Fire Brigade: Wild Horses And Their Value Proposition

By: William E. Simpson II – cover photo BLM – all others by author

When I see wild horses locked-out of nature in holding corrals, I see a huge resource being wasted by ignorance. It’s akin to putting an entire fire department in jail during fire season! If they’re not wanted on cattle-ranch lands that’s fine, but there are places where there is no competition issues with cattle, where these horses can serve a greater good. Here’s what I mean…

Like many other local and west-coast ranches, our ranch and its lands are located in rough mountainous terrain. And like many other areas with varied mountain-valley terrains, we have a lot of grass (fuel for fires) and underbrush on normal years since there are no-longer large herds of deer grazing it off or cattle in the area. Cattle and sheep ranchers moved-out of the local areas long ago due to excessive numbers of predators and difficult terrain for managing domestic livestock.

It’s worth considering that In 1960 we had about 2-million deer grazing in CA, whereas today we have less than 375,000 deer in the entire State. And that there is a direct mathematical correlation between the loss of large herbivores and the increase in catastrophic wildfires.

Now the stage has been set, and this year the fuel on the ground due to an exceptionally wet winter and spring, is excessive, with dense grass and brush that represents a very serious fire hazard to area homes, ranches, pastures and forests.

It’s just amazing to me that most of the people running the forests and counties haven’t made this realization yet and taken appropriate actions. And there is an appropriate cost-effective action and solution available, that is unless they like seeing these wildfires devastate our landscape and ecosystems at the great expense of taxpayers!

Wild horses can prevent catastrophic fires because they are able to consume dry, fire-prone vegetation over vast areas of the west.

The relatively very few horses we have up here in our area truly help with excess fuel abatement, but in order to have a real solution, we’d need another 5,000 deer and 500 horses in the local area just to mitigate some of the wildfire risk in and around our 950-acre ranch, which is surrounded by tens of thousands of acres of both private and some forestry lands, along with the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument to the north. The 60 horses that are around the area can’t begin to control all the grass on our lands let alone neighboring lands, even with all the other herbivores combined, so we worry a lot when the summer lightening storms show up like earlier this week.

Our local horses eat the young poison oak, scrub oak, tips of buck brush and star thistle (before the spikes come on) and the grasses as they browse (they move relatively fast as they graze, compared to cows).

Growing-up on a ranch made me a very practical person, so using a natural resource to deal with a very serious problem just seems logical. And in the scheme of things, I don’t see how cattle-industry politics on wild horses is solving or paying-for our fire situation and the huge annual costs incurred in money, property and lives that are paid by rural cities and counties.

Given the unabated fire hazard facing our County and hundreds of other counties annually, and the huge direct and tertiary costs for those fires in lives, property and money, I think it would wise to immediately begin the re-introduction of wild horses into areas that are not used by cattle and which have inadequate large herbivore (deer-elk) herds to help mitigate the insane fire hazard by reducing extensive grass and brush cover. Wild horses are experts at grazing in difficult terrain and may be obtained without cost from the BLM’s holding corrals outside of Reno, NV, Palomino, Susanville and Litchfield CA, as well as Burns OR. There are other BLM centers where horses are being held in southern CA as well as in other states, including UTAH, Colorado, Wyoming and elsewhere. These many BLM wild burro and horse holding facilities are conveniently located near many of the worst wildfire areas in America, including AZ, CA, NV, CO, WY and OR.

From what I have observed (prodigious amounts of vegetative fuels from a wet winter and spring), we’re in for a potentially devastating fire season this year on the West Coast.

If the County wanted (or at least some private property owners), it could adopt some of the horses that are available (free). It seems silly not to take advantage of what horses do so very well naturally, instead of spending millions of taxpayer’s dollars preparing-for and fighting catastrophic wildfires, and suffering the related losses of property and lives.

Obviously, some ranchers and land owners who are opposed to wild horses could opt out, and instead use cattle, bison or sheep, but those herbivores cost money and require much more management and oversight than wild horses, which evolved in the area and are a native species. The thing about wild horses is that they fare-well on their own and horses aren’t devastated as badly as sheep and cattle by lions, wolves and coyotes.

However, with that said, I should note that our small herd of local horses has nevertheless suffered a net drop in population due to the death of older horses and predation of younger horses. So in just the past 4 years, we have to our knowledge a 10-animal net loss; we’ve named/photographed them, so we keep fairly close tabs on the local herd as we study their benefits to the local ecosystem.

Something that is often overlooked, even by wild horse advocates is that wild and feral horses are also highly beneficial to trees and forests! They graze-off the grass and brush (fuels) under the trees. And as they do, they break-off and crush dry fuel branches into small pieces, which when come into contact with the soil, break-down into humus. This is something that other critters cannot do since it requires a large herbivore. Left unabated, these low-hanging dry branches and fuels under the trees add tremendous heat under the trees during fires, which can damage and burn even heat resistant trees that have heavy or specialized bark.

Horses also add humus to the ground via their manure. This is done when the horses shelter under the trees and in other areas they frequent. I have a dozen photos that exhibit these important points. The results are envious, even to experienced park-maintenance personnel.


A juniper tree frequented by horses

 


A juniper not frequented by horses has abundant fuel underneath.

 


Another juniper tree with lots of fuel at its base…

 


A juniper tree (seen above) that is frequented by horses stands-out and is visibly more vibrant and more fire resistant (note health of its canopy) than nearby junipers that are not frequented with sparse dry canopies.

We have dozens of trees on our lands that are frequently used by the local horses in both summer and winter and you can point them out from a 1/4 mile away due to their healthy robust canopies. Wild horses have a symbiotic mutualism with all trees and grasslands, and they create park-like grooming under trees they use for scratching (breaks-off and clears dead branches close to the ground) and shelter from weather and sun.

As a land-owner worried about fires and losing trees, the horses provide a service with genuine value that is most welcomed and is very cost effective!

There is just too much false and misleading information about wild horses floating around these days, much of which disparages the temperament of wild horses as one of many obtuse excuses to damn them to BLM holding pens, or worse yet, to a painful and hellish slaughter. And for Christians who actually follow God’s laws and the Bible, horses or burros must not be eaten according to Leviticus-11 and Deuteronomy-14.

Contrary to rumor, the vast majority of wild horses don’t have a malicious bone in their bodies. It’s the abuse at the hands of people that gives horses a bad attitude and when any animal loses its trust of humans, of course it becomes defensive and people can and do get hurt.

The foregoing claim about wild horses is best exemplified by an encounter my wife and I had with a wild horse we met for the first-time on a mountain top behind our ranch. This home-video provides some genuine insight into my claim: https://www.facebook.com/1794284444132872/videos/1867554620139187/

Today, that same horse has grown into sweet-mannered adult with a mutualism to the forests and grasslands where he lives along with the other families of horses and the few deer that remain in an area that is racked with predators as a result of mismanagement by Fish & Game. It’s also interesting to see that the few remaining local deer use the horses as cover from predators and will graze close-by to the horses for added protection and as a warning system.

County planners should take advantage of this cost-effective fire brigade, which is not unionized, doesn’t require health benefits, needs no breaks and never sues the county for HR issues. How can you beat that?

The BLM holding corrals in Litchfield, CA and at all the other holding facilities throughout the the west currently have over 40,000 horses available for fire mitigation duty… let’s put them to work doing what they do best!

Links of interest:

Wild Horses Prevent Wildfires: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=4255

Protesters want to end native wild horse abuse and use mustangs to fight wildfires: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4197

California Wildfire Report: Where are all the wild horses and burros? http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2729

U.S. property exposed to wildfire valued at $136 billion says report: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=2474

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Red Alert: Save Wild Mustangs named Freedom & Friend before the 4th of July!

(public domain video & photo)

Freedom (#8527) is a 5-year-old wild mare from the Jackson Mountains in Nevada. She deserves to go to loving a home with another wild mare who will be her buddy for life. Freedom was not born to be domesticated. She was born to be wild. Now she needs to be saved from an uncertain future due to budget cuts and that could mean slaughter!

Fill out the BLM’s Sale Application, write the complete freezemark numbers on the top for the wild horses you want to save then email or fax it in: https://blm-prod.opengov.ibmcloud.com/sites/blm.gov/files/wildhorse_howtoadopt_doc4.pdf)  and send it to wildhorse@blm.gov or fax to 202-912-7182.

Under a December 2004 amendment to the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act that should be repealed, wild horses and burros more than 10 years old – as well as younger animals that were passed over for adoption at least three times – are eligible for sale. The younger wild horses falling into this risky category are also known as “3-Strikers”. Purchasing a wild horse or burro for $25 means that ownership of the animal passes immediately from the Federal Government to the buyer.

If you have questions regarding the sales program, please e-mail wildhorse@blm.gov. If you have questions that aren’t getting answered or you find yourself in BLM’s red tape and need to problem-solve for solutions please send an email to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

If you adopt Freedom you can return her if you don’t want her anymore. If you buy her you own her quickly and are done with BLM. Please consider buying Freedom with Friend (seen below). Thank you!

Here’s what BLM says about Freedom:

“Sex: Mare Age: 5 Years Height (in hands): 13.0

Necktag #: 8527 Date Captured: 07/05/12

Freezemark: 12618527 Signalment Key: HF1AAAAHE

Color: Sorrel Captured: Jackson Mountains (NV)

Notes:
This is an untouched mare with no training.

Freedom is currently located in Palomino Valley, NV. For more information, please contact Jeb Beck at (775) 475-2222 or e-mail: j1beck@blm.gov .

This wild horse is available for sale or adoption. The adopter will inform the BLM if they are purchasing or adopting the animal. If the animal is purchased, not adopted, the adopter receives bill of sale to the animal upon completion of payment and final paperwork. If the animal is adopted, the animal is not eligible for title until the one year anniversary.”

Please buy Freedom with Friend so they can be buddies

 

(public domain video and photo)

Friend needs get out of the BLM’s clutches because her life is at risk now with talk of killing and slaughtering alleged “unadoptable” wild horses! We noticed a bump on Friend’s left cheek so her buyer needs to know about and be willing to help her if she needs it.

Pro-Slaughter lobbyists have weaseled their way into the offices of BLM, Department of Interior and America’s elected officials flashing their cash. Freedom and Friend are at risk and the clock is ticking. . . Please help save them! 

Here is what BLM says about her:

“Sex: Mare Age: 5 Years Height (in hands): 13.1

Necktag #: 9020 Date Captured: 09/12/12

Freezemark: 12619020 Signalment Key: HF1AAADFD

Color: Brown Captured: Pancake HMA, Nevada

Notes:
This is an untouched mare with no training.

This horse is currently located in Palomino Valley, NV. For more information, please contact Jeb Beck at (775) 475-2222 or e-mail: j1beck@blm.gov.”

 

 

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Overpopulation myth used to fear monger Senate into treating wild horses like pests

 

For immediate release:

Public outraged killing and sales to slaughter is proposed by Zinke

WASHINGTON (June 21, 2017)–With no accurate head count of wild horses in the wild, the new Secretary of Interior, Ryan Zinke, pushes forward in the Senate tomorrow to lift the ban on destroying wild horses and unlimited sales by the truckload. Sales in the past of thousands of wild horses have resulted in America’s mustangs being slaughterd for a delicacy meal abroad. Protect Mustangs is petitioning for a Congressional investigation and head count of wild horses and burros (https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom) to find out how many are left and how many have already disappeared.

“The wild horse management responsibility of the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management mandates an accurate population count”, states Christine DeCarlo, PhD. “This is the only moral and legal way forward. Without that data any proposal can not be justified. A DNA study is warranted but just counting noses at this point would be a huge step in the right direction.”

“It’s time for the truth to come out before America’s last herds of wild horses are managed to extinction through killing, sterilization, sales by the truckload or pesticides used for birth control,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “The bottom line is Americans want their wild horses protected. Count them first, then base management on accurate information, not hype.”

“We need an independent professional census done of all the wild horses and wild burros who remain upon the BLM and US Forest Service lands in and around their legal Herd Areas (BLM) and Territories (U.S. Forest Service),” explains Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, Ph.D c. “I recognize that the situation is urgent, because this year I have been out in the field observing a number of the wild horse and wild burro herds, and am finding very few left.”

Pesticide PZP, made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries, and other forms of fertility control, is being pushed as a solution to the fake overpopulation problem. Without a head count of wild horses in the wild, basic information needed is ignored. Why has the bureau avoided head counts in the wild? Is it because the decline in population and the risk to herd survival would be exposed?

“When we include birth controls, such as Pesticide PZP, we have simply added yet another layer to the ‘Road to Extinction'”, states John Cox, veteran, author and nature photographer. “We go to ecological zones that are being destroyed, with low viability wildlife census populations, essentially going extinct (i.e. wild horses et al.) — then we go to diminishing lands-based parameters that require diversity, but there is only an estimated 4% of those lands left, which creates extinction of both wildlife and vegetation and yet another chain of extinction that exists yet ignored — then we go to the strata of different local areas, and the difference in census populations of wildlife, which creates different situations (one size does not fit all) and we find problems in both lands-mass as well as very low or next to no population viability.”

The National Academy of Sciences stated in their 2013 report (https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13511/using-science-to-improve-the-blm-wild-horse-and-burro-program) that there was “no evidence of overpopulation”. Since then the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Land Management have continued to spend millions on roundups and off-range holding based on inflated population estimates to fund their program.

Novak’s #NoKill Mustangs petition has more than 223,000 signatures: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/907/592/301/demand-nokill-45000-wild-horses-burros-in-holding/

Protect Mustangs’ Defund the Roundups and Stop the Slaughter Petition has more than 106,000 Signatures: https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

“Overpopulation is fake news,” says Novak. “We won’t let them kill wild horses, use pesticides on them or sell them to slaughter buyers. Wild horses aren’t pests or a meat source–they are national treasures and icons of freedom. The public is outraged.”

# # #

Links of Interest:

Live hearing June 22, 2017: https://naturalresources.house.gov/calendar/eventsingle.aspx?EventID=402138

Committee Hearing Notice: https://naturalresources.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hearing_notice_–_ov_hrg_06.22.17.pdf

Pesticide PZP Fact Sheet: https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

Dangers of PZP: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=6922

Media Contacts:

Anne Novak: Tel./Text: 415.531.8454, Anne@ProtectMustangs.org
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Stephanie Allen: Tel./Text: 414.544.2015, sallenicrofwi@gmail.com

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Red Alert: 65 Three-Strike wild horses in Fallon, Nevada need safe homes! #Fallon65

Three-Strike wild horses often show up in the slaughter pipeline

RENO, Nev. (May 5, 2017)— Protect Mustangs encourages the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to make it easy on the public to view and buy the 65 three-strikes wild horses, known as the #Fallon65, during the two free public tours of the Indian Lakes Off-Range Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Fallon, Nevada, on Friday, May 12. This is a private facility that is closed most of the year to the public therefore adoptions are limited. Sales appear limited to 4 wild horses per person per year. Title is awarded at the sale.

“We hope the 65 Three-Strike wild horses at the Fallon Facility will be easy to identify in separate pens so the public can find ones to buy and get them out to safety,” says Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “This is a golden opportunity for the public to take these wild horses off the BLM’s hands.”

The public can download the sales forms here: https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/wildhorse_howtoadopt_doc4.pdf and get pre approved before attending the tour. If you have any questions about the form call (775) 475-2222. If you find you need help to get through the application process or if your calls and questions aren’t being answered by BLM, please email Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or call (415) 531-8454. Protect Mustangs has helped many adopters and buyers succeed with their applications.

About a 90-minute drive east of Reno, the holding corrals are located at 5676 Indian Lakes Road, Fallon, and is privately owned and operated. The public tours will begin at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and each will last about one hour and accommodate up to 20 people. Attendees should wear comfortable shoes and clothes; hats and sunscreen are recommended, and photography is welcome. To register for the tour or to get driving directions to the facility, please contact the BLM at (775) 475-2222.

Check back for updates. We will post the ID numbers of the #Fallon65 when we receive them. Some wild horses have been chosen on the recent internet adoption and others have acquired 3-Strike status. Stay tuned for the final count.

 

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Prayers Needed for Wild Horses Today

America’s wild horses and burros are at great risk right now.

Please join us Tuesday April 25 at noon (California Time) to #pray for the safety, protection and freedom of America’s wild horses and burros.

Lobbyists are in Washington greasing palms to get what they want: slaughter, killing, pesticides for birth control and sterilization for extinction. This is not what the public wants. We love our wild horses and burros. We want them protected and forever free.

Truck in the pens (© Anne Novak, All rights reserved)

Sign and share the petition demanding a headcount and congressional investigation: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom This will help stop trafficking wild horses to slaughter and extinction!

There is a lot going on behind the scenes now in Washington. This petition is making an impact. It’s time for us to let more people know about the fake inventory before more roundups, experiments, sales, etc. are allowed to destroy the last wild herds in America.

Together we can turn this around. Thank you and bless you.

With Gratitude,
Anne Novak

Founder & Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

© Anne Novak, all rights reserved.

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Science March Fact Checks Administration On Earth Day

by John Zangas
Washington DC

In spite of drenching rain tens of thousands of scientists and supporters came from around the country to Washington DC on Saturday to celebrate Earth Day. The all day rally took place at the Washington Monument and was followed by a walk to the Capitol.

It was the first ever massive Science March held here, drawing professionals from a wide variety of fields of study including Astronomers, Doctors, Physicists, and Climatologists. Their message: government policies and legislation must be science based and take into count its affect on the well being and health of people and the planet.

Another major concern is administration cutback plans at government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and National Institute of Health (NIH), which safeguard the public.


Some signs played science facts against snarky messages. Photo: John Zangas

By the hundreds they carried various hand made signs spelling out topics of concern over recent policy changes which they believe if enacted will adversely affect people and planet. Some signs were technical references to science facts, while others were plain and direct. “There is no Planet B” read one sign, “Science is not right or left”, and “The Oceans are rising and so are we” read others.

The Science March was deemed by organizers as a non partisan, non political event but based on the wording of many signs political viewpoints were evident everywhere.

“I see a lot of good science has done for my patients and I feel like it’s vital that we continue to support it,” said Erika McKee, a nurse from Washington DC, marching with friends who are doctors and scientists working at the NIH. The administration is proposing a 20 percent funding cut of NIH.


A team of students painted these murals of famous Scientists. Photo: John Zangas

A climatologist from New Jersey, Nicole Gadda, painted a sign reading “Make Earth Cool Again,” a jab at a popular Trump campaign slogan. Gadda said that her reason for going to the march was concern over climate change. “Trump wants to go back to coal but we can’t go backwards, we have to go forwards and solar and wind are the way of the future,” she said.

Gadda was surprised by the turnout. “We were gridlocked for an hour straight,” she said. Two hours after the march began, walkers were still feeding onto the route towards the Capitol.

Piper Petrocelli , who traveled from Illinois, carried a sign made by her niece reading “Stop denying the Earth is Dying” and showing the Earth with a bee flying towards a flower. Petrocelli was concerned that bee colonies were being threatened by pesticide use. “I have to drive to work in Iowa sometimes and you can smell the pesticides on the fields,” she said.

Petrocelli was walking for her 9 year old niece and 11 year old nephew and feels that the administration is not concerned for the well being of the planet. “I would like to be able to eat fish in ten years or be able to do a number of things that won’t be doable,” she said.


“The Oceans are rising and so are we” Photo: John Zangas

A marcher from Maryland, Charles Strickler was there because he was concerned political activity was “sticking its head in the sand” over science and facts. “We need to honor science facts as they are,” he said.

The Science March was held in over 600 cities across the planet, including Mexico City, London, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.


A sea of umbrellas and heavy rain did not stop the tens of thousands from the Science March. Photo: John Zangas

Crossposted for educational purposes: http://www.dcmediagroup.us/2017/04/22/science-march-fact-checks-administration-on-earth-day/

Perverted Darting with Pesticide PZP

10 things you need to know about Pesticide PZP

1. PZP — The Pesticide: PZP is an EPA-registered pesticide manufactured from the ovaries of slaughtered pigs. Some persons argue that, because PZP does not kill the mare, it is not really a “pesticide.” Actually, PZP does kill. Stillbirths are associated with the pesticide’s use, meaning that some of its supposed contraceptive effects are actually feticidal.. In addition, over the long term, PZP weakens a herd immunologically, putting it at risk for eventual or even sudden extinction.

2. PZP — The Disproved Hypothesis: PZP’s manufacturer promoted the product as generating antibodies that “block sperm attachment.” But that marketing-hype was merely an untested hypothesis postulated three decades ago. Independent researchers found that PZP has a different effect, and many adverse effects.

3. PZP — The Actual Mode-of-Action: Behaving like a perverted vaccine, PZP tricks the mare’s immune system into making antibodies that cause ovarian dystrophy, autoimmune oophoritis, ovarian cysts, and premature ovarian failure. PZP quickly sterilizes mares that have a strong immune system but has no effect on those suffering from weak immunity. Thus, PZP both works and doesn’t work but, in the long run, selects for poor immune function. Weak immunity = weak resistance to infection, which could quickly wipe out a herd. PZP also affects the foals. If a mare is pregnant or nursing when darted, PZP antibodies are transferred to her offspring via the placenta and her milk. So, inadvertently, unborn and newborn foals receive a dose or two of the pesticide when their dams are injected.

4. PZP — The Danger to Humans: PZP is a powerful endocrine-disruptor. It causes a sharp drop in estrogen levels. Unfortunately, because the manufacturer misrepresented PZP as “so safe it is boring,” volunteer-darters have become lax in following safety-precautions. Accidental self-injection could result in severe adverse effects because the dose-in-question is sized for a horse.

5. PZP — The Year-Round Birthing-Season: A longitudinal study (Ransom et al. 2013) of three herds currently under treatment with PZP found that the the birthing-season lasts virtually year-round (341 days). Out-of-season births put the life of mares and their foals in jeopardy. Nature designed foals to be born in Spring, not year-round, and certainly not in Winter.

6. PZP — Prolonged Delay in Recovery of Fertility: Ransom et al. also found that, after suspension of PZP, it takes more than a year per each year-of-treatment before mares recover their fertility. PZP’s manufacturer conceded that it could take up to 8 years to recover fertility after just 3 consecutive years of PZP treatment.

7. PZP — Scientists Say Proceed with Caution: Ransom et al. warned: “The transient nature of … PZP can manifest into extraordinary persistence of infertility with repeated vaccinations, and ultimately can alter birth phenology in horses. This persistence … suggests caution for use in small refugia ….”

8. PZP — Contraindicated for Tiny, Isolated Herds: Several years ago, BLM convened a meeting of scientists on the topic of minimum herd-size for genetic fitness. Conclusion: “Smaller, isolated populations (<200 total census size) are particularly vulnerable ….” And that’s without PZP in the mix.

9. Slow Herd-Growth: Per independent research, wild-horse herds increase at a rate of only 5% a year; and wild-burro herds, just 2%. Such slow growth does not warrant pesticide treatments administered en masse every year. Eventual sterilization is inevitable, with extinction of the herd over the long term.

10. Predators: The right way to right-size the wild-horse population is Nature’s way — predators. But those predators — mountain lions, bears, wolves, and coyotes — are persecuted mercilessly. Wildlife Services exterminates what trophy-hunters don’t shoot. Predators help the herds by favoring survival-of-the-fittest and the best genetic adaptations. Predators are the “no-cost” solution.

by Marybeth Devlin
Wild Horse Advocate

This mare waits in the alley before being led into the chute where her age and body condition will be checked. After being treated with the PZP fertility control agent, this mare will be released back to the Owyhee HMA.

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



LIARS push for Experiments and Slaughter!

PRO-SLAUGHTER, PRO-EXPERIMENT Activists, PZP-Pushers, BLM wives, with BLM supporters LIE to create confusion. They slander real advocates to create a distraction because we are here only for the wild horses and they want to slaughter them. They are worried the public will find out how many have already gone out the back door to slaughter. They don’t want their pipeline to get shut down.

Well these creeps are LYING again because they don’t want this petition to get attention but it’s too late for them! We want a head count. People aren’t stupid!

Change.org states that “This petition will be delivered to:

U.S. Senate
U.S. House of Representatives
President of the United States”

Of course we don’t change the petition letter either. Updates are updates. They really try to play the Facebook public for fools.

That’s the #TRUTH and these liars just lost their credibility–again.

We also deliver our petitions to elected officials and others in meetings working for change. The Bureau of Land Management is bureaucracy and corruption at its worse. Change seems to take a long time. Perhaps if the nationwide protests start up again to Stop the Roundups it will help the push for change.

Take action by sharing this petition (https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom/u/19841144) by email to everyone you know so we can STOP the cruelty!

Join the Thunderclap to spread the word about the petition on social media: https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/54922-expose-mustangs-2-slaughter to get this petition out there! It’s free. You have until midnight March 29th to sign up.

For more information go to www.ProtectMustangs.org and type the word “experiments” in the search bar.

For the Wild Ones,
Anne Novak

Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org
Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



Help Save America’s Last Wild Horses!

 

Did you know that wild horses used to roam freely in the San Francisco East Bay? Paleontologists found indigenous wild horse fossils in the Caldecott Tunnel when they were digging the 4th bore. Those wild horses disappeared.

Right now the last of America’s wild horses are being managed to extinction. The truth is they are severely underpopulated on public land. There is no head count! Only fake “estimates”.

Please sign and share the petition for a Congressional investigation, freeze on deadly Roundups and head count on what’s left: https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom

Lobbyists are pushing to forcibly drug wild mares with Pesticide PZP, made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries for population control with YOUR tax dollars. Lobbyists call it a “vaccine” as if fertility were a disease when it’s key to species survival. The National Academy of Science reported there is “no evidence” of overpopulation. No evidence.

Guess what? PZP Pesticide sterilizes wild mares after multiple use. The lobbyists think each mare should contribute “only one foal” to the last remaining wild herds. This is nuts and goes against Nature and survival of the fittest.

Join more than 104,000 people asking to Defund the Roundups, stop Pesticide PZP, and Stop the Slaughter! Please sign and share:
https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

If you want to see and photograph some of the last wild horses in the wild only one hour from Tahoe contact me 😊

We need volunteers to help in many ways including writing, editing, photography, graphic design, public speaking, field documentation, fundraising, community outreach, program design, legal, event planning, rescue, adoption, etc. Please contact me by email (Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

Together we can save America’s wild horses before it’s too late!

For the Wild Ones,
Anne Novak

Volunteer Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org



BREAKING: Is BLM or Pesticide PZP at the root of stalking, coercion and threats?

(Unedited version: check back here as we are editing this post now)

I have my right to free speech and to educate the public so they can make their own informed decisions. I should not be bullied, stalked, harassed, coerced, threatened, fear for my life and safety, the safety of the wild horses in our care and the safety of our volunteers nor should a HATE GROUP with a mob mentality be allowed to incite HATE on Facebook and elsewhere with the goal of violating my right to free speech including but not limited to writing petitions to save America’s wild horses and burros. I believe the stalking, that is well documented, is direct retaliation because of speaking out against roundups, slaughter, Pesticide PZP, experimentation, killing wild horses, gag orders, etc. I ask that the proper authorities investigate this immediately.

Who sent the stalkers?

Is their goal to coerce me and stop me from speaking out, stop me from writing petitions against slaughtering and killing wild horses, advocating for wild horses freedom and advocating against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) using Pesticide PZP, working to debunk BLM’s overpopulation myth, advocating for free speech, against elder abuse, gag orders and more?

Maureen Daane, who advocates )for PZP population control on wild horses and former competitive shooter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXI_IH6xoBE), who seems to work with the Bureau or Land Management pushing the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) population control drug—known as Pesticide PZP—seems to have admitted on Facebook that she is regularly STALKING the small herd of wild horses rescued back from the slaughterhouse yard by Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy) and myself the volunteer executive director of Protect Mustangs and the American Wild Horse Institute. Yes the WY14™ Wild Horses, as they are known to their supporters, seem to be STALKED by Daanes and “another” who I will not name yet.

Who sent Maureen Daane over to stalk the WY14™ Wild Horses?

Is Maureen Daane still with the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization Wild Horse Education (WHE) founded by Laura Leigh who strongly pushes for the use of The EPA’s Restricted Use Pesticide PZP on America’s wild horses and burros? Doesn’t Laura Leigh have a long history of working with BLM including but not limited to Shawna Richardson—a wild horse specialist who is a big Pesticide PZP Pusher too? It’s well known Leigh works with the BLM and advocates for population control on the few herds left in America today—so did they send Daanes to stalk the WY14™ Wild Horses? Or is she with another nonprofit organization now?

Was Daanes sent over to get photos and make false testimony for a smear?

Was Danes sent in to stalk the WY14™ for Elaine Nash, alleged PR professional, who runs Fleet of Angels (FOA) the nonprofit in control of the ISPMB Mustangs from South Dakota now? Is this an act of retaliation because over the weekend I have been asking for free speech and for Karen Sussman’s gag order to be lifted so she can speak? Here is a meme I posted on Facebook:

Last week I asked if Fleet of Angels might kill some wild horses as they had previously requested donations for what they called “compassion adoptions” to get something like $400 per horse to euthanize some ISPMB Mustangs they felt they might not place in adoptive homes. Here is the post on Facebook about that:

Finally I was eventually told by Barbara Rasmussen on the post that they were not euthanizing mustangs “there”.

Back in November 2016 we spoke with the S.D State Attorney about helping the at-risk ISPMB wild horses. We answered Feet of Angels’ cries for help 4 days before the deadline I believe. I rallied Protect Mustangs’ team leaders and those on our email list to help find adoptive homes and donations going directly to ISPMB and the County fund for the mustangs. One donor offered to help save the horses with a $50,000. donation so I passed her on to the right person.

We found homes for 200-600+ ISPMB Mustangs showing that none were “unwanted” and they deserved to live. When I asked Elaine Nash on an ISPMB adoption page how many wild horses found homes by the November 30th deadline she never responded. Our team leaders had worked around the clock for 4 days and they wanted to know. The question was never answered. Our team leaders and I were fielding lots of phone calls from adopters and referring them to FOA and ISPMB. One of our team leaders found homes for 100 ISPMB Mustangs. Most adopters were never contacted from what I am told.

Is Nash/Fleet of Angels receiving funding from the Humane Society of the United States who is the registrant of the Pesticide PZP? Is the Humane Society somehow involved in this stalking incident and others? Daane seems to have boasted in a Hate Group’s public Facebook discussion that she is working with “a lawyer” to monitor and regulate wild horse rescues. Is that lawyer Scott Beckstead from HSUS or is it someone else? Why has Daane been stalking our WY14™ wild horse herd? Is it because Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist and longtime resident of the Carson Valley in Nevada also is strongly against Pesticide PZP. Craig joined me in a lawsuit to stop the Pine Nut wild horse roundup in 2015. Friends of Animals provided legal representation. This was the first time that Pesticide PZP was brought up in a lawsuit I believe. Our case was strong and we stopped the Pine Nut Roundup.

Last month at the BLM’s TRI RAC (Regional Advisory Counsel) meeting Craig Downer was denied public comment even though he showed up at the designated time. I believe it was Lisa Ross that told him there was no more speaking slots and could not look him in the face. Downer has published _____________ , many scholarly papers, books, etc and has conducted a study of the Pine Nut Range which began with Protect Mustangs and later he was contracted by Friends of Animals for an in-depth study.

During the meeting Downer felt his rights to participate in a public meeting were violated. He watched the circus PZP Advocates parade in touting how great PZP was and how great they were at shooting darts in wild horses to control population. You can hear Downer explain having his rights violated in the interview I conducted live on Facebook here:

Were the stalkers sent out by the BLM, WHE, the local PZP Group called the Pine Nut Advocates, HSUS or members of the Wild Horse Sanctuary Alliance or someone else?

Recently John Cox, a vocal advocate against Pesticide PZP and Vietnam Veteran has been calling for wild horses to be returned to public land. He has been raising a lot of questions about the players pushing Pesticide PZP. Cox brought up that Return to Freedom was paid $440,000. by a wild horse eradication program I believe. He wanted to have some information and to this date I believe he has not received it from Return to Freedom who was originally the parent organization of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) who has recently changed their name to the American Wild Horse Campaign who is a coalition of several groups advocating to use Pesticide PZP as the cornerstone for wild horse and burro management of the last of the herds.

I have been a vocal advocate against roundups, slaughter and against Pesticide PZP in the national press for many years. Here are some examples:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Anne Novak, director of the nonprofit Protect Mustangs in Berkeley, California, says her group is “against any kind of experimenting on wild horses, including birth control experiments.”
“Wild horses are protected by law, and birth control experiments don’t jibe with the law.”
Novak worries that stallions may chase non-reproducing females out of their herd. . . http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/wild-horses-united-states-west-conservation/

I have written many petitions to advocate for America’s wild horses and burros. They are delivered to elected officials. Here are some of them: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=220

The Hate Group launched a heavy defamation campaign targeting me, after I created the Facebook Forum on PZP (https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros/)  for wild horses and burros on federal land in 2014.

Pesticide PZP pushers want the public to stay in the dark. They don’t want people knowing the real science and truth. The study on PZP by Knight & Rubenstein (2014) found that ” … three or more consecutive years of treatment or administration of the first dose before sexual maturity may have triggered infertility in some mares.” These findings are particularly troubling. They suggest that, actually, only two consecutive PZP-treatments may be reversible. Except, that is, in the case of fillies who have not yet reached puberty — they could be sterilized by just one injection.

The Hate Group works to hurt my reputation and to hurt the flow of donations. They gloated in their Hate Group that they would continue to make donations drop hoping to ruin our ability to care for the rescued WY14™ Herd of Wild Horses who are part of a preservation project. It’s no coincidence that the WY14™ Wild Horses were rescued back from the slaughterhouse. Many members of the Hate Group are PRO-SLAUGHTER. Well thanks to loyal supporters on the crowdfunding site we use called GoFundMe, we preserver. We are here for the wild horses period. Please donate to the WY14™’s current fundraiser to finally catch up with January, February and March board that must be raised. Every dollar counts. We have no salaries. We are volunteers. Your donations are tax-deductible. Click here to say no to the bullies and stalkers targeting us: https://www.gofundme.com/mustangs-sanctuary-board-jan-2017

I have debunked the “It’s either PZP or slaughter myth” and “PZP stops roundups myth” in our Facebook Forum on PZP. The Dangers of PZP http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=6922 and the Pine Nut lawsuit are just some milestones that came out of the educational PZP forum. Today there are over 4,000 members in the forum.

Remember the National Academy of Sciences said there is “no evidence” of overpopulation. BLM shows out estimates of overpopulation and the Pesticide PZP pushers go along with the overpopulation myth in order to justify Pesticide PZP. Of course you can follow the money too.

Why was Daanes sent over with her “buddy” to get photos for another smear? It’s funny how you hear about their plot and LIES. More on that later . . .

The last smear against me lasted for months and caused a lot of damage even after Facebook finally took down the Hate Groups public page that stalked the WY14™ Wild Horses, my family and I while spreading vicious LIES to incite a lot of HATE against me.

According to screenshots, the smear was launched by a PRO-SLAUGHTER Activist and a Wyoming wife of an EX-BLM employee or maybe he’s back with BLM now. When I spoke out against the BLM experimenting on a small wild herd in Eastern Nevada called the Water Canyon herd and was publicizing wild youngsters for adoption that I had sat with at BLM’s Palomino Valley, I mentioned that wild horse photographer, Jeannie Nations, was the BLM’s Project Coordinator for the experiment which I believe is part of BLM’s new wave of experimentation on wild pregnant mares paid for through $11.5 million grants. You can read more about this on our website www.ProtectMustangs.org . Just use the search bar.

The South Dakota Humane Society claimed they were funding the ISPMB rescue run by FOA according to a press release I believe. Is the Humane Society of the United States, the ASPCA, Wild Horse Sanctuary Alliance, Return to Freedom, etc. helping to fund the adoption of more than 500 ISPMB Mustangs all nonprofit organizations who I believe push for the federal government to use Pesticide PZP on our last will horses? It’s well known that the ISPMB tried Pesticide PZP for several years but when their President seems to have noticed it was hurting the herds and was concerned the mares would be sterilized after multiple use she stopped using PZP.

Is the former BLM employee’s wife in Caspar, Wyoming organizing the STALKING again? She’s said to be a BLM Volunteer, PRO-SLAUGHTER, is a documented Activist for Tubal Ligation EXPERIMENTATION on wild mares, very active on documented Hate Groups that have stalked the WY14™ Wild Horses rescued from the slaughterhouse and she spreads lies to incite HATE towards me. Is she trying to get attention on Facebook, vindicate a BLM Volunteer whose mustang was in the mud who felt liberty to bash me all the time in a Hate Group or is the Wyoming wife trying to make points with the Bureau of Land management by targeting me because I advocate for the voiceless wild horses Wyoming and elsewhere?

Is that why this stalking incident happened yesterday when a Bureau of Land Management employee from the other side of the state was in the area? Is the stalking related to the fact that this BLM employee is an infamous Pesticide PZP Pusher—who participates in Hate Groups targeting me and others who are also against Pesticide PZP and challenging the wild horse overpopulation myth on public lands?

This BLM employee is in the wild horse program and gives misinformation to the public regarding population on public land. As you all know I am a strong advocate stating there is no overpopulation of wild horses on public land and I’m against Pesticide PZP.

Is Elaine Nash (Fleet of Angels) looking for dirt on us because Nash is mad that I recently spoke out for FREEDOM OF SPEECH and wonder why Karen Sussman, President of the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros has a GAG ORDER? Did Nash send Danes and her “buddy” to STALK the WY14™ Sunday? Was she involved in Daane’s previous episodes of STALKING the wild horses who should be left in peace after the Bureau of Land Management rounded them up then they were sold to the Canadian slaughterhouse

Keep in mind that Maureen Danes who has been documented in a Hate Group targeting me seems to have admitted in writing on Facebook to regularly STALKING the WY14™ wild horses who are in private care and very well taken care of with lots of witnesses.

Since I speak out against the Dangers of PESTICIDE PZP and after I spoke out against the GAG ORDER that Karen A. Sussman at ISPMB seems to be under Maureen Daane STALKS the WY14™ AGAIN.

Daanes seems very confused and is making FALSE statements. She must have X-ray vision to claim she can determine who are pregnant mares and she makes false statements about genetic relationships. Why is Daanes so boldly empowered to LIE on a published statement about inbreeding that she knows NOTHING about and neither does her “buddy” whose name I will not reveal yet. Why is Maureen Danes is LYING about shelter and water? There are many springs where the WY14™ live documented by a SCIENTIST of which Maureen Danes is NOT and of course the owner of the ranch knows how many springs are on the 260+ Acres we rent.

Why is Daane lying about the amount of acres they live in? Ridiculous like her other LIES. No horses are thin according to caretakers, ranch owners and others. . . More lies but maybe Daanes will take skewed photos or just photoshop them? She is skilled with the camera just like with the PZP dart gun. Just about everything Daanes states as fact in her statement is error & LIES except that she went out there as we already knew.

Why with Danes obvious lack of basic knowledge about horses as seen in her statement about the WY14™ then WHY is she pushing Pesticide PZP? How would these darters even know the basics so they don’t dart the same mare 2-4 times in the same year and make the wild mare not only sick but sterile forever? This would mean the herds would die out.

Our last American wild horses and burros would die out quickly if HSUS completes their experiments for the ONE SHOT version of Pesticide PZP to STERILIZE wild mares. Scott Beckstead reported to the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board in Redmond, Oregon about the ongoing experiments.

Why is Daanes is LYING to create another smear? Does this the Hate Group feel empowered with BLM employees, national nonprofit organizations, PZP Pushers and a sick mob mentality aiming to RETALIATE, COERCE (think RICO Act) and threaten because they want me to give up my FREE SPEECH in America and violate my First Amendment?

#FollowTheMoney because it’s always at the root of behavior like this.

Is it because they are trying so hard to get the federal government, the BLM, the new administration to buy into a Restricted Use Pesticide called PZP that made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries to use as what they call a VACCINE against fertility? Since when is fertility a disease?

Yes their actions are obviously retaliatory to STALK, LIE, COERCE and FAKE A SMEAR. She even closed her bogus statement in the Hate Group with her threatening statement “People really need to start being responsible for their own horses and quit pointing fingers at others…”

Could it be that Elaine Nash with Fleet of Angels did partner up with BLM, and all the PZP Pushers to stalk the WY14™ Wild Herd send this threat?

Maureen Daane seems to represent the PZP Pushers in Nevada who will lie and stop at nothing to get PZP forcibly drudged into all the last wild mares out West. Daane seems to be manipulating others, LYING and INCITING HATE to hurt people that might have a different opinion. It is our right in America to have a different opinion.

Why did Daanes supporter CALL ME at 5:44 AM yesterday—on Sunday—to talk about PZP? What did she tell him? Why was he sending me private messages on Facebook and texts when I told him that my boyfriend doesn’t want him calling. Later last night I saw him posting unfounded concern on Mary Cioffe’s Facebook page that one of the mares is going to “drop a foal any moment” when that’s impossible because it takes 11 months to make a foal. Why is “Mo” Daane and others spreading a lot of LIES about me and the WY14™ Wild Horses to INCITE HATE towards me?

This can escalate to acts of harm or even death threats.

The authorities are aware I have received death threats as a result of the last smear birthed out of the Hate Group back when I mentioned Jeannie Nations was the Project Coordinator of the BLM’s GONACON™ EXPERIMENT on the Water Canyon herd. The irony is that information was in the newspaper and in the BLM’s press release so what’s the big deal?

Why did Jeannie Nations of Ely Nevada, who’s husband I was told contracts with BLM, make threats and slander me on public Facebook pages for months? Of course I received all the screenshots. Why was Nations plotting with PRO-SLAUGHTER Activists, PRO-EXPERIMENT activists, PZP Pushers, BLM Employees, BLM partners, Board Members, heads of 501(c)3 Non profit organizations, California State employees and others in the Hate Group to destroy the wild herd known as the WY14™? Was she retaliating too?

Go to our website and put “GonaCon” into the search bar or “Jeannie Nations” to read the history or just click here: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8488

Maureen Daane seems to be making a public threat in a Hate Group along with everything else. it seems like she is clearly acting in RETALIATION because I am against PESTICIDE PZP. The WY14™’s  onsite caregiver notified us she was stalking the WY14™ along with her “buddy”. Later I posted on Facebook about this because as everyone knows I’m a stickler for evidence and facts, period.

What do you think? Who sent the stalkers?

 

Anne Novak

Volunteer Executive Director

Protect Mustangs and American Wild Horse Institute

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org