CLOUD FOUNDATION PRESS RELEASE
BLM on road to slaughtering wild horses in holding?
COLO. SPRINGS, CO (Feb. 8, 2012) – The Cloud Foundation strongly protests the appointment of another pro-slaughter member to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. On February 5, 2012, Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, named Callie Hendrickson of Grand Junction, Colorado as the newest member of the Board. Hendrickson will fill the General Public position, replacing Janet Jankura of Ohio who applied to serve another term but was denied.
“I am wondering what general public Ms. Hendrickson represents? Certainly not the vast majority of Americans who oppose the slaughter of wild or domestic horses,” states Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. “It’s troubling that in the past nine months the Secretary has chosen two members of the Board who appear to have little problem with lethal management of our wild horses.”
Ms. Hendrickson is the Executive Director of the Colorado-based White River and Douglas Creek Conservation District, an organization which intervened on behalf of BLM in a lawsuit brought by the Colorado Wild Horse and Burro Coalition, Front Range Equine Rescue (FRER), Habitat for Horses, and The Cloud Foundation (TCF), organizations committed to protecting the West Douglas wild horse herd on Colorado’s Western Slope. Hendrickson and her group support the removal of all the wild horses in this small herd.
“BLM’s appointment of Ms. Hendrickson as a representative of the general public is severely misguided,” states Valerie Stanley, attorney for wild horse advocate organizations. “Her organization is working to eliminate wild horses and Ms. Hendrickson, herself, has indicated that she supports horse slaughter. BLM’s appointment signals that it only wants advice from people who support the agency’s own agenda.”
In October, Hendrickson spoke before the Board on which she now sits, arguing that “excess animals… shall be made available for sale without limitation, including through auction to the highest bidder…”
“The hypocrisy of the BLM Advisory Board continues with the appointment of Callie Hendrickson,” states Hilary Wood, President/Founder of FRER. “This isn’t a case of the fox guarding the hen house. It’s the fox in the hen house about to cause more death and destruction.”
Hendrickson joins James Stephenson of south-central Washington, a consultant for the Yakama Nation who, in June of 2011, was appointed by Secretary Salazar to represent Natural Resource Management on the Board. At the October Board Meeting, Stephenson spoke in favor of horse slaughter for the Yakama Indian Tribe and for wild horses removed from their homes on public range lands in the West by the BLM.
“Is BLM paving the way for the massive destruction of wild horses in holding?” asks Susan Sutherland, economist and wild horse adopter. “It appears they are stacking the Advisory Board with people who may be quite willing to support the killing of healthy animals currently in holding areas. It’s clear they’ve been thinking of doing this for years.”
Sutherland refers to the minutes of secret meetings held by BLM officials in 2008. Minutes of these meetings came to light in 2009 when Dr. Pat Haight, President of the Conquistador Equine Rescue and Advocacy Program, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to acquire the documents.
BLM officials talked of ways to avoid NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) compliance, clean water standards, and Congressional oversight. The need for psychological counseling for employees ordered to kill healthy wild horses was raised as well. When asked about these meetings, BLM denied any plan to destroy wild horses in holding.
“Instead of releasing wild horses back to their legal homes, BLM seems to be setting the stage for a lethal solution,” states Craig Downer, lifelong wild horse advocate and author of the just released book, The Wild Horse Conspiracy. “The agency needs to stop the senseless and costly helicopter roundups of the last of the mustangs and come up with a sustainable plan that includes the return of horses in holding to areas emptied of all horses over the past 30 years.”
The Cloud Foundation has long advocated for maintaining genetically viable populations of wild horses and burros on their legally designated home ranges in the West. Less than one-third of herds are large enough to sustain themselves into the future without suffering irreparable genetic degradation. The Foundation has suggested that many of the healthy wild horses in costly holding pens be returned to western ranges allocated for their use but zeroed out by BLM. Director Bob Abbey acknowledged the availability of 5-7 million BLM acres for wild horse release, but there appear to be no plans in the works to accomplish this cost-saving solution.
“With the Board’s anti-wild horse members in place, it’s hard to imagine that this type of action will be recommended,” states Kathrens.
The nine-member National Advisory Board is charged with making recommendations to BLM concerning their management of Wild Horses and Burros on publicly-owned lands.
# # #
Media Contact:
Lauryn Wachs
Lauryn@TheCloudFoundation.org
617-894-6939
Links of Interest:
BLM Advisory Board makeup (Not updated to reflect current changes): http://on.doi.gov/AswmTV
Boyd Spratling, DVM – renewed (Former President of NV Cattleman’s Association)
Gary Zakotnik (Member of Rock Springs Grazing Association)
TCF Release on Secret Meetings: http://bit.ly/hnPmvY
TCF’s 10 Steps to Restore America’s Wild Horses & Burros: http://bit.ly/nWcJRh
Documents obtained by Conquistador Program via FOIA: http://bit.ly/ySXXZG
ASPCA Research Confirms Americans Strongly Oppose Slaughter of Horses for Human Consumption: http://bit.ly/ySl7oG
Tuesday's Horse 
With every one out there that is against this surely someone knows or has a family member that has some kind of association with with a good attorney who would be willing to find a loop hole in this matter as Federal land belongs to the American people and it is our money that they are using to do this,, why is it that The Catholic Churches can use birth control being imoral to them as a bonified reason to fight for their issue but yet we all have a strong feeling of this being immoral and aboslutely it is one of the most immoral things i have ever been exposed to and I strongly find it disturbing and against my values that I am paying for this to happen and I am extremely against it,, Also what happen to Willie Nelson ? He was battleing this for years, And also I know Ellen of the Ellen Show owns aeveral horses and rides frequently, I guess the only way we are going to be heard is to start our own occupy group and pick the best place to start and see what we can get done by doing that.
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I fear it would take a lot of dedicated people working 24/7 in a single-minded effort to make these issues felt on a broad scale. The rats are taking advantage of their comparative invisibility.
Last nite there was something on TV where they were interviewing the actor, Clooney, about a genocide that occured. He and his Dad personally went over there with film cameras because they felt that the issue was not on the American public’s radar, due to our TV networks’ choices about what stories to air. So he and his Dad went over there and spent 10 days in a rough situation, just to get the word out.
Geraldo Rivera where are you? lol
George Clooney indicated he felt his visibility requires him to act on these issues of right and wrong, and to bring them to light and do whatever good he can while his time in the spotlight lasts.
God bless Mr. Clooney and other gifted and successful people who are willing to do this type of work.
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Amen, Janet, about Mr Clooney. Most actors are too worried about their bottom line to take a stand on any remotely controversial, and that is understandable. But how I wish more would do so. In this day of celebrity worship, it is a surefire way to appeal to the masses.
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The BLM is probably behind the horse slaughter house that is now being introduced in OK too. They have stock piled a lot of horses there. But how are we going to stop them? We need someone to come forward with an idea to stop this insanity. But what is it? I just cannot think of anything else then what we have already tried and failed on. The public is so worried about their own financial battle that they have no energy or finances to set forth on saving the horses, wild and domestic, from slaughter. Anti slaughter groups can’t get enough money to pay off the Congress like the pro slaughter orgs are. And its hard to get them voted out too. Somewhere there is someone with an idea. We just need to hear it. Anyone??? Anyone to save the horses?? Please!
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Hello Lynn,
Many organizations come up with good campaigns, but need participation. Most of them cost absolutely nothing but a few minutes of time. Even with that, the majority of people do nothing. Believe me, the pro horse slaughter movement are very thankful for that. We have been at this a very long time, and have found, good economy or not, it is always the same people who get and stay active, and involved.
Insofar as raising money to pay off politicians, there are huge animal welfare organizations with millions sitting in the bank who work on the horse slaughter issue. Yet they say, even with their millions, they cannot compete with the cattle and pharmaceutical lobbies etc.
So it’s back to the people, isn’t it?
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What slaughter house in OK? Who is vying to build this?
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Oklahoma is putting together a funding package to have a horse slaughter plant built. By the time they get started, the funding for USDA inspections will be back in place. They are wasting their time and money.
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Do you mean, “by the time they get started, the DEfunding for the USDA inspections will be back in place”?
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Yes, Janet, that’s what I meant… the funding for the USDA horse slaughter inspections will be removed again for the fiscal year following this one. Only a bunch of fools would invest in such a risky scheme. They are going to have constant hassle trying to shut them down (if indeed they ever get opened). What we need to focus on is a ban on the transport/export for the purposes of slaughter. This would protect the few remaining wild horses & burros we have left in long-term holding. Since the BLM appears to be unaccountable to no one, it is hard to know how many horses are where. The HMA’s are virtually empty from what we hear.
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Just pisses me off. I believe that this is aimed at killing the horses where’s they are. In secret, and it could already be happening. How do we know. We are not allowed to count them. We know how Salazar feels about the horses. I’m not sure that passing tha Anti-slaughter bills will stop this. We must make them back off on this appointment. Like Komen/planned parent hood. Like one young women against B of A and their 5 dollar debt use charge. It must be One well worded social media Cause that can raise 100000
+ signatures. I’ll sign first.
T
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I wish the rank and file of BLM, especially the so-called Wild Horse Specialists among them, would have the backbone to make a stink on some of these heinous issues.
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