy groups sharply criticized the refuge’s comprehensive conservation plan, which will guide its management over the next 15 years. It was publicly released late last month.

They say horses and burros lived in the area long before the refuge was created in 1931, and the animals actually heal the land and help prevent wildfires through grazing.

“We are extremely disappointed that the federal government has chosen to eradicate wild horses and burros from the lands where their ancestors have lived for more than a century and a half,” Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said in a statement.

An aerial survey in July showed the 575,000-acre refuge along the Oregon border is home to at least 2,508 antelope, 973 mustangs and 182 wild burros, said Aaron Collins, a park ranger at Sheldon.

“We’re recording the highest numbers of pronghorn antelope since we began counting them in 1950,” he said.

Federal officials began the planning process on the refuge’s management plan in 2008, and received several thousand comments from individuals, organizations and government agencies during it, Collins said.

The final plan will be signed sometime after Sept. 24 by the regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Agency, he added.

Under federal law, only horses and burros removed from lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are protected from slaughterhouses if they can’t be adopted.

“Rounding up indigenous wild horses is wrong — especially when they can be sold to the meat buyers at auctions,” said Anne Novak of California-based Protect Mustangs. “These horses are vulnerable to ending up going to slaughter … The Sheldon plan to wipe out wild horses is nuts and goes against the public’s wishes.”

Activists said the final management plan rejected a more humane alternative to phase out horses and burros over 15 years using fertility control, an option that would have allowed unadoptable animals to live out their lives at the refuge.

(Story distributed by The Associated Press)

Link to the original article: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/9d2599146ac04731ae3b93a918db2c59/NV–Refuge-Wild-Horses

Wild mare and foal at risk ~ Please adopt or sponsor

Found in a filthy pen run by the United States Bureau of Land Management . . .

Adopt these two Jackson Mt. mustangs and save them! (Photo © Taylor James)

Jackson Mountain mare #3246 and her foal #8255 were chased by roundup helicopters and now have lost their freedom to roam the American West. They have been “processed” and will soon be separated unless you help them.

There are three options to get them to safety:

1.) Adopt the two and take them to your ranch / barn.

2.) Adopt the pair and get them in to a sanctuary.

3.) Sponsor the mare and foal’s adoption and care with someone else.

If you can think of other options let us know.

We will look into what exactly the branding all over this mare means and report back to you.

If you have any questions about adoption please send us an email to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

or call the BLM office at Palomino Valley, near Sparks Nevada: 775. 475. 2222

 

Adopt a wild horse or two ~ Save a living legend

Mustangs make great partners

Protect Mustangs . org  & Photo © Taylor James

Jackson Mountain wild horses for adoption (Photo © Taylor James)

Sadly these wild horses have lost their homes and their families. They need to find good people to adopt them. Mustangs are quick to learn and train.

We have adopted wild horses and would be happy to share our experience as well as some resources such as gentle trainers. We welcome you to email us at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org with your questions. Please include your phone number for us to call you back.

We encourage people to adopt a wild horse or two to keep them safe. It’s direct action you can take to save the mustangs.

If you know of someone who might adopt a mustang please forward this on to them.

Living legends at risk

Once wild horses are shipped out to long term holding their fate is unknown. The public and advocates can’t keep track of them . . . They can be purchased by the lots of 100 horses or more. Who buys 100 wild horses at a time? Where do they go?

These wild horses are located at the Palomino Valley Center near Reno, Nevada. They need homes quickly before they are shipped out to long-term holding.

Thank you for doing what you can do to save a wild mustang’s life.

Adopt a wild horse today in Santa Rosa

Adopt a mustang ~ find a friend.

Adopt a mustang ~ find a friend.

47 wild horses were brought to the Santa Rosa adoption event at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds. Only 9 were adopted Saturday so there are plenty of nice wild horses to choose from today.

The event goes until 5 p.m. Sunday so you can still make it out to find your wild horse. We suggest taking a pair if you can, because then they can buddy through training and their new life.

The mustangs are from California’s eastern Sierra and across the border in Nevada near Burning Man.

These wild horses make great riding horses for all disciplines. They bond with their people in a unique and deep way so you have a real friend for life.

Here’s the sad part of the story: Most of these horses probably came from Palomino Valley Center (Sparks, Nevada) or Litchfield Holding Facility (Susanville, California). After being at these adoption facilities they acquire one strike when they leave and go to an adoption event. If they are not adopted at the adoption event such as the Santa Rosa event then they will have two strikes against them. If they went to another adoption event before Santa Rosa then, when they leave this event, they would have three strikes and can legally be sold for $25–even the young horses. Kill buyers pick up cheap horses, fatten them up and sell them to  slaughter for a big profit.

Adopt a living legend of the American West and save it from an unknown fate.

Contact us if you need help going through the adoption process or for trainer referrals.

 

 

Help Sweetheart One Sock #4789 find her home

Sweetheart One Sock wants to be your filly. (Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

This curious little filly (freezemark: 11614789) was rounded up at Triple B when she was 3 months old. She’s now about 11 months old and wants to find her forever home and family so she is never separated again from those she loves.

She is at Palomino Valley Center, about 25 minutes outside of Reno. Their number is 775-475-2222 and they open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 4 p.m. PST Monday – Friday, Saturday open from 8 a.m. to noon and closed on Sunday.

We suggest filling out BLM’s adoption paperwork and faxing it to PVC. Approval can be done in advance so that way when you find your dream horse and are already approved then you can adopt him or her quickly.

Feel free to contact us with any questions since we have experience with adoptions. We can also refer you to a couple of trainers to gentle your horse.

Adopt a mustang and save them from an unknown fate.

As of February 2, 2012 she is still available for adoption. Spread the word on Facebook and Twitter so Sweetheart can find a home.

 

Thank you.

UPDATE: As of December 2012 the BLM reports she is now being held close by at the closed-to-the-public Indian Lakes facility.