[RC] Fw: [ECPhotos] If you are concerned about America's wild horses and burros, - Jeanne Slominski
From another
list:
From Associated Press:
First time under new law, six wild
horses slaughtered By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press Writer
RENO,
Nev. (AP) -- Wild horses rounded up on federal land in the West and sold to
a private owner have been slaughtered for the first time since a new law
went into effect, a government official told The Associated Press on
Thursday.
"This is something we regret and are very disappointed this has
happened," said Celia Boddington, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of
Land Management in Washington D.C. "We make every possible effort when the
horses are sold to make sure the animals are placed in good homes for
long-term care," she said.
The BLM is investigating this month's sale of
six wild horses to an Oklahoma man and their subsequent slaughter at a
commercial packing plant in Illinois, Boddington said.
In December,
Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on slaughtering wild horses that run
free across the West. The move has brought a backlash from activists who
want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs.
Officials for
the Humane Society of the United States learned of the slaughter Thursday
and protested to the BLM.
"There is no way this current system will work
to protect horses," said Nancy Perry, the Humane Society's vice president
for government affairs.
"Until new legislation passes, our wild
horses are going to be in jeopardy," she said from Washington D.C.
Boddington said most of the horses rounded up and sold under the new
law come from Nevada, but "we cannot confirm definitely they came from
Nevada," she said.
For security reasons, BLM won't identify the holding
facility where the horses were kept before they were sold, Boddington said.
"We are concerned about possible threats," she told AP.
The BLM
apparently was first made aware of the slaughter by an inspector for the
U.S. Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service,
Boddington said. The horses were identified by federal brands, she
said.
USDA officials in Oklahoma City did not immediately return a
telephone call seeking comment.
Perry said a man who identified
himself as a minister in Oklahoma told BLM he intended to use the horses in
a program for troubled youth and bought them April 15. The Oklahoma man has
not been identified.
The horses were sold for slaughter on April 18
to Cavel International in Illinois, Perry said. "The BLM says they
prescreen the buyers but obviously that isn't working," she said.
There was no answer Thursday night at Cavel International Inc. in
Dekalb, Ill.
The new law, written by Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., was
passed at the urging of ranchers concerned about overpopulation of the
horses and their effect on the range. Burns did not immediately return
messages left Thursday night at his offices in Washington D.C., Helena
and Bozeman.
The law dictates the sale of those horses that are older
than 10 years or had been offered for sale under a separate BLM adoption
program three times without being purchased. BLM recently launched a
project aimed at selling such horses in groups to established horse
protection groups and sanctuaries.
"Obviously we are required by law
to sell these horses. In the bill of sale there is a statement that says the
buyer will provide humane care for the animals," Boddington said. "But
once the animals are sold, they are private property," she
said.
Previously, under the adoption program, buyers had to keep the
horses for at least one year before they obtained the ownership title to
the animal, Boddington said.
BLM has sold and delivered nearly 1,000
horses since the new law passed. Some 950 more have been sold and are
awaiting delivery.
"This is the first time we're aware" any have been
sold for slaughter, Boddington said.
Everyone should
please take the time to call your US Representative and Senators tomorrow
and ask them to co-sponsor the bills which will re-instate federal
protection from slaughter for Mustangs and Burro's. In the House, the
bill is HR 297 and in the Senate the bill is S- 576.
Please follow up
your calls, by faxing or emailing a letter asking them to cosponsor, along
with a copy of this article. The article is available here http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20050421-1741-nv- wildhorses-slaughter.html
Also,
please make it a point to conact Senator Burns to let him know how outraged
you are and that he is personally responsible for this
tragedy.
Senator Burns Phone 202-224-2644 Fax
202-224-8594
Gail Vacca National Horse Protection
Coalition www.horse-protection.org
Reposted by Eve in hopes that it
makes you (us) angry enough to actually contact those people who are
supposed to represent us and tell them what you
think.
