WE MUST SAVE THESE BEAUTIFUL MUSTANGS FROM ERADICATION!
I received an e-mail from Susannah, Alex's lovely wife, regarding these beautiful and legendary icons of the American West and was positively shocked and horrified at the legislation that had been slyly pushed through that would see the near-decimation of the American Mustang population. I am including her e-mail below and the websites to link to should you like to add your name to a petition in order to stop this senseless slaughter and to view more information about this travesty and the efforts being made to stop it.
Hello everyone
This was just brought to my attention when reading a horse related magazine. Last year, thanks to Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana), a 'rider' was slipped into the federal budget effectively eradicating the 1971 Act, Wild Free Horse and Burro Act - now the door is wide open to round up and slaughter all but a few hundred of them. How shocking and saddening to find this has been going on - and nothing in the press? Certainly not enough to cause a ripple. Guess they didn't want the public outcry of 1971....They snuck it under our noses, but thankfully, there are people out there keeping an eye. It was stopped in 1971 - it can be stopped again. Once again, the BLM proves itself to be open to political pressure and financial gain, disregarding their purpose as guardians of Americas wildlife and environment - their statements based upon their agenda to prove mustangs are a nuisance animal, whether it's true or not,- and independent studies say otherwise - as always, comes down to money, specifically, the money in raising cattle. No mustangs, more land to graze cattle.
There is a viable alternative to slaughtering these horses and burros, it's called 'In The Wild Management'. I would like to think that you do not have to be a horselover and enthusiast to comprehend the awful nature of this proposition. Anyone who has ever witnessed, live or on film, such a roundup and the subsequent transportation to and actual slaughter,can tell you that none of these proceedings in any way honor the spirit and dignity of these magnificent creatures, nor does it honor the spirit and dignity of us as custodians of this planet and it's creatures. And even less, does it honor the historical value of their ancestry, and the gift their ancestors made of their lives to the pioneers that settled America, and the Native Americans that fought for it and helped shape this lands destiny...Anyone who has witnessed them chased by helicopters, fourwheelers and trucks,- the fear in their eyes, the screams as mares are seperated from their foals, herd and family units torn apart and slammed into seperate pens, the desperate crashing of stallions against the corrals that hold them, fighting for their lives and the lives of the herd they have raised, led and protected, the frantic nickering and anxious pacing up and down the fence, looking for their known ones, anyone with an intact sensibility will tell you what a horror show it is.
Almost worse is the awful quiet that eventually falls over the holding pens as exhaustion sets in, broken only by a soft, broken whinny here and there....the air of resignation and defeat. It is nauseating. And for what? Grazing for cattle, lining a few pockets.
These horses' forefathers helped build America - without them, Senator Burns and his 'friends' would not be here today, living the privileged lives that they do. None of us would. Without horses, there would not have been any Paul Revere Ride. The West would not have been settled, let alone mapped. There would have been no Pony Express. No Great American Cowboy. No John Wayne. And Senator Burns and his money hungry cattle baron associates would have us simply erase them from the american culture and landscape as if they never happened. As if they never mattered to the people of America, Native Americans and pilgrims alike. They gave us a continent and now we can't spare them a few thousand acres?
Please - take a moment to read about them on the Wild Horse Preservation site - see link below. Then take another moment to sign the petition. Or just go straight to signing the petition, using the second link below. Please also take the time to write your Federal Legislators. We can stop this - our grandparents and parents did it before us - let's do it again.
From the bottom of my horseloving heart - thank you.
Susannah Cord
Here are the websites to sign a petition and read more about this inhumane slaughter, what is being done to stop it and what YOU can do to stop this senseless horse genocide. Because make no mistake -- that is EXACTLY what it is.
Wild Horse Preservation
and
The Petition Site
Don't let these animals become just another extinct species.
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