BACKGROUND | ANIMAL LAW COALITION

Unified Call to Action from Animal Law Coalition, ASPCA, Cloud Foundation, Wild Horse Freedom Federation, Horse Fund, Equine Welfare Alliance, and Front Range Equine Rescue.

Join thousands of concerned and caring Americans around the country.

Protest Interior Secretary Ken Salazar’s appointment of Callie Hendrickson to the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board [1] as the General Public Representative.

Background: Callie Hendrickson is the Executive Director of the White River and Douglas Creek Conservation Districts representing ranching interests, many of whom have permits to run livestock on public lands in Northwestern Colorado. The organization successfully petitioned to become an intervenor on the side of BLM to completely remove the West Douglas Wild Horse Herd on the Western Slope of Colorado.

• Ms. Hendrickson supports the sale without limitation of all unadopted wild horses to the highest bidder (including slaughter buyers).

• Ms. Hendrickson will speak at the second pro-slaughter conference (Summit of the Horse) in Oklahoma City this spring.

For more on Callie Hendrickson and her pro-horse slaughter, anti-wild horses and burros views, read R.T. Fitch’s Op-Ed, Infamous Horse Slaughter Advocate Appointed to BLM Advisory Board 

Does Callie Hendrickson represent you? If your answer is NO, then please call, fax, and email Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and politely, but firmly ask that Callie Hendrickson’s appointment to the Advisory Board be rescinded immediately.

 Tell the Secretary that she does not represent you or the 80% of the General Public opposed to horse slaughter [2].

Number to Call: (202) 208-3100

Address to Email: feedback@ios.doi.gov

Number to Fax: (202) 208-6956

CLICK HERE to send Free Faxes From Your Computer.

[1] The BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board recommends management strategies to the BLM. Hendrickson would join Jim Stephenson (appointed June 2011) on the Board. Stephenson openly advocates for horse slaughter. BLM has discussed killing wild horses in holding since at least 2008. With Hendrickson, they may have just the Board they want -a Board that could recommend to BLM that they dispose of the wild horses in holding.

[2] A recent nationwide poll reveals that 80% of Americans oppose the slaughter of U.S. horses for  human consumption regardless of their gender, political affiliation, whether they live in an urban or rural area, or their geographic location. Further, it confirms that a vast majority of horse owners are also against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines. The survey was sponsored by the ASPCA and conducted by Lake Research Partners.

BACKGROUND AND PHOTO | H.S.U.S.

This week ended with an announcement by the federal government that may turn out to be a historic step forward in our efforts to protect the nation’s remaining free-roaming wild horses and burros. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the official registration of the first contraceptive vaccine for horses in the United States, called ZonaStat-H (more commonly referred to as porcine zona pellucida or PZP). The Humane Society of the United States sponsored the registration of the vaccine. The EPA registration means that the vaccine, which has been used on Assateague wild horses for more than 20 years, can now be used by wild horse managers for all the Western herds.

The federal management program for wild horses has been something of a financial and animal welfare disaster for quite some time. In recent years, the BLM has rounded up tens of thousands of horses, causing distress and fear and some occasional deaths, without any reasonable expectation to adopt out these animals. That has resulted in a swelling captive population of wild horses―now more than 45,000. Almost half of the agency’s entire budget goes toward captive horse management.

If there is pressure or reason to reduce the population, then the primary management tool from this point forward should be fertility control, rather than costly and sometimes dangerous round-up and removal regimes. PZP is now ready to be used for this purpose. The contraceptive vaccine prevents female horses from becoming pregnant, and it is safe for the animals and the environment. Above all, it can be used to maintain sustainable populations, since the American public wants wild horses roaming the West. By using more fertility control to humanely reduce wild horse populations on the range, and having fewer horses in long-term federal holding pens on the government dole, U.S. taxpayers can save tens of millions over the next decade.

PZP was first used on wild horses in 1988 when a team led by Jay F. Kirkpatrick, the director of the Science and Conservation Center in Montana, began a pilot project on the famous wild ponies at Assateague Island National Seashore off the coast of Maryland. This project was very successful and has now led to the current PZP study we’re conducting in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with a grant from the Annenberg Foundation. The HSUS is working with the BLM t to develop longer-lasting and more easily administered versions of the vaccine.

The HSUS has forged partnerships with public agencies, communities, parks, zoos, and other groups to test PZP to safely manage wildlife numbers. The vaccine has also been used to help control elephant populations in South Africa, deer in suburban areas, and dozens of species of zoo animals.

The importance of technological advances to animal welfare cannot be overstated.  It has been said that Henry Ford did even more for horse welfare than Henry Bergh  (the outstanding 19th century humanitarian and ASPCA founder) as millions of overworked and suffering  horses were gradually replaced in the early part of the 20th century by motorized transports in cities and on farms.   In the same vein, we’re delighted to have helped bring this new technology to the forefront of wild horse and burro management in the United States. On August 28, we’ll be hosting a conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, focusing on the use of innovative management tools, such as ZonaStat-H, to manage wild horse populations. If used properly, this innovation has the potential to allow our nation to turn the corner on this problem and meet the needs of everybody who cares about preserving wild horse and burro populations in the West.

Wild Caballo

PH

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“Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you’re not going to make it, then you gotta get mean. I mean plum, mad-dog, mean. ‘Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That’s just the way it is.”   Clint Eastwood.

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BACKGROUND |  PLEASURE HORSE

FACT:  80 percent of American voters are opposed to the slaughter of U.S. horses for human consumption.

FACT:  A vast majority of  horse owners are also against the slaughtering of our nation’s equines.

FACT:  The overwhelming majority of Americans are not just against horse slaughter but are intensely opposed to this cruel practice.

FACT:  Americans have a responsibility to protect these intelligent, sensitive animals from being butchered.

FACT:   Horse slaughter is inherently cruel because the biology of horses makes them difficult to stun and they often remain conscious during their slaughter.

FACT:  Horsemeat can be toxic to humans, as horses are frequently administered drugs that violate the safety regulations mandated for food animals.  Read More about Toxic Meat  HERE.

FACT:  More than 100,000 U.S. Horses are transported every year to Slaughter in Canada and Mexico.

FACT:  Horse Slaughter is now Legal in the United States, Pending Approval of Applications submitted by Slaughterhouses to the U.S.D.A.

GOOD NEWS !!  There are now TWO laws pending in the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives, which will STOP all Transport of Horses to Slaughter, either in the United States or across our borders to Canada and Mexico.   CLICK  HERE  to track the progress of S.1176, American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011.  CLICK  HERE  to track the progress of H.R.2966, American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011.

BAD NEWS ((   S.1176 was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on June 9, 2011 and has been languishing there ever since.   H.R.2966  House Agriculture:was referred to the House Agriculture  Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry on October 4, 2011 and has been languishing there ever since.

WHY ARE THESE BILLS TO SAVE HORSES STILL LANGUISHING IN COMMITTEES?  (You ask with Horror, Shock and Amazement)  CLICK  HERE  and it might shed some light on this baffling, NOT complex, situation.  (Hint: Green Pieces of Paper with pictures of American Presidents Printed on them)

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ARE YOU ANGRY?  DO YOU  WANT TO STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER?

PLEASE FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE INSTRUCTIONS.

CLICK  HERE  for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (for S.1176).  Click on each Committee Member’s Name (under his/her picture) go to their official website, click on “Contact Me” to get their FAX number.  Hint:  you do NOT have to be a Senator’s Constituent to send a FAX.  CLICK  HERE  to send FREE FAXES from your Computer.  You do not need a Fax Machine, You do not need a Credit Card.  

CLICK  HERE  for the House Committee on Agriculture:  Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry (for H.R.2966).   Click on each Committee Member’s Name (under his/her picture) go to their official website, click on “Contact Me” to get their FAX number.  Hint:  you do NOT have to be a Senator’s Constituent to send a FAX.  CLICK  HERE  to send FREE FAXES from your Computer.  You do not need a Fax Machine, You do not need a Credit Card.

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MORE BAD NEWS:  The Bills to STOP SLAUGHTER of AMERICAN HORSES, will NEVER BE PASSED WHILE THEY ARE SITTING IN COMMITTEES DOING NOTHING.

MORE GOOD NEWS:  We may not have $$$ with which to Bribe Politicians, (like some other organizations do), but we DO have computers,, we DO have a link to send FREE FAXES, we DO have time, we DO have LOVE and RESPECT for Horses, and GOD IS ON OUR SIDE.  WE ARE PAYING FOR THE FAX MACHINES, WE ARE PAYING FOR THE FAX PAPER, WE ARE PAYING FOR THE INK, WE WILL BE PAYING U.S.D.A. INSPECTORS TO STAND AROUND WHILE AMERICAN HORSES ARE BEING TORTURED.

SEND FAXES EVERY DAY.  WE NEED 2,000,000 FAXES SENT TO BOTH OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED COMMITTEES.  TELL THEM YOU WANT S.1176 AND H.R. 2966 MOVED OUT OF THE COMMITTEE AND TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE, AND YOU WANT IT MOVED NOW.

Last, but NOT Least, CLICK HERE  and Call YOUR Senators and Representative every day and advise them that when S.1176 and H.R.2966 get to the Floor for a Vote you want the Bills PASSED AFFIRMATIVELY.

PH

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Photo | Courtesy of  Ken McLeod

With less than 1,540 Wild Horses remaining in Canada, NOW is the time to take Urgent Action to save them.  It is time to recognize the Wild Horses of Alberta. To date, the Canadian Government and their predecessors have not recognized the wild horses of Alberta, their historical importance and the need to preserve and protect them as part of the Alberta Heritage.  Instead the wild horses have been marginalized. They are administered under the Stray Animal Act by Alberta Sustainable Resources (ASR).

These horses have spent hundreds of years and generations, surviving very harsh conditions and predators, the most dangerous being human.  Alberta Sustainable Resources directs the continued capture of the wild horses. Each February, “trappers”, with government assistance, capture and kill an undisclosed number of wild horses. There is no justification for the Canadian government to continue mandating and condoning this senseless capturing of the wild horses.

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Photo | Ken McLeod

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Wild Studs of Bronson Lake

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CLICK  HERE  to leave a comment for Canada’s Premier Alison Redford, requesting that she support legislation to Protect Canada’s Wild Horses.

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Spirit in the Genes, Ken McLeod Story

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CLICK  HERE  for information about the true, documented life story of a man with a passion for wild horses and wildlife who is led on a journey of controversy, deception, tragedy, and many hardships along the way.  Through it all, though, he finds the spirit to go on, resulting in a multi-million dollar government proposal and an award winning news story for tourism to protect and preserve wild horses.

Ken McLeod has devoted his entire life, time, and efforts to Saving the Wild Horses of Canada. Please help him save the few that are remaining.

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Contact  PREMIER ALISON REDFORD  on facebook , if you want to help SAVE THESE WILD HORSES , before they are all gone forever.  Ask her to pass a LAW to protect them NOW.

PH

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Photo Courtesy of  Journey’s End Ranch and Sanctuary

Horse slaughter is the practice of killing & butchering horses for human consumption or animal foods manufacturing. These horses sent to slaughter come from auctions, private owners, and captured wild horse herds or even stolen pet horses. Most of the horses are brought to slaughter houses by contract buyers,  who collect horses from all over the USA and are known as kill buyers.

Horses that are killed for reasons other than human consumption go to the renderers (U.S.) that make food for your  pets, or  carnivorous animals in zoos. Investigations by animal welfare and animal rights groups have indicated that these animals are being skinned or gutted  still alive and conscious. The horses are transported in cattle trucks, often injure their heads, fall and are trampled by other terrified animals in transit. They receive no rest, no food and no water for often 24 or more hours.

At the slaughterhouse, they are herded through alleys and chutes. They can smell the blood and death in the air, they can hear the screams of fellow horses. Often, the stun “bolt” does  not work correctly, and they are hit with it repeatedly.  Former Chief USDA Inspector, Veterinarian  Dr. Lester Friedlander  has stated that horses are only stunned for 30 seconds, long enough to be hung up by a hind leg. They are then ALIVE and CONSCIOUS while their throats are slit and they are skinned and dismembered . The horse has served mankind for thousands of years, and civilization was only possible because of the horse.  To be treated with this disrespect and cruelty is totally unacceptable.

PLEASE TAKE THESE SMALL ACTIONS TO SPEAK FOR THE HORSES.  CLICK BELOW ON THE LINKS TO SIGN PETITIONS.  NEW PETITIONS BEING ADDED AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE TO SIGN.

UNITED STATES ANTI-SLAUGHTER PETITIONS.

• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  AMERICAN HORSE SLAUGHTER PREVENTION ACT OF 2012 (HR 2966)
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  STOP U.S.A. HORSE SLAUGHTER
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  OVERTURN THE LEGALIZATION OF HORSE SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PROTECT OUR HORSES-BAN THE LEGALIZATION OF HORSE SLAUGHTERING.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  STOPPING HORSE SLAUGHTER.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER TRANSPORTATION IN THE USA.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  U.S. CONGRESS STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER HOUSES.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PRESIDENT OBAMA, UNITED STATES SENATE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:  STOP THE LEGALIZATION OF HORSE SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PRESIDENT OBAMA LEGALIZES HORSE SLAUGHTER FOR FOOD IN U.S.  PLEASE SIGN TO OVERTURN.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PRESIDENT OBAMA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE BOEHNER, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER REID: REPEAL THE HORSE SLAUGHTER LAW.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT OBAMA, STOP THE RETURN OF HORSE SLAUGHTER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  SAY NAY TO HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE U.S. FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE U.S.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, STOP HORSE SLAUGHTER FROM COMING BACK.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, KEEP HORSE SLAUGHTER ILLEGAL IN THE U.S. AND BAN EXPORT OF LIVE HORSES.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BAN HORSE SLAUGHTER IN THE UNITED STATES.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PETITIONING U.S. SENATORS TO COSPONSOR S1176, THE HORSE SLAUGHTER PREVENTION ACT OF 2011.
• CLICK  HERE  to sign Petition:  PLEASE MR. SPIELBERG, ADD PSA TO WAR HORSE ABOUT INHUMANE AND OUR WILD HORSE ROUNDUPS ON YOUR DVDs.

• CLICK  HERE to sign Petition:  CANADIAN GOVERNMENT, HORSES ARE NOT FOOD.

• CLICK  HERE  for your Group/Organization to Sign Up At POPVOX.
• CLICK  HERE to Vote your SUPPORT of  S. 1176: American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011.
• CLICK  HERE   to Vote your SUPPORT of H.R. 2966: American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011.

PH

Photo Courtesy of  Respect4Horses.com

Alert Courtesy of | Simone Netherlands of Respect4Horses.com

Simulposted With  R. T. Fitch

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Predatory Business Is A Cancer To Society

We would like to send out a sincere thank you to Representative Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.) for urging congress to action to pass the ban on horse slaughter. Click (HERE)

Can we trust anyone? A lovely looking horse trainer lady pretended to give horses a good home, and sold them to kill instead. Her constant deceiving and lying is not the exception amongst kill buyers, it is the rule.

Many a previous owner would be distraught and traumatized if they knew of the torturous ways in which their former companion has come to its bitter end. The predatory horse slaughter industry doesn’t only victimize horses, it victimizes people.

Isa Smith a lovely 18-year-old girl who owned her expensive horse First Impression throughout her youth, loved him to pieces and won many competitions with him, was a victim of a woman kill buyer who told her and her mother, that she would re-home Polo with clients who would be a perfect fit. When they wanted to check up on Polo, they found out who the woman really was. Polo has not been found till this day. Isa is understandably traumatized, but she is a trooper of a girl and has gone on a Respect4Horses Lobbying trip to DC and convinced many a legislator that horses aren’t the only victims.

Bob Murray, an elderly man who had been on many trail rides and adventures with his loyal mount Scooby for the past twenty years, could no longer take care of him in his old age. When they moved Bob to the elderly home, the Ag department told him that the horse was so sweet and such a good trail rider, that he would easily find a good new home at the auction. The kind old man was not even aware that horse slaughter still existed. The livestock inspector came and took the horse out of the barn that he had lived in for twenty years, and loaded him into the trailer. A neighbor of Bob’s was at the auction and saw the local kill buyer purchase the old horse. When Bob found out who really purchased his faithful Scooby, he was in total shock and so traumatized that he spiraled into a severe depression, that he may never get out of. He is doomed to live out his days, alone, staring out the window, thinking of what his faithful Scooby had to go through, and how Scooby must have not understood.

7 years ago, a woman who was a successful Hotel Executive and a natural horsemanship trainer, came across a lost and lonely horse on the state land. She left her car by the side of the road, called in a day off at work and spent a few hours gentling the horse. The beautiful white mare responded quickly. After a while, she got on the friendly horse, opened the gate, and they rode home together on the side of the road, without a bridle, halter or saddle.

The woman then placed an ad in the paper with the description of the white mare, there were no markings or brands. She started training the mare and it being the sweetest horse she ever knew, after a while, she decided to keep her. One day the livestock Inspector saw the ad in the paper and came to her house. Turns out she was not allowed to keep the horse, as the procedure is that every abandoned horse has to go through the local auction. She had a dooming feeling as they loaded the now very well-trained mare into the trailer.

The livestock inspector did not notify her of the correct date when the auction was to take place. She sat there waiting for the sweet mare to come through, but she never did. She then went to every auction she knew of to find the horse, but never found her. By going to all the auctions, she found out about the local kill buyers and started tracking their every move. From that day forward, her life has changed forever. (yes, this is my story, and that beautiful soul of a horse is the reason I am in this fight until the end.)

Many people are a victim of the horse slaughter Industry, and every responsible American horse owner should be petrified about what might happen next.

If we open a horse slaughter plant in America, will it make kill buyers into humane and honest people? Will the whipping and beating and electric shocking of horses stop, will the transport be any more humane, will the nature of the business change and slaughter workers become considerate? Will it stop abuse and neglect? Will it stop the export of our horses to Mexico and Canada? The answers are no, no , no, no and no. It will just be more of the same. More of our American Horses. More horrific cruelty for no good reason at all. For the sake of the breed associations and breeders who want their lucrative convenience.

If they truly cared about the welfare of horses like they say they do, one would think that they would turn some of their millions of dollars in breed incentives and use at least some of it for euthanasia funds, perhaps some funds for horse rescues, who knows maybe gelding funds? It would be so easy for them to do this.

They could also start their own retirement sanctuaries. They could also discourage breeding and bring the numbers of new foals down. Instead, they use all their money to buy off legislators and lobby for new horse slaughter plants in America and put on Summits to try to convince the world that it is “humane”, while in the mean time they keep doling out the breed incentives, and they keep saying that they care about the welfare of horses.

Its plain as day, their fake arguments are easier to see through than our dirty truck windows. Every argument for preserving the barbaric practice of horse slaughter, is greed motivated, un-factual and extremely deceptive. It is time to take steps forward towards a more humane and civilized world, not the other way around.

Therefore we would like to sincerely thank Congressman Meehan for his call to action to end this crooked, fraudulent despicable practice once and for all.

Videos for reference:

Are kill buyers nice people? Please see this video of this former kill buyer explaining how he poked the eyes out of a horses head because she was a kicker, how he lied to a lady who came looking for her horse and begged him to sell it back to her, how he states it is all common practice. And just to be clear, he was taking these horses to AMERICAN horse slaughter plants.

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Observations of a Horse Slaughter Killer, ONE

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Observations of a Horse Slaughter Killer, TWO

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Observations of a Horse Slaughter Killer, THREE

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CLICK  HERE  for Horse truck driver alleges abuse.

Can Horse slaughter be made humane? Please see this article from Forbes and video of the most “humane” horse slaughter plant designed by Dr. Temple Grandin. The horses have to be hit over and over, up to 11 times before they go down.

http://blogs.forbes.com/vickeryeckhoff/?p=240

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Thank You,

Simone.

“History is only made, by those who care about the future”.

-Simone Netherlands.

Respect4Horses Organization
Office: (928) 308 6718

Simone’s Cell (928) 925 7212
http://www.Respect4Horses.com

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BACKGROUND FROM | PHILLY.COM

Charges filed against a Chester County woman for posing as a rescuer of horses while sending them to slaughter have prompted a new round of calls in Congress to end the killing of horses for meat in the United States.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R., Pa.) on Thursday urged his colleagues in the House and Senate to pass legislation to halt horse slaughter after reading a report in The Inquirer that Kelsey Lefever of Honeybrook was allegedly selling animals for slaughter in Canada under false pretenses.

“This is a tragic example of why we need federal law to prohibit the transportation and sale of horses for slaughter in the first place,” said Meehan, one of 150 cosponsors of anti-slaughter legislation in the House. “Horses are not raised for human consumption, and their slaughter for sale overseas is a cruel and inhumane practice that is not consistent with our values here in Pennsylvania.

In November, state police charged Lefever, a 24-year-old horse trainer, with multiple counts of fraud connected to an alleged scheme involving ex-race horses.

Lefever duped thoroughbred owners at a central Pennsylvania racetrack into believing she would find homes for their retired racehorses and instead sold them to kill-buyers at a Lancaster auction, according to charging documents.

Horse slaughter effectively ended in the United States in 2008, when the last plant closed after federal funding for U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors was withdrawn. Since then, an estimated 140,000 U.S. horses have been transported to abattoirs in Canada and Mexico.

With funding for USDA inspectors restored in a budget bill President Obama signed late last year, slaughter plants could again legally operate in the United States.

Contact staff writer Amy Worden at 717-783-2584 or aworden@phillynews.com.

Sugarcreek Horse Auction, WARNING Graphic

PLEASE TAKE ACTION NOW.

• CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR CONGRESSPERSON and Email, Fax and Call.
• CLICK HERE FOR FREE FAXING FROM YOUR COMPUTER.  No Fax Machine Required. No Credit Card Needed.
• CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW HORSES WERE SLAUGHTERED IN THE U.S.BEFORE THE BAN ON U.S. HORSE SLAUGHTER.

]]> http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/congress-considers-ending-horse-slaughter-for-human-consumption/feed/ 11 thepersianhorse persian15 http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/wild-horse-conspiracy-by-craig-c-downer/ http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/2012/01/21/wild-horse-conspiracy-by-craig-c-downer/#comments Sat, 21 Jan 2012 03:12:03 +0000 thepersianhorse http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/?p=2160 ]]> The Persian Horse Blog is Dedicated to the Horses and Burros  who have Shed their Blood, Lost their Freedom, and Given their Lives for BLM

Photo Provided by Cat Kindsfather, Images of HeART

Proudly announcing the publication of a pivotal book for America’s wild horses and burros that has been over 4 years in preparation~~~~~

THE WILD HORSE CONSPIRACY by Craig C. Downer, Wildlife Ecologist and Author (Date of Publication: 1/18/2012)

This stirring and amply illustrated, 300-page book fully justifies America’s magnificent wild horses and burros while countering the biased machinations against them. Written by an ecologist who grew up observing these animals in the West, it presents new evidence concerning their history and evolution in North America then describes their many positive contributions to soils, plants, animals and people. Though true restorers of this continent’s ecosystem, they have been unfairly targeted for elimination.

Over the centuries, they have borne our burdens and helped us along life’s way—which makes it doubly unfair that they should be blamed for what we humans have done. As always, they stand ready to help us do the hard work now so desperately needed to restore our shared home. Many of the author’s personal experiences with these animals, their diverse herd areas, and the multicolored people involved with them are herein vividly shared. Urgently required now at the 40th anniversary of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act is a strategy to reverse the negative schemes that are causing their demise in the wild. As described, Reserve Design provides a way for establishing self-stabilizing populations through intelligent and caring programs executed with enthusiasm. Their lesson for humanity concerns how to share freedom and the land with such paragons of nature.

Soaring beyond mundane pettiness and with an inspired vision for the future of all life, the elevated perspective and compassionate spirit of this book will prove key to accomplishing its critical goal. In the wild the vigor of any kind is preserved. And the entire horse family—as the Earth itself—needs America’s wild horses and burros to continue at vital levels into the future here in their evolutionary cradle and worldwide.

about Craig:

The author has defended wild horses/burros against attacks for over 40 years and observed many of the West’s colorful herds. He has also studied the endangered mountain tapir and is president of the Andean Tapir Fund, also dedicated to saving wild horses/burros (www.andeantapirfund.com). A member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission and board member of The Cloud Foundation, he has written popular and scientific articles and books, including action plans for endangered species, enjoys nature photography and musical composition, lives in Nevada, and is proud companion of mustangs Lightning, a palomino stallion, and Princess Diane, his curly mare, both of whom he knew in the wilds of NW Nevada before they were captured by BLM in 2010.

Photo Provided by Cat Kindsfather at Images of HeART

To order Craig’s groundbreaking book:

Make out a check for $25 (which includes taxes, shipping & handling) either to Andean Tapir Fund (as a tax-deductible contribution to this 501 c 3 organization) or to Craig C. Downer, and send to (either) P.O. Box 456, Minden, NV 89423-0456 USA. Alternatively, you may use PayPal to purchase the book by calling up www.andeantapirfund.com and clicking on PayPal. To order more than one book, please pay $20 per book for up to 5 books, $15 for over 10 books (which includes taxes, shipping & handling). For any questions or to arrange for a speaking, picture showing and book signing event, write the author at the above address, or call (775) 267-3484 or (775) 901-2094 or email ccdowner@aol.com.

Andean Tapir Fund
www.andeantapirfund.com
Dedicated to saving the intriguing but endangered Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) & its beautiful, life-preserving cloud forests & páramos of South Americas northern Andes, the Andean Tapir Fund is a 501 (c) 3, federally tax-deductible organization.

PH

So far, no pictures have been taken of the Wild Horses of Tortolita.

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BACKGROUND | ARIZONA DAILY STAR

Here’s something you might not expect to find on the edge of the sprawling Tucson metropolitan area: wild horses.

A small herd of perhaps 15 animals – technically known as feral horses – roams the rugged ridges and canyons of the Tortolita Mountains northwest of the city.

The herd has survived in the wild since at least the 1920s or 1930s, by some ranchers’ estimates.

What’s remarkable is that the horses still go about their corral-and-saddle-free ways – even as the Tortolitas have seen a development boom, including the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain Resort, golf courses, homes and a popular park in recent years.

“I have seen five of the horses in one group and a solo several times – always moving away quickly,” said Mark Flint, a hiker and trail designer who treks the range frequently on trail projects. “One hiker I talked to said he saw a group of 13.”

Flint said he has been unable to get photos of the swiftly retreating horses. Several Tucson-area hiking-club leaders said they know of no photos of the herd.

But now – thanks to a trail builder’s quick video skills – you can get a distant look at the free-roaming equines on YouTube. You can view it below.

“The video was shot by Noe Gamez, who was working with me laying out the Ridgeline Trail, which is now under construction,” Flint said. “We were on a hillside above one of their trails when he caught my attention and made hand signals.

“We quietly watched while they made their way below us,” Flint said. “They were nervous and snorty as hell. They definitely don’t have the same casual bearing as the horses I ride or have ridden.”

Steve Anderson, of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department, said the presence of the horses was noted in a master plan for Tortolita Mountain Park in the 1990s.

“We noted that a ‘small herd of 15 feral horses has been observed within and around the park. We came upon them when we were doing field work in the mountains, and they just disappeared up a slope like nothing,” he said.

“One rumor said they were descendent horses of the Spanish that came through the area hundreds of years ago, but that’s probably a myth,” he added.

It’s more likely, according to officials and people who once operated ranches in the area, that the feral herd originated sometime in the first half of the last century when horses escaped or were released by ranchers.

Officials of the town of Marana, which cooperates with Pima County and others on a trail network in the Tortolitas, said that no one owns the horses as far as they know.

Anderson, of Pima County, said the Tortolita Mountain Park master plan noted that “these horses are claimed by a local rancher.”

Efforts to reach ranchers for information on ownership of the herd were unsuccessful.

For now, it might be a moot point. There appear to be no efforts under way to round up the free-ranging steeds.

Contact reporter Doug Kreutz at dkreutz@azstarnet.com or at 573-4192.

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PH

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