Tag Archives: ‘animal cruelty’

The petition is working: Wyoming BLM to install some shelters and wind screens

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“The petition is working. The BLM held a workshop in Reno Nevada to address international public outcry for shade and shelter in 2013. The feds’ proposed remedies are not enough but it is a beginning at changing policy. Keep up the pressure and turn up the volume. Share the petition daily. Meet with your elected officials. Show them the petition to bring change to captive wild horses and burros. Politely request they intervene to put an end to the suffering in the pens.” ~Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

BLM schedules modifications to the Rock Springs wild horse holding facility

Changes will include a new office building to accommodate public tours and facilitate the adoption process; adding storage shelters to protect hay; constructing a roof over the trimming chute area; installing wind screens along the west side of the facility; placing protective shelters in the sick pens; redesigning the preparation area to improve animal and employee safety; and replacing worn or damaged corral panels. These projects will be phased in throughout the year and should not impact the wild horses.

Facility Manager Jake Benson states, “We’re taking a good look at our set-up and reworking things to increase safety and efficiency and at the same time see how we can reduce costs.” He adds, “While these changes are not required, we will evaluate their effectiveness and continue to make adjustments as necessary to provide outstanding care for the horses.”

The facility remains closed to allow wild horses recently removed from the Adobe Town, Salt Wells Creek and Great Divide Basin herd management areas to acclimate to their new environment. No public tours will be conducted during the closure; however, the public viewing kiosk is open. The public will be notified when the facility reopens.

More information about the facility is available at www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Wild_Horses/rs-wh-facility.html

Petition for emergency shelter and shade for captive wild horses and burros: http://www.change.org/p/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Don’t let them KILL the brumbies!

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WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

Remember the Australian film THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER?   STOP the KILLERS from chasing the brumbies with choppers and KILLING the wild horses from the Snowies

Share the Australian petition to Stop the Slaughter of the Brumbies:  http://chn.ge/1y1HgQq

©WHK

 

Brumby foal killed in Frazier Downs 2012 ©LS

 

Brumbies are Australian heritage wild horses. Witnesses found them shot and killed (Copyright protected)

Brumbies are Australian heritage wild horses. Witnesses found them shot and killed (Copyright protected ©WHK)

 

Stop the slaughter and eradication of the Snowy Mountains Brumby and reinstate access for horse riders to all areas of the Kosciuszko National Park

Petition by
Richard Roberts
Australia

“Sickening footage of this event can be located easily on the internet, showing horses with their teeth blown out, mares shot dead while foaling and other horses with bullet riddle bodies, it was nothing less than a massacre and an event of international embarrassment and disgrace at the time when Australia had just again immortalised the Man From Snowy River and the Brumbies to an international audience at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.”

Read the petition and sign it here . Then share it with everyone you know!

They didn’t learn their lesson. Now they want to SHOOT AND KILL the Brumbies again! Leaving them to DIE a HORRIBLE DEATH like they did before!  Some were shot dead while giving birth! Watch the video below and share widely!

 

PM Brumbies © Tony Marsh Marked

 

Note: the images provided are from previous “culls” as we will all stand with Australian Brumby advocates to stop the killing! 

They continue the cruelty

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“It was hot with the desert sun beating down on PVC,” explains Anne Novak. “We were in the car with the AC on and the poor captive mustang was suffering and clinging to the fence for a strip of shade.”

Dear Friends of Wild Horses & Burros,

Last week we visited the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Palomino Valley Center near Reno, Nevada. It’s the largest short-term holding and adoption facility in the U.S. for captive wild horses and burros coming from the roundups. We have been deeply concerned the BLM continues to commit acts of animal cruelty towards captive wild horses and burros despite international public outcry so we investigated the situation again.

During 85 degree sunny high desert weather, many wild horses in the pens were showing signs of heat stress with rapid breathing. Their coats were coming in for the winter and some mustangs were clinging to the fence and the feeders for what little shade they could find. It was a heartbreaking sight.

The majority of the pens had no shade or shelter. Some shade “studies” appear to be ongoing in the sick pens and another internal pen.

Many wild horses were overweight and their feet looked horrible. Many young wild horses have developed clubbed feet due to lack of proper foot care after being taken off the range by the feds. In the wild, their feet wear down naturally but when captured it is the BLM’s responsibility to care for them.

The majority of captive wild horses looked depressed. The burros looked unhappy too.

The BLM has repeatedly refused offers to help bring shade and shelter to the wild captives and is telling elected officials they are “doing something” by conducting studies with U.C. Davis to determine if shade and shelter is needed. Their PR tactics are outrageous. Everyone knows penned animals need access to shelter in extreme weather!

Right now the BLM is committing heinous acts of cruelty and must be held 100% accountable. The three basics of animal husband are 1.) Food, 2.) Water 3.) Shelter. Does each pen of wild horses or burros provide access to shelter? No.

With the recent good news that the feds will make animal cruelty a top-tier felony, it’s time right NOW to contact your elected officials and request for immediate action to bring shade and shelter to all captive wild horses and burros in ALL the pens not just select sick pens.

PM Shade Cruelty

Take action to inform your voices in government that the BLM’s ongoing shade studies are delaying action and causing captive wild equids ongoing suffering.

Make an appointment to meet in person with your representative and senators. Politely request they stop the animal cruelty–paid for with tax dollars. If you cannot go in person then send them this video: http://bit.ly/1nr5d2M from our 2013 investigation and let them know that since this video was taken, only a few sick pens appear to have flimsy shade structures. Kindly remind them that animal cruelty is becoming a top-tier felony so they need to take it seriously. More than a thousand wild horses and burros are being abused in the pens because the BLM and the Department of Interior are denying them access to shelter.

You may contact Congress here: http://bit.ly/1ihTCwj . Send your elected officials a handwritten letter and encourage your children to mail in drawings asking for shelter too.

For everyone who has signed this petition, we must pull together to double the number of signatures and then we have a plan to make a big impact . . .

Email the petition http://chn.ge/ZGEgx3 to everyone you know with a personal plea asking them to sign and share it so together we can pressure the BLM to bring them shade and shelter. Share the petition daily on your Facebook page and in groups asking others to share out because more extreme weather is coming soon.

Public opinion is very important with elections only weeks away. Let’s put it to work to stop the abuse of America’s wild horses and burros. Hold your elected officials accountable to STOP the CRUELTY now!

In deep gratitude,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org
https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Sign and Share the DEFUND and STOP the ROUNDUPS Petition: http://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

Go to the National Advisory Board Meeting to Stand Up for Wild Horses and Burros – Wyoming August 25

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Where are wild horses?™

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management

Notice of Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces that the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will conduct a meeting on matters pertaining to management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the Nation’s public lands. DATES: The Advisory Board will meet on Monday, August 25, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time. This will be a 1-day meeting.

ADDRESSES: This Advisory Board meeting will take place in the Little Theater
(SC 109), located in the Student Center Building of Central Wyoming College, 2660 Peck Avenue, Riverton, WY 82501, telephone 1-800-735-8418.
Written comments pertaining to the August 25, 2014, Advisory Board meeting can be mailed to National Wild Horse and Burro Program,WO-260, Attention: Ramona DeLorme, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, NV 89502-7147, or sent electronically to wildhorse@blm.gov. Please include “Advisory Board Comment” in the subject line of the email.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ramona DeLorme, Wild Horse and Burro Administrative Assistant, at telephone 775-861- 6583. Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board advises the Secretary of the Interior, the BLM Director, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the Chief of the Forest Service on matters pertaining to the management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the Nation’s public lands. The Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board operates under the authority of 43 CFR 1784. The tentative agenda for the meeting is:
I. Advisory Board Public Meeting
Monday, August 25, 2014 (8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.)

8:00 a.m. 8:40 a.m. 9:00 a.m. 9:20 a.m. 12:00 p.m. 1:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m. 3:00 p.m. 3:45 p.m. 5:30 p.m.

Welcome, Introductions, and Agenda Review
Approval of April 2014 Minutes
BLM Response to Advisory Board Recommendations
Wild Horse and Burro Program Update
Lunch
Public Comment Period Begins
Public Comment Period Ends
Working Group Reports
Advisory Board Discussion and Recommendations to the BLM Adjourn

The meeting site is accessible to individuals with disabilities. An individual with a disability needing an auxiliary aid or service to participate in the meeting, such as an interpreting service, assistive listening device, or materials in an alternate format, must notify Ms. DeLorme 2 weeks before the scheduled meeting date. Although the BLM will attempt to meet a request received after that date, the requested auxiliary aid or service may not be available because of insufficient time to arrange it.

The Federal Advisory Committee Management Regulations at 41 CFR 101-6.1015(b), requires the BLM to publish in the Federal Register notice of a public meeting 15 days prior to the meeting date.
II. Public comment procedures

On Monday, August 25, 2014, at 1:00 p.m., members of the public will have the opportunity to make comments to the Board on the Wild Horse and Burro Program. Persons wishing to make comments during the Monday meeting should register in person with the BLM by 12:00 p.m. on August 25, 2014, at the meeting location. Depending on the number of commenters, the Advisory Board may limit the length of comments. At previous meetings, comments have been limited to 3 minutes in length; however, this time may vary. Commenters should address the specific wild horse and burro-related topics listed on the agenda. Speakers are requested to submit a written copy of their statement to the address listed in the “ADDRESSES” section above or bring a written copy to the meeting. There may be a webcam present during the entire meeting and individual comments may be recorded.

Participation in the Advisory Board meeting is not a prerequisite for submission of written comments. The BLM invites written comments from all interested parties. Your written comments should be specific and explain the reason for any recommendation. The BLM appreciates any and all comments. The BLM considers comments that are either supported by quantitative information or studies or those that include citations to and analysis of applicable laws and regulations to be the most useful and likely to influence the BLM’s decisions on the management and protection of wild horses and burros.
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Taxpayers are paying for animal cruelty

 

Help needed for captive wild horses and burros with no shelter

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Screenshot for educational purposes

Screenshot for educational purposes

 

Dear Friends,

It’s 5ºF right now at the largest wild horse processing and adoption facility in Palomino Valley, Nevada.

Close to 2,000 captive wild horses nave no shelter from the harsh winter elements at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Palomino Valley Center alone.

The BLM’s Rock Springs, Wyoming facility is also housing more than 600 wild horses with no shelter in below zero temperatures. Traumatized wild horses become at risk of upper respiratory infections post-roundup–especially without access to shelter.

In the wild they can migrate to natural sheltered zones. Trapped in pens under the “care” of the BLM they are being cruelly held without shelter–a basic necessity in animal husbandry.

It’s time to take action. If you live in the United States please contact your congressional representative and your senators with a link to this petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros  Ask them to intervene and take immediate action to end the cruelty in captivity.

Please share the petition with your friends, family and network via email, Facebook and other social media asking them to sign and share so we can all help the wild horses and burros.

If you live outside the United States please email your friends and family. Ask them to sign and share this petition via email and on social media. It’s a huge help and we thank you!

Together we can end the suffering in captivity while we work to return them to the wild where native wild horses belong.

Thank you for taking action.

In gratitude,

Anne Novak

Executive Director of Protect Mustangs™

www.ProtectMustangs.org

 

Wild horse fans worldwide outraged over photos showing cruelty in Nevada

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3 week foal under attack

3 week foal under attack by hired security ~ picture by Bo Rodriques

Reno Wild Horse Advocates are not only outraged by the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s war against the Virgina Range horses but also the documented cruelty exhibited with the manhandling of the these wild horses upon capture.

R.T. Fitch received testimonials and pictures regarding the inhumane practices of the Ag dept. and developer Diloretto from outraged advocates.

Included, here, are two photos of hired gun security cruelly manhandling a 3 month old foal at the Ag Dept trap on private land.  This needs to stop and it needs to stop now.

We strongly encourage you to call, email and/or fax Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval,

http://gov.nv.gov/contact/governor/

Office Phone: (775) 684-5670
OfficeFax: (775) 684-5683

12-6-12_dept_of_ag_manhandling_a_3_week_old_foal

photo by Bo Rodriques

and let him know, even if you do not live in Nevada, that you do not approve of the state’s attack upon the Virginia range horses and that you will spread the negative news far and wide until such actions cease.

Likewise, please contact the office of the Department of Agriculture’s Director Jim Barbee and express your concern.

Office Phone: 775-353-3600
Office Fax: 775-668-1178

Please remember that these captured horses will go to auction and historically, if not rescued by advocates, will be purchased by kill buyers and go to slaughter, that is a given.

Cross-posted from Straight from The Horses Heart

Protect Mustangs calls for nationwide peaceful protests to stop the roundups

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Protect Mustangs Calls for Peaceful Protests to STOP the Roundups and STOP the BLM from selling wild indigenous horses to kill-buyers

It’s time to organize peaceful protests (large & small) and candlelight vigils so NO MORE wild horses will die from roundups, be tortured by the helicopters or sold to kill-buyers for delicacy meat abroad. Spread awareness in your communities and let your friends, family and neighbors know they can contact Congress if they don’t like their tax dollars used to fund cruel roundups.

Ask Congress to find a way to work WITH the wild indigenous horses to create biodiversity on the land–a win-win for wild horses, livestock, landowners, tourism and energy development on the New Energy Frontier.

“Show me a real independent headcount before we talk about fertility control,” says Anne Novak, executive director for Protect Mustangs. “There aren’t enough wild horses left on the range any more. The BLM will continue to roundup wild horses to treat mustangs with fertility control. Roundups have been deadly so far. Roundups are NOT the answer. Biodiversity is the answer.”

Join us to call for a moratorium on roundups.

“More than 52,000 indigenous wild horses have been captured and are in government holding,” explains Novak. “Selling ‘excess’ wild horses to kill-buyers is a heinous act and must stop now as well as the gluttony of roundups.”

If you don’t like the cruelty and deaths at roundups contact your senators and congresspeople and request they stop it now. Congress approves funding for roundups. YOUR tax dollars are paying to wipe out America’s wild indigenous horses.

 

Links of interest:

AP reports & Protect Mustangs speaks out against the gluttony of roundups: 3,500 Wild horses going to loose their freedom starting October 1st Federal roundup of wild horses burros starts today http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-roundup-for-wild-horses-burros-starts-today-172056591.html

ProPublica reports: All the missing horses: What happened to the wild horses Tom Davis bought from the government  http://www.propublica.org/article/missing-what-happened-to-wild-horses-tom-davis-bought-from-the-govt

Brutal report for day 1 of Nevada’s Antelope roundup. Two horses die. AWHPC video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne3ppBnbr7g&feature=youtu.be

Day 3 of Antelope roundup. Foals are terrorized by the helicopter and chased too long on their tender hooves. AWHPC video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9LDAwZqyU&feature=youtu.be

Why are empty stock trailers pulling into BLM holding facilities when they are closed on Sunday at sunset?

The public is invited to the Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board meeting October 29-30 in Salt Lake

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BLM Sets Meeting of National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board for October 29-30 in Salt Lake City
The Bureau of Land Management’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet in October in Salt Lake City to discuss issues relating to the management, protection, and control of wild horses and burros on Western public rangelands. The day-and-a-half meeting will take place on Monday, October 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday, October 30, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., local time.
The meeting will take place at the Radisson Hotel Salt Lake City Downtown at 215 West South Temple. The hotel phone number for reservations is 801-531-7500 or 1-800-333-3333.  The agenda of the meeting can be found in the September 24, 2012, Federal Register (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-09-24/pdf/2012-23472.pdf).
The Advisory Board provides input and advice to the BLM as it carries out its responsibilities under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. The law mandates the protection, management, and control of these free-roaming animals in a manner that ensures healthy herds at levels consistent with the land’s capacity to support them.  According to the BLM’s latest official estimate, approximately 37,300 wild horses and burros roam on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states.
The public may address the Advisory Board on Monday, October 29, at 3:30 p.m., local time.  Individuals who want to make a statement at the Monday meeting should register with the BLM by 2 p.m., local time, on that same day at the meeting site.  Depending on the number of speakers, the Board may limit the length of presentations, set at three minutes for previous meetings.
Speakers should submit a written copy of their statement to the BLM at the addresses below or bring a copy to the meeting.  There may be a Webcam present during the entire meeting and individual comments may be recorded.  Those who would like to comment but are unable to attend may submit a written statement to: Bureau of Land Management, National Wild Horse and Burro Program, WO-260, Attention: Ramona DeLorme, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Reno, Nevada, 89502-7147. Comments may also be e-mailed to the BLM at wildhorse@blm.gov .
For additional information regarding the meeting, please contact Ramona DeLorme, Wild Horse and Burro Administrative Assistant, at 775-861-6583.  Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may reach Ms. DeLorme during normal business hours by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.
The Advisory Board meets at least once a year and the BLM Director may call additional meetings when necessary.  Members serve without salary, but are reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses according to government travel regulations.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
–BLM–

Take action for wild horses & burros ~ Ask Congress to defund helicopter roundups

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Act today and make your voice heard in Congress

Please CALL the Capitol switchboard today at (202) 224-3121. Ask to be connected to your state Representative’s office. Ask them to NOT fund helicopter roundups.

You can also find the direct contact information for your state representative here>> http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/
Thank you for taking action to help America’s wild horses and burros.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_dhnqCijOk

 

(Graphic made by Robin Warren, age 11, Protect Mustangs’ new Youth Campaign DIrector)