The Persian Horse’s Blog: Horse petitions, please sign

The Secretary of the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management’s Ken Salazar is systematically destroying the wild horse species as a whole. The wild horse species has acted in part with producing healthier rangelands and proved their ecological value among other ungulates as well.

Secretary Salazar should have never been appointed to this position because of the conflict of interest that his background reflects.
His long family lineage in the cattle ranching business has obviously shown that he has no interest in the welfare of America’s national heritage. His decisions are also influenced by lobbysists in the same line of business from which he came.

Ken Salazar has not taken proper precautions to assure the viability of the species and has not shown any scientific proof to support his plans to remove more than half of the species total population. Secretary Salazar recklessly approves the removal of wild horses in such quantities that they are not only detrimental to the species viability, but it is also counter productive to a thriving ecosystem. Since the mass removal of wild horses has taken place this year alone, Secretary Salazar’s blind approvals for removal of wild horses has had a negative impact on rangeland ecosystem’s across the board.

Secretary Salazar is not abiding by the guidelines set forth in (The Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971). This direct violation of the law must be met with stern consequences. The very law that is supposed to protect these wild horses has been compromised and violated. Without an accurate census of the species there can be no justifiable management. He has repeatedly violated the Wild Horse and Burro Act in numerous occasions and is planning on continuing his systematic destruction of the species via genetic erosion.

If we continue to allow Secretary Salazar to mismanage and eliminate wild horses in the manner in which he has, the wild horses species will cease to function as a vital intricate part of America’s rangelands and become extinct as a viable species.

I hereby implore the people of the United States of America to stand as one voice and implore Congress to ask for the resignation of The Department of the Interior’s Secretary of The Bureau of Land Management Ken Salazar.


2. Background | From Care2

On January 27, 2011 there was a case of animal cruelty that occurred during the Antelope Complex wild horse roundup–an older mare was cruelly overdriven by an inexperienced helicopter pilot, named Josh Hellyer working for Sun J Livestock, hired by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management)-until she collapsed of exhaustion.  The pilot relentlessly forced her to get up and drove her more, almost sideswiping her.

Due to public outrcry, Sheriff Dan Watts of White Pine County investigated this incident for Animal Cruelty and forwarded his report with charges to District Attorney Mr. Kelly Brown.  The State of Nevada Animal Cruelty Law is as follows:  Overdrive, overload, torture, cruelly beat or unjustifiably injure, maim, mutiliate or kill an animal … deprive an animal of necessary sustenance, food or drink , or neglect or refuse to furnish it such sustenance or drink, or abandon an animal. (Nev. Rev. Stat. 574.050 et seq.)

The  employees of the contractor for the BLM are not above the letter of the law in the state of Nevada.  D.A. Kelly Brown told Brooke Boone, News reporter with My News 4 in Reno, Nevada that he could only prosecute cases in White Pine County–at that time he hadn’t been provided  GPS coordinates.  The week of  March 1, 2011 Mr. Brown was provided with the GPS coordinates of this incident which are lat/long of the trapsite location used on 1/27/11 is: 40 deg 2’3.096″ N, 114 deg 16’0.687″ W (provided by Mary D’Aversa Field Manager Schell Field Office).

Please sign the petition to Demand Justice for Ole Sister–Demand the District Attorney Kelly Brown prosecutes  Josh Hellyer pilot for Sun J Livestock- for violation of the State of Nevada’s Animal Cruelty Statutes.


3. Background | From Change

SAN BERNABE IS THE LARGEST ILLEGAL UNREGULATED LIVESTOCK MARKET IN MEXICO. It makes a mockery of humanity and is one of the most shameful examples of animal brutality and ill health in Mexico. The San Bernabe market has existed for over 60 years. Origin of horses at the San Bernabe market – Estado de Mexico, Chihuahua, Michoacan and the United States.

It is located at the 22.5 km northeast of the city of Toluca, on the Toluca-Atlacomulco road which belongs to the Municipality of Almoloya de Juárez, and in turn the Mayorazgo community of Leon, Estado de Mexico.

The institutions and authorities, federal and local governments, have full powers of inspection and surveillance, and therefore have the capacity to solve the problem, but remain passive and sluggish. The market is a place for animal trafficking, extreme dirt and dismal sanitary conditions, and tremendous cruelty to the animals being sold. The San Bernabe footage and photos have appeared on many news reports and national TV, so the authorities cannot feign ignorance.

Seen for sale on site are donkeys, horses, mules, dogs and wildlife, whose origins are uncertain and many are visibly sick, arrive and depart transported in sadistic and deplorable conditions with exposed fractures, bleeding open wounds and ulcers. Others are hung with ropes, when they no longer have the strength to stand upright. These suffering “animal waste” are kept alive just because a kilo of live meat costs twice that of a dead one. If an animal finally ends its agony and dies it is cut open right there and its vescera is extracted and thrown on the ground in the middle of the market.

There is no animal health control. Animals are sold directly for two purposes either privately as live animals (for work or food) or to a slaughterhouse (called the “rastro”). Obviously, the sale of live animals is done in less cruel way than that of animals that are sold to the rastro, since the horses going to the slaughterhouse are considered waste and therefore are treated in a very brutal manner, they are kicked, poked with electric barbs that are prohibited for horses. Bats and pipes are used to hit animals, they are tied with ropes. Animals suffer fractures or they fall dead, others arrive with broken limbs because the owners want to get some extra money by selling them and the animals are forced to walk down to the transport truck in these conditions. In the best case, the animals are transported sick, infected with tumors or open wounds, and later sold to the highest bidder. At worst, their corpses are left on the ground without being buried, with animal viscera strewn about in violation of standard NOM-024-ZOO-1995.

Water troughs often don’t contain water, the pens are underutilized – some are overcrowded, others are empty. There is a shed that was scheduled to install a sacrifice room for broken or injured animals that cannot continue the trip. It is important to mention that it is a living sacrifice room and not a slaughterhouse, and has created problems of assessment with the authorities i.e. the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA) because they do not accept the installation of a slaughterhouse, in the absence of the necessary infrastructure to do so.

Another problem is the presence of federal local police who sometimes, instead of asking for documentation and health guidance, ask for a financial share to allow access to trucks. Recently, it has become known that there is a dispute between groups to control the market of San Bernabe. Meanwhile, there is total anarchy in violation of animal protection laws, the state and official rules for the transportation of animals, and livestock markets.

Over the years, people of recognized knowledge, experts and advocacy groups for animal rights have talked with local, state and federal agencies, seeking to bring order to the problems of the San Bernabe market. However, the sanitary conditions and the treatment of the animals have not improved. Often laws and rules are not enforced, either because the authorities are unaware of their existence, or they simply ignore them. The Health Ministry has taken up the matter even though there are no laws in place of hygiene and public health. There are dead animals and scattered viscera in the trucks, along with live horses, since they are gutted and the carcasses are transported together with the live animals to the slaughterhouse. No water is available. There is no animal inspection by the SAGARPA, or monitoring of transport by the Federal Highway Police or the Ministry of Communications and Transport.

For several years the market has been controlled by a municipal councilor. The market is located on both sides of the road and while it also sells cars and clothes, most activity is in the trade in live animals. We know that this market has generated a lot of profit that is not quantified, including fees for land use, collection of bills for sale of animals in addition to other fees paid by those who provide service for the sellers of food, fruits, vegetables, shoes, clothing, etc.

The San Bernabe market is in violation of two federal and four state sanitary laws concerning animal health, ecological balance and environmental protection, which state the importance of dignified and respectful treatment of animals.

At San Bernabe, in many cases the cattle are slaughtered without any restriction. They are beaten with sticks, pipes, rods, or touches on the genitals causing them high levels of stress in breach of standard NOM-033-ZOO-1995. In addition, the market does not have appropriate landing ramps, so that the legs of the animals break constantly. Some animals are mixed in the pens, where cattle have injuries, trauma, fractures, wounds or worms. The most obvious abuse is called “scrap yards” where the animals are in poor condition and are sold to be taken directly to slaughterhouses.

A brief description of a horse slaughterhouse in Mexico:

… The horse shakes its head frantically when the door killing box is closed and trapped within it. A worker buried in his back, around his neck, a small, sharp knife, seven, eight, nine times. She, with her eyes wide, frantically lowers and raises her head while the worker stabs her again and again. On the tenth stroke of the knife, she falls to the ground, bloodied and paralyzed, but still alive. She lays there for two minutes before being hoisted by her leg and lifted into the air, hung upside down to be bled slaughtered in the midst of terrible pain, fully conscious and terrified …

What happens in San Bernabe is not a new topic, since the flea market has been operating for 60 years every Monday in the same place, and it is estimated that the site has sold over 10, 000 different animals of various species.

Since September 2007 Animal Protection Association of Mexico (APASDEM), has worked hard on a campaign to protect the animals sold at the San Bernabe Market.


Related | From Auction to Slaughter

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4. Background | From Go Petition

Australian governments are removing all brumbies from National parks by several methods, the cruelest of which is aerial slaughter: shooting from helicopters at frightened horses running for their lives, leaving the carcasses in place where they fall.

Animals wander around for days till dropping dead with babies dying of thirst after their mothers are killed and little ones breaking legs trying to run with the herd..Last year in Kosciusko they were sent by truck 600 kms to slaughter babies’ pregnant mares, some of the horses were hurt and scared, and then they faced another gruelling task of the sale yards, without the Australian public as a whole being aware. April 2011 300 + brumbies were aerial culled in Carnarvon National Park Queensland.


5. Background | From Change

This is a petition to the Dutch Minister of Environment who has agreed on a genetically engineered (GM) vet-vaccination study in foals from 3 days old untill 6 months.

They use a GM-bacterium. The little horses will stay with their mothers in stables and on grassland and the manure with the GMO in it will be put on the land. The little horses shall eventually be killed (in case of biopsy) after the study is done. The European GMO-free Citizens agree with a Dutch signer who wrote that, GM-vaccines are very dangerous. There is a real risk of the generation of new pathogens with greater virulence and a broader host-range than the original pathogen. And there is no possibility of undoing it.The European GMO-free Citizens don’t want this GM vet-vaccine and have written this petition, which you can sign.

We will go to the Dutch Council of State in the Hague. This topic and these signatures are brought to their attention. The hearing will be on October the 3rd 2011.

The Dutch Council of State

Advisory body on legislation and administrative court
The Council of State has two primary tasks, carried out by two separate divisions. The Advisory Division, as its name implies, advises the government and Parliament on legislation and governance, while the Administrative Jurisdiction Division is the country’s highest general administrative court. The basis for these responsibilities can be found in articles 73 and 75 of the Constitution.

Like the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Netherlands Court of Audit and the National Ombudsman, the Council is one of the High Councils of State. These are bodies regulated by the Constitution, which carry out their tasks independently of the government.

Voor de Nederlandse mensen klik hier voor meer Nederlandse informatie.

Translation: For Dutch people click here for more information in Dutch.


6. Background | From Change

Please add your signature to this petition which will be delivered to the United States senators who have not yet cosponsored S1176 – the Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 – in the next few weeks. By doing this, you can add your voice to the nationwide lobbying effort in support of this critical legislation to federally ban the predatory horse slaughter industry ridden with cruelty and corruption. The 112th Congress convenes from January 2011 through January 2013. Louisiana Sen. Landrieu is the original sponsor of the bill and she has asked for nationwide citizen support in obtaining cosponsors for this vital and progressive legislation. The timing of it is a good opportunity and we must act now.

The first and most important step towards making Sen Landrieu’s S1176 bill a law, is to obtain a large number of cosponsors and move the bill out of Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation where it is being held at the moment. This is the list of Commerce committee members: http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=CommitteeMembers

If you wish to contact your senators personally by fax or email, which is the most effective way of making your will known, please go to SENATE.GOV and search under Find Your Senators. It’s easy.

PS: Please include your Name and ZIP CODE. Signatures are not being emailed to the senators at this time. The list for each state will be delivered to their offices in person by individual citizens representing each state!


7. Background | From Persian Horse’s Blog

PMU means Pregnant Mare Urine.  PMU farms are the mass collection and production of pregnant mareurine. The urine collected contains a hormone variant called Premarin. This estrogen hormone is gathered through a catheter, then given to women in hope to alleviate menopause symptoms. Premarin is given in several forms; pills, creams, injections, patches and vaginal rings.

The foals, as a product of the breeding process face a bleak outlook. The filly’s are raised and as early as 2 yrs. of age are bred and introduced to “the line” and the PMU lifestyle. The colts are either auctioned off or sent to slaughter days after birth. The PMU farms have since been shut down in the United States. Many women however are still using the drugs today with out knowing where it came from.


8. Background | From Change

The international community is outraged with the news of the bloody massacre of thousands of wild horses native of the Danube Delta in Romania. Corrupt local Tulcea officials have grossly overstepped their authority and waged a bloody war on these indigenous animals protected by international law. Tulcea has slaughtered over 1,000 of these wild horses with less than 500 of them remaining. Please join us in growing this petition which is addressed to local and international authorities with the power to take immediate measures to protect these horses. Thank you for lending your voice for justice for the wild horses of the Danube Delta!

PLEASE CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR MORE PICTURES OF THE DANUBE DELTA WILD HORSES AND FOR A VIDEO OF THE ROMANIAN ROUNDUP.

http://thepersianhorse.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/romania-land-of-castles-and-romance-now-has-the-blood-of-wild-horses-flowing-in-the-danube-sign-petition-now/


9. Background | From PETA

Although the last horse slaughterhouse in the U.S. closed in 2007, approximately 100,000 U.S. horses are crammed into trailers every year and trucked to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico. After a long and frightening journey, these horses—some of whom are former racing champions—are shot with a rifle or a captive-bolt gun, hoisted by one leg into the air, and have their throats slit so that their flesh can be sold to other countries for human consumption. Thoroughbred racehorse Coming Home was hours from being trucked to a slaughterhouse when a PETA investigator rescued her. PETA found a permanent home for this gentle mare, who is just 6 years old, with a PETA member, but the fate of tens of thousands of other cast-off racehorses is terrifying and gruesome. PETA’s undercover investigation of a Japanese slaughterhouse, where American thoroughbreds end up when they’re sold to Japan for breeding, revealed terrified and confused horses trying desperately to escape the facility before they were killed. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 (S. 1176) would prohibit shipping, transporting, moving, delivering, receiving, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating horses and other equines for human consumption. If passed, it will effectively end the use of U.S. horses for food—here and abroad.

Please tell your senators today that you support the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act of 2011 (S. 1176) and urge him or her to vote in favor of this critically needed legislation.


10. Background | From Change

We need your help if you live outside the United States.

The ongoing petition on Change.org unfortunately is only for people who live in the United States.  To address all those who wanted to sign but could not, we have begun this new petition for those who live in other countries.

Please sign if you live in any other country but the US.  If you live in the US, you can sign the original petition:  http://news.change.org/stories/state-legislators-take-the-reins-of-new-york-city-carriage-horse-debate

As potential tourists to New York City, you have a lot of clout.  Tourism is big business.  But we know that people do not come here to take a carriage ride.   They visit NY for its world renowned theater, music venues, excellent museums, exciting night life, world class restaurants and  shopping – or just to walk and relax in Central Park – but not to take a carriage ride.

In 2007, then Council Member Tony Avella introduced an historic bill into the NY City Council to ban the horse-drawn carriage industry in NYC because it was inhumane and unsafe.  Because of political connections between the Administration, Council leadership and the industry, the bill did not move forward.

Now NYS Senator Tony Avella and Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal have introduced a similar bill into the New York State legislature, which would prohibit the operation of horse-drawn cabs in the City of New York.  The bill would also save the horses from the slaughter auctions – something that is not happening now.

We hope that this bill will now stand a better chance, away from the strong political influence the small industry has in New York City.

Please sign this petition, which would send a letter to both Senator Avella and Assemblymember Rosenthal.  They will use these letters to help make their case.   Thank you