In Defense of Animals and Wild for Life Foundation join together to present Saving America’s Horses – A Nation Betrayed,” the lifesaving film at the Artivist International Film Festival. The complimentary screening takes place at the Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, August 20th at 12 noon. Celebrity red carpet event begins at 11 a.m.

The screening will also feature a Q & A with filmmaker Katia Louise, Dr. Elliot Katz of In Defense of Animals, Neda DeMayo of Return to Freedom, Mario James of Wild for Life Foundation and Michael Blake of “Dances With Wolves.”

Advanced complimentary ticketing for the event is available on line through the festival website and seats are going quickly.  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/e/187447

“Saving America’s Horses – A Nation Betrayed” brings a promise of freedom, for both wild and domestic horses, from cruelty, roundups and slaughter.

Awards and Honors

Best In Festival: Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival

Accolade Merit Award: Advocacy, Visuals, and Investigative Journalism

Awarded for Cinematography, Advocacy, Editing & Conservation Message: International Wildlife Film Festival.

____________________________________________________________________________

Get the latest about the screening of “Saving America’s Horses” on the Facebook event page and be among the first to show your friends you’re attending.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saving-Americas-horses/91817751967#!/event.php?eid=213828358666053

Learn more about this important film resource at www.savingamericashorses.org.

Dr. Elliot Katz

]]> http://www.idanews.org/ida-breaking-news/horse-campaign/film-screening-saving-america%e2%80%99s-horses-a-nation-betrayed/feed/ 0 http://www.idanews.org/featured/federal-court-gives-green-light-to-wild-horse-lawsuit/ http://www.idanews.org/featured/federal-court-gives-green-light-to-wild-horse-lawsuit/#comments Thu, 21 Apr 2011 17:52:14 +0000 admin http://www.idanews.org/?p=1173 District Judge Rejects Interior Dept. Motion to Dismiss Case

Sacramento, Calif. (April 20, 2011) – In a precedent-setting decision, issued today in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Judge Morrison C. England, Jr. rejected the U.S. Department of Interior’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the roundup and removal of nearly 1,579 wild horses and 159 burros from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) in northeastern California last year.

Judge England also ruled that the plaintiffs – animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA), ecologist Chad Hanson, Ph.D., wild horse sanctuary founder Barbara Clarke, DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary, local resident and wild horse enthusiast Linda Hay – have standing to challenge the action and that the case is not moot, despite the fact that the roundup has already taken place. In past wild horse roundup litigation, courts have dismissed claims as moot because the roundups had already concluded, never ruling on the merits on the case.

However, In Defense of Animals et al. vs. Interior Department et al., headed by pro bono legal counsel Rachel Fazio, outlines specific remedies and the ongoing harm plaintiffs suffer from Twin Peaks mustangs being held in captivity in government long-term holding facilities – facilities that the plaintiffs allege are illegal. Fazio argued in her briefs that the case was not moot, in part because the Interior Department could return captured horses to the range.

“The American Mustang is a native wildlife species; few people realize that the western United States is actually the evolutionary birthplace of the horse,” said Rachel Fazio, legal counsel for plaintiffs. “This suit seeks to ensure that, in accordance with the laws of Congress, this majestic species is protected as wild and free-roaming, safe from illegal interference by the BLM and immune to the pressures of the livestock industry and other commercial interests that wish to exploit our public lands.”

Plaintiffs in the litigation include Barbara Clarke, wild horse expert and director of the 2,000-acre DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary in Northeastern California, DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary, ecologist Dr. Chad Hanson, Linda Hay, a local resident who has visited and enjoyed the Twin Peaks horses for the past thirty years, and animal protection organization In Defense of Animals.

“We may finally have a court address the merits of a case challenging wild horse roundups and not dismiss it on technicalities,” said Eric Kleiman, Research Director for In Defense of Animals. “This is a groundbreaking legal decision that could lead to America’s wild horses finally having their day in court.”

In addition, the plaintiffs have appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge England’s denial last year of a preliminary injunction to halt the Twin Peaks roundup. The remedy of returning horses to the range was also a critical issue of discussion at a hearing before the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Twin Peaks horses have been scattered across the country at Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facilities, and untold numbers have perished while in captivity.

Plaintiffs have revisited the Twin Peaks area and report difficulty locating wild horses to view in the aftermath of the roundup.

Between August and September 2010 – the hottest months of the year – the BLM removed 1,579 wild horses and 159 burros from the HMA. The roundup was a devastating blow to California’s wild horse and burro population, removing more than one-third of California’s entire mustang and burro population which is estimated to be only approximately 5,000 throughout the entire state. The Twin Peaks HMA encompasses 798,000 acres of public land, yet the BLM allows just 448 to 758 wild horses and 72 to 116 burros to reside in the area. Meanwhile, the agency authorizes up to four times more cattle and nearly seven times more sheep to graze this federally-designated wild horse and burro habitat.

Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration has accelerated the removal of wild horses and burros from public lands in the past year, while Congress just last week approved funding for yet more BLM roundups beginning this July. There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization located in San Rafael, Calif. dedicated to protecting animals’ rights, welfare, and habitat through education, outreach, and our hands-on rescue facilities in Mumbai, India, Cameroon, Africa, and rural Mississippi. For more information, visit www.idausa.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Eric Kleiman, In Defense of Animals, (717) 939-3231
Rachel Fazio, Esq., (530) 273-9290

Los Angeles, Calif. (March 19, 2011) – In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization with over 100,000 members, applauds the selection of “Saving America’s Horses – A Nation Betrayed” by the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival. The film, directed and produced by Katia Louise, is a feature length documentary that examines the arguments made by both the proponents and opponents of horse slaughter as related to both domestic and wild equines. The film also explores environmental issues and the lethal health risks associated with the consumption of America’s horses by people.

IDA has been promoting the film to its membership throughout the past year.

What: Los Angeles premiere of “Saving America’s Horses” at the Los Angeles Women’s International Film Festival
When: Sunday March 27, 2011, 12:45 p.m. – seating begins at 12:30 p.m. Ticket holders will be invited to stay for a special reception following the screening.
Where: Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90041

According to director/producer Katia Louise, “The film is a compelling compilation of expert testimony, undercover footage and true life stories shot against the dramatic backdrops of America’s beautiful countryside. “A Nation Betrayed” depicts a country divided and inspires great hope for the protection of all horses and burros from cruelty.”

IDA President Elliot M. Katz, DVM said “finally – a film that reveals the tragic consequences and cruelties of the horse racing industry and the horror of horse slaughter. We hope this film arouses the voices America’s horses need for their very survival.”

Michael Blake (Dances With Wolves), Randal Kleiser (Grease), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), Linda Gray (Dallas), Ken Wahl (Wiseguy), The Barbi Twins, and Jennifer Lee Pryor are all involved and have confirmed their appearances for this event, as has Mexican matinee idol Jorge Rivero. Food for the reception will be provided by The Veggie Grill, with wine supplied by Du Vin.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Elliot M. Katz, DVM, 415-448-0075,  emk@idausa.org

You are invited to attend the next hearing
March 24, 2 p.m., Sacramento, California

Our lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues! We won’t give up, and you’re invited to attend the next hearing in Sacramento. We want the Judges to know that there is a large contingent of people who really care about protecting wild horses and burros. And we need you to balance out the BLM people who will be in the gallery, silently willing the Court to rule in their favor.

When: March 24, 2011, 2 p.m. (Note: you should check the Court’s website listed below on March 23, or check with IDA, to confirm the hearing hasn’t been postponed, which does happen occasionally.)

What: Next hearing in the case of IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS; DREAMCATCHER WILD HORSE AND BURRO SANCTUARY; BARBARA CLARKE; CHAD HANSON; LINDA HAY, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; KEN SALAZAR, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; ROBERT ABBEY, Director of the Bureau of Land Management; KEN COLLUM, Field Manager of Eagle Lake Field Office, Defendants.

Where: United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Federal Courthouse in downtown Sacramento, 500 “I” Street, across the street from the Amtrack station on the corner of 5th and I. The freeway exit would be J street off of I-5.

IDA Contact: Elliot M. Katz, DVM: emk@idausa.org, 415-448-0048.

More information about this lawsuit:

The lawsuit challenges the BLM’s approval and implementation of the 2010 Twin Peaks Gather Plan – which approved the round-up and removal of close to 2,000 wild horses and burros from the Twin Peaks HMA in northern California and western Nevada. The lawsuit seeks to set aside this decision for violations of the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, including the transfer of wild horses to long-term holding facilities in the midwest, and the National Environmental Policy Act, for failure to adequately analyze the impacts of the round-up.

What is happening at this step, and why it’s important:

The actual round-up took place in 2010. The helicopters stopped rounding up the horses on September 19, 2010. The government is arguing that because the round-up activities ceased on September 19, 2010 that the round-up is over and Plaintiffs’ case should be dismissed because there is no longer a live case or controversy to be resolved (i.e., that the case is moot). The government is also arguing that the Plaintiffs have not established standing to challenge their practice of shipping wild horses to long-term holding facilities because they have not shown an injury in fact related to the action, that the injury was caused by the BLM’s action, or that a favorable resolution on that claim (i.e., illegal to use long-term holding in the midwest) would result in fewer wild horses being removed from the range.

We of course are opposing this Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ Case. If Defendants are successful, Plaintiffs’ case would be dismissed (meaning no possibility for relief, either declaratory – on what the statute does and does not allow, or injunctive – putting the wild horses back on the range) and Plaintiffs would have to go to the Ninth Circuit to try and get this determination reversed.

How to confirm on March 23 that this hearing is still scheduled:

After March 21, visit the website for the United States District Court, Eastern District of California (www.caed.uscourts.gov). Once on the website click on the Court Calendar button on the menu on the left side of the home page. On the Court Calendar page you will click on the Judge, and choose Judge England Jr., then for the date select March 24, 2011, and look to see if our case is listed: Case No. 10-1852, In Defense of Animals, et al v. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, et al.. Please note the calendar is only for one week – so you will not be able to check the March 24, 2011 date until March 21st. Also it is important to check the website on the afternoon of March 23, 2011 – because the Judge may cancel or postpone the hearing at the last minute.

Grenada, Miss. (Dec. 9, 2010) – In Defense of Animals, an international animal protection organization, has posted a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who callously and maliciously shot two horses in their pasture on 4897 Sweethome Road, Grenada, MS.

On December 9, Lee Pickens received a call from his cousin, James Bled, a resident on Sweethome Road, Grenada County, MS informing him that one of his horses was “down.”  Mr. Pickens discovered that one of his horses had been killed and the other wounded.

Miss Kitty, Mr. Picken’s  10-year-old grey Quarter Horse, sustained five bullet wounds: two to her chest, one behind her right front leg, and another two to her right side.  It appeared that Miss Kitty ran about 100 yards before succumbing to the wounds she sustained.

Mr. Pickens’s other horse, a 3-year-old Quarter Horse named Lil’ Bit, sustained a bullet wound to each front leg; one to her right front knee may have crippled her.

“Mr. Pickens visited us right after confirming his horses had been shot.  He said the Grenada County Sheriff’s Department responded to his report of the shootings.  It’s not certain what was documented. Small caliber cartridges remained on the site and Mr. Pickens said no photos had been taken.  We were greatly disturbed by the report that his horses had apparently been senselessly shot in what appears to have been a random act of violence,” said Doll Stanley, Director of IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary.

In Defense of Animals hopes the offer of a reward will interest someone with knowledge of the crime to come forward.  A neighbor told Mr. Pickens he’d heard shots the night of December 8th.   IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary Director Stanley notes that random acts of violence towards animals, especially defenseless and vulnerable animals, are perpetrated by anti-social humans who often go on to inflict suffering upon human beings as well.

Anyone wishing to share information on this or any other criminal act against animals may contact In Defense of Animals at (662) 809-4483.

Contact: Doll Stanley, Director IDA-HAS, (662) 809-4483,  doll@idausa.org,
Lee Pickens, (662) 226-0884

The roundup, slated to begin in August, is the second largest capture and removal operation planned by the BLM for Fiscal Year 2010. The legal action was filed in the Eastern District of California on behalf of ecologist Chad Hanson, Ph.D., wild horse sanctuary founder Barbara Clarke, DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary, local resident and wild horse enthusiast Linda Hay, and the animal protection organization In Defense of Animals (IDA).

This lawsuit comes on the heels of the deadliest DOI roundup this year in the Owyee Complex in Nevada. On July 10, 2010, the BLM rounded up 228 horses with the vast majority being stampeded by helicopter for eight miles in searing summer heat. BLM  reported that at least 12 mustangs, including colts 2 to 4 months old, have died thus far, with 7 suffering gruesome deaths from dehydration-related causes, including brain swelling and “water intoxication.” A lawsuit filed by Laura Leigh and a separate administrative appeal filed by IDA and ecologist Craig Downer had warned BLM of the dangers in proceeding with this summer roundup so close to the foaling season.

“The Department of Interior’s mismanagement of our public resources, so tragically revealed in the Gulf oil spill, extends to our nation’s treasured wild horses and burros,” said Stuart G. Gross, of Cotchett, Pitre and McCarthy. “This suit aims to stop the agency’s mass and illegal removal of federally-protected mustangs from the range to serve the livestock industry and other commercial interests that exploit our public lands.”

The complaint alleges that the planned roundup violates both the Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, “The BLM’s planned Twin Peaks stampede, roundup, removal, and off-site warehousing of these wild horses ignores the mandates and instructions of both laws in manner that is both arbitrary and capricious.  In essence, the BLM has engaged in a classic example of crafting a solution and then searching for a problem.”

“The Twin Peaks roundup represents nearly one-third of the 6,000 horses the BLM intends to round up in the next four months. The vast majority of these horses will end up in zoo-like conditions in government holding facilities in the Midwest,” said Bill Spriggs of Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney. “This scheme is not only fiscally unsustainable, it is also blatantly illegal.”

“The Department of Interior has a policy of removing mass numbers of wild horses from the range without supporting its conclusion that such drastic measures are ecologically necessary,” said environmental attorney Rachel Fazio. “They completely ignore current scientific information regarding the harm associated with their proposed roundup, refuse to provide the public with documentation and data to support their conclusions, and utterly disregard the damage done by livestock.  This circumvents  the legal requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act to fully inform the public and take a ‘hard look’ at the consequences of their actions and that is why we were forced to proceed to court.”

Plaintiffs in the litigation include ecologist Dr. Chad Hanson, a researcher at the University of California at Davis and author of numerous scientific studies, Barbara Clarke, wild horse expert and director of 2,000-acre DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary in Northeastern California, DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary, Linda Hay, a local resident who has visited and enjoyed the Twin Peaks horses for the past thirty years and In Defense of Animals.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has repeatedly stated the wild horse and burro program is not sustainable given that tens of millions of tax dollars are spent annually on the warehousing of wild horses in government facilities – yet the Department continues the same broken cycle of roundup-removal and stockpiling of wild horses contributing to the programs problems. The BLM consistently scapegoats wild horses and burros for range damage caused by livestock grazing. In Twin Peaks, for example, the BLM authorizes up to four times more cattle than wild horses, and nearly seven times more sheep than burros. The agency has the legal authority to limit livestock grazing in order to make more forage available for wild horses and burros, but routinely declines to pursue that option. Ecologists, wild horse experts and others support on-the-range management of the wild horses and burros as a means to maintain healthy herds and healthy range lands.

Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres of this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration has accelerated the removal of wild horses and burros from public lands in the past year.  There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.

The lawsuit was filed pro bono by Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C., the national law firm of Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney and San Francisco Bay Area-based environmental attorney Rachel Fazio.

A copy of the complaint is available here.

For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Stuart Gross, Esq., Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, (650) 697-6000
Rachel Fazio, Esq., (530) 273-9290
William Spriggs, Esq., Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, (202) 452-6051
Eric Kleiman, In Defense of Animals, (717) 939-3231

Reno, Nevada (July 14, 2010) — Today at 5 p.m., Judge Larry R. Hicks of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued a restraining order against the Department of Interior stating that “defendants are prohibited from carrying out the gathering of any wild horses from within the Owyhee, Rock Creek and Little Humboldt Herd Management Areas in the northwest of Elko County, Nevada, until further order of the court.” A hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday July 15 at 2:30 p.m.

On July 13, plaintiff Laura Leigh, a Nevada writer and artist, filed a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) seeking an injunction to prevent the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from carrying out the roundup of wild horses in the Owyhee Complex. At an initial July 13 hearing, BLM explained that the gather was previously scheduled and had been postponed to, at the earliest, Sunday July 18.

On the basis of this representation the court scheduled a hearing on Ms. Leigh’s motion for July 15. Today, July 14, at 2:30 p.m., the court was informed that the director of the BLM, Bob Abbey, had authorized an emergency gather of horses to begin at 6 a.m. on Thursday July 15, prior to the court’s scheduled hearing.

Judge Hicks wrote: “Based on this change in the BLM’s position, the court finds it necessary to grant an immediate injunction preventing the Tuscarora gathering of wild horses until further order by the court.”

On Saturday, July 10, 2010, the BLM captured 228 horses in the Tuscarora roundup. The majority of these mustangs — including newborn and young, vulnerable foals ­ were stampeded for eight miles over rugged terrain in summer desert conditions.

BLM reports that the majority of horses were in “good condition.” At least 12 mustangs — averaging under 5 years of age — have died so far, including seven who suffered gruesome deaths in the first 24-hours from dehydration-related causes, including colic, brain swelling and “water intoxication,” which happens when dehydrated horses drink too much water. Another horse was shot to death at the trap site after breaking his leg.  Three colts, aged 2 – 4 months, are also among the victims.

The BLM proceeded with the summer roundup despite Ms. Leigh’s lawsuit and a pending legal action filed by Advocates for the West, a public interest law firm, on behalf of In Defense of Animals, both of which warned of danger to the horses of a roundup in the summer heat and so close to foaling season. Ms. Leigh’s lawsuit addresses the removal of the wild horses and the BLM’s violation of her First Amendment rights by prohibiting her from observing and videotaping the roundup operations.

The BLM plans to remove approximately 1200 wild horses, leaving behind just 337 wild horses in the 500,000-acre Owyhee public lands complex.

Read Judge Hicks’ Order here.

For Immediate Release

Contact: Deniz Bolbol, IDA, 650-248-4489

Tuscarora, NV (July 12, 2010)  – Today, In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection and rescue organization, is calling for a summer moratorium of all roundups and is blasting the Department of Interior which, despite a federal lawsuit and legal appeal, began a controversial roundup of wild horses in Northeastern Nevada on July 10 which has resulted in seven (7) fatalities and numerous injuries in just the first day of the roundup. BLM has indicated that 228 wild horses were captured. These horses were stampeded with the use of a helicopter over eight miles in the deadly desert summer heat. The majority of deaths are dehydration-related.

“That the BLM refused to even postpone this roundup knowing full well the life-threatening nature of conducting them during the hot summer months in desert country is yet another example of this agency’s unwillingness to change,” said Todd Tucci, Senior Staff Attorney at Advocates for the West, a leading public interest environmental law firm. “Had the BLM done the on-the-range management as Congress intended they would have known the conditions of the horses and the range and would have averted this unnecessary tragedy deliberately inflicted by the BLM. The Interior Department must halt all summer roundups before other horses are subjected to similar inhumane treatment and conditions.”

Because of these preventable deaths, the BLM has temporarily suspended this ill-fated roundup. It is not known when BLM will resume it.

The Owyhee roundup which began only ten days after the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) identified “peak foaling season” (which ends on June 30th) unnecessarily subjects newly-born foals and pregnant mares to life-threatening conditions including the helicopter-created chase, or stampede, of horses for miles over rugged terrain in desert summer temperatures. Nevadan Laura Leigh, a artist and published author, filed a lawsuit to stop the Owyhee Complex roundup in federal court on July 9. The lawsuit outlines the Interior Departments’ lack of legal basis for the roundup and the Department’s lack of public access to view and document the roundup. On July 8, IDA and ecologist Craig Downer, represented by Advocates For the West, a leading conservation group, filed an Appeal and Petition to Stay with the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) regarding the same Owyhee Complex roundup. The Appeal and Petition to Stay further challenges the agency’s determination that the Owyhee Complex horses are “excess” and therefore must be removed, and cited the summer heat and the danger to newborn foals and pregnant mares because of the roundup’s occurring only ten days after peak foaling season had ended. The Appeal and Petition to Stay seeks to postpone the roundup until at least after August 15.

The BLM reports that 228 horses were rounded up on July 10. BLM indiscriminately rounds up wild horses without any regard to age, condition or health — a direct violation of the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. This July 10 roundup would include young foals, some of whom may have been born within the last week or so, creating inhumane conditions which would expose the vulnerable youngsters to life-threatening health problems and possibly death. BLM itself acknowledges that “summer gathers pose increased risk of heat stress” and “death can result.” In addition, running young foals can cause a multitude of physical health problems including hoof, skeletal and development issues.

The BLM’s Tuscarora Field Office, despite receiving written opposition from thousands of Americans, decided to move forward with the roundup and removal of approximately 1,200 wild horses from the Owyhee Complex – which includes three herd management areas comprised of 482,000 acres north of Elko in northeastern Nevada. The planned roundup only leaves behind only 337 wild horses on the 753-square-mile area. While severely restricting the number of horses on the Owyhee Complex, the BLM allows private ranchers to graze thousands of cattle in this same area (through livestock allocations).

The BLM plans to roundup and remove approximately 6,000 wild horses in the next four months. Currently there are more wild horses (36,000) in government holding facilities than free on the range (33,000).  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has repeatedly stated the wild horse and burro program is not sustainable given that tens of millions of tax dollars are spent annually on the warehousing of wild horses in government facilities – yet the Secretary continues the same broken cycle of roundup-removal and stockpiling of wild horses contributing to the programs problems. In Defense of Animals continues to work with ecologists, wild horse experts and others to push for on-the-range management of the wild horses and burros as a means to maintain healthy herds and healthy range lands.

Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration plans to remove nearly 12,000 wild horses and burros from public lands by October 2010.  There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.

Advocates for the West is one of the leading conservation groups working to protect and restore public lands, water, and wildlife in the American West. The non-profit public interest organization is located in Boise, Idaho.

For Immediate Release

Contacts:

Todd Tucci, Advocates For the West, 208-342-7024, ext. 202
Eric Kleiman, In Defense of Animals, 717-939-3231

Washington, DC (July 9, 2010) – Yesterday, In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization, and ecologist Craig Downer, represented by Advocates For the West, a leading conservation group, filed an Appeal and Petition to Stay with the Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) regarding the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Owyhee Complex roundup scheduled to begin today.

The Appeal and Petition for Stay states that the planned roundup – scheduled to begin only nine days after the BLM’s identified “peak foaling season” which ends on June 30th – unnecessarily subjects newly-born foals to life-threatening conditions including the helicopter-created chase, or stampede, of horses for miles over rugged terrain in desert summer temperatures. The Appeal and Petition to Stay further challenges the agency’s determination that the Owyhee Complex horses are “excess” and therefore must be removed. The scheduled roundup, which indiscriminately rounds up wild horses without any regard to age, condition or health, would include young foals, some of whom may have been born within the last week or so, creates inhumane conditions which would expose the vulnerable youngsters to life-threatening health problems and possibly death. BLM acknowledges that “summer gathers pose increased risk of heat stress” and “death can result.” In addition, running young foals can cause a multitude of physical health problems including hoof, skeletal and development issues.

The Appeal and Petition for Stay seek to postpone the roundup until at least after August 15.

The BLM’s Tuscarora Field Office, despite receiving written opposition from thousands of Americans, decided to move forward with the roundup and removal of approximately 1,200 wild horses from what is called the Owyhee Complex – which includes three herd management areas comprised of 482,000 acres north of Elko in northeastern Nevada. The planned roundup only leaves behind only 337 wild horses on the 753-square-mile area. While severely restricting the number of horses on the Owyhee Complex, the BLM allows private ranchers to graze thousands of cattle in this same area through livestock allocations.

“The BLM’s refusal to even postpone roundups knowing the life-threatening nature of conducting them during the hot summer months in desert country is yet another example of this agency’s unwillingness to change,” said Eric Kleiman, research director for In Defense of Animals. “We’ve heard a lot of talk from the BLM about change – yet their actions continue the same ill-conceived, business-as-usual attitude. It is well-documented that conducting roundups in July unnecessarily subjects young foals to life-threatening conditions, yet once again the BLM ignores the science.”

“BLM’s wild horse program is another symptom of the Department of Interior’s fundamental mismanagement of our public lands and resources,” said Todd Tucci, Senior Staff Attorney at Advocates for the West. “There is a clear pattern that Department policy is driven by special interests, not the public good. Owyhee is a case in point of this mismanagement and of the violation of laws and regulations.”

The BLM plans to roundup and remove approximately 6,000 wild horses in the next four months. Currently there are more wild horses (36,000) in government holding facilities than free on the range (33,000).  Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has repeatedly stated the wild horse and burro program is not sustainable given that tens of millions of tax dollars are spent annually on the warehousing of wild horses in government facilities – yet the Secretary continues the same broken cycle of roundup-removal and stockpiling of wild horses contributing to the programs problems. In Defense of Animals continues to work with ecologists, wild horse experts and others to push for on-the-range management of the wild horses and burros as a means to maintain healthy herds and healthy range lands.

Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration plans to remove nearly 12,000 wild horses and burros from public lands by October 2010.  There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.

The Appeal and Petition for Stay are available here.

For Immediate Release

Contacts: Todd Tucci, Advocates For the West, 208-342-7024, ext. 202
Eric Kleiman, In Defense of Animals, 717-939-3231

Advocates for the West is one of the leading conservation groups working to protect and restore public lands, water, and wildlife in the American West. The non-profit public interest organization is located in Boise, Idaho.

Washington, DC (June 22, 2010) – Today, the national law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney P.C. (BIR) notified the U.S. Department of Justice that it intends to file suit over the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) proposed roundup and removal of 1,855 wild horses and 210 burros in the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) located in Northeastern California. The letter was written after extensive public comments on the roundup (available here) were submitted to the BLM by In Defense of Animals (IDA), which also filed suit in federal court last November over the controversial roundup of nearly 2,000 wild horses from the Calico Mountains Complex in northwestern Nevada.

“We maintain the BLM’s practice of removing and warehousing mustangs is illegal and if the BLM does not relent, we intend to prove it in court,” said William J. Spriggs, lead counsel with BIR. “It’s time for the BLM to postpone the scheduled roundups and to begin a dialogue on how to manage these horses on the range as Congress intended. If the Twin Peaks horses are rounded up, the vast majority will end up in zoo-like conditions at government holding facilities – the BLM already has more horses in holding than free on the range.”

“The Department of Interior’s BLM and Minerals Management Service (MMS) have both reneged on their responsibility as stewards of our public lands by giving free reign to interests that exploit public resources for private gain,” Spriggs continued.  “In the same way MMS betrayed the public’s trust by allowing oil companies free rein in the Gulf of Mexico, the BLM consistently caters to a small group of ranching interests and other industries that exploit our public lands at the expense of the horses and other wildlife species.”

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s recent appointment of BLM Director Bob Abbey to bring “reform” to the MMS exemplifies this connection. IDA has criticized the move, calling for President Obama to truly “clean house” by firing the “industry-cozy” Abbey and Salazar.

Last week, IDA submitted extensive comments on the BLM’s Preliminary Environmental Assessment (EA) for the “Twin Peaks Herd Management Area Wild Horse and Burro Gather Plan.” IDA’s 20 pages of comments blast BLM’s population estimates and include BLM internal records and memos, BLM-funded studies and research plans, a photograph of a crippled wild horse taken by an ex-BLM horse specialist and other damning material demonstrating that the BLM’s proposed roundup is illegal and violates the mandates of the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

IDA’s comments are available here.

The BLM intends to remove 80 percent of the horses living in the Twin Peaks HMA, in order to reach an Appropriate Management Level of just 448-785 wild horses and 72-116 burros on the 789,852 acre area. At the same time, BLM authorizes up to four times more cattle than wild horses in Twin Peaks and seven times more sheep than burros. The BLM roundup plans involve the use of helicopters to stampede horses for up to ten miles in the hot summer months – most foals will only be four to five months old. Of the horses rounded up and removed, family members will be separated for life and stallions will be castrated before being sent to long-term holding facilities in the Midwest. The roundup is scheduled to take place during the hot summer months of August and September 2010 – because mule deer hunters had complained that the “nuisance and noise” of the roundup would “dramatically reduce the quality of their hunting experience” in September and October – and is expected to take 45 to 60 days, costing American taxpayers millions of dollars.

Wild horses comprise a small fraction of grazing animals on public lands, where they are outnumbered by livestock nearly 50 to 1. The BLM has recently increased cattle grazing allotments in areas where wild horses are being removed. Currently the BLM manages more than 256 million acres of public lands of which cattle grazing is allowed on 160 million acres; wild horses are only allowed on 26.6 million acres this land, which must be shared with cattle. The Obama Administration plans to remove nearly 12,000 wild horses and burros from public lands by October 2010.  There are currently more than 36,000 wild horses warehoused in government holding facilities and only 33,000 wild horses free on the range.

For Immediate Release

Contacts:

William Spriggs, Esq., Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, (202) 452-6051
Eric Kleiman, In Defense of Animals, (717) 939-3231