Prohibiting the slaughter of wild horses and denying the expansion or naming of a national monument in areas where there is local opposition are two amendments included in the Interior Appropriations Bill passed in the House Thursday, said Rep. Chris Stewart, who authored the amendments.
“I am committed to continuing to use the power of the purse and my position on the Appropriations Committee to rein in regulatory overreach at the Interior Department,” Stewart said in a news release. “This bill includes several of my amendments that are critical to Utah’s interests.”
Okay, so far so good.
“There are more than 68,000 wild horses on the ranges, twice as many as the BLM recommends,” Stewart said. “That number is growing by 20 percent a year, and due to the overpopulation, horses are inhumanely dying of thirst and starvation. The BLM continues to take horses off the ranges, but their own numbers estimate that it will cost more than $1 billion to care for the wild horses they already have in captivity.”
“My provision alleviates some of the overpopulation by allowing the BLM to transfer wild horses to federal, state or local governments requesting a work animal. This is a step in the right direction that will give the BLM the tools they need to begin to control the number of horses and burros in their care.”
That’s an inflated number of wild horses.
Here’s the provision:
“Solution to wild horse overpopulation: This bill includes Stewart’s bipartisan amendment to address the overpopulation of wild horses in the West. The provision begins to address the numbers problem by allowing the Bureau of Land Management to transfer any wild horses to any requesting federal, state or local government requesting a work animal. The provision prohibits these horses from ever being slaughtered. It was crafted with and has the support of Democrat ranking member of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Rep. Steve Israel.” (bold case added)
Sigh.
So the BLM takes more wild horses off the range than they need to using falsified information as justification. The removals of wild horses from their natural environment makes them dependent on man. Because of this the BLM spends millions of taxpayer dollars storing wild horses around the country. The horses are to stay there for how long? So on it goes.
This is a problem that the BLM created and continues to create not the horses.
Yet the BLM is never, ever held accountable for their piss poor management of our wild equines because no one in Washington has the guts to make them clean up their act because they are scared stiff of the special interest groups who want the land for their own money making purposes.
I do not mean to sound ungrateful that Rep. Stewart’s provision means no slaughter for at least a year. But I shudder to think what “work animal” means.
LAST CHANCE MUSTANG
The history of the BLM concerning wild horses on our public lands is diabolical and has been going on for decades.
If you are interested in learning more, I strongly recommend you read the book “Last Chance Mustang”.
“Last Chance Mustang” tells the remarkable story of a Mustang who came near death because he had become unmanageable as a result of the traumas he suffered from the helicopter round up that ripped him from his home. It also provides an entire chapter’s worth of factual history regarding the BLM and its ruthless handling of the US’s wild horse population.
The information in this book puts what is happening right now to our wild horses and burros into clear perspective.
RELATED READING
• Hoping for a new life; Trainer rehabs wild Mustang from Nevada so she can be adopted; Journal Enquirer; July 15, 2016.
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FEATURED IMAGE
Unattributed Google search result.
Tuesday's Horse 
My heart is heavy. I thought we were making some progress with the wild horses and burros. My hope is Victoria McCullough who is using her own personal funds to pay top lobbyists to work on the horse slaughter issue and also the wild horses and also Senator Tom Udall D – NM who is a strong supporter of the wild horses and burros, opposes horse slaughter of any horse wild or domestic. In fact, it was his uncle, I believe, who wrote the initial protection bill of the wild horses and burros in the 1970s. A start for us who are further east and need to know who to trust, please, support their efforts and let them know you are with them.
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As a long time committed advocate of protecting our wild and domestic horses I notice that this whole “rid our Country of our horses” started with the late Sen Burns, R, Mont when he went behind closed doors and amended the Protection of American Wild Horse and Burros Act.
Since then heartless representatives of the American people, R. Gov. of Oklahoma, R. Sen Wyo, Sen King,R, Iowa. Sen Cruz R Texas of all people with a last stop to the Mexican Slaughter Houses in Laredo, Texas.
Senator Cantwell, D, WA and a very few other Democrat’s keep proposing bills and amendments to protect all our horses and other species of wild life in our Country. Unfortunately they have not had the support of our President who is supposed to protect the interests of the American people.
His appointed Secretary of the Interior continually uses American Taxpayer’s money to pay the BLM to terrorize our Wild Horses with helicopters, electric cattle prods, starving while in captivity awaiting transport down Slaughter Alley, grotesque methods of sterilization of Mares, some still with unborn fowl and daily violations of abuse and cruelty to our American Wild Horses.
Our devoted sanctuaries and rescue agencies are our only hope aside from the dedicated who will never give up this fight to protect our heritage, the American Wild and Domestic Horse.
Ironically, just a note that the Horse is now listed as the fourth most popular pet in this Country.
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You points are valid. Regarding Obama, he did recommend Sec. Vilsack not to initiate horse meat inspections, thereby circumventing the opening of at least 6 horse slaughter plants. We were all relieved. I agree the plight of the wild horse is incredibly hard and has led us to the same nail biting brink. Every time I write my Reps, the OSU, I include the White House. They’re all watching what is going on in the House regarding appropriations for all the harm that would come to our wild ones.
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So then, how many wild horses and burros are there REALLY? And, I’m sorry to be naïve, but just should the BLM be managing these wild herds? I’ve always lived in the east, so know very little about this topic, but am totally concerned. I WANT TO KNOW THE FACTS!! Can you help?
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No one knows for sure how many wild horses are left on public land but probably half of what the BLM says are there. Entire herds have been destroyed leaving HMA (herd management areas) empty of wild horses. This is a huge topic that has been going on for decades and no way we can address it here.
Check out these links:
http://americanherdsxtras.blogspot.com/2008/07/i-teams-investigative-reports-on-wild.html
http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/resources
That will get you started.
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The Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Front Range Rescue and Protect Mustangs are just a few groups active in this issue that have a wealth of information.
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Rep. Steve Israel of NY has let us down. The stats are wrong and he embraces the wrong-doers. I believe he’s not running for re-election.
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