NO HORSE LEFT BEHIND! – 49 Mustangs Saved from Slaughter!
Yes 49…. WE DID IT!!! Thanks to everyone who stepped up we were able to save the lives of ALL 49 mustangs we were called to help.After these mustangs are rounded up, we get a courtesy phone call and we are the only chance they have to avoid being shipped directly to slaughter.
Initially we were not supposed to bring any horses back to Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang. But how do you look deep into the eyes of the stallions and simply walk away. CPMM is one of the few places who can take on wild stallions, and no one else was going to step up. As they stood there patiently staring at me, the decision was made.
How can you walk away from horses you CAN save, and look in the mirror? Yes, it makes things extremely difficult at times, and is much more expensive as we incur the gelding costs before we can place them, not to mention stallions can be a lot of work. However, the only alternative was to look at them and say “nope – you are too much trouble – die a horrible death”, and it was not an option as we did have the capability of saving them.
So not one horse was left behind – this time…. Unfortunately I have already been warned the phone will be ringing again in a week or two.
But right now we need to concentrate on our orphans, and getting our boys gelded. We cannot place them without them being gelded which means none of the next group of stallions have any chance to be saved.
We now have 3 babies who are on Foal Lac Powder ($149 per bag if we drive 3 hours to pick it up.) They are also on Foal Lac Pellets, ($99 per bag) and we are supplementing with Baby Goat’s milk as it is less expensive and easy to digest and has lots of fat. Add to that their hay, grain and medical care and it eats up the budget quickly.
I am really praying hard that some of the monies that were “promised” for this last rescue come through. We had some folks pledge enough money to make this possible without total devastation to our entire budget.
Unfortunately those funds have not yet arrived, which means our budget is nearly depleted. So until these funds are replaced, we won’t be able to save the next group. The cost of this rescue averaged about $250 (per horse) x 49, which is pretty good when you consider that covers saving them, vetting them, delivering them safely to their new homes and all fuel costs.
Unfortunately, this does not include feeding and caring for the stallions or getting them vetted. We need to buy hay asap. The horses came in pretty thin and beat up and they need extra groceries.
What makes things even harder is that Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang, (and all of YOU who helped save the 900+), spent thousands to save the horses at ISPMB. All the funds were supposed to be reimbursed when we went the second time, but we all know how expensive rescue is. It simply did not happen. So our funds were already depleted immeasurably.
However, that was a successful life saving rescue for over 700 horses. There are still horses left, and we offered to place more through Chilly Pepper. However, due to things beyond our control, that did not happen. So although together we helped save over 700, as many as 100+ may face a “merciful end to their lives”. This sounds horrible, and breaks my heart, but at least none of them will face slaughter like the ones we are rescuing at this time.
There is no choice of where to concentrate at this point. A quick painless end to life or a devastating trip through slaughter, where they are often butchered while still alive – the answer is clear – save as many of the Yakama ponies as we can.
Kim Clark took 25 of the mares and foals at “A Little Piece of Heaven” in Idaho. She is a huge part of our success as she is part of the team that finds homes for these horses.
Wendy & Mike Hanson at Mountain Ranch Equine Rehab took 8 to gentle and match up with “their person”. They work with troubled youth and are using some of the wild ones for therapy for some of our amazing heroes (our beloved veterans).
Kayleen and Clint, out of Oregon, took on 5 fillies and young mares to train and re-home, and we have 10 stallions and a mare at Chilly Pepper.
(We like folks to know that they are actually safe!)
Below, meet the newest orphan “My Heart in the Sky” aka SKY for short, with Rocky and no-name in the background (My niece is picking “no-name” out a very special name. lol) Sky is named after our beloved friend Les Stedronsky, may she rest in all God’s glory. We love you and we miss you so, Les!
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS HAPPEN! We so appreciate the love and support and I am working on Thank You’s as quickly as I can. We still need your help. So please let’s keep saving lives. Together we are making a difference!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
We need to get on the air. In the last 48 hours, thousands of you shared our web video helping to get our message out. We’re starting to be heard — we must prevent the slaughter of nearly 100,000 wild horses and burros.
The Bureau of Land Management does not have the power to overturn the ban on horse slaughter. Only Congress can do that. So we’re making it crystal clear: with their votes, Congress will be deciding to:
support science and protect these iconic animals
OR
side with the special interests and slaughter nearly 100,000 wild horses and burros
It’s the truth. And the choice Congress has to make. The initial text of the Interior Appropriations bill maintains the ban on slaughter, but we are told an amendment will be voted on next week to add BLM’s proposed language allowing slaughter. With your help, we’re going to make sure they understand exactly what’s at stake.
It’s #WildWednesdays – a unified call-in day for wild horses! Supporters all around the country are making their voices heard for wild horses, and we need you to join them!
In less than a week, a key House committee will decide whether the ban on slaughtering wild horses is removed from the 2018 budget bill. The lives of nearly 100,000 wild horses and burros are on the line.
Please make a quick, polite phone call to your Representative at 202-225-3121 right now. You can say:
“I’m (your name), calling from (your town). As your constituent, I ask Rep. (rep’s name) to reject the BLM’s 2018 budget request to slaughter thousands of America’s wild horses and burros. Please vote to maintain the current ban on slaughtering these iconic animals.”
Please make a quick call right now – it will only take a minute and it can make a big difference!
1) The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2018 budget asks Congress to lift a ban on destroying healthy mustangs and burros.
2) If the ban is lifted, wild horses and burros in holding facilities will be killed or sold to slaughter. The remaining “excess” population will be slaughtered, possibly gunned-down in the wild. Up to 92,000 healthy horses will die.
3) The Congressional markup to decide if this slaughter provision is included will happen in the next two weeks.
If this sounds like the worst-case-scenario for our cause, it is. If Congress accepts the BLM’s budget provision, we would see an unprecedented mass slaughter of healthy horses and burros. It would lead to horses being slaughtered for human consumption. It would destroy our nation’s icons of freedom. It would be a tragedy.
WHAT’S HAPPENING: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is scheduled to testify before the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee this Wednesday, June 21. He will defend his Fiscal Year 2018 budget, which asks Congress to lift the ban on destroying healthy wild horses and burros and selling these cherished animals for slaughter.
WHY YOU SHOULD ACT: The Senators on this subcommittee play a key role in determining whether as many as 92,000 wild horses and burros will be slaughtered and their wild populations reduced to near-extinction levels.
WHAT TO SAY: Call your Senator, or subcommittee leadership, if your Senator is not included on the list below. Suggested message: “My name is _____ calling from _____. Please ask Senator _____ to strongly oppose the BLM’s budget request to lift the ban on killing healthy horses and burros and selling these animals ‘without restriction,’ which would lead to the brutal slaughter of thousands. Please require the BLM to use humane birth control, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences, not killing to manage our wild horses and burros.”
WHO YOU SHOULD CALL:
ALASKA RESIDENTS: Call Senator Lisa Murkowski, 202-224-6665. Follow up with a personal message: CLICK HERE
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS: Call Senator Dianne Feinstein, 202-224-3841. If this is busy call her office in San Francisco (415-393-0707) or Los Angeles (310-914-7300). Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
MARYLAND RESIDENTS: Call Senator Chris Van Hollen, 202-224-4654. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
MONTANA RESIDENTS: Call Senator Jon Tester, 202-224-2644. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
NEW MEXICO RESIDENTS: Call Senator Tom Udall, 202-224-6621. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
OREGON RESIDENTS: Call Senator Jeff Merkley, 202-224-3753. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE(Choose “share your opinion on bills or other issues”)
RHODE ISLAND RESIDENTS: Call Senator Jack Reed, 202-224-4642. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
VERMONT RESIDENTS: Call Senator Patrick Leahy, 202-224-4242. Follow up by sending a personal message: CLICK HERE.
RESIDENTS OF ALL OTHER STATES: Call Subcommittee Chair Lisa Murkowski, 202-224-6665 and Ranking Member Tom Udall: 202-224-6621. Even though you are not a constituent, let them know that you are calling because our public lands and our wild horses and burros belong to all Americans, and all Americans should have a say in how they are managed
Remember: Please be polite and respectful in order to be the most effective voice possible for our wild horses and burros! Thank you!!
Tens of thousands of innocent, federally protected wild horses and burros are in danger of being killed or sold for slaughter if Congress approves the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) 2018 budget request. The BLM is asking Congress to lift the ban on destroying healthy mustangs and burros and selling those in holding facilities for slaughter. If Congress approves this request, the mass killing of the 46,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities and the 46,000 “excess” animals on the range would begin.
We can stop this, but only if your elected representatives in Washington, DC hear from you! Our wild horses and burros don’t have a voice, so we must speak up on their behalf to save them from a horrific fate… It only takes a minute – please take action below – today!
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Thanksgiving Coffee Company and the launch of Wild Grounds – a coffee for a cause (featuring the beautiful imagery of Kimerlee Curyl) that benefits the American Wild Horse Campaign, and our work to keep wild horses wild!
Not only can you feel good knowing that your morning coffee will be helping wild horses, but you are also supporting a fantastic company and a quality product. Thanksgiving Coffee is 2017’s Roaster of the Years from Roast Magazine. All the coffee is certified fair-trade from the farming co-ops they have known for years. It’s all organic and shade-grown, which is vital for preserving precious jungle forest and providing bird habitat. And, they are a B corporation, which certifies their commitment to environmental and social justice.
So what are you waiting for? Make helping wild horses the very first thing you do every day!
We knew this was coming, and now our worst fears have been realized.
Yesterday, the Trump Administration released its budget request to Congress for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and it literally places the lives of over 90,000 wild horses and burros in jeopardy.
The Administration is asking Congress to lift the ban on killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling them for slaughter. The BLM wants permission to destroy “unadoptable” horses and burros as well as those it considers to be “excess” on the range. If Congress approves this request, the mass killing of the 46,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities and the 46,000 “excess” animals on the range would begin.
We must make sure Congress stands firm against slaughtering our national icons!
This is going to be an intensive 4-6 month campaign to defeat this lethal budget proposal in Congress.
Right now, we need you to do these three things IMMEDIATELY!
1. Send a strong and unified message to Congress.
2. #JoinTheBand to send a tidal wave of public support for wild horses and burros on social media on May 30.
3. Donate so that we can elevate our grassroots and legislative campaigns to the seismic level necessary to save our national icons!
The fight is on to save our wild horses and burros! We’re ready, but we NEED your help. Let’s protect our wild horses and burros from this Administration’s lethal plans… Take action today!
On May 30, we want to send out a loud message calling on legislators to protect America’s wild horses, and we will do so using a platform called Thunderclap. It’s a tool that allows people to pledge a tweet or Facebook post that will be posted along with thousands of other supporters on the same day. Think of it as a massive flash mob on social media with a collective message calling on the world to Stand With America’s Wild Bands. It’s completely secure and will post a single, one-time message on your behalf. If all of our supporters take part, we can reach millions of people on May 30 when the message is blasted out. Only the power of the people can save our national heritage animals. Spreading the word is absolutely critical, and now it couldn’t be easier! If you’re With The Band, please sign up today!
The wild horses living in the Red Desert Complex in Wyoming need your help! The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a massive roundup and removal of 2,096 horses, or 80% of the 2,620 horses residing in and around the Complex that includes the Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, and Stewart Creek Herd Management Areas. The BLM’s goal is to reach a low Appropriate Management Level of only 524 wild horses on 753,000 acres of public land. Please take a minute and submit your comments urging the BLM to consider more humane and effective alternatives to the proposed removal of Wyoming wild horses from their homes on the range… Click below to take action today!
Disaster is looming for America’s wild horses and burros. Congress just called for accelerated roundups and removal of tens of thousands of mustangs and burros from their homes on the range.
Beginning in July, helicopters will again descend our western public lands to terrorize and traumatize these peaceful animals.
Tiny foals will be stampeded for miles. Foals will be ripped from their mothers’ sides. Mares will be forcibly taken from their stallions… only to be separated forever and loaded onto trailers for their final ride.
In our lifetimes, more wild horses could disappear from on our public lands.
Contribute to the Wild Horse Crisis Fund to protect these innocent victims of government brutality.
Thank you for standing up for America’s wild horses and burros – only the power of the people can save them!
– Suzanne Roy, Executive Director
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The American Wild Horse Campaign is dedicated to preserving American wild horses and burros in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.
The American Wild Horse Campaign is 501(c)3 non-profit. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our work.
This is it: Your chance to stand with tens of thousands of citizens in defense of America’s iconic mustangs and burros. Sign up today to make your voice heard!
On May 30, our collective voices will rise up on social media to take a stand against mass roundups and slaughter of these cherished animals. As a champion for these national icons, you won’t want to miss the chance to join in this groundbreaking campaign.
Only the power of the people can save our national heritage animals,. Spreading the word is absolutely critical, and now it couldn’t be easier!. We’re using a platform called Thunderclap. It’s a tool that allows people to pledge a tweet or Facebook post that will be posted along with thousands of other supporters on May 30. Think of it as a massive flash mob on social media with a collective message calling on the world to Stand With America’s Wild Bands.
It’s completely secure and will post a single, one-time message on your behalf. If all of our supporters take part, we can reach millions of people on May 30 when the message is blasted out.
The American Wild Horse Preservation has a detailed list of the BLM summer roundups. Please visit their website to read more about each of the locations and impact on these groups of equines.
The BLM is planning to remove up to 100 “excess” wild horses from outside the Silver King HMA, and to remove 130 “excess” wild horses from in and around the Triple B HMA.
As of August 8, no horses have been captured. BLM reports that it is acclimating the horses to the bait traps before commencing capture operations.
Blawn Wash Roundup, Western Utah
Estimated Start: August 10, 2016
The BLM plans to conduct a helicopter roundup to capture and remove approximately 150 wild horses from State, private, and BLM lands in the area of the Blawn Wash Herd Area located in Beaver County. The BLM “zeroed out” this area for wild horses, after giving away the most productive habitat area to the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and then determining that the remaining habitat area could not support horses. SITLA leases the land for livestock grazing and in 2015 sued the BLM seeking more wild horse roundups.
The BLM plans to capture 100 wild horses and return 50 horses — 25 studs and 25 mares — to the range. The BLM’s current “appropriate” management level is just 75 to 150 wild horses on 61,000 acres of public land and the estimated current population is just 202 mustangs. The BLM is claiming that the roundup is necessary because wild horses are grazing outside of the HMA in areas affected by the 2015 Soda wildfire, which burned close to 280,000 acres in Oregon and Idaho. The agency claims that the horses are interfering with restoration plans in the fire area. However, the agency’s own decision record states that only 15 wild horses from the Three Fingers HMA have roamed outside the HMA.
The agency also claims it wants to “prevent further deterioration” of rangeland resources by removing 50 wild horses while continuing to authorize the grazing of over 1,600 cattle in the two allotments that overlap and surround the HMA.
Of interest: The permittees for these grazing areas provide beef, via the Country Natural Beef coop, to Whole Foods, a company that claims to source its meat products from humane and environmentally responsible sources. Captured horses will be sent to the BLM’s Wild Horse Corrals in Oregon, where many of the mares are expected to be used in the BLM’s gruesome and controversial sterilization experiments.
This is an Action Alert from the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign.
Please sign by July 27, 2016
As the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) resumes summer roundups that stampede wild horses — including recently born foals — in extreme desert heat, the agency is holding a public hearing in Nevada on the use of helicopters in wild horse and burro roundups
The meeting will take place on July 28, 2016 at 6:00 P.M at the BLM Battle Mountain District Office in Battle Mountain, Nevada.
This is the opportunity for the public to weigh in for a more humane and sane wild horse management policy!
Please sign the petition below to tell BLM to prioritize humane, on-the-range management of wild horses, use helicopters only as a last resort, and strengthen the humane standards that guide wild horse handling and treatment by the BLM. We will hand deliver your petition signatures at the meeting on July 28, so please sign today!
The following article comes from the American Wild Horse Preservation.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is seeking public input on its plan to conduct a roundup and birth control program in and around the Pine Nut Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) – which includes the nearby Fish Springs area outside Gardnerville, Nevada. AWHPC is proud of our partnership with the Pine Nut Wild Horse Advocates to keep the Fish Springs wild horses wild and believes that this program needs to be expanded. Please take a minute to submit your comments urging the BLM to continue the humane birth control program and forgo the proposed roundup and removal of horses. The Fish Springs humane management program happened because of public support – please show your support for the Pine Nut wild horses by submitting your comments today.
The following post comes from the American Wild Horse Preservation.
These are dangerous times on Capitol Hill as public lands ranchers and their political allies in Congress and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) make their moves to lift the prohibition on killing healthy wild horses and burros and selling them for slaughter. Their agenda is clear: mass roundups and removals, mass killing/slaughter of more than 80,000 wild horses and burros (those in holding and those considered “excess” on the range), and the surgical sterilization of wild horses and burros that remain on the range after the mass removals take place.
We need you to weigh in NOW by contacting your elected representatives in Congress. Please urge them to resist any efforts to remove the ban on slaughtering America’s wild horses and oppose any language that creates a back door route to slaughter for these iconic animals.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wants to conduct yet another wild horse roundup in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) in Wyoming. Previous roundups in this HMA in 2013 and 2014 resulted in the deaths of scores of Adobe Town horses. The BLM is spending millions of our tax dollars on perpetual roundups in this area for the direct benefit of the wealthy and powerful Rock Springs Grazing Association, whose members receive millions more in taxpayer subsidies to graze their livestock on our public lands in the Adobe Town HMA.
This roundup will include a “research project” in conjunction with the University of Wyoming that will place radio collars on approximately 15-40 mares to gather data about “habitat selection, seasonal use and movement between habitats, and the migration patterns with and outside of the HMA.” Unfortunately, valid data on natural behavior will be scarce after a traumatic helicopter roundup that removes 46% of the herd and shatters the horses’ close-knit family/ social structures.
Hi, Sending out a quick update to keep everyone informed. We are in a “hurry up and wait” state, but thanks to y’all we are ready for that call.
I am happy to share some good news. Thanks to the wet weather, the roundups in Yakima, WA have been postponed. This is good for all the babies as they have a better chance of spending more time with their moms. Of course we are praying the roundups simply do not happen, but at least the older the babies are, the better chance they have of surviving.
So far, we have not heard any news about the Warm Springs roundups having started yet either. Once again, the weather is a big factor. PTL! So for now, we have been blessed. Please send your prayers that the roundups don’t start.
On the home front, we are still prepping for babies. Things can change in a heart beat, and you have to be ready to go. Prior to last year, our babies came locally in CA or from NV off the range. So although that is our normal source, we are now on board for the “slaughter babies” once again this year. We are trying to establish a “direct relationship” with the auction yard. Once these horses are brought in, they go straight to Canada as the gentleman running the operation has a direct contract with Bouvry Exports, in Alberta Canada.
In the meantime, we are also gentling and training the wild ones that are here. I am so happy to report that Lacy has made a huge break through and she is bonding up nicely. Prior to this she would bite and was very unsure and unhappy with any type of touching. She is going to make an amazing partner for someone and will be available for adoption. If you would like to see Lacy’s progress, you can follow the attached links. :)
“Seanna” has also made huge strides and her training is coming along nicely. “Go Go Boots” is just a tiny bit behind her, but we will be needing homes not only for these girls, but for Cicero. Cicero is from Yakima Washington and is coming on a year old. He will need someone with experience, but promises to be an amazing horse. He is very spirited and intelligent (shown below).
We so appreciate everyone who is part of this rescue and helping us keep these horses safe. Please share far and wide so we can find forever homes for these horses.
The U.S. Forest Service announced that it has withdrawn its notice to round up and impound the wonderful Salt River wild horses who live in the Tonto National Forest near Phoenix, Arizona. This is a direct result of public pressure and a great example of how our government and elected officials can and should listen to the will of the people!
Since August, we have worked with our coalition partner the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group (SRWHMG) toward the cancellation of the impound notice in order to allow time to negotiate an agreement for the long-term protection of the horses on Salt River.
Just last week, U.S. Congressman Matt Salmon and seven of his House colleagues sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, who oversees the Forest Service, asking the agency to listen to public, which wants these horses preserved. Previously, Senators John McCain and Jeff Flake and Governor Doug Ducey expressed their strong support on behalf of their constituents for protection of these horses.
Huge congratulations go to the SRWHMG and its president Simone Netherlands for their tireless work to protect these horses. They have organized tremendous public support and have spent years doing critically-important, boots-on-the-ground work as stewards and documentarians of this very special herd.
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