Nevada wants to declare wild horses and burros aren’t “wildlife” ““ which would deny them precious public water. After an outcry, the ugly proposal’s been delayed. What next? Lee Hall, Friends of Animals’ Legal Affairs VP, appeared on HLN with Jane Velez-Mitchell, to challenge the assault on free-roaming horses and burros. See the video coverage. Did you know? The Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 directs the Secretary of Interior to designate and maintain public range-lands as a sanctuary for the protection and preservation of these animals in a manner designed to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on public lands. So why have hundreds of thousands of wild horses and burros have been removed since 1973? Ranchers are now leasing most of the land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the US Forest service. For this, and other special benefits for ranchers, taxpayers pay some $128 million a year.
When the BLM rounded up horses by the hundreds in the Calico Mountains of Nevada, 70 died. Foals and pregnant mares were stampeded in extreme heat. Roundups through rough terrain are torture: they drive some horses to their deaths.
Some survivors have met their ends in slaughterhouses; but most wait in limbo to be adopted. Friends of Animals is filing a legal challenge to these affronts to the freedom of the mustangs of North America. This year, Friends of Animals will be working with the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Denver to end roundups of free-roaming horses and burros forever. This effort will be highlighted on Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell on HLN (formerly known as CNN Headline News channel) on Friday, May 27, 7pm ET/ 4pm PT. After you watch the interview on Jane’s show about the wild horses, please send your comments to HLN/CNN about what you thought of the piece, that you are interested to see more animal-related stories from Jane’s show in the future. These comments allow Jane to keep doing these pieces; Jane is an animal activist and vegan journalist, she is one of the very few voices on national mainstream television that covers these types of issues regularly, and she is a strong champion for animals. To send your comments after viewing the show, either fill out the comment form or email your comments to Jane Velez-Mitchell.
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