Today, we’re launching a new effort to convince Congress to maintain the longstanding prohibition on the destruction and slaughter of healthy wild horses and burros. We’ve called. We’ve emailed. Now, let’s send a personal video message about why we’re fighting to protect these national icons.
With our new video tool you can easily record a short video that will be sent directly to your members of Congress. I just recorded mine — watch it now and then record your own.
We know you’ll have plenty to say but a few points we hope you’ll include:
Congress must maintain the longstanding prohibition on destroying healthy wild horses and burros and oppose any effort that would open the door to slaughter.
80% of Americans oppose the slaughter of America’s wild horses.
The PZP birth control vaccine is a scientifically-proven, low-cost alternative that can used to humanely manage wild populations and maintain their wild free-romaning behaviors.
So record your own video now. It’s really easy. It’ll take just a few minutes of your time. And it will help us cut through the clutter in Washington and be heard on this critical issue.
Guest Worker Visa Reform Gains Momentum, Tell Congress to Finish the Job!
Status update:
On September 15, the House of Representatives passed a $1.2 trillion funding bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 that will serve as a benchmark for negotiations with the Senate on a final package. Congress must negotiate a final bill by December 8, when the current continuing resolution (CR) to fund federal programs at FY2017 levels will expire. While the equine industry and its allies have taken an important first step by inserting some H-2B visa reform measures within the text of the current House spending bill (such as wage-survey flexibility), the fight to insert broader visa cap relief in a final spending bill continues.
Fortunately, Congress can fix the broken guest worker visa program by acting on legislation currently moving through the legislative process. AHC members can help push the legislative process forward by weighing in with your elected officials in Washington. Contact your federal lawmakers today and urge them to support H2B visa reform through the following vehicles:
FY2018 Appropriations – Tell your lawmakers to include H-2B visa cap relief provisions in the final spending bill. This must-pass legislation is the most active vehicle moving through Congress. Meaningful cap relief includes common-sense exemptions for returning guest workers.
Strengthen Employment and Seasonal Opportunities (SEASON) Act (H.R. 2004) – Tell your representative to cosponsor H.R. 2004, which will provide cap relief by establishing an exemption for well-vetted workers who have already held a visa. This bill currently has 30 co-sponsors, a number which must grow to gain more political traction. If your representative is already a sponsor, tell him to contact leadership to assure passage.
Save Our Small and Seasonal Businesses Act of 2017 (S. 792) – Call both of your senators and tell them to cosponsor S. 792, legislation that will expedite applications to meet labor demands during peak seasons. This bipartisan bill currently has 12 sponsors, and will need many more to win floor time in the Senate. If your senators are already sponsors, tell them to contact leadership to make the bill a high priority.
To contact your lawmaker’s Washington office, please call the Capitol switchboard at 202-225-3121, and ask to be connected to your elected official’s office. Also, you can your representative and senators by using #SaveH2B on social media.
Emerging Legislation, Next Steps
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is soon expected to introduce the Agricultural Guest Worker Act of 2017, legislation that would replace the cumbersome H-2A program with more flexible H-2C visas. The draft text shared with AHC from House Judiciary Committee staff would accomplish the following benefits for large segments of the equine sector:
The bill would replace the H-2A program outright, with a new program that creates incentives to hire foreign labor through legal channels;
Reduce financial and paperwork burdens on agricultural employers by discarding H-2A mandates such as free housing and transportation;
Create marketplace flexibility by establishing “at will” employment between visa holders and agricultural employers;
Establish a baseline of 500,000 visas, with a built-in “escalator” that can result in 10% increases in the number of guest visas issued in subsequent years. According to State Dept. stats, the number of H2A visas has fluctuated between 65,000 and 135,000 during the past five fiscal years.
The House Judiciary Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, October 4 to formally introduce and review the bill. AHC will keep you updated on developments related to the Agriculture Guest Work Act, and other legislation impacting hiring practices for the equine sector. If you would like a summary of the draft bill, or have perspectives on immigration policy and priorities you would like to share, please contact Bryan Brendle at bbrendle@horsecouncil.org.
The Chilly Pepper family is sending prayers for Las Vegas, and all the loved ones who are affected by this tragedy.
However, we are in an emergent type of situation here at home. Gypsum and Hope are hanging in there, and are extremely tired of all the shots (twice a day each) and the meds they are receiving.
Hope’s pneumonia seems to be breaking up and she has not had a fever for the last few days. Gypsum is still struggling and we need to take both of them to the vet by tomorrow for further testing.
Gypsum has (hopefully had) an extremely life threatening infection. His good leg received this assessment by the vet. “The right front common digital extensor tendon had ruptured”So in addition to his contracted tendon, his potentially life threatening umbilical infection and pneumonia, his good leg is suffering. He needs another ultrasound ASAP and more blood work. We cannot wait as it could be life threatening if we do not stay on top of this infection,
Hope also needs more blood work and possibly additional medication as she is still coughing and wheezing from the pneumonia breaking up. We are hopeful it is just the gunk leaving her lungs, but we have to be sure.
It is always hard to ask folks to keep helping when so many do so much. But this is about the babies and the horses here at Chilly Pepper, and we are in an emergency situation at this point. We are simply “their voice” (and their private staff – literally 24/7 lol).
I am grateful a good friend had reminded me in the past of how important it is to keep emergency funds available. This saved our bacon on the last trip, but we now need funding for the additional vet care and the costs of caring for so many horses just increased substantially.
We spent nearly $800 on Gypsum’s vet care prior to picking up the horses and saving the 9 slaughter babies. This is the reason he has a chance at life, as Doc Rodger (at Crossroads in CA) is the one who caught the deadly umbilical infection.
We then spent another $1486 at the vet in Idaho (for Hope and Gypsum). The trailer repairs were $800, and we spent over $800+ on medication and Coggins for the 9 babies in Washington. This doesn’t include fuel etc. for the days we were out on this rescue, or to cover the ranch care while we were gone.
So it was well over $3800 in unexpected emergency costs in just the last two weeks, and we are spending over $2000 in feed for the babies and the new horses. (Many of these horses did not belong to Chilly Pepper originally). We were just asked to help place horses. However, apparently they are now “our horses”. So this is where your donations are going. Without you none of these horses would be safe and most of them would already have been slaughtered.
So we are looking at 7 extra adult horses to feed and care for at the worst time of year, in addition to the ones we already had. We try to be really careful and responsible and we do say “No”. However, due to the emergency situation we had no choice but to pick up these horses.
Some of them are in pretty good shape, but there are a few who are pretty thin. We are looking for sponsors for these ladies, and especially for Granny, an older Virginia Range horse that is now our responsibility thanks to trying to help place her. But she is such a sweet mare, so we will figure it out.
There are so many crisis in our world right now, but we have to keep feeding and caring for these kids. If you would like to help us give these babies every chance they deserve, they would so appreciate it. Both of them have survived unthinkable odds, and by the Grace of God and some pretty amazing Angels, both of them are still here and wanting to run and play.
Please help if you can. Each and every dollar adds up, and these beautiful little souls are gifts from God.
THANK YOU FROM ALL THE HORSES!
* A quick note. We moved from LRTC to WIN due to some of the projects being more closely connected. However, we are still working with LRTC and will continue to do so. Our Large Animal Rescue training (at LRTC) (and some awesome Angels) is what made it possible to save Hope. We want to once again thank Willis Lamm for helping us come up with a safe and successful plan to extricate Hope from the trailer full of wild and very anxious horses.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
You can donate via check at Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, P.O. Box 190 Golconda, NV 89414 PLEASE MAKE CHECKS OUT TO “WIN”, as Chilly Pepper’s bank account is now under the name of our parent company
You can also donate via credit card by calling Palomino at 530-339-1458.
NO MATTER HOW BIG OR HOW SMALL – WE SAVE THEM ALL!
We’re a week away from critical votes. The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to mark up its spending bill next week, with full committee votes the week after. Since the House lifted the longstanding prohibition on the destruction of healthy wild horses and burros in its spending bill, it’s critical that the Senate maintain these protections. These votes will likely determine what the final budget language is — and the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses literally hang in the balance.
When we meet with Senate offices and ask them what makes a difference, they always tell us to keep up the calls and emails. They REALLY matter. Our opponents have the money and power but we have the people. Keep it up.
Tell them: Maintain longstanding prohibitions on the destruction of healthy wild horses. Oppose any spending bill that would allow for the killing or sale for slaughter of healthy wild horses.
The roundup underway right now in Wyoming is a stark reminder of how important these votes are. Images of wild horses chased relentlessly by helicopter, driven into barbed wire, captured, and separated from their families are heartbreaking. Even worse is the thought that every one of the nearly 2,000 wild horses captured could be killed if the Congress does not reject the BLM’s request to destroy them and sell them for brutal slaughter.
Wow. In less than one day, you shattered our goal of $8,000 to get an ad up in Alaska this weekend. As of this morning, we’ve raised over $20,000 thanks to your help. The ads will run this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday in Anchorage — and we’re planning additional advertisements in the coming weeks.
We also learned early this morning that the U.S. Senate “markup” is delayed yet another week. We’re now expecting these critical votes to take place sometime around October 10th.
Save the Date for the AHC’s 2018 Annual Meeting & National Issues Forum
The AHC is pleased to announce that its 2018 Annual Meeting and National Issues Forum will take place from June 10-13, 2018 at the Capital Hilton in the heart of Washington, DC.
The Capital Hilton is a new venue for the AHC’s Annual Meeting, as the past several years the meeting has been held at the Washington Court Hotel just a few blocks from Capitol Hill. In 2018, the AHC decided to give meeting attendees a glimpse of a different part of DC with a hotel that is just two blocks from the White House. Additonally, some changes have been made to the schedule to ensure attendees are able to attend the meetings that they would like to.
Historically, the AHC’s Annual Meeting, when all AHC Committees and the Unwanted Horse Coalition meet, has taken place on Monday. While the AHC’s five main committees will still meet on Monday, the Unwanted Horse Coalition meeting will now take place on Sunday.
With the growing industry and public interest in aftercare and retraining/rehoming, the UHC felt it was best to shift the 2018 meeting schedule around to allow more time for a robust discussion during the UHC’s meeting.
The National Issues Forum, sponsored by Luitpold Animal Health, will take place on Tuesday, June 12th. The agenda is still being finalized, but at this time topics include a Youth Panel, Tax Reform, Data Insights and Implications, Immigration, and Aftercare.
Please check the Events tab on the AHC website for information as it becomes available. If you have any questions about the Annual Meeting and National Issues Forum, please contact the AHC at 202-296-4031 or info@horsecouncil.org.
With our movement battling on so many fronts, I wanted to send around a quick update:
U.S. Senate Vote Coming Soon
The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is now expected to mark up its spending bill next week, with full committee consideration of the legislation the week after. Since the House passed a spending bill that lifts the longstanding prohibition on the destruction of healthy wild horses and burros, it’s critical that the Senate maintain these protections. These votes will likely determine what the final budget language is — and the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses literally hang in the balance.
If Congress fails to protect wild horses, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has said it would like to “dispose” of so-called excess wild horses and burros by killing them. So it’s no surprise the agency is already rounding up wild horses with renewed gusto. BLM-contracted helicopters have returned once again to the Wyoming Checkerboard, where 46 wild horses were captured and removed from their homes on the range yesterday. The roundup will continue until 1,500 wild horses lose their freedom and their families. Other roundups pending in Wyoming and Nevada will remove 10,000 more wild horses from the range.
Several weeks ago, we exposed what we dubbed the Salt Lake City Slaughter Summit. Pro-slaughter politicians, bureaucrats and lobbyists gathered in Salt Lake City, excluding members of the humane management community. Despite their spin claiming a scientific and humane approach, the truth came out this week: A survey released by summit organizers shows that 99 percent of participants support eating horses. Of the top six “highly-supported options” for how to address horse and burro issues, three involved eating horses, one involved killing horses, and two involved selling horses to be killed. Protecting wild horses didn’t make the cut. What a sham.
With key U.S. Senate votes coming soon, roundups increasing, and our opponents pulling out all the stops, our movement is activating on all fronts. We’ve gathered more than 300,000 petitions signatures, we’re holding meetings with key members in DC and in home offices, our latest round of billboards are live, and we’re planning new advertisements to be released soon.
Our opponents have a lot of power and a lot of money. But we have the opinion of the American people and an incredible movement behind us. Together, we can win this.
I have to say that this is probably the hardest update I have ever had to write. For over a year we have been working with a rescue in Naples Idaho. Everything was great for about a year, until it was not, and then it was beyond horrible and the devastation was heartbreaking. There is no worse feeling than knowing you have spent so much time and money and worked so hard to make sure a horse is safe and then you find out something like this. So we picked up all of ours who are not being held for evidence in the court case.
Matt and I had been to the rescue in question numerous times and the horses were all fat and happy. There was lush pasture and we wanted to live there. The horses were all doing well and we received updates via photos and videos. We also shared our visits and how awesome things were.
We visited the horses remaining in Idaho as “evidence”. Although it was beyond heartbreaking, they are under great veterinary care and the lady providing them with the care while the case gets under way is like a ferocious mama bear and I so relate to that. So now the healing starts… (immediately for the horses, and hopefully some day for our hearts.)
As I write this, we have 8 horses in our trailer (7 that we are bringing back to the rescue), 1 whose frantic Mom is on her way to get her, and Mel is babysitting the 9 “slaughter babies” we were in the middle of picking up.
So while we are waiting for the final paperwork to bring our horses home, Little Man Gypsum was enjoying all the attention. He is doing well and our vet is very hopeful is leg will heal well. He had been our newest “critical care orphan”.
As I went out to check the wild horses I noticed a miracle. The horses had been abnormally agitated last night, and the answer lay on the floor. There in the midst of 24 wild horse hooves lay a teeny tiny little foal. HOPE was perfectly formed and I couldn’t believe she was alive.
Her mama had “done her job”, and had nothing left to give. She showed no interest in her beautiful baby, although by some miracle she had kept her from getting squashed on the trailer floor. She watched as Matt picked up Hope and brought her to me. (there was an amazing amount of stress and work to make that happen lol). Her mama is emaciated and has no bag. It is absolutely amazing that she had a healthy baby. SO Far, Hope seems very healthy and has had her Colostrum and is receiving critical care. She is feisty and bouncy and hanging out with Gypsum.
What happened to this rescue really made me stop and think. It is terrifying how everything could be so “good”, and then someone just stops caring or even feeding the critters. I don’t understand how you can hurt any animal. It is beyond heartbreaking. It really makes you want to hang up the towel and walk away.
Then comes HOPE. God gave us a huge blessing in the midst of despair and chaos. So we have something even more to fight for.
But the reality is that we are bringing 7 more horses to the rescue that need special feed and care and some of the slaughter babies. We are needing funds to do Coggins and Health Certs so we can bring the 9 babies, and now we have 2 additional orphan foals, ages a week plus and 8 or 9 hours old who are really enjoying their milk.
At this point we are beyond grateful that it appears that the “weanlings” we were standing by to pick up, are going to be held (to my understanding) through the winter so they can be adopted. Thanking God for that one.
Some of the 9 babies will be placed on the way home, thanks to folks having prepped to help the weanlings.
Thank you for ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT – Especially during hard times like these. As always, we will do everything we can to make sure the horses have good homes. Although it doesn’t change anything for the horses, there were lots of folks who believed in that rescue, and we are all shocked and horrified. When I found out about the situation, Ted Bundy flashed in my mind. We lived in fear for many a year as he poached women at our lake. He is a perfect example. Someone everyone trusted; well liked and oh so personable. Who knew a monster hid inside.
But there is never a rest. This teeny tiny little one needs the critical care we specialize in, so back to work we go. She is the start of the healing and of looking forward to better times. As of now we are waiting on paperwork so we can get back to Yakima and get the babies ready. Thank you for making this happen.
Oh yeah – and a great big thank you to Willis Lamm for helping us plan our approach to safely getting this baby out of a trailer filled with so many anxious hooves. So many times in what we do the Large Animal Rescue training comes in to play. The chances of getting a baby out of a trailer filled with stressed out wild horses without her getting stepped on are not really high. But with God’s grace and the training we have had (and the luxury of having Willis to help us come up with a viable plan), it all worked out in the parking lot. (Not always my favorite place to move wild horses about.)
“CAM” feeding Gypsum his bottle.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the Interior Department budget as early as next week. As part of this process, they will decide whether wild horses keep or lose their protections from mass killing and slaughter. It the vote goes the wrong way, as many 92,000 of these cherished and innocent animals could be killed.
We need you to call your Senators right now and kindly ask them to tell the Appropriations Committee to ensure that 2018 Interior Department spending legislation INCLUDES prohibitions on the destruction of healthy wild horses and their sale for slaughter.
The bill reported out of Committee will form the basis for negotiations on final budget adopted in December. So, even though the budget is unlikely to be confirmed until December, next week’s debate could very well be the deciding factor in whether America’s wild horses roam free or are destroyed.
Since Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) re-introduced the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act of 2017 (H.R. 1847) in the spring, more than 250 Democrat and Republican lawmakers – or nearly 60 percent of the entire House of Representatives – have signed on to co-sponsor this important legislation. Thanks to your continued advocacy, your representative has heard your voice and agreed to co-sponsor the PAST Act. As Congress convenes for the fall session, please be sure to take advantage of the momentum you have created by contacting your House lawmaker to thank him for his support, and encourage final passage of H.R. 1847.
As you know, H.R. 1847 will strengthen the Horse Protection Act and finally end the soring of Tennessee Walking Horses, Spotted Saddle Horses, and Racking Horses. The American Horse Council, along with most major national horse show organizations and state and local organizations, supports the PAST Act. To send a letter to your House lawmaker urging final passage of the bill, please click below.
The U.S. Senate appropriations committee is voting as early as next week on whether to continue protections for wild horses. The final vote could be used in December’s budget package and lead to the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses.
This is no time to rest. Tomorrow we’re launching a new billboard right outside the airport in Las Vegas. Nevada voters, political leaders and tourists will see our message loud and clear: #NoHorseSlaughter. Since Nevada has over half the nation’s wild horses living within its borders, it’s important to know where its Senators stand.
This comes on the heels of our petition drop last week — when we delivered more than 300,000 petition signatures to Sen. Heller’s Las Vegas office. We were there with nine boxes of signatures, and the local media was there to report on our movement in action.
Tomorrow, we’re also launching a billboard in Phoenix. But with votes expected as early as next week, we’re hoping to expand our advertising and grassroots pressure.Please donate now, and we’ll be in touch with you in the next 48 hours with other ways you can help during this critical stretch.
Last week, President Trump reached a deal with Congress to provide a short-term, 3-month budget extension.
Good or bad news for horses? The answer is neither. The final votes to allow or stop slaughter are now delayed until early-December.
This delay does NOT mean we can let up between now and then. The Administration is still pushing for a policy of mass slaughter of America’s wild horses. The appropriations debates in Congress are ongoing. Given the House bill’s inclusion of horse slaughter language, it is absolutely critical that the Senate produce a bill that protects horses from mass killing and slaughter. Then we’ll have a fighting chance of prevailing when the House and Senate negotiate final spending legislation.
The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee could vote on the Interior spending bill as early as next week.So NOW is the time to contact your Senators to weigh in to protect wild horses and burros!
Tell them to OPPOSE any 2018 spending legislation that would allow for the killing or sale for slaughter of healthy wild horses and burros.
Let’s keep up the pressure. Our petition has more than 300,000 signatures, and today we’re delivering it to Senator Dean Heller’s office in Las Vegas. We’re placing stories in publications across the country, and our team is in Washington D.C. meeting with legislators. You can support us right now by following up your call with an email to your Senators.
Keep it up!
-Suzanne Roy
P.S. We’re now also facing the reality of a longer campaign. Our hope is to sustain the same size and intensity of our campaign through the December votes. Your donations are needed to help us do it. Please contribute now.
Well they just keep coming. I received an urgent call last night about 5 foals ready to ship up in Washington State. I spoke with the gentlemen this morning and he will be calling in the next few days to arrange a time for us to pick them up. (Providing we can raise the funds necessary to keep saving these lives.) We are also on standby from our other folks in WA as well.
The larger number of babies, which at this point is 30 – 60 weanlings, will need to be picked up in CA, by September 17 or around that time. As usual in our world, there are no “for sures” with the exception of the fact that there will be a very large number of babies to save. We won’t know how many or how much help there will be. These babies lives will be at stake so we are hoping that y’all are on board to save them. At this time, we are really strapped from the last batch of 49 Yakama kids and the orphans from NV.The gelding of the stallions was not quite covered and the total bill was around $3300+. This included Nya’s vet visit and her blood draw.Unfortunately the wilder ones generate so much adrenaline that they require larger amounts of medication, and that medication is extremely expensive.
On the plus side of success however, you have once again “done the impossible”. ALL the stallions (now geldings) will be heading to Idaho and many of them already have their forever homes lined up. This is only possible due to the love and support y’all have showed for these amazing animals.
What will happen with the larger number of foals: We will be able to commit to as many as we can afford to transport, get blood work done, and be able to care for. These babies will need special munchies, and some of them may still need milk supplements. That is really expensive. However, many of them are older and will simply need some good grain and hay. But winter is coming and we cannot commit to horses we cannot properly care for.
It is not a space issue, but a financial one. We simply cannot fund this rescue from our rescue without lots of help.
The option for these babies if they are not adopted is not a very happy one. From what I understand they would be released back into the wild but without their moms or a band to protect them. Coming right before winter I believe that would be a death sentence. There is also a possibility that ALL the babies would come to Chilly Pepper in NV on their way to other rescues. However, that has to be fully funded as we cannot feed them “air” if funding did not come through.
Unfortunately, there are more horses than homes right now, but if everyone who had the ability stepped up and was willing to take on one or two, it would be a minimal task.
“The Plan’. IF, WE CAN RAISE ENOUGH FUNDS TO RESPONSIBLY SAVE THESE BABIES, the following will happen. (As Far As We Know LOL)
Matt and I would pick up the babies and take them to our old place in CA. We still have the nursery and the outside foal room as well as lots of shelter available for these babies. Then we would have to get a blood test for “Coggins” prior to bringing them to NV. It would take approximately 4 trips from the pick up point to Shingletown and about 2 hours each one way trip when loaded.
Then all the babies would need to be vetted and have their blood drawn.
Once the blood test results were in, we would begin transporting the babies to our facility in NV. However, again we simply cannot take any of these foals on without having a realistic and responsible budget to work with.
Worst case scenario, we would be looking at approximately 5,000 + miles to pick up the kids in WA and to pick up the babies. If we are close to the max number, we would take 4 round trips to Shingletown and then once we had blood work, health certificates etc. we would head back to NV. We are down to an older “back up truck” and we can haul 15 babies per load, give or take depending on size and health.
So it is once again AN EMERGENCY SITUATION for these babies. We are praying many of them are adopted prior to the pick up date, but have been asked to be standing by to help as many of the ones that we can.
So we are looking at up to 60 lives at stake. I am hoping folks want us to save them and are willing to help. We need adopters, sponsors, donors and lots and lots of prayers. Once again this is an overwhelming task that could be considered a logistical nightmare. OR, it can be a task where everyone steps up and together we get it done. After sorting all the 900+ kids in SD and so many people coming together to take on one or two, this seems like it should be so much easier. If 60 people stepped up each and every baby could have a wonderful home.
PLEASE, let’s save these beautiful little lives and give them a chance to actually have a life.
We can not take on all the babies if there are no other rescues in line to help out. We will take the max we can based on the ability to provide care, feed and what they need until they find their new homes.
This really is an emergency and with so many little lives at stake I am confident that we can come together and make this happen. God bless and thank you from all the little ones waiting for their trip to safety.
I really do not enjoy fundraising, but it is for the horses and the only way we can save them. It will cost thousands, but together we CAN “git ‘er done”!
I honestly was hoping to not even be involved, but once again God put it in front of me so we will do our best, as once again we come together with our Chilly Pepper Family.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
Last night, the House Rules Committee defied the overwhelming will of the American people and voted to block an amendment to stop the slaughter of America’s wild horses.
Our team is tracking every possible legislative path forward. In short — it’s complicated. We could block this in the U.S. Senate, or the entire appropriations process could be abandoned for what’s called a “continuing resolution.” Trust that we’ll be tracking every possibility, and activating our movement to pressure Congress to the right targets and at the right moments.
The House Rules Committee sided with the BLM and the special interests, defying sound science and the will of 80% of Americans who oppose the slaughter of America’s wild horses. But we do want to thank our champions who stood with us in the fight, including Rep. Dina Titus for her leadership in offering this amendment, Reps. Peter King and Carlos Curbelo for adding bipartisan support, Rep. Michalle Lujan Grisham for her steadfast opposition to horse slaughter, and Rep. Jared Polis who persisted as our opponents tried to bury the vote.
While this setback stings, our broader efforts are gaining momentum. We’re meeting with swing legislators on the Hill, getting more and more press attention, and launching ad and advocacy campaigns in swing states. We can win this.
Congress Must Address Federal Funding Before Moving to Major Agenda Items
As Congress returns from their August recess, they will immediately consider a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government beyond September 30, which marks the end of the current fiscal year
American Horse Council Makes Changes to Governance Structure
American Horse Council (AHC) President Julie Broadway and the AHC Board of Trustees are pleased to announce two governance changes to the AHC’s Board effective 2018.
The current 15-person Board of Trustees of the AHC is made up of individuals representing organizations that hold AHC Organizational Memberships at the “Strategic” level*. These organizations include The Jockey Club, American Association of Equine Practitioners, National Thoroughbred Racing Association, US Trotting Association, US Equestrian Federation, Thoroughbred Racing Association of North America, and the American Quarter Horse Association. Starting in January 2018, the AHC Board will add two “at large” seats.
The first “at large” seat will be filled by the current Chair of the Coalition of State Horse Councils. The second “at large” seat will be determined by applications.
In January the AHC President will call for applicants for the second “at large” seat from current AHC member organizations to serve a maximum two year term on the AHC Board. Only member organizations paying dues at the level designated for their size organization are eligible. Applicant’s organization must be willing to commit to the time needed to serve on the board and cover expenses necessary to attend meetings, etc.
In March the Board will review all applicants and elect a trustee based upon: 1) the need for that sector of industry to have a voice not currently represented by sitting trustees, and 2) the individual’s background and knowledge of the equine industry.
As part of the AHC’s strategic plan, a task force was formed to review the organization’s overall governance structure and ensure relevancy and best practices. Based upon their research it was recommended that additional voices and perspectives would be beneficial. The AHC is looking forward to these additions to the board and would like to express its appreciation to the Governance Task Force and Membership Task Force for their research and input.
As the national organization representing the equine industry in Washington, DC, the AHC strives to be inclusive while ensuring the board is a manageable size and the trustees are strongly committed to AHC’s mission. The AHC feels these additions will serve us well as we look ahead at challenges facing the equine industry.
To learn more about the AHC’s governance and opportunities to participate on ad hoc committees, task forces and standing committees go towww.horsecouncil.org/goverance.
*to view the organizational membership levels available, click here
If the current Appropriations bill is passed unchanged, America’s wild horses could drop to near extinction levels. The bill, as written, would lead to the mass killing of healthy wild horses and burros in holding and on the range.It would be a tragic and unprecedented mass slaughter.
Thankfully, a bipartisan amendment has been offered to stop this cruel policy before it begins. With a vote expected as soon as tomorrow, we need you to contact your Congressperson right now:
When you call your Representative, tell them:
Vote YES on the Titus/King/Polis/Curbelo/Lujan Grisham Amendment to protect wild horses
Vote YES on the Buchanan/Roybal-Allard/Royce/Blumenauer Amendment to stop horse slaughter
Votes this week may very well decide the fate of wild horses and burros in this country. If the amendment votes go against us and the appropriations bill passes, we could see horse slaughter plants opening and new mass killing of wild horses and burros beginning on the range and in holding pens. It’s unthinkable. And we have to stop it.
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It seems as though summer is in a hurry to leave. This morning was downright chilly. Fall is definitely in the air. The donkeys and mules feel it too. There has been a lot of running and bucking and farting happening in the pasture today. I have been getting calls from folks who are going to be needing to surrender their animals before winter comes. We have had a good summer for adopting out animals, with three donkeys and the adorable mini horse we have going to their new home shortly.
We have five animals in the rescue currently, four standard donkeys and a hinny, who all need a lot more training/handling/behavioral work done with them before they will be ready to be put up for adoption. We work with them almost daily, but it’s been slow going with this group. I am confident that they will come around in time, but in the mean time they need to eat and have their feet trimmed and receive veterinary care and it’s putting a strain on our bank account.
Those of you whom have been getting this newsletter for any amount of time, know how much I hate having to ask for help. I try not to do so unless we are in a pinch. We are not there yet, but heading that way, so if anyone can make a financial donation of any amount it will be very gratefully appreciated. Once the animals can no longer be on pasture our feed bills go up and I don’t feel right if we don’t have a “cushion” in case of an emergency veterinary issue arising. Our cushion does not have much stuffing in it right now. I thank you in advance for any help you might be able to offer. All donations are tax deductible.
Our annual Donkey and Mule Benefit Fall Festival will be held in Alstead at Millot Green again this year. The date is October 7th. I hope to see a lot of you there. It’s such a fun day. We will be having a big booth at Equine Affaire again this year as well. The dates for that are November 9th-12th. I hope to see many of you there as well. Both gigs are like an old home day reunion. I love seeing folks that I only get to see during these events. Equine Affaire comes on the heels of the Donkey Welfare Symposium again this year so hopefully I’ll be able to answer everyone’s donkey questions with new found knowledge!
Meet “Nya”, our latest “critical” orphan. We picked her up on Tuesday in Fernley, NV. I have to say she might win the contest for “worst physical condition” since Honeybandit. She is an absolute love, but starved to the point where she could have organ damage.
However, she is improving a teeny tiny bit every day. She did not leave the nursery or her air conditioner for the first several days, and is fighting some sort of internal issue. She has a cough and is here fighting for a chance to survive, thanks to Anne Hall and Anna Orchard, who pulled her in the nick of time.
Her temperature was all over the place, including a fever of 103+ when she came in to a low temp of 97. But we are watching her like a hawk and what we are seeing so far is positive. She needs lots of prayers and special groceries obviously.
We placed 9 of the 15 orphans we had, and then received an emergency call to pick up up 2 4-year old mares, prior to picking up Nya.
The wonderful news is that we have a place for ALL 14 of the stallions at a friend’s in Idaho who helps us adopt out these precious kids. She is ready and waiting for the 14, after they are gelded.
We are going through about $1000 worth of hay every week and a half, so unfortunately the boys are trying to eat all of the gelding funds.(Could they have a master plan? lol). But we have an appointment with the vet on Tuesday and we will geld as many as we have funds for. The minimum charge will be $200 per horse, (and a few of them are pretty big so they may take more meds.) So if we were fortunate and had enough funds to fully cover all 14, it would be a minimum of $2800, just for the gelding.
But the great part about that is once they are gelded we get to take them to their new place. This will be a huge and very much needed reduction in our hay bill. It is also imperative that we get these boys where they are going as I am already on standby for another group of mustangs who will be headed straight to slaughter.
I will keep y’all posted when I know more, but right now we do not have enough funds to save more while we feed these kids. So once again (as always), the decision will be out of my hands as far as how many we can save.
So far, y’all have pulled a miracle every time and we have not lost one. But again, these boys need to get gelded and off of our books so we have space to put additional rescued kids in.
So we went from 39 horses down to 30, but had the emergency call for Nya and the other two 4 year olds, so back up to 34 :( As usual, we are trying to make sure we place the horses as safely and quickly as we can. It is so much work feeding and taking care of nearly 40 horses with just myself and my hubby when he is here. So I can promise you we will never ever “hoard horses” lol.
If you can help us get these kids gelded and safely transported to their new homes, it will give us a chance to save some or all of the next batch that we are currently standing by for.
Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang has now joined forces with WIN (Wild Horses in Need). We will be operating under their 501c3 (ein number shown below) while we continue our rescue efforts.
We still work with LRTC, but per Willis Lamm, “You guys have really outgrown our operation and hopefully by reorganizing under WIN, you will be able to perform at the next higher level.”. So although logistically it worked out better for all involved for us to join up with WIN, we didn’t grow that much on purpose lol. This started out with us just providing critical care for orphan foals. But God has sent us all over the place and apparently His plan was bigger than mine. (Mine involved time off, but apparently I don’t really need that.)
The only difference this change brings is that any donations made from Sept 1, 2017 onward will be filed under our new tax id number. All donations are still tax deductible and so very much appreciated.
Below are two of our orphans who are now 4 years old. Due to a death in the family and the loss of the family home, we went and picked them up. Pistol has an injury to her leg from a roll of fencing that a worker inadvertently left in the field, but we are hopeful everything will turn out well.
So as always, there is never a dull moment. Thank you everyone who is part of our Chilly Pepper family. You are so appreciated and you make this happen. We truly appreciate each and every penny donated as they all add up to provide life saving feed and medicine for these kids.
God bless and thank you for helping us help these beautiful souls. Please share and if you cannot help with the gelding please spread the word. the sooner they are placed, the sooner we save on our hay bill and will be ready to save more lives.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
With all the political hurdles and jargon, let’s not lose sight of what we’re protecting.
Last week, I had the privilege of visiting the Onaqui range in Utah. Beautiful, majestic and healthy bands roaming the American countryside. Animals that roam on a tiny fraction of public lands. Animals that should be protected, not destroyed.
I visited the Onaqui range a day after the Utah pro-slaughter summit “delegation” visited. It was a carefully orchestrated sham, using their “field visit” to justify the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses. Our opponents claim wild horses are starving and suffering.
The reality: healthy horses. Look at the pictures yourself. There is no crisis on our public lands. There are healthy, wild horses thriving on the countryside. Horses that could be safely, economically, and humanely managed with fertility control.
Our government should be protecting these animals, not plotting how to eliminate them.
As September begins, there will be lots of talk about continuing resolutions, committee votes, and legislative markup. But let’s not forget what it all boils down to: the protection of America’s symbol of freedom.
Thank you for being with us,
Suzanne Roy
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