WASHINGTON, DC (August 3 ,
2005) - In a recent press release,
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) called for horse lovers to come
to the aid of America’s wild horses and burros. While these animals
do need your help, they must be saved from the BLM – not from the
lands on which they have historically roamed. For over 30 years now,
the agency responsible for protecting these national treasures has
worked harder at undermining the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and
Burros Act than at the very task they were assigned.
Ignoring scientific evidence, government studies and
the voices of horse lovers all over the country, the BLM has
consistently pursued a policy of mass removal of these animals from
public lands. The original Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act
sought to prevent this very type of action, noting that wild horse
populations in the United States were in rapid decline. Today, their
numbers are lower than ever before; less than 32,000 wild horses and
burros remain on over 280 million acres of public lands the BLM
manages for US taxpayers. In contrast, domestic livestock
populations total ~4.1 million.
Removing 10,000 of these animals from the range
each year is not only irresponsible and unsubstantiated, but not in
the best interest of the animals. The BLM claims it offers the
horses up for adoption, yet neglects to mention that animals over
5-years-of-age are automatically transported to Long Term Holding
with little or no effort to market them for adoption. With rare
exception, animals over the age of 10 have never been offered for
adoption. Additionally, 41 horses sold under the "sales authority"
died brutal deaths in a US slaughterhouse last spring. Most of the
BLM’s financial problems stem from its own mismanagement of the wild
horse program.
When the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act
was passed in 1971, the US Senate stated, "An intensive management
program of breeding, branding, and physical care would destroy the
very concept that this legislation seeks to preserve … Leaving the
animals alone to fend for themselves and placing primary emphasis on
protecting the animals from continued slaughter and harassment by
man.” Sadly, this is just one of many Congressional mandates the BLM
has blatantly ignored.
True horse lovers and the American public realize
that simply adopting these unnecessarily acquired wild animals from
the BLM will not solve the real problem facing wild horses and
burros today. To ensure these animals will truly be safe from
slaughter, mishandling and other poor conditions, we must let them
roam free. We call upon Congress to end BLM's irresponsible
management practices and restore longstanding safeguards that return
wild horses and burros to the open range.
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Contact:
Chris Heyde - Society for Animal Protective Legislation (703)
836-4300
Robin Lohnes - American Horse Protection Association (202) 965-0500
Ripley Forbes - American Humane Association (703) 294-6690
Lisa Weisberg - American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (212) 876-7700 x4552
