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Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Coming WILD HORSE Attractions New PHANTOM STALLION newsletter -- featuring biggest ever contest for readers
"Hanged with a New Rope: BLM Manages America's Wild Horses from a Safe Distance" Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 6:31 PM 1 comments  
Friday, February 24, 2012 Twin Peaks Mustangs in Court: IDA, Rachel Fazio Have Their Backs 
Today in Sacramento, California, wild horse advocates crowded one side of
Courtroom 7, United States District Court, presided over by Judge England.
The
lopsided crowd was the opposite of that at the attorneys’ tables. For the wild horses, Rachel Fazio, attorney for In Defense of Animals,
sat alone. Her four opponents, included representative of the Department of the
Interior and the Safari Club.
The verdict will be announced in the next 10 - 14 days.
This case examines whether BLM acted in accordance with the
1978 laws determining how wild horses must be gathered, before and during the
Twin Peaks round-up last year, near Susanville, CA. Many of those in the courtroom were present
for several days of the round-up.
This is the first time I’m seen Ms. Fazio in action, and she
was articulate, level-headed and unshakable.
My legal credentials, even as an observer, are limited, but
I took notes & will share some highlights.
Wild horse deaths were approximately 1% during the round-up. BLM said this was expected
The judge asked about a division of opinions
among experts. Ms. Fazio said that BLM “utterly failed to address” the information
that was submitted; BLM said they didn’t recognize the information as
relevant.
The studies submitted dealt with the negative effects
of PZP and gender skewing as means of limited wild horse populations.
Ms. Fazio put the BLM’s responsibilities in
perspective, by briefly reviewing the 1978 regulations which were intended to
reestablish rangeland health after decades of over-grazing by many species,
including livestock.
Judge England asked if IDA would accept “euthanasia
or re-programming” for wild horses and Ms. Fazio responded that would be acceptable
only after BLM acted on all of its responsibilities and made the information
available to the public ; at present, she said, it’s clear that BLM is
violating the law and its intent, and (based on BLM documents) plans to
continue doing so
BLM’s responsibility to identify and euthanize
sick, lame and old animals on the range before they are stampeded to the
traps was highlighted. BLM countered that this was unreasonable and they would
continue to do that in captivity.
Safari Club contends wild horses hinder
their right to “hunt and enjoy” wildlife and said “our colleagues, the
government” were right to disregard and minimize the studies submitted by IDA
Ms. Fazio thanked Judge England for following up
on this case. “After forty years of avoiding scrutiny” she said, BLM must face
questions and wild horses have their day in court. Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 7:34 PM 2 comments
Wednesday, February 22, 2012 Writing Wednesday
Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 5:03 PM 0 comments
Thursday, February 09, 2012 Sad Note from Palomino  Hi ya'll,
This is not an easy one to write. Just a
short time ago, Little Mister left this earth and joined his mother in
heaven. I started the proverbial "why?", for about two seconds, and
then I realized I knew why. I truly believe God puts us where we are
supposed to be. We were supposed to spend these last two days with this
beautiful colt, so he would die surrounded by love and peace and not
alone and afraid. I am so thankful to the folks at Palomino Valley for
allowing us to make his last few days a little less scary, especially
after he had become an orphan.
Last night, Little Mister, (although he didn't feel
too great), did have some fun. He got into everything in the "borrowed
foal room", and immediately became our "son". After his temperature had
spiked and Cat (Kindsfather) drove me through the night to get to
Shirley's house to get meds, I was given a memory I will always
treasure. As soon as I walked in the room and he heard my voice, he
gave this tiny, kind of screechy little whinny and jumped to his feet.
"Mommy was home". These are the moments that make what we do worth
while when we have nights like this. He was quite the little talker
and would whinny if we went into the other room for more than a few
minutes. We shared a lot of love in a short time.
Little Mister was beautiful, but apparently when he
was born there was some unknown problem. The vet was shocked that he
was so sick after she did the blood work, because the test that shows
whether a little one got his or her antibodies (through mommy's
colostrum) came out so positive. She showed it to me several times
because it was such a positive result. Today when I took him in, his
gums were showing tinges of blue/purple, indicating that he was not
getting enough oxygen. He had minimal gut sounds at best, and his heart
rate was extremely high. His poor little heart was trying so hard to
pump enough blood to get enough oxygen, but his tiny little lungs were
too compromised. He had severe pneumonia, which can be so deadly to the
tiny foals. If he had been born in the wild, most likely the stallion
would have killed him, or the mares would have, or he would have been
left behind, alone and scared, to suffer a horrible death. So although
my heart is breaking, I am so thankful and feel so honored that we got
to spend his last days with him. He knew he was surrounded by love, and
although he was meant to leave this earth way too early, I know that it
helped him for us to be there. We were with him until the end, and
although it is so sad, it was also a huge blessing for him as the
pneumonia had progressed so far. He simply could not get enough air.
We can't save every foal, although I wish we could,
but we do everything we possibly can for every second that we have with
them. I truly appreciate you all being part of this and sharing the
good times and the not so easy times. I was asked if I was going to
"take a break", but that isn't how it works. We celebrate the ones we
can help, and mourn the ones that we can't, all the while knowing that
at any second, another one might need us. I am grateful that this is
where God wants me to be. There is so much joy in it, along with the
heartbreak.
Take care and God Bless - and give your critters an extra hug! Permalink to this blog post Posted by Terri Farley @ 10:09 AM 4 comments
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