Tag Archives: advocates

Breaking News: Protesters want to end native wild horse abuse and use mustangs to fight wildfires

Posted on by
PM Wildland Fire Risk 2013

Wildfire risk potential version 2013, data origin & source: USDA Forest Service

`

For immediate release:

More than 40 international protests today to stop the roundups and stop horse slaughter

OAKLAND, Ca. (April 27, 2013)–Protect Mustangs™, the Bay Area-based native wild horse conservation group, is holding protests today in Oakland and Rock Springs, Wyoming to save indigenous wild horses from roundups, abuse, slaughter and pass the SAFE Act. The Oakland rally is held outside the Rockridge BART station from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The Rock Springs rally is held at 70 Gateway Blvd at 2 p.m. The group wants all the wild horses in government funded holding to be returned to the range to help reduce wildfires. More than 40 international protests, spearheaded by Nevada’s Patty Bumgarner on Facebook, are being held to save the horses. Protect Mustangs™ requests Congress stop the cruelty, the slaughter and save taxpayer dollars–especially during the Sequester.

“We are united across the country to say no to slaughter, roundups and cruel overectomies in the field,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs™. “We want our wild horses to be protected. Did you know America’s wild horses are indigenous? Are you aware that CalTrans found ancient horse fossils while digging the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel?”

The horse, E. caballus, originated in America over a million years ago and returned with the Conquistadors if it ever went extinct in the first place. With history written by the Inquisition, one must read between the lines. It was heresy for Old World animals, such as the horse, to have originated in the heathen Americas.

Novak points out,”Recent DNA testing proves our iconic wild horses are the same species as E. caballus–the original horse.”

Esteemed scientists Kirkpatrick, J.F., and P.M. Fazio explained the following in Wild Horses as Native North American Wildlife (Revised January 2010). The Science and Conservation Center, ZooMontana, Billings:

‘The key element in describing an animal as a native species is (1) where it originated; and (2) whether or not it co‐evolved with its habitat. Clearly, E. 6 caballus did both, here in North American. There might be arguments about ‘breeds,’ but there are no scientific grounds for arguments about ‘species.’

The non‐native, feral, and exotic designations given by agencies are not merely reflections of their failure to understand modern science but also a reflection of their desire to preserve old ways of thinking to keep alive the conflict between a species (wild horses), with no economic value anymore (by law), and the economic value of commercial livestock.’

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) received $78 million last year to run the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Two-thirds of the expenses went towards caring for the equids in captivity. Despite the federal budget crisis, the program received a $2 million increase in funding for their 2014 fiscal budget–including $6 million for the helicopter contractor.

California’s Senator Feinstein chairs Energy and Water subcommittee as well as rules on Interior issues within the Committee on Appropriations. The Committee gives taxpayer dollars to fiscally irresponsible and cruel wild horse and burro roundups despite public outcry.

Roundups and removals are linked to mining and toxic fracking in the West. It appears native horses are being removed to fast track the extractive industry’s use of public land for private profit yet the public and the environment are hit with the costs.

Native wild horses will soon be zeroed out from Wyoming’s “checkerboard” public-private land–allegedly in preparation for the largest natural gas field in the country. The conservation group has requested a $50 million fund be created to mitigate environmental distress from fracking on the range.

“Tourists love to come to Wyoming to see our wild horses,” states Melissa Maser, outreach coordinator for Protect Mustangs™ in Wyoming and Texas. “We’d like to see native wild horses protected for future generations.”

Advocates are documenting wild horses being removed throughout the West as healthy and with fewer foals. The starving and overpopulation myths from BLM spin doctors are fabricated to sway Congress to fund roundups and removals.

“We’d like to find a win-win for wild horses in the West,” explains Novak. “Native horses will help reduce wildfires that cost insurance companies billions of dollars annually and contribute to global warming. We have requested the BLM put a freeze on roundups and return the 50,000 wild horses stockpiled in holding to public land. This will take the burden off the taxpayer and help to reduce wildfires.”

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.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak, 415.531.8454 Anne@Protect Mustangs.org

Kerry Becklund, 510.502.1913 Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org

Photos, video and interviews available upon request

Links of interest:

Gone viral~ The Associated Press, February 10, 2013: Wild-horse advocates split over interior nominee http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2020332496_apnvwildhorses1stldwritethru.html

US property exposed to wildfire valued at $136 billion says report: http://www.artemis.bm/blog/2012/09/17/u-s-property-exposed-to-wildfire-valued-at-136-billion-says-report/

KQED Horse fossil found in Caldecott Tunnel: http://science.kqed.org/quest/2011/05/26/new-fossils-from-the-caldecott-tunnel/

Gone viral~ The Associated Press, March 24, 2013: Budget axe nicks BLM wild-horse adoption center http://www.denverpost.com/colorado/ci_22862206

Horseback Magazine: Sequester prompts call for wild horses and burros to be returned to the wild http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/21568

Horseback Magazine, March 8, 2013: Protect Mustangs calls for fund for Wyoming wild horses http://horsebackmagazine.com/hb/archives/20979

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

Ruby pipeline and wild horse roundups? http://www.8newsnow.com/story/12769788/i-team-bp-connected-to-wild-horse-roundups

BLM’s 2014 Budget: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/newsroom/2013/april/04_10_2013.html

Why are the wild horses being removed? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCWWgOugF2U

Wyoming Tourism’s video of wild horses: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tRZkBXkbyY

Protect Mustangs™: www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs™ on Facebook

Protect Mustangs™ on Twitter

Protect Mustangs™ on YouTube

Protect Mustangs™ in the News

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

Robert Redford Calls For A Ban On Horse Slaughter

Posted on by

 

CHATHAM, N.Y., April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — On the cusp of the 2013 Annual American Equine Summit hosted by the New York-based national equine protection organization Equine Advocates, the call to ban horse slaughter permanently has received much needed support from Robert Redford.

Actor, director, environmentalist and founder of the Sundance Festival, Redford wrote a letter to Equine Advocates President Susan Wagner to support the unequivocal stance that horse slaughter must be banned in the US.  “Horses are acquired for slaughter without disclosure and often through fraud and misrepresentation.  The entire slaughter process is cruel, inhumane and perpetuates abuse and neglect without consequences, in addition to condoning a violation of our nation’s cruelty laws,” said Redford.  “As Americans, we have the right to oppose both the return of horse slaughter to the US and the transport of our wild and domestic equines to other countries for the purpose of slaughter.”

Redford joins a bilateral effort to reverse the advance of horse slaughter through public opinion and safety concerns, and legislation on both state and federal levels.

New York has become the latest state to push for a ban on horse slaughter with Senate Bill S.4615 and Assembly Bill A.3905.  New York State Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, who will deliver the Keynote Address at the Summit, joined State Senator Kathy Marchionein co-sponsoring the bill at a press conference last week.  If passed, New York State would join California, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas in prohibiting it.

The Obama administration’s proposed 2014 budget includes a proposal to essentially prevent equines from being slaughtered in the US by defunding FDA inspections.  The recent bipartisan introduction of the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act would also prohibit the transport, export or import of horses intended for slaughter or horsemeat, leading the issue closer to the solution most Americans demand: Ban it.

“We applaud Robert Redford for his powerful, meaningful and profound words on behalf of America, at a time when over 80% of our citizens oppose horse slaughter,” said Wagner.  “Beyond the sheer brutality of the practice, horse slaughter will enable dangerous FDA-banned drugs found in horsemeat to potentially threaten the US food supply if cross contamination occurs with other meat, like what’s happening across Europe.  Horses are not bred for food and should be removed from the food chain.”

Experts, government officials and others will convene at Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary in Chatham, NY Saturday, April 27 – Sunday, April 28 for the 2013 Annual American Equine Summit.  For a full list of speakers, visit:http://www.equineadvocates.org/EquinesBlog/?p=765. Follow Summit News #AES2013.

Founded in 1996, Equine Advocates Inc. is a national non-profit equine protection organization whose mission is to rescue, protect and prevent the abuse of equines — especially through banning the slaughter of American horses — through education, investigation, rescue operations and public education. Info@equineadvocates.org, @equineadvocates.org or 518-245-1599 for more information.

SOURCE Equine Advocates

Original Source:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/robert-redford-calls-for-a-ban-on-horse-slaughter-204075661.html

Wild horse advocates gagged in Las Vegas newspaper

Posted on by
Reply

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has CHANGED the article that was getting many hits and comments. The link is the same but now the article is skewed and biased against the indigenous wild horse.

The advocates voices have been gagged. Quotes by Anne Novak (Protect Mustangs) and Suzanne Roy (AWHPC) have been erased from the article published on September 2nd, 2012. Why?

Here is the link: http://www.lvrj.com/news/nevada-wildlife-refuge-to-remove-all-wild-horses-168331946.html?ref=946

The original article published in the Review was identical to the one published at The Republic also on the 2nd.

Why would a Las Vegas newspaper censor quotes supporting the indigenous wild horse’s rights to live in a national wildlife refuge?

Please comment about this on our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs The newspaper needs to read what YOU think about this censorship! We encourage you to comment at the article itself too.