Still no prosecution of Tom Davis, former Interior Secretary Salazar’s Mustang slaughter merchant

by STERLING BURNETT Ph.D
Cross-posted from Heartlander Magazine

Despite Slaughter of Wild Horses, No Prosecution of BLM or Rancher Involved

Just two weeks after Ken Salazar was selected by President Barack Obama to become the 50th Secretary of the Interior in 2009, the Bureau of Land Managment (BLM), an agency within the Department of Interior (DOI) sold and began shipping horses to rancher, and reported Salazar associate, Tom Davis, who in turn, in violation of the law resold them to slaughter houses in Mexico for horse meat.

A report released by the DOI’s Office of the Inspector General in late October, concluded the BLM did not follow the law in selling 1,794 horses to rancher Tom Davis. The sales were conducted through the agency’s Wild Horse and Burro Program – the program established to protect, manage and control the wild horse population.

The BLM sold horses to Davis between 2008 and 2012 for roughly $10 a horse. The agency lost money on the transactions since they spent tens of thousands of dollars on transport. By contrast, according to Davis he resold “loads” of 35 horses for as much as $4,000, making $2,500-$3,000 profit on each sale, despite signing a contract with the BLM agreeing not to send the horses to slaughter. With the volume of horses Davis purchases he became the largest buyer of wild horses in the United States.

PHOTO CREDIT: MANDEL NGAN / AFP /Getty Images. In November, 2012, asked a question he did not like by a reporter for The Gazette of Colorado Springs regarding Salazar's association with hauler who shipped wild horses to slaughter plants, Salazar told the reporter, "If you do that to me again, I’ll punch you out". Salazar later apologized. — PHOTO CREDIT: MANDEL NGAN / AFP /Getty Images.
In November, 2012, asked a question he did not like by a reporter for The Gazette of Colorado Springs regarding Salazar’s association with hauler who shipped wild horses to slaughter plants, Salazar told the reporter, “If you do that to me again, I’ll punch you out”. Salazar later apologized.

Despite the Davis’s reported ties to Secretary Salazar, the IG’s office “determined that this matter did not warrant further investigation.” The IG did refer Davis’ conduct to both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado as well as the State of Colorado Conejos County District Attorney’s Office.

Neither office chose to bring either civil or criminal charges. Read more »

FEATURED IMAGE
Wyoming Wild Horses free on the open range, where they belong and supposedly protected by the federal government.
Photo Credit: Randy Harris Photo. See http://randyharrisphoto.com/wild-horses/