Tag Archives: In Defense of Animals

Horse Slaughter Plant Approved in New Mexico

In a disturbing move that opens the door for horse slaughter to resume across the U.S., a federal court ruling just gave a New Mexico slaughterhouse the green light to kill horses. This is the first time a horse slaughter plant has been approved to operate on U.S. soil since 2007. Companies in Iowa and Missouri also plan to open horse slaughterhouses. While the Court of Appeal granted a temporary injunction, we need to push for an all-out ban.

Now, more than ever, your legislators need to hear from you in support of the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act! The SAFE Act would ban horse slaughter in the U.S., as well as banning the export of horses to other countries to be slaughtered for human consumption. Please contact your legislators today to urge them to support the SAFE Act. It is important that legislators know that their constituents support the humane treatment of America’s wild and domestic horses.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

Upcoming Appeal Hearing for the Twin Peaks Wild Horses and Burros

For the first time in the history of the Wild Horse Act, an Appeals Court will determine whether the BLM’s interpretation of the Act is consistent with Congress’s intent to protect these living symbols of the West over 40 years ago. The Twin Peaks roundup resulted in the permanent removal of more than 1,500 wild horses and 160 burros from the range. Fifteen more were killed and 54 mares were injected with immuno-contraceptives before being released. As of August 2012, 977 of the wild horses removed from the range are still incarcerated and 158 more have died. The BLM failed to consider current data regarding ecological resources in the herd management area, and also illegally harassed and captured horses that were not even considered “excess” by their own inappropriate standards. Don’t miss this important hearing – please fill the courtroom and show your support for the Twin Peaks wild horses and burros.

If you are able to be in Southern California in late August, please help plaintiffs IDA and Dream Catcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary fill the courtroom to show your support for the Twin Peaks wild horses and burros! An appeal hearing on the groundbreaking Twin Peaks wild horse lawsuit is scheduled for August 29th at 2 p.m. at the Ninth Circuit Courthouse in Pasadena, California.

What: Appeal Hearing for the Twin Peaks Wild Horses and Burros

When: Thursday, August 29, 2 pm – please arrive no later than 1:30 pm

Where: Ninth Circuit Courthouse, 125 South Grand Ave., Pasadena, CA

No recording devices, cameras, cell phones or electronic devices are allowed in the courtroom. We suggest not bringing any such devices into the courthouse. Photo identification is required to get into the courthouse. If you are planning to attend, RSVP by sending an e-mail to nicolem@idausa.org.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

New Report Shines a Harsh Spotlight on the Government’s Wild Horse and Burro Program

The National Academy of Science (NAS) recently released a report on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro program and determined that the program can’t continue “business as usual.” The report provided numerous suggestions for improvement and found that the BLM has not used scientifically rigorous methods to estimate population, model effects of management actions, or to assess forage on rangelands. Further, the report found that the current practice of rounding up and removing wild horses actually leads to higher rates of population growth, rather than curbing it. Please click here for more information and to join IDA in asking Sec. Jewell to carefully consider NAS recommendations and immediately stop all roundups.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

AP Story Spotlights IDA’s Fight for Wild Horses

IDA’s legal challenge to the U.S. government’s “management” of wild horses received extensive exposure in an Associated Press story by Scott Sonner that ran in newspapers around the country this week. Click here to read the story in the San Francisco Chronicle, then please post your own comments!

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

Wild Horse Lawsuit Update

You are invited to attend the next hearing March 24, 2 p.m., Sacramento, California

Our lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues! We won’t give up, and you’re invited to attend the next hearing in Sacramento. We want the Judges to know that there is a large contingent of people who really care about protecting wild horses and burros. And we need you to balance out the BLM people who will be in the gallery, silently willing the Court to rule in their favor.

When: March 24, 2011, 2 p.m. (Note: you should check the Court’s website listed below on March 23, or check with IDA, to confirm the hearing hasn’t been postponed, which does happen occasionally.)

What: Next hearing in the case of IN DEFENSE OF ANIMALS; DREAMCATCHER WILD HORSE AND BURRO SANCTUARY; BARBARA CLARKE; CHAD HANSON; LINDA HAY, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT; KEN SALAZAR, Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior; ROBERT ABBEY, Director of the Bureau of Land Management; KEN COLLUM, Field Manager of Eagle Lake Field Office, Defendants.

Continue reading Wild Horse Lawsuit Update

Oppose BLM Plan to Remove 1,726 Wild Horses from Northeastern Nevada

The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments on a plan to round up 1,726 wild horses from the Triple B, Maverick Medicine and Antelope Valley BLM Herd Management Areas and the Cherry Spring Wild Horse Territory, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The roundup is scheduled for July 2011, in the heat of the desert summer.

They will leave behind as few as 472 wild horses in this vast, 1.7 million-acre public lands complex. Meanwhile, the BLM authorizes nine times that number of privately-held, farmed animals to graze the same area. Click here to submit your comments today!

In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

Save 50 Nevada Mustangs from Roundup and Convince BLM to Adopt Humane Standards

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a roundup of 294 wild horses in Nevada’s Augusta Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA). Unlike other capture plans, the BLM’s Winnemucca District Office intends to treat mares with PZP fertility control and release all horses captured from within the HMA back to the range.

However, approximately 50 horses living outside of the HMA need your help to stay with their families free on the range. The horses are living in an area that was once designated as wild horse habitat but “zeroed out” for wild horses to accommodate grazing of privately-held farmed animals.

The agency is accepting public comments on this plan. Please urge the BLM to cancel the removal of any horses, while making the treat-and-release plan as humane as possible. Click here to submit your comments before the Friday, November 5 deadline.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

Oppose Massive Roundup of Nearly 1,600 Wild Horses in Wyoming’s Red Desert

Last week, at least 54 members of Congress wrote to the Interior Department demanding a halt to the wild horse roundups. This important action would not have happened without your voice opposing each of these unnecessary roundups. While the BLM is moving forward with its wild horse roundup schedule, despite overwhelming public and Congressional opposition, we must keep up the pressure.

In October, the BLM plans to remove nearly 1,600 wild horses – 80 percent of the estimated mustang population living in the Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Areas in the pristine Red Desert region of Wyoming. This is another unnecessary roundup to cater to the private livestock industry, which uses the same lands for cheap grazing. Click here to take action to oppose this roundup.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org

Tell Government to Fix Fertility Control Proposal for Idaho Wild Horses

The Department of Interior (DOI) continues its business-as-usual mismanagement of wild horses and burros, catering to ranchers and other commercial interests. This week the DOI’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is carrying out a dangerous summer roundup in northeastern Nevada. IDA filed an administrative appeal on this Tuscarora Complex roundup – we’ll keep you informed of the results of that action. For an update click here.

Please act today on a new BLM proposal to manage wild horses in Idaho by using contraceptives. While this proposal is a step in the right direction, we have grave concerns regarding the artificially and dangerously low number of horses allowed in these Herd Management Areas and the use of helicopters to round up the horses. Please click here to tell the BLM that this proposal is a good first step, but changes are needed to ensure the safety and well being of the horses.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org