” When BuzzFeed, which consulted with AWI for an April 28 story on the issue, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records pertaining to the site scrub, the USDA provided 1,771 pages of records with every single page completely blacked out—all information redacted.” – Animal Welfare Institute SOURCE: Animal Welfare Institute at awionline.org […]
Ryan Zinke, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
I’ve made a subspecialty out of writing to journalists about wild horses and, more importantly, cattle.
Below is a letter I wrote to Matthew Shaer of Smithsonian, whose May 2017 article, “How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a Nuisance,” is typical of how journalists cover wild horses. It is also typical of what senators can expect to hear today, June 21, when U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testifies before the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the Trump budget plan, which will lift Congress’ ban on removing protections for wild horses and burros and selling them for slaughter.
This is not journalism that speaks truth to power. My solution is to speak truth to journalism. Here’s my letter, dated May 5, 2017:
Dear Mr. Shaer,
I read your Smithsonian article, “How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a…
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as published Western Journalism
First of all, let’s set the record straight:
photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Wild horses are an American native species, according to Ross MacPhee, Ph.D., Curator of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Given this man’s impeccable credentials and experience, his findings are beyond reproach or debate.
Here is an article by Dr. MacPhee that is crystal-clear: Wild horses are native to America.
This finding is also shared by many other highly credible scientists, including Dr. Jay F. Kirkpatrick.
Any person or any agency who says that wild horses are not native to North America is just uneducated, misinformed or intentionally lying for some reason, usually motivated by…
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By Andy Kerr as published on his Public Lands Blog
Private “Welfare Cattle” being herded onto BLM Antelope Complex in Nevada, while Wild Horse roundup was being conducted ~ photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
It costs more to feed a domestic house cat than to graze domestic livestock on federal public lands.
This has generally been the case since the early 1900s, when the federal government first required ranchers to pay a fee for grazing their livestock on millions of acres of federal land, primarily in western states.
Each January the USDA Forest Service and the USDI Bureau of Land Management calculate what the federal grazing fee will be for that year. For 2017, it’s $1.87/animal unit month (AUM), down from $2.11/AUM in 2016. An AUM is the amount of forage…
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by Anna Brooks as published on VICE
Walking through the Calgary International Airport, you’ll pass a bronze statue of wild horses running.
Entitled “Breakaway,” the immortalized horses were intended to be a metaphor for Calgary’s spirit and strength.
But there’s another story of horses at the Calgary airport, a story some veterinarians are calling a “huge animal welfare issue.”
For years, animal advocacy groups like the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition (CHDC) have opposed the transport of live draft horses to Japan for slaughter. In Canada, alongside Mexico and parts of Europe, this practice is legal, unlike countries like the US where horse slaughterhouses are banned.
Horse meat is a delicacy in Japan, and places like Kumamoto specialize in fresh dishes like basashi—horse sashimi. Horse oil is also a sought after beauty product in Hokkaido, where it’s used to treat…
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By Carl Mrozek
“In honor of Dads everywhere, CBS Sunday Morning will feature wild burro jacks shepherding their family bands in the Black Mountains of Arizona, where I filmed them this spring. The nature segment is the last one of this magazine-style program.
Enjoy the burro clip and the wild world around you !”
Click Image to view video
“Also, I would like to include the Mom’s Day video: Mustangs of the Music Mountains featured on on CBS Sunday Morning on Mom’s Day: http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/ nature-horses/
for a belated Happy Mom’s Day to all moms !”
Open letter by Grandma Gregg
photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
“Do not allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), United States Forest Service (USFS), Farm Bureau and the extraction and mining giants and the domestic livestock grazing associations to pull the wool over your eyes. There are no excess wild horses and burros on their legally designated land. Per the unanimously passed United States 1971 Congressional Wild Horse and Burro Act, the land is to be devoted principally although not exclusively to the wild horses and wild burros’ welfare in keeping with the multiple-use management concept of public lands.
The recent National Academy of Sciences study found…
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Story by as published on the Casper Star Tribune
Star-Tribune File Photo
A coalition of environmental groups formally petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday asking for a ban of M-44s, a cyanide trap used to kill coyotes across the state.
The ban request is in response to recent incidents in Wyoming and Idaho in which dogs were killed by the traps.
Many of the groups, which include Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians and the Center for Biological Diversity, filed a similar petition in Idaho in March. Wildlife Services, an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, decided to remove all M-44s from private, state and federal land in Idaho.
“We’re not at war with native wildlife, and it is irresponsible to allow poison landmines…
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Source: Salt River Wild Horse Management Group and ABC15.com
From Simone Netherlands; “Dear Supporters of the horses, please click this link first, then you can leave a comment under ABC15’s post about the harassment of wild horses. The more you care, the more you share, the more people will be aware. Thank you!”
http://www.abc15.com/news/state/animal-advocates-concerned-about-horse-harassment
An open letter by Ginger Kathrens
Dear Friends;
I just got back from a trip to the Pryors and to the Red Desert Complex of south central Wyoming. The horses all look so fabulous and the Red Desert is horse heaven with abundant forage and so much room to roam. Maybe that is why the Congressional Public Resource Sub-Committee hearing today threw me for a loop! Here is that section of the hearing with Chris Stewart of Utah questioning and commenting to Secretary Zinke.
Secretary of the Interior testifies before Congressional Sub-Committee June 8, 2017. The Secretary is being questioned by Congressman Stewart of Utah. 5 minute clip.
This Congressional conversation bears no resemblance to what I am seeing first hand on our ranges. After I left the Pryors, I visited four Herd Management areas in Wyoming called the…
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