Correction: BLM does NOT Agree to Increase Size of Pryor Mountain Herd | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

“Every now and then we get slightly burned by sharing unedited and supposedly informational articles which we ‘assume’ to be correct and concise. Of course, anything from the BLM directly is suspect from the git-go but from the mainstream media we expect better (even though the past election bias coverage should have sent the public screaming to the hills) but over the past two weeks we have been nipped twice and today we will try to rectify the most recent blooper.

Last week we shared an article that had the headlines that the BLM had increased the number of the wild horses allowed to live out their lives wild and free on the Pryor Mountains in Montana…but instead it has come to light that this is not true. Where that unedited headline came from we do not know but it did not originate from anyone who tends to SFTHH. So in an effort to clarify and bring our feet back to the ground it is the same business as usual at the BLM office in Billings Montana, under the direction of Jim Sparks, who IS currently taking comments on the current AML until the end of this week.

Included at the end of this unedited news articles are the comments of Ginger Kathrens of the Cloud Foundation and it is our hope that readers will take the time to respectfully request that Jim Sparks considers TCF’s recommendations prior to the conclusion of this week. You can make a difference.” ~ R.T.

Read the article at the Source: Correction: BLM does NOT Agree to Increase Size of Pryor Mountain Herd | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

BLM Boosts Pryor Mustangs’ Maximum Population Number

Written by Gib Mathers as published in The Powell Tribune

“I think, quite honestly, one of the biggest obstacles to their continued survival is their gene pool,”

The Pryor Mountains can support another five to 15 head of mustangs, according to a new reckoning by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

A judge ordered the bureau to recalculate the appropriate management level (AML) in 2015, said Nancy Cerroni of the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang Center in Lovell.

In July, U.S. District JudgeSusan Watters noted that the bureau had stated, in a 2009 decision, that it would recalculate the appropriate management level within five years.

“The court finds that federal regulations, case law and its own representations to the public bind BLM to this commitment,” Watters said.

In a Dec. 21 notice, the bureau announced it had “completed an analysis of monitoring information and recalculated the AML.”

Read the article at the Source: BLM Boosts Pryor Mustangs’ Maximum Population Number

Snowfall Delays BLM Wild Horse Removal Operations in Northwest Colorado

Craig, Colorado — Storms that have blanketed Northwest Colorado in over two feet of snow have caused the Bureau of Land Management to delay the resumption of the wild horse bait-trap operation they have had underway since early November in Sand Wash Basin.

“With the recent snowfall we are holding off resuming gather operations because access is difficult,” said BLM Public Affairs Specialist for the Northwest Colorado District, David Boyd.

Sand Wash Basin is located roughly 45 miles west of Craig and is home to nearly 600 wild horses, roughly twice the number allowed in the BLM management plan for the area.

BLM is using bait-traps to remove 50 young horses from the herd to help control the population.

Source: Snowfall Delays BLM Wild Horse Removal Operations in Northwest Colorado

Turning Horse Blood into Profits

A new undercover investigation carried out by Animals Angels, Inc. (AA) and their European partner, Tierschutzbund Zuerich/Animal Welfare Foundation (TSB/AWF), reveals yet another way humans have found to exploit horses; this time to garner multi-million dollar profits for none other than pharmaceutical companies.

Shocking evidence has uncovered the existence of “blood farms” in the U.S. as well as in countries like Argentina and Uruguay. Blood farms are a high dollar enterprise where “donor herds” of horses are kept for blood extraction purposes only. The blood drawn from the horses kept on these farms is used by companies throughout the U.S. and abroad for a variety of applications such as biological research, diagnostic manufacturing and veterinary drugs. The blood taken from pregnant mares is especially in high demand, because it contains a precious hormone used to produce a veterinary drug needed by the pork industry. PMSG, or Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin, is the main ingredient of several products that will artificially induce heat in weaned sows to achieve a faster and more regulated reproduction.

Source: Turning Horse Blood into Profits

Latest on Lantry SD Former Wild Horses: Court Showdown Looms

“…if a judge approves the transfer of ownership, the two groups said, they will attempt to place the horses in safe homes…”

DUPREE | State and local authorities have filed a motion to permanently remove hundreds of wild horses from a troubled north-central South Dakota sanctuary, and lawyers on both sides of the case will make arguments to a judge later this month.

The motion, filed Thursday at the Ziebach County Courthouse in Dupree, seeks to transfer ownership of the horses to “a suitable caretaker.” The motion does not name the caretaker, but a pair of nonprofit organizations said in a joint release Friday evening that they would assume the role.

They are Fleet of Angels, a North American network of trailer owners that provides emergency assistance and transportation to at-risk horses, and Habitat for Horses, a rescue group based in Texas.

Read the article at the Source:

Latest on Lantry SD Former Wild Horses: Court Showdown Looms

South Dakota State’s Attorneys File Motion Seeking to Transfer Control of At-Risk Wild Horses

“If the motion is approved, the wild horses would be placed in safe homes rather than sold at auction…”

A Black Stallion stands, snow encrusted, in sub-zero temps. with no shelter at ISPMB facility in Landry, SD

The South Dakota state’s attorneys in Ziebach and Dewey Counties have filed a motion requesting that a judge transfer to two equine welfare organizations control of 540 wild horses found starving and neglected at the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros in Lantry, S.D.

Filed in the Fourth Circuit Court of Ziebach County, the motion requests that management and placement of the horses be turned over to Fleet of Angels, an organization that provides emergency assistance and transportation to at-risk equines in the United States and Canada, and Habitat for Horses, an equine rescue based in Texas.

Read the rest of the story at the Source: South Dakota State’s Attorneys File Motion Seeking to Transfer Control of At-Risk Wild Horses

Bureau of Land Management planning for non-viable wild horse herds in Wyoming

When we were staying at Mt. Wilson Ranch in Nevada there was a news report that stated Bureau of Land Management spent 11 Billion taxpayer dollars putting approximately 1,000 mares on birth control. Seems for that much money they could come up with a better population control solution.

Antelope Hills Roundup in Wyoming, Fall 2011 (photo by Carol Walker)

Be sure to read the BLM’s scoping notice HERE.

Notice that the numbers for all HMAs but one are far less than the 130-150BREEDING AGE ADULTS that Equine Geneticist Dr. Gus Cothran states is needed for a VIABLE HERD. AND, as a special bonus to developers gobbling up the dirt cheap oil & gas leases on these HMAs, not only will the BLM leave horses at the low AML (a non-viable number) they also plan to give fertility control to the mares. BLM continues to manage to extinction.

Excerpt from BLM “News” Release

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Source: BLM planning for non-viable wild horse herds in Wyoming

SD Wild Horse Auction Labeled “Postponed” by County Officials

“The horses impounded from the ISPMB was scheduled for December 20, 2016, at the Faith Livestock Auction in Faith, South Dakota. That sale has been postponed.

Source: SD Wild Horse Auction Labeled “Postponed” by County Officials