Wild horse advocates ask Obama to stop the roundups

New wave of protests begin with San Francisco

San Francisco, CA (April 20, 2011)—The Cloud Foundation and Americans who value wild horses roaming free in the West are gathering on the steps of Grace Cathedral (1110 California Street) at 3:30 p.m. to march to the Masonic Auditorium at 4:00 p.m. where President Obama is speaking during a campaign fundraiser. The Foundation and members of the public ask President Obama to Stop the Roundups and Stop the Cruelty.

“With the country in the throes of budget cut-backs for essentials like education, tax dollars used to unnecessarily remove and warehouse wild horses is just unbelievable,” states East Bay resident, Anne Novak, spokesperson for The Cloud Foundation. “We ask Obama to stop the roundups now and use that money to help Americans in their time of need.”

Every year the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is awarded big budget tax dollars to fund the broken Wild Horse and Burro Program. With the bulk of their $76 million budget going towards roundups and zeroing out wild horses—inadequate funds are left to care for the wild horses once they are captured.

Last week, Lisa Friday and The Foundation released a video exposing the Utah BLM holding facility nightmare showing wild horses languishing in a quagmire of urine and manure as well as mares down for more than 3 hours in the mud, and a 3 year-old mare who was skin and bones, despite being in the facility for over 8 months.

“People are fed up—particularly when they find out that these massive removals are not only cruel and unnecessary, but they are costing taxpayers a fortune,” states Ginger Kathrens, Director of The Cloud Foundation. “These animals are taken from their virtually cost-free, pristine environments in the wild, separated from their families, and forced to live in filthy feedlot conditions on the government dole.”

End.

Source: The Cloud Foundation Press Release