New evidence obtained by Animals’ Angels raises concerns
by ANIMALS’ ANGELS
With Permission
We’ve all heard about the Wyoming 41 – the herd rounded up in March of this year under the supervision of the BLM’s Wyoming field office as estray horses and sent to the Bouvry slaughterhouse in Canada.
The sad fate of these allegedly estray horses caused a media firestorm which even made national news. Read Fox News Report here »
According to the statement on their Facebook page, this is the BLM’s response to the controversy surrounding the incident:
“March 18 and 19, 2014, 41 unauthorized domestic horses were gathered from BLM public lands in northern Wyoming. The horses were not federally protected under the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act as they were not located in a Herd Management Area or a traditional Herd Area. They were domestic horses that had been in trespass on public lands for many years. The original owner was notified several years ago of the trespass and although he claimed the horses as his private property, he was unable to control them. In recent years, due to the reproduction of these domestic horses, increased development in the area, complaints from landowners and safety concerns, the horses were gathered and turned over to the State of Wyoming under the state’s estray laws. A Notice of Intent to Impound was signed on Feb. 18, 2014 and was published in local area newspapers and posted in local post offices. Local permittees, affected land owners and local law enforcement were also notified, by phone call, prior to the gather. This trespass impoundment was conducted like any other trespass or unauthorized use-the same process would be followed for cattle or sheep in trespass.”
The BLM also claims that these horses were then shipped to the Worland Livestock Auction where they were sold on March 19, 2014 at a public sale to the highest bidder, Bouvry Exports. See Wyoming Brand Inspection Certificates (pdf); Documentation on Gender & Number of Horses Gathered »
Now on the face of it, this seems like a reasonable explanation albeit not necessarily a believable one. However, new evidence obtained by Animals’ Angels raises serious questions on whether or not the proper protocol was followed when these horses were sold.
Oddly enough, the first Health Certificate (pdf) for this group of horses was signed a full 7 days prior to the roundup. The second was signed 4 days prior to the roundup.
Documentation recently obtained by AA from the State of Montana clearly shows that veterinarian Amanda Thoet signed the WY Health Certificates (pdf) on March 11, 2014 and March 14, 2014.
Additionally, the State of Montana issued Permits of Entry (pdf) for these horses, also dated March 11th and March 14th. How did the State of Montana know that these horses would be shipped to Montana?
Even more disturbing is the fact that these Health Certificates & Permits of Entry already list Bouvry Exports as the consignee. Now how is this possible given the fact that, according to the BLM, the horses were supposedly sold in a “public” auction with three bidders in attendance days after the roundup and days after these documents were issued?
Dr. Thoet, the veterinarian who signed the health certificates, confirmed the dates on these certificates as well as the fact that the horses were slated to go to Bouvry Exports at the time of her inspection in a phone call with Animals’ Angels that took place this morning.
Another issue that should concern everyone, animal advocate or not, is the fact that the BLM spent over $28,000 of taxpayer money to round up these horses. The sale price for the horses? $40 a head. In other words, the entire herd sold to Bouvry Exports for $1,640. Not exactly an efficient use of taxpayer money.
See Cattoor Description of Work Performed (pdf) » and Cattoor Invoice (pdf) »
While the comparison between taxpayer cost and BLM profit associated with this round up raises valid concerns — what truly raises a red flag are the veterinary inspections that list Bouvry Exports as consignee long before the roundup or this alleged public auction even occurred.
Was the fate of these horses sealed even before they were gathered? It certainly appears that way.
Animals’ Angels will confront the governmental agencies involved and keep you posted on the further development.
END.
Tuesday's Horse 
These are FERAL horses. Not wild OR native. They are domestic animals that were once owned by people who carelessly tuned them loose to fend for themselves. It is cruel, and unnatural to leave them as they are. No different than feral cats or dogs. They should ALL be rounded up and either adopted out or taken to a processing plant for euthanization. They should NOT be taken care of by the BLM or any government agency. I don’t want my tax dollars spent wasted on this fiasco of animal cruelty & suffering. It needs to end.
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These are your opinions and you are entitled to them. But they are opinions, nothing more, nothing less.
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“…the BLM spent over $28,000 in taxpayer money to roundup these horses.” Talk about wasteful spending at a time when we have over seventeen trillion dollars in debt. Well, thanks a whole lot BLM for, once again, screwing the American public, our horses, and our tax dollars, the very ones that feed you.
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This is definitely disturbing. I can’ believe our government would handle our horses this way. The horses belong to all of us! This makes me so angry.
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I am assuming that the vet signed the health certificates without inspecting and testing the horses (twice?). If she did no testing and according to the blm these horses were living on public land for ONLY “many years”, then how would anyone know if they had been given drugs – only “many years” ago. Would that by any chance be fraud on the vet’s part? Sure hope so!
If that is the case, that is another fact about vets and the slaughter industry that Animals Angels can bring to the attention of other European horse meat companies – who could also take their business away from Bouvry….
Elaine is right, we need to support Animals Angels – they are actually making a difference along with other groups like Front Range Equine Rescue who have recently been fighting like bulldogs against the blm machine.
Sadly, I agree with Barbara Griffith about what has actually been going on with OUR horses on those private ranches……..
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The House Committee on Appropriations with its subcommittee on Interior, Environment oversees and appropriates funds for the Dept of Interior. The ranking member is Jim Moran, D-VA and ranking member majority party, Ken Calvert, R-CA. I believe they should be contacted regarding this egregious handling of horses on public lands by the disgusting BLM. The vet deserves her license taken away for fabricating health certificates and indicating these horses will go to slaughter even before the “public” auction. These innocent horses cannot be brought back, but perhaps this committee will get over its enertia and finally do something. Unfortunately, Jim Moran will not run for re-election, but hopefully he will do something for equines whether wild or domestic in his retirement from congress.
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I have stated in many blogs that the wild horses that the BLM has already rounded up stashed in so-called holding pens are already gone to slaughter long ago. The only horses left are the small herds kept on these paid ranchers property and in holding pens around the country as a front so the public would not find out what really happened to them. I have tried to tell people what is going on but it fell on deaf ears. This proves I was 100% right, this is the very reason that the public was never given the addresses of the ranches claiming privacy rights. The few horses that were seen at some holding pens was done to fool the public into thinking the thousands of horses already in holding were alive and doing fine. The horses that were loaded up after a round up went straight to a holding pen and on to Bouvry, I also suspect that the BLM has a slaughter contract with Bouvry and has had it for a number of years. As far as I am concerned what the Animals Angels found out is the smoking gun that was needed to nail the BLM. I wonder just who is pocketing the millions of tax payer dollars that is funneled to the BLM every year to take care of ghost horses?
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Not to be too dramatic, but this makes me physically ill; how on Earth is this not being probed by a Congressional investigation?
This egregious load of dung, in conjunction with the Sheldon roundup (in which the contractor not only made a tidy sum for it’s efforts, but was ‘given’ the horses they had removed to dispose of in any fashion the saw fit), you’d think someone Federal would be raising Hell.
You’d think…if you had even one ethical bone in your body.
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why is it we have to go about this legally when everything they do is so underhanded and sneaky? i’m really tired of these folks and i can’t even vote them out of the office they hold ! why did the the vet sign anything , did she even inspect the horses and why did she even sign knowing where they going ? ? who is she and why is she still practicing medicine , she is just as underhanded as the other people invovled !!!
what a jerk- off she is !! do they need drug free horses that bad that she is willing to help them and what was her pay off??? boy, i’m ticked and tired of the sneaky she_et !!!!!!!!
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This is so disturbing. I will never be happy again until this diabolical BLM and US Gov’t activity is put to an end, by whatever means.. It has always been my feeling (instinct) that the BLM continuously sends horses to slaughter following all the gathers. This has been going on for years. The horses kept at the holding facilities are only there for PR. They are not in the business of “saving” horses, quite the opposite.
We must support Animals’ Angels in all ways possible to keep them funded and ready..
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