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H.R. 249, To restore the prohibition on the commercial sale and slaughter of wild free-roaming horses and burros
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Visitor Comments
Laetia
These horses are being killed every day and all we do is sit around. Even when they are trying to say that they are evening the population out - these horses didn't do anything bad, so they should not be sold or killed.
Gordon
I make no distinction between wild horses and free range cattle which we regularly raise for food and profit. There is no reason that taxpayer funds should be spent to "care for" wild animals. The BLM should be allowed to profit from the sale of excess horses and thereby provide food for those who eat horse meat and income to this government agency.
D00D
HORSES ARE LAME LAWL THEY SHOULD ALL DIE LAWL.
Alex
Wild horses are part of our American heritage and the historic pioneer spirit of the West. They deserve to be protected. There are less than 32,000 left in the U.S. and they don't destroy the ranchers' land. They are NOT livestock. Thanks for listening.
Danielle
Who eats ponies anyway?
I don't make distinctions between how horses and cattle should be treated-I think they should both be allowed to live!
Stop eating your friends. It's better for you and the planet. And you'll be able to sit in airplane seats and fit into smaller cars.
Sp1r1t
Sad that so many people are ignorant of the 1971 Act and the original purpose. And the mistake made on population levels... 17,000 Nation wide is simply not enough to keep the American symbol alive.
Rebecca
Horses are spirited animals, their spirit and America's spirit is freedom, if you don't believe in America's freedom, you can't appriciate the spirit and freedom of our horses, wild or not. Please stop the slaughter of all America's horses!! Thank you
Kelli
Our country was founded by the use of the horse. Lewis and Clark would never have made across North America if it weren't for the horse. These animals are not destroying the land, as the BLM would like us to believe. Cattle do more destruction per square foot than a dozen horses do. It is obvious to any educated person to see the connection between cattle owners and the government. President George Bush, of whom I did not vote for, and Senator Conrad Burns ( R-Montana ) need to leave office. As Samuel Clemmons once said about government officials "Pretend your the President, then pretend your an idiot. Opps, I repeated myself." I say no more.
D.W. Jones
As a life long horseman I think that I understand horses better than most people.There are horses that are no good to anyone,lame,aged,untameable, whatever and the only thing feasable to do is slaughter. Why people think that a horse is a companion animal is beyond me. The are work animals. slaughter in Mexico continues and Canada. Those people that wish to eat horse meat is non of my business,nor anyone elses. Learn the facts and you will see that the U.S. tax payer cannot support herds of horses that have been turned loose because the owner has fallen on bad times and cannot feed them.....TPGR
D.W.
The French people eat horse meat!! Horses are livestock. Go pet a wild mustang and then tell me it is a companion animal. Who are you to say that I cannot sell a horse to anyone that wants one for any purpose. I would rather kill an animal that let it starve to death
Margie
Horses and burros are native to this country. As it stands, they are being blamed as the reason for the destruction of lands. That IS NOT TRUE. Cattle and sheep destroy the land. Get down on your hands and knees and watch the way a cow eats versus the horse or burro. Also, when the wild horses and burros are rounded up, less than honest people are hoarding them, hiding them, until it is safe to send them off to a kill buyer. I live amongst all of this. I speak the truth. Once again, this is all about money, greed, theft, and lies. Do your homework everyone. All is not as it seems.
Stop Killing Our Horses
Protect our American heritage! These animals belong to EVERYONE and to the future Americans. This is not a humane way to treat our animals...there are other alternatives to controlling populations if deemed necessary.
kelly dco
the horses are processed while STILL ALIVE!
kelly dco
in Mexico, the horses are processed while STILL ALIVE!
Ondine
This is not about horses. It is about the Rolex ranchers--wealthy cattlemen who want to lease public land for pennies on the dollar and let their herds eat up every last blade of vegetation on the taxpayer supported public lands.
Many more thousands of wild horses and burros lived on this land with no devastating effects UNTIL the wealthy livestock owners realized that they could get grazing land from the taxpayers for almost nothing. Just like horse slaughter, it's all about money.
Grammote
Euthanize
1. an easy and painless death
2. act or practice of causing death painlessly, so as to end suffering: advocated by some as a way to deal with persons dying of incurable, painful diseases
Slaughter
1: to kill (animals) for food : butcher
2 a: to kill in a bloody or violent manner : slay b: to kill in large numbers : massacre
The AVMA and AQHA needs to join with the USHS and the majority of American Citizens who are against slaughter and find a pasture,food , shelter, and Vet care for all America's Horses. The WILD ones muse be allowed to run and be self supporting (they don't need our "care") or they will go the way of the buffalo...We will have to go to a zoo to see them . MUSTANGS think about it !
J Snyder
Studies are starting to show that horses were here long before people thought. They've been here long enough that they should be considered native, not feral.
The BLM rounds up the wild horses because they are eating the forage that the ranchers want for their cattle. The ranchers make money off of those cattle and get the grazing rights very cheap. This is about money. Ask your Representative to Vote yes for HR249.
Craig
The wild horses are very underpopulated and are being squeezed off their legal herd areas by corrupt vested interests who have not learned how to share with such magnificent returned natives!
Sally
Horse and burro slaughter is an insult to Americans, history, and humanity. This torturous murder of our equines NEEDS TO STOP YESTERDAY.
Sally
Horse slaughter is an insult to Americans, history, and humanity. This torturous murder of our equines NEEDS TO STOP YESTERDAY.
Hilary
We should feel a sense of pride that we have wild horses. They are beautiful creatures that symbolise the freedom upon which this country was founded. Horses helped settle America and should be treated with respect. Money hungry ranchers who want more land for their cattle are the ones who want to keep taking more of their habitat. They will not be happy until they can exterminate them all. Please protect our heritage.
karen wanner
I am the proud owner of 2 Mustangs and they are a joy to have around.They are far from being worthless.They deserve their protective status to be restored as Wild Horse Annie fought for.
Patti C
Wild horses are destroying the land? Why doesn't anyone mention that MAN has taken all the land from nature! We can take in illegal immagrants and pay their upkeep and medical bills, but you taxpayers DON"T want to preserve the Mustang? Send all the illegal immagrints back to their repective countries! Then US Americans can keep OUR heritage INTACT! Save the Mustang! And I AM NOT PRESSING 1 TO SPEAK ENGLISH! All should speak it that live here!
Mrs. Terrebonne
Patti, look at the poll results. The majority of people DO want to protect the mustangs! They know that cattle and sheep will quickly render habitat free of all natural grasses and vegetation but horses do not. Horses have lived on public lands for centuries without harming the eco-balance.
Wealthy cattle ranchers lease public land for pennies on the dollar from our government and want every wild horse eradicated so their cattle can strip the land bare. It's all about money and not about horses.
I have been calling my Representative to support this bill and I hope all right-minded people are doing the same thing. They need to hear from us in Washington!
Barbara
Wild horses and burros are part of our heritage and a national treasure. Tyey were supposed to have been protected but the WH&B Act of 1971 has been gutted due to corruption IMO. Cattle and sheep have destroyed our public lands while native species such as our wild horses are being wiped out. Millions are spent to subsidize the welfare ranchers. H.R. 249 needs to be passed immediately before OUR wild horses are extinct. There are less than 25,000 left in the wild and 7 million cattle and sheep overgrazing our public lands.
Sadie
Horses ARE livestock, not pets! As an environmentalist I recognise them as a non-native species competing with native ones - they have to be carefully managed. BLM mustangs were started by rejected animals - they are not well bred for any purpose other than survival. Economically, I agree that they should be harvested for food for those who like to eat them (I have and I liked it and I am a lifelong horse person) and to bring income to the agencies and businesses that produce them, BLM or otherwise.
Sadie
Oh by the way, euthenaisia is not so humane. Why else would they be arguing that it's cruel and unusual punishment for death row inmates? It's not easy or instantaneous.
Frank
The libertarian argument that all game are "fair game" should be rejected. I urge my congressman, Erik Cantor, to vote tes on this important legislature.
otoolege
I find it MOST dishearting to read ignorance.. Pro-slaughter is writing checks with their mouths that their knowledge can't cash! Is there actually ANY pro-slaughter people, besides the industry itself, that actually know the facts? The facts of how and why this is happening?? From all I've read from pro-slaughter people, I would strongly urge them to educate themselves. Maybe climb onboard with the horses from auction to death..Or even watch a few videos if you can't stomach the real deal? You sound like a bunch of educated idiots to me..
Grace
Mustangs are part of us all, every horse you see is realted to a wild horse. They need to be protected from greedy humans who don't care about anything except for money! Would you like to be in their hoofs? I don't think so...
Joanne
Are we going the way of the wild wolves of the Americas with the remaining Mustang Herds??? How many hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent to "re-introduce" wild American Mustangs once the BLM and outside vested interest groups trying to maintain control over lands which are not theirs are eliminated or close to extinction... they are close enough now. Management of the herds can be done easily with a spring roundup and gelding of select members. It's probably cheaper than what they are now doing with the huge roundups and slaughters and will let nature maintain small groups of wild horses. I truly feel the remaining members of the Mustang Herds should be protected animals with just as much right as the American Eagle. JMO.
Pam Anello -NC
Just as I commented on the other bill H.R.503 the mustang too helped to build America .They are a symbol of our heritage.I don't want my great grandchildren to know them as a plastic model.Stop the Slaughter .Wake up AMERICA and be a voice.Call in and write in to petition against this injustice.
Thomas Anello-nc
America's Mustang has the right to be here just like the other protected wild animals. They were here before some of our forefathers.They blazed the trail of our New WORLD.Return the favor -help them by standing up and being a voice against the torture and slaughter.
Debbie - Florida
These horses have the right to life - just as you and me. What makes some humans believe that they are GOD, thus taking lives that they have no right taking. Leave these wild horses and Burros ALONE.
Wake Up
The world has BIGGER PROBLEMS....leave the livestock to the livestock owner's. Eat your beans and rice and shut up. Don't force us all into vegetarians, we were DESIGNED to eat MEAT...get over it!!
Harley
This is just what ONE state is dealing with trying to save the wild horses. While certain individuals at the Nevada Department of Agriculture seem possessed with telling legislators and the media how much the Department does with respect to the Virginia Range horses, and how much the herd supposedly costs the taxpayers, here is a little insight as to just who is really walking the walk and who is just talking the talk. Here's a link that's already 38 parts of a continuation of what wild horse advocates are up against with the Nevada Agriculture Director. Horse $laughter all about greed!!!
http://www.kbrhorse.net/news/vre-nda38.html
It's time Congress listen to the majority of Americans that want our wild and domesticated horses safe from slaughter, we voted you in - we can vote you out!
Billie - NC
Reading between the lines I hear outrage, ignorance and apathy from so many people. Unfortunately, just like everything else in this world, the idealist try to preserve what we value and the people with power mow down anyone that get in their way. It's alway about money and power. It's the systeme we created and it puts too much power in too few hands. I pray to God that we can preserve our own dignity as well as the dignity of these magnificient creatures.
Fred
To much I think and I feel for this critical thinker. Fact is horses and mules did help build America. They provided transportation and FOOD. As to our American heratage we rode and ate horses before Columbis broght the first load of elegal imigrants. Just try to think with open rational minds.