The BLM likes to tell us how much they care about the wild horses of the western United States. They also like to tell us they have no more room for the horses they keep rounding up. Of course, the big ranchers like to let us know that there isn’t enough grazing land for the horses and their privately owned cattle so the horses have to go. Can’t cut into those corporate profits you know.
When the way they round up these beautiful wild animals kills them, it isn’t the fault of the Bureau of Land Management. Absolutely not. Just because they decided to round up the horses with helicopters in winter and run them through snow until they drop from exhaustion doesn’t make them responsible. One colt was run so hard the hoof walls on his hind feet actually came off and he was euthanized last Thursday. But not the fault of the BLM. No how, no way.
From Care 2:
Wild-horse advocates are seeking an independent investigation into the deaths of nine mustangs that occurred during a government roundup in Nevada. The activists say one colt was run so hard the hoof walls of its two hind feet actually came off. That colt was euthanized this past Thursday.
“Totally ridiculous at this point when things are right now before the courts, for them to be rounding up more when they are already saying they can’t feed the ones that they have,” said Dr. Elliot Katz, President of San Rafael-based In Defense of Animals.
The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to round up a total of 2,500 wild horses in Nevada using helicopters to herd the animals. They will then be placed for adoption or taken to long-term corrals in the mid-west. Federal officials say the roundup in necessary because public ranges are overpopulated.
But animal-rights advocates are suing to stop the roundup. Long-term holding pens are already overcrowded.
Read the rest here.
Hey, I have a really bright idea. If there isn’t enough grazing land for the horses then how about not allowing cattle on the publicly owned land? After all, the horses were there first and it isn’t like these cattle barons pay the government a lot of money for grazing rights. Although when you add in the pay offs to government officials, it might get costly.
This is public land. That means it belongs to the citizens of this country. I sincerely believe that most of this country’s citizens would prefer the mustangs run wild. I know I don’t want tax money any longer to go for the folly of the BLM and their cruel practices. Nine wild horses is too great a price to pay for the stupidity of a few bureaucrats and cattle ranchers. Maybe its time to round up the perpetrators of this cruelty and run them until their feet separate from their ankles. But before we euthanize them let’s be sure to check their pockets for the money they are making as profit from the national treasures they are so savagely killing. I’m sure there is plenty there.
Please call your local office of the Bureau of Land Management and let them know how you feel about this. Or call your Senator or Congressperson. It is past time they hear from us about this travesty.