False Win: Is the Bureau of Land Management retaining the right to kill “unadoptable” wild horses and those over 10-years-old despite public outcry?

PM IA GAIA #8402 Carson July 2016

The Bureau of Land Management has responded to public pressure but is NOT saying they won’t kill the wild horses and burros in holding. Read the emails below.

“The news circulating in the press is designed to put out the fire of public outcry. As long as the Bureau of Land Management has the legal right due to the Burns Amendment to give wild horses 3-Strikes, KILL alleged “unadoptable” wild horses and those over 10 years old then nothing has changed.” –Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs

This is what the Bureau of Land Management has posted on their website:

Question: What is the BLM’s response to the recommendation made by the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on September 9, 2016, to sell without limitation or humanely euthanize excess horses and burros in BLM’s off-range corrals and pastures that are deemed “unadoptable”?

Answer: The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board is an independent panel comprised of members of the public that make recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management regarding its management of wild horses and burros. The BLM is committed to having healthy horses on healthy rangelands. We will continue to care for and seek good homes for animals that have been removed from the range. Currently, there are more than 67,000 wild horses and burros on public rangelands, and the BLM is caring for nearly 50,000 animals in off-range corrals and pastures.

“Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze told a congressional panel yesterday that the agency has no plans to follow the recommendation of an advisory panel that has called on BLM to euthanize potentially thousands of wild horses it cannot sell or adopt.” — Energy & Environment News

Statement from Anne Novak, Founder and Executive Director of Protect Mustangs: We have seen the Bureau of Land Management slither back after public outcry before and that is all this is. Their statement says nothing about not killing or stopping unlimited sales to slaughterhouse middlemen. Legally it is still an option to them. Therefore it is more important than ever to keep the #NoKill pressure on and to push for wild horses and burros to be returned to freedom. There is no evidence of overpopulation, period. Independent head counts of all the wild horses in holding and in the wild are urgent now to uncover the truth. How many are really left?

PM Poppy #1196 3-Strike PVC FB

We contacted Tom Gorey, Senior Public Affairs Specialist at Bureau of Land Management today to confirm the information circulating in the press and asked the bureau if they retained the right to KILL the “unadoptable” wild horses and burros and those over 10-years-old and have not received a clear response. Our last email was not answered. Read the emails below:

 

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: RE: Is the BLM going to kill the wild horses in holding?
From: <anne@protectmustangs.org>
Date: Thu, September 15, 2016 12:56 pm
To: “Gorey, Thomas (Tom)” <tgorey@blm.gov>

The statement says nothing really. So kindly answer my question. Does the BLM reserve the right to kill “unadoptable” wild horses and burros as well as those over 10-years-old?

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562  

www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses. Please donate to help the mustangs.

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: Re: Is the BLM going to kill the wild horses in holding?

From: “Gorey, Thomas (Tom)” <tgorey@blm.gov>

Date: Thu, September 15, 2016 12:08 pm

To: Annee Novak <anne@protectmustangs.org>

Cc: Dean Bolstad <dbolstad@blm.gov>

The statement says nothing about reserving a right.

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 3:04 PM, <anne@protectmustangs.org> wrote:

So the Bureau of Land Management reserves the right to kill wild horses and burros to dispose of them?

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562  

 www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses. Please donate to help the mustangs.

——– Original Message ——–

Subject: Re: Is the BLM going to kill the wild horses in holding?

From: “Gorey, Thomas (Tom)” <tgorey@blm.gov>

Date: Thu, September 15, 2016 10:40 am

To: Anne Novak <anne@protectmustangs.org>

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en.html

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbprogram/history_and_facts/from_the_public.html#Brd_Rec

Question: What is the BLM’s response to the recommendation made by the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board on September 9, 2016, to sell without limitation or humanely euthanize excess horses and burros in BLM’s off-range corrals and pastures that are deemed “unadoptable”?

Answer: The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board is an independent panel comprised of members of the public that make recommendations to the Bureau of Land Management regarding its management of wild horses and burros.  The BLM is committed to having healthy horses on healthy rangelands.  We will continue to care for and seek good homes for animals that have been removed from the range.  Currently, there are more than 67,000 wild horses and burros on public rangelands, and the BLM is caring for nearly 50,000 animals in off-range corrals and pastures.

On Thu, Sep 15, 2016 at 1:35 PM, <anne@protectmustangs.org> wrote:

Dear Mr. Gorey,

Kindly send me your statement. Thank you.

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562  

www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses. Please donate to help the mustangs.

PM Lennox

Our petitions still stand:
1.) Investigate the Wild Horse & Burro Count in Captivity and in Freedom https://www.change.org/p/u-s-senate-investigate-the-wild-horse-burro-count-in-captivity-and-freedom This is VERY important to clean up the program, the fraud and stop the roundups, slaughter and right to kill because the BLM is lazy about adopting
2.) #NoKill 45,000 wild horses and put them back on public land 
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/907/592/301/demand-nokill-45000-wild-horses-burros-in-holding Still valid despite BLM’s news. Legally they have the right to kill our cherished mustangs and burros. Until the law is changed and the loophole is closed we need to get them back on public land and to safety.
3.) Defund to Stop the Wild Horse and Burro Roundups and Slaughter https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups Still valid to stop cruel roundups, unlimited sales, and killing of our native wild horses because of a loophole in the law. 
 
4.) Congress & President: Stop Slaughter & Experiments on 100,000 Wild Horses & Burros 
https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-united-states-congress-president-stop-sterilization-slaughter-of-100-000-wild-horses-burros Even though BoLM is backing down on the sterilization surgeries, they still continue with injectable sterilization experiments–just like Dr. Mengele did.

The petitions are working so keep sharing to double the numbers and keep the pressure on. Take the cover page of the petitions with you when you go to meet with your elected officials or include them in your handwritten letters and email.

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




Fraudulent figures, sterilization and underpopulation

PM Burros Wild 2 © Carl Mrozek

To:  Heather van Blokland at KJZZ

Rio Salado College and Maricopa Community College, Arizona

I am emailing you directly because comments cannot be posted to your article.

http://kjzz.org/content/360434/feds-look-solution-wild-horse-burro-overpopulation

First, let me commend you for correctly identifying PZP as a “sterilization drug.” The Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) both like to refer to it as “birth control,” but PZP is actually a sterilant.  More on that later.  The reason for my email is to alert you that BoLM has given you false information regarding the wild horses and burros.

While a reporter or any member of the public should be able to secure accurate data from government agencies, BoLM’s data is fraudulent as concerns wild horses and burros.  BoLM is aggressively pursuing a disinformation campaign against the mustangs, concocting a crisis that does not exist, and using scare-tactics to secure increased funding for itself.  Let me now address certain points cited in your article.

Herd-growth rates:  Equids are slow-growth species when it comes to reproduction. The gestation period for horses lasts 11 months, and a mare produces just 1 foal.  The gestation period for burros lasts 12 to 14 months, and a jenny is less fertile than a mare.  While an independent study of BoLM’s records did confirm an almost 20% birth rate for wild-horse herds, and an almost 15% birth rate for wild-burro herds, the study also found that 50% of foals perish before their first birthday.  Thus, the effective increase in population from new foals is just 10% for wild horses and 7% for wild burros.  Adult mustangs also die.  They succumb to illness, injury, and predation at a rate of at least 5% a year. So, what is a normal herd-growth rate?  Around5% for wild horses and about 2% for wild burros, probably less in each case.  Thus, a herd could not double every four years — that’s just BoLM propaganda.

Fraudulent figures:  There is no overpopulation except on BoLM’s falsified spreadsheets.  Reviews of the agency’s population-estimates reveal biologically-impossible herd-growth rates.  For instance, in Arizona, BoLM reported that the Big Sandy herd grew from 250 burros to 754 burros in one year, a 202% increase.  In Nevada, BoLM would have us believe that the Lava Beds herd grew from 40 burros to 350 burros in one year, a 775% increase.  In Wyoming, BoLM declared that the Salt Wells Creek herd grew from 29 horses to 616 horses in 6 months (yes, months), a 2,024% increase.  The agency’s “data” is chock-full of such preposterous growth-estimates.  So, when you hear talk of how the wild horses are reproducing “exponentially,” that’s a sure sign that the numbers have been falsified.

Wild horses and burros are underpopulated:  Per the guidelines of BoLM’s own geneticist, 83% of the wild-horse herds and 90% of the wild-burro herds suffer from arbitrary management levels (AMLs) set below minimum-viable population (MVP).  Low AMLs enable BoLM to claim an “excess” in herds whose numbers, even if they were over AML, would still not reach MVP.  For instance, the AML for Arizona’s Black Mountain herd was set at 382 to 478 wild burros.  The Black Mountain Herd Management Area comprises 925,425 acres, or 1,446 square miles.  Thus, per the AML, BoLM implies that each burro needs 1,936 to 2,423 acres, or about 3 to 4 square miles per burro.  If BoLM projects there to be 2 burros per 3 square miles, the agency declares an “overpopulation” because there is “double the number” that the AML allows.  As you can see, being “over AML” is meaningless as well as misleading.  But the low AMLs, combined with falsified, biologically-impossible herd-growth estimates, give BoLM an excuse to scapegoat those few wild horses and burros for the range-damage done by the millions of livestock that overgraze the public lands.

Adoptions:  Have not declined — let alone “disappeared” — contrary to what BoLM led you to believe.  It’s just that BoLM used to count the thousands of sales-for-slaughter as “adoptions.”  Now that only true adoptions — “forever-family” placements — qualify, it just seems as if the number has declined.  However, wild horses are not homeless horses.  They have a home — where they belong — on the range.

HSUS:  Is the registrant of PZP / ZonaStat-H with the Environmental Protection Agency.  Thus, HSUS’ information is not impartial because the organization has its reputation to protect.  Further, HSUS has submitted a proposal for a multi-year project in which BoLM would pay for HSUS staff to experiment on Arizona’s burros via “opportunistic” darting with PZP.

Pesticide:  PZP is not just a sterilant but also a registered pesticide that was approved by the EPA for use on wild horses and burros “where they have become a nuisance.”   However, PZP was registered without the standard testing requirements.  There is currently a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the registration, especially in light of new studies that have disclosed PZP’s many adverse side-effects.

Sterilizing mustangs:  PZP is a potent weapon in BoLM’s arsenal — for its biological warfare against the wild horses.  But population control for wild horses is unnecessary because there is no overpopulation.  Why would we contracept herds whose population is inadequate for genetic viability?  Why would we contracept herds based on falsified figures?  Logically we wouldn’t and ethically we shouldn’t.  Further, if PZP were going to stop the roundups, it would have done so long ago for the famous Pryor Mountain herd, home to Cloud, the stallion who was the subject of a number of documentaries that aired on PBS.  The Pryor Mountain mares have been darted with PZP for nearly two decades.  Yet roundups have been scheduled there like clockwork every 3 years and, in spite of intensifying the PZP treatments recently, BoLM tried to implement yearly roundups until stopped by a Friends of Animals lawsuit.

PZP — the anti-vaccine:  PZP causes disease — auto-immune disease.  PZP “works” by tricking the immune system into producing antibodies that target and attack the ovaries.  The antibodies cause ovarian dystrophy, oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries), ovarian cysts, destruction of oocytes in growing follicles, and depletion of resting follicles.  The mare’s estrogen-levels drop markedly as PZP destroys her ovaries.  Ultimately, PZP sterilizes her.  Because PZP stimulates the immune system, it ironically works “best” — sterilizes faster — in mares that have strong immune-function.  Such mares respond to the anti-vaccine and produce quantities of PZP antibodies that destroy their ovaries.  But, conversely, PZP may not work at all in mares whose immune-function is weak or depressed.  Those mares fail to respond to PZP.  They keep getting pregnant and producing foals who, like their dams, suffer from weak immune-function.  So, the PZP pesticide works against the very horses that Nature has best equipped for survival-against-disease while favoring and selecting for the immuno-compromised.  Worse yet, radioimmunoassay tests indicated that PZP antibodies are transferred from mother to female offspring via the placenta and milk.

Health-risks to volunteers:  As for the well-meaning volunteers who dart wild horses, EPA’s Pesticide Fact Sheet for PZP advises that Personal Protective Equipment requirements include long sleeved shirt and long pants, gloves and shoes plus socks to mitigate occupational exposure.  EPA specifically warns that pregnant women must not be involved in handling or injecting ZonaStat-H, and that all women should be aware that accidental self-injection may cause infertility.  Unfortunately, PZP’s manufacturer misrepresented PZP as “so safe it is boring.”   But research shows that PZP is a powerful hormone disruptor.  Further, consider the magnitude of the risk — the PZP-in-question is a horse-sized dose.  If volunteers think PZP is safe, they will be less likely to protect themselves from this dangerous pesticide.

Mengelian experiments:  The Big Lie of “overpopulation” is the pretext for BoLM’s war against the wild horses, and the wild horses are prisoners of that war.  It’s BoLM’s version of the “Shock Doctrine,” wherein the agency concocted a phony crisis to push through policies antithetical to the Wild Horse Act against the will of The People.  Now, BoLM is funding surgical-sterilization studies on the equine POWs to develop a Final Solution to the “problem” — handing out $11 million for these diabolical experiments.  The grant money is surely intended to buy loyalty and silence potential criticism from academia.  Plus, BoLM, a corrupt, rogue agency, gets to cloak itself in respectability by affiliating with prestigious universities.

Should you wish to learn more about how BoLM is mismanaging Arizona’s wild burros, I would be happy to send you a copy of comments recently submitted.  Just let me know.

Sincerely,

Marybeth Devlin

Miami, FL

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Wild horses impacted in BoLM’s landscape project (Carson district)

PM Photo WY © Stephaie Thomson

Please comment to help the wild horses stay on public land and stop the BoLM from using herbicides

From a BoLM press release:

Carson City, Nev. – The Bureau of Land Management (BoLM), Carson City District, Stillwater Field Office, has completed an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Cow Canyon, Clan Alpine, and Dixie Valley Allotments Landscape Project. The BoLM is also seeking public input under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act for the Project. This includes seeking information and identifying historic properties in our near the Project area. Public comments will be accepted through September 26, 2016.

The EA analyzes seven alternatives that include proposals for livestock grazing permit renewals, range improvements, wild horse management, community mineral material pit designation, invasive, nonnative and noxious weed treatments, interim visual resource management class establishment and adaptive management.  The alternatives include changes in season of use proposals, reductions in livestock numbers proposals, no grazing and the no action alternative (status quo).

The EA and associated documents are available on the Project webpage at: http://bit.ly/2blRZFp  during the 30-day comment period.  Please send written comments to Linda Appel, Project Lead at the address in the letterhead, via fax at (775) 885-6147 or via email to: blm_nv_ccdgrazingea@blm.gov. Comments should include “CCD Landscape Project EA” in the subject line. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Appel or Angelica Rose at 775-885-6000 or at the above address.  For input or questions regarding historic properties please contact Jason Wright at 775-885-6015 or the address in the letterhead above.

-BLM-

 

Save GAIA (#8402) beauty of the West

PM IA GAIA #8402 Carson July 2016

Elegant wild mare with at least one strike facing a second

GAIA (#8402) is available through the internet adoption only at this time. This means BoLM  could ship her out closer to you and you pick her up from the BoLM location or you can pick her up in Nevada should you be close. GAIA has spent most of her life in captivity so with love and patience you can build trust using gentle training techniques. She is sensitive and delicate with a floaty trot. GAIA is not halter-gentled. She’s untrained but with a very kind eye.

This is what the Bureau of Land Management says:

Sex: Mare Age: 4 Years   Height (in hands): 13.0

Necktag #: 8402   Date Captured: 06/10/12

Freezemark: 12618402   Signalment Key: HF1AAAAAB

Color: Bay   Captured: Jackson Mountains (NV)

Notes:

This is an untouched mare with no training.

NOTE: This mare is only available through the Internet Adoption. She is not available for advanced viewing and can not be adopted directly from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

This horse is currently at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, NV. For more information please contact Jenny Lesieutre at jlesieut@blm.gov or call 775-861-6594.

Pick up options (by appt): Palomino Valley, NV; Delta, UT; Elm Creek, NE; Pauls Valley, OK; Ewing, IL.

Other pick up options: Waterloo, IA (October 21); Unadilla, GA (November 4).

Please share her page and ask your friends to do the same so together we can find a loving home for GAIA (#8402)

Watch GAIA’s video

Don’t let shipping hinder adopting GAIA (#8402). You have options. There are groups like Fleet of Angels who help hauling rescued horses for a low cost. GoFundMe or YouCaring are Crowd-Funding sites that can help you raise the money for GAIA’s haul to her new home in California or New York with a rescue or traditional hauler.

It’s generally cheaper to haul 2 horses so please consider adopting a second wild horse so GAIA would have a wild cousin with her forever.

America’s mustangs are going to stop being rounded up at some point soon. The Congressional sell outs to fracking, the TPP, etc. want them managed to extinction and quickly! We all saw them in action in the shamefully biased House subcomittee meeting on Wild Horses and Burros on June 22, 2016.

This is your chance to welcome a pair into your life forever and protect them from a horrible fate.

Remember sharing is caring

 

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




Are elected officials working off plans to “dispose” of treasured wild horses and burros?

PM Paul Ryan

Biased white papers have been swaying elected officials and spreading the overpopulation lie since 2011

It’s no wonder that we are fighting an uphill battle when our elected officials are working off white papers severely biased against wild horses and burros and their right to be part of the thriving natural ecological balance. Read the white paper that focuses on disposal and ignores the fact that wild horses are a native species.

Click here to read it: Wild Horses and Burros_Issues and Proposals

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




Federal agency provides shade at adoption event so why not at corrals? #Shade4Mustangs

The Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) is providing shade for the captive wild horses up for adoption at the Wyoming State Fair this weekend.

PM Shade WYO State Fair

It’s time for the Wild Horse and Burro Program to follow their own example.

We would like to see the federal agency, who rakes in more than $4 billion a year in receipts, provide shade and shelter for all the captive wild horses in holding facilities. More than 43,500 people have signed our petition for shade and shelter (http://chn.ge/1DriOvN).

On June 9, 2013 Nevada State Senator Mark Manendo and Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs officially requested shade for the wild horses and burros at Palomino Valley Center, near Reno and elsewhere to ensure the welfare of these treasured equids. Their request for shade was refused and the sprinkler mitigation offered was unsuccessful because shelter is needed.

Now it is the summer of 2016 and due to public pressure some facilities are taking baby steps and some are conducting trials but it’s not enough. America’s captive icons of freedom deserve shade now!

PM Shade Structures mustangs PVC #Shade4Mustangs

The BoLM partnered with UC Davis for an expensive shade study that determined wild horses don’t need shade when they are in the corrals. It’s obvious they like having access to shade and use it as seen in the photo taken at Palomino Valley Center last week. The BoLM continues to conduct various shade trials while the years fly by and the wild ones suffer. Please sign and share the petition (http://chn.ge/1DriOvN) to get the BoLM to stop dragging their feet and do the right thing before more wild horses die.

Send this blog post to your congressional representative and two senators so they can get this done for the captives in the pens with no voice.

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




Get your applications in to save 3-Strikes wild horses and burros!

PM 3-Strike Nellie Diamond 10620484 for Sale

Help save them from ending up at slaughter!

The first step is to get your applications in and approved to purchase 3-Strike wild horses. You can download the application below:

PM Application to Purchase BLM WH&B

Send by it to wildhorse@blm.gov, fax to 202-912-7182 or mail it to BLM Wild Horse Sales P.O. Box 3270, Sparks, Nevada 89432 Be sure to keep a copy for your records. 

Each wild horse costs $25. after the feds have spent thousands on each one–rounding them up, removing them from their freedom and families–only to end up with 3-Strikes and at risk like this.

 

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




Red Alert: 3-Strike Friends SUZIE KING (#2473) & SNOWBUNNIE (#2256 ) at-risk & need a forever home together

UPDATE August 25th: Suzie King and Snowbunnie have been saved and will live together!

PM PVC 3-Strikes SUZIE KING #2437 August 2016

Suzie King (#2437) is buddies with Snowbunnie (#2256). Please help them!

We met them both at Palomino Valley last Friday. They were super nice and friendly. The two friends have spent all of their lives in the captive pens since they were rounded up as tiny foals. Please help them stay together in a safe place away from horse-traders, kill-buyers and slaughter!

You can do a walk up purchase until August 22nd and save both wild mares at $50. for the pair.

Here is what the BoLM says about Suzie King:

Sex: Mare Age: 6 Years Height (in hands): 13

Necktag #: 2473 Date Captured: 09/25/10

Freezemark: 10612473 Signalment Key: HF1AAAABG

Color: Gray Captured: Silver King (NV)

Notes:
Tag-#2473. 6 year old gray mare gathered from the Silver King Herd Management Area in Nevada in September of 2010.

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

  Here is Snowbunnie (#2256) and her filthy photo. She looks much nicer than that.

PM SNOWBUNNIE #2256 From Silver King 3-Strikes

Here is a photo of SNOWBUNNIE (#2256) from last Friday

PM PVC 3-Strikes SNOWBUNNIE #2256 Aug 2016

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




BoLM gives unfair strikes against mustangs

PM PVC IA Screen Shot 2016-08-17 at 9.56.32 AM

Many 3-Strikes wild horses end up on a foreign dinner plate

America’s wild horses from the Palomino Valley and Fallon holding facilities in Nevada did not get their fair share of exposure for adoption on the internet because they were listed late. Therefore they should not be given a strike because they were not picked. It’s not their fault.

We ask that the Bureau of Land Management (BoLM) do the right thing and wipe off the strike these wild horses received for not being adopted in the last round online.

America’s mustangs in the adoption program should go to good homes or sanctuaries if they cannot be returned to the land where they belong.

Contact your elected officials and ask them to intervene to stop these beautiful wild horses from the unfair 3-Strikes practice that puts them at risk. After 3-Strikes, federally protected American wild horses lose their protections and legally can be sold for $25. People sell 3-Strikes wild horses to “horse-traders” who sell to kill buyers selling to slaughter.

Contact us if you need help adopting wild horses and navigating the BoLM’s red tape, problem solving when problems arise, etc. Email us directly at Contact@ProtectMustangs.org  Let’s get the wild horses to safety! Together we can turn this around.

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.