Debate Over Wild Horses a Turf Battle

[Judi Lynn]

Debate Over Wild Horses a Turf Battle
Emotional Debate Over West's Wild Horses Is a Literal Turf Battle
By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press

PALOMINO VALLEY, Nev. Jun 7, 2005 — They are revered as majestic, galloping icons of the American West or reviled as starving, disfigured varmints that rob ranchers of their livelihood.

Wild horses and burros are stirring emotional debate from Western rangelands to the halls of Congress after dozens of horses were slaughtered legally in April. Protections for the mustangs that might have prevented the slaughter were repealed in December, but now some in Congress are pushing a measure to reinstate those protections. The bill has passed the House and is headed to the Senate.
(snip)

Opponents, mostly Western Republicans, say the measure is unnecessary because the Bureau of Land Management has taken steps to make sure no more of the nation's 31,000 wild horses and burros are sent to slaughter. They say support for the bill comes primarily from Eastern city slickers who don't understand the ways of the West.
(snip)

Wild mustangs and burros, which roam free on federal lands in 10 Western states, eat that grass for sustenance. But so do huge herds of livestock. The BLM believes only 28,000 wild horses and burros can survive on the range without interfering with livestock grazing and other land uses.

To reach that target, the BLM has authority to capture excess wild horses and burros, offer them for private adoption, and eventually sell them to private buyers. Under the old law, buyers were required to feed and house the animals for a year before receiving title a delay intended to weed out those looking to resell the horses.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=826082

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's a petition created to address this problem:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/166841148?ltl=1118136813