Tuesday, December 08, 2009

US Plan for Wild Horse Round-Up Faces Opposition

A government plan to round up and relocate thousands of wild horses in the West faces opposition from advocates who say the proposal is inhumane and unnecessary. At a hearing near Reno, two dozen advocates pressed the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's National Horse and Burro Advisory Board Monday for a moratorium on roundups until an independent audit of mustang numbers can be conducted. The government wants to carry out Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's plan to relocate as many as 25,000 wild horses from Western rangelands to pastures in the Midwest and East out of fear that the mustangs' fast-multiplying numbers will lead to mass starvation. While the panel adjourned late Monday without taking any formal action, at least two members, Gary Zakotnik and Vern Dooley, said afterward they support Salazar's proposal. ''It's the best and most cost-effective alternative I've seen to deal with the horse problem in my 10 years on the board,'' Zakotnik said. Among those opposed to the round-up are celebrities Sheryl Crow, Bill Maher and Lily Tomlin, who contend the situation is not as dire as the government describes, and the roundups are inhumane and unnecessary. At the hearing, advocates urged the government to remove cattle to free up public land for one of the most stirring symbols of the American West -- mustangs thundering freely across the range. They noted non-native cows far outnumber mustangs on the range...read more

The Humanure Holistic Roofing Co. should contact Crow, Maher and Tomlin, cause they are full of it.

1 comment:

Brett said...

Like I said before, we have finally found a form of overbreeding and neglect that the Animal Rights crowd is 100% behind!

By the way, let me harp on this "symbol of the American West" business for a moment. Does anyone think that these celebrities give a damn about the American West? Bill Maher makes millions of dollars every year by running Middle America, which I daresay includes the West, down. How about Sheryl Quarter Sheet of Toilet Paper Crow? The whole thing is a dopey publicity stunt, bought and paid for by people that are predominantly anti-meat and anti-capitalist, and the only reason these people have traction is because the general public is mostly urban and uninformed on rural issues.

I am in agreement that the Wild Horse and Burro Program, and the policies surrounding it, have problems. That being said, when I hear folks talk of letting the whole herd "run free" and that Unsle Sam ought to strip the land of "illegal" cattle, I have a very hard time taking them seriously. When these people study their history and learn a thing or two about the proper care and management of livestock, maybe I'll give them the time of day.