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Oct. 21, 1997 Unpublished news submitted by Betty Kelly, Wild Horse Spirit Wild Horse Survives Mountain Lion Attack. She came down for help. I was in an area in northern Nevada that shall remain anonymous for a wild horse project meeting early Saturday AM,10-18-97. I came earlier to check out any wild horses around the area. At dawn I noticed a lone horse upon the side of a mountain. She appeared injured, sick and weak through my binoculars. When I began taking videos of her (Hi8 42x camcorder), I noticed three coyotes around her. Obviously, the coyotes were waiting for the opportune time to finish her off. I knew it was just a matter of time if she was to be saved. I went for panels from Wild Horse Spirit while Shirley at first and then Bobbi from Wild Horse Spirit continued to lure her down off the mountain side with alfalfa to a safe place near a watering area where she could be trapped. Panels were set up by Bobbi and I. The horse could not have been more willing and pleased to have hay and quietly walked into the small corral. The veterinarian was called who came on site and agreed she needed veterinarian care and obvious protection from the coyotes. Steve who has helped Wild Horse Spirit gentle wild horses and his wife, Terri, an animal psychic, came and loaded her gently into their trailer. Terri said the horse told her she "just didn't want to be rushed" when loading but knew we would help her. She was transported to the equine hospital. Once she was tranquilized, the veterinarian was able to her assess her injuries. Surprisingly, her injuries were from a mountain lion bite over the back of her neck and over her right ear.The wound over her neck was felt to be approximately a week to ten days old. Miraculously, she had survived such an attack! She would not have survived another couple of days. There are two predators of wild horses, one is man and the other is the mountain lion. The mountain lion is a natural predator of wild horses. The lion was only doing what he must do to survive and I respect that totally. A wild horse herd population in Northern California is controlled only by the mountain lion as the predator. In other herd areas, the mountain lion has been killed to critically low numbers by man destroying nature's natural predator of the wild horse. When I was waiting for Steve and Terri to come to the site to load and transport her to the hospital, I laid down quietly by the corral. She came and stood by me, feeling safe, munching on the alfalfa intermittently despite her obvious discomfort. She will spend a few days at the hospital for treatment. Then she will be brought to Wild Horse Spirit in Washoe Valley for continued treatment and recovery and a "little groceries" as the vet says, as she is underweight. She will be adopted to a pre-qualified adopter through Wild Horse Spirit. The adopter who gets "Jenny" will have one special and lucky wild horse. The Nevada Brand Inspection Department was very cooperative in allowing Wild Horse Spirit to intervene to save this horse.
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Oct. 23, 1997 Submitted by Jerri Larsen
Wednesday October 22 Livingston Enterprise Paper John Sullivan, Editor and Publisher Stephen Matlow, Managing Editor email: entprs@alpinet.net Article provided by Associated Press (AP) Lovell, WY Livingston, Montana The Bureau of Land Management rounded up 30 head of the Pryor Mountain Wild Horses Tuesday, using a helicopter to drive the frightened animals into corrals to await an unknown fate. The BLM says the roundup is necessary to keep the herd at 138 head. It plans to cull about 60 animals and place them up for adoption Nov. 1. Animal-rights groups and others are trying to stop the roundup, arguing it is both unnecessary and illegal.
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Dear Sir: Your reference to "unknown fate" was insulting to the tens of thousands of people who have sucessfully adopted feral horses and burros and the many fine people who have devoted their lives to helping care for these horses in the BLM program, as well as lacking in any sense of journalistic responsibility. That “some” wild horses and / or burros end up in U.S. slaughterhouses after Title has passed from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to private parties, is neither new news nor is it shocking. A percentage of all horses no matter what breed or type end up in slaughteryards. Although many would prefer, I among them, that no horse ever be sent to slaughter, there has been NO documentation that horses who have been adopted from the BLM are slaughtered at a higher rate than any other horses. The BLM adoption program requires that an adopter be at least 18 years old, a resident of the United States, and have no convictions for inhumane treatment of animals. Each horse or burro must have a minimum of 400 sq. ft. corral, 6’ high for horses over 18 months and 5 1/2’ for horses under 18 months or burros, with appropriate shelter. The adopter must provide proper feed, health care, including foot care. No person can receive Title to more than 4 horses or burros in a single year. The adoption fee is $125.00 for a horse or $75.00 for a burro. At the end of one year the adopter may apply for Title (ownership) of the horse or burro. A reduced fee may be offered for those animals which have medical problems, are aged or for some other reason are less desirable and might not be adopted at full price. This is a reasonable policy considering that the horse or burro may need additional costs. I adopted a young colt that required care for an umbilical hernia under a reduced fee. An authorized BLM officer, a person who has received compliance check training through the BLM, a professional person such as a veterinarian, trainer or farrier must certify that the animal has been well taken care of and is in good condition on a Application for Title before ownership of the animal is given. It is a Federal Offense to falsify this report. Once Title has passed the horse or burro is no longer protected by The Wild Horse and Burro Act and is considered a domestic equine. Many horses including former BLM horses do go to slaughter, not only old, sick or injured horses but young animals. Although equine rescue has become vogue in the last 5 years or so, the sad fact is that no group or organization can guarantee that they can protect a horse for its lifetime if it leaves their care. If a group adopts out as few as 100 horses a year, in just 3 1/2 years they will have to do an inspection every day to check on the horses. Having been involved in equine rescue for 17 years, I know this is impossible. How many of your readers know where their first horse is? The BLM certainly needs to offer a stronger support system to adopters, through pretraining of adopters, counseling and hands-on training during the gentling process, and offering of more gentled horses. This is done in many BLM districts but not all. The use of volunteers to do compliance checks and other support programs is being done but more is needed. Some of you who are concerned that former BLM horses are being sold for slaughter might help prevent this by volunteering for one of the adopter support programs which the BLM offers. Although your slant on this subject may sell more newspapers, it certainly shows your lack of responsibile reporting or interest in providing facts to your readers. I invite you to visit the LIFE Foundation’s website at: http://equinenet.org/life/ and learn more about wild horses and burros. Barbara Eustis-Cross |
Wild horses on private lands are not protected under the
Wild Horse and Burro act and are under the authority of Nevada Department
of Agriculture. They are considered estray (lost domestic) horses.