Editorial #2: Time for a new national wild horse policy––covering all wild horses

November 1, 2013 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2013:

Editorial #2: Time for a new national wild horse policy––covering all wild horses [Photo credit: Kim Bartlett ] Data showing how many horses have been sold to slaughter per year, nationwide, can be extrapolated from readily available public records going all the way back to 1850. Throughout this time, coinciding with the advent of railways that enabled brokers to transport animals long distances to slaughter, the overwhelming majority of horses sold to slaughter have been either those at the end of their working utility to humans, or the unwanted surplus from speculative breeding. Speculative breeding rose rapidly as a source of horses sent to slaughter as employment of horses for transportation declined. Read more

Bureau of Land Management introduces new wild horse roundup policies

March 1, 2013 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2013:

RENO, Nevada––The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on February 1, 2013 issued new policy directives governing wild horse roundups.

“At all times, the care and treatment provided by the BLM and contractors will be characterized by compassion and concern for the animal’s well-being and welfare,” ordered BLM assistant director for renewable resources and planning Edwin Roberson. Read more

Wolves, wild horses, bison & budget cuts

May 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, May 2011:
WASHINGTON D.C.–Removed from Endangered Species Act
protection by a policy rider, wolves in Montana and Idaho are among
the most prominent animal casualties of the Fiscal Year 2011
Continuing Resolution signed into law by U.S. President Barack Obama
on April 15, 2011.
Wolves in Michigan and Wisconsin are beneficiaries of
Congressional budget-cutting, at least pending further legislation,
because the short-term funding act that preceded the FY 2011
Continuing Resolution axed the federal budget for killing “problem”
wolves in those states.

Why did BLM reject Madeline Pickens’ Nevada wild horse sanctuary proposal?

March 1, 2011 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2011:

PHOENIX–A two-day Bureau of Land Management consultation
meeting on wild horse and burro management strategy, to be held on
March 10-11, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona, is likely to focus on why
the BLM on January 21 rejected a proposal from philanthropist
Madeline Pickens to accommodate 1,000 wild horses on 18,000 acres of
Nevada ranch land she purchased in 2010–and then began removing
about 2,000 wild horses from nearby public land.
“The Elko County ranches, which Pickens renamed the Mustang
Monument preserve, come with grazing rights on roughly 564,000 acres
of public land,” noted Martin Griffith of Associated Press.

"Summit for the Horse" promotes slaughtering wild horses

January 1, 2011 juanitoG Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2011:

LAS VEGAS--Intended to promote horse slaughter in general, and slaughtering wild horses in specific, the Summit for the Horse held in Las Vegas during the first week of January 2011 heard messages from Bureau of Land Management director Bob Abbey and slaughterhouse design consultant Temple Grandin that were not what most of the reportedly sparse audience wanted to hear.

Not more than 200 people converged on the Southpoint Casino to attend the Summit for the Horse, according to a variety of crowd counts. Most counts placed the plenary attendance at 100-150, including 42 speakers.

Speaking for allied animal use industries were National Cattlemen’s Beef Association vice president J.D. Alexander, Masters of Fox Hounds Association executive director Dennis Foster, and Mindy Patterson, who led breeder opposition to Missouri Proposition B, a ballot initiative to increase regulation of puppy breeders that was approved by voters in November 2010. Read more

New Mexico wild horse & chimp refuge plans falter

November 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, November/December 2010:

ALBUQUERQUE–New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson scrambled as his
term ended to save his September 2010 initiatives to create
sanctuaries for wild horses and chimpanzees.
Richardson on September 17, 2010 announced a plan to use
$2.9 million in federal economic stimulus money to add the former
Ortiz Mountain Ranch to Cerrillos Hills State Park, 20 miles south
of Santa Fe, turning it into the largest wild horse sanctuary in the
world.

Madeleine Pickens buys 14,000 acres for her long-promised wild horse sanctuary

October 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, October 2010:
(Actual press date November 3.)
RENO–Madeleine Pickens, owner of the Del Mar Country Club
in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and wife of Texas oil billionaire
T. Boone Pickens, in early October 2010 purchased the 14,000-acre
Spruce Ranch, 70 miles east of Elko, Nevada, as proposed home for
many of the 36,000 wild horses presently kept in Bureau of Land
Management holding facilities. Pickens’ plan is reportedly to start
with 1,000 horses, adding more as the securely fenced portion of the
Spruce Ranch is expanded to keep horses inside, and as facilities
are built to accommodate visitors.
“Pickens purchased the ranch, which she plans to rename the
Mustang Monument preserve, for an undisclosed price. The property
comes with grazing rights on 540,000 acres of public land,” reported
Associated Press writer Martin Griffith. “Pickens also is
negotiating to buy an adjoining 4,000-acre ranch that has grazing
rights for 24,000 acres of public land,” Griffith added.

New Mexico governor creates wild horse refuge & proposes chimp sanctuary

September 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, September 2010:
(published October 5, 2010)
ALBUQUERQUE–New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson on September
17, 2010 announced a plan to use $2.9 million in federal economic
stimulus money to multiply the size of Cerrillos Hills State Park,
20 miles south of Santa Fe, more than tenfold by adding the former
Ortiz Mountain Ranch to it, turning it into the largest wild horse
sanctuary in the world.
Then, just ahead of a September 21 media conference called
to discuss the wild horse sanctuary, Richardson toured the
Alamogordo Primate Facility on Holloman Air Force Base near
Albuquerque and recommended that it should become a non-invasive
behavioral research lab.

2010 BLM wild horse gathers start early

January 1, 2010 Dylan Forest Leave a comment

From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2010:

RENO–The most aggressive year of Bureau of Land Management
wild horse captures since the passage of the 1971 Wild Free-Ranging
Horse & Burro Protection Act started early, with a first gather
apparently timed to try to evade activist notice.
Explained Martin Griffith of Associated Press, “The roundup
of 217 horses and burros along the Nevada-California border ended the
day before a BLM advisory board ignored advocates’ request for a
moratorium on such gathers. It also began shortly after the BLM
postponed a nearby roundup of thousands of wild horses in Nevada
because of a lawsuit.”

1 2 3 … 76 »