Finally the wild horses have a friend in Congress. And not too soon either. Recently, U.S. Representative Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ) started to circulate a letter to his House of Representatives colleagues urging their signature on a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) director Bob Abbey. The letter is in regards to their inhumane and costly mismanagement of the Wild Horse and Burro Program.
The letter expresses major concerns about the BLM’s supervision of America’s wild horses and burros. Specifically mentioned is the agency’s failure to conduct accurate censuses on wild horse and burro herds. They have a tendency to overinflate the numbers of horses in order to support their need to make more roundups. The actual numbers of the horses always come up very short after the roundups. In the meantime, all the horses in a herd are eliminated from their legally designated ranges.
Another grave concern is the BLM's creation of non-producing herds. There is extreme danger in the practice of spaying female horses causing them much stress and possible death from infections as a result of the spay. Last but not least, the letter mentions the financial cost to the American taxpayers. This cost creates a huge burden on the taxpayers caused by the BLM's massive and totally unnecessary roundups of the wild horses.
Many horse conservation organizations applaud this effort by Representative Grijalva. They are urging the public to contact their Congressional Representative and request that they sign the letter before it is brought to the attention of Secretary Salazar and BLM Director, Bob Abbey. As was stated by Ginger Kathrens, the Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, “Wild horses and burros need congressional intervention fast—otherwise the BLM will manage these iconic symbols of freedom to extinction.” No truer words have been spoken.
Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
The letter expresses major concerns about the BLM’s supervision of America’s wild horses and burros. Specifically mentioned is the agency’s failure to conduct accurate censuses on wild horse and burro herds. They have a tendency to overinflate the numbers of horses in order to support their need to make more roundups. The actual numbers of the horses always come up very short after the roundups. In the meantime, all the horses in a herd are eliminated from their legally designated ranges.
Another grave concern is the BLM's creation of non-producing herds. There is extreme danger in the practice of spaying female horses causing them much stress and possible death from infections as a result of the spay. Last but not least, the letter mentions the financial cost to the American taxpayers. This cost creates a huge burden on the taxpayers caused by the BLM's massive and totally unnecessary roundups of the wild horses.
Many horse conservation organizations applaud this effort by Representative Grijalva. They are urging the public to contact their Congressional Representative and request that they sign the letter before it is brought to the attention of Secretary Salazar and BLM Director, Bob Abbey. As was stated by Ginger Kathrens, the Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, “Wild horses and burros need congressional intervention fast—otherwise the BLM will manage these iconic symbols of freedom to extinction.” No truer words have been spoken.
Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives
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