Tuesday, June 17, 2014
BLM ASKED YOU A QUESTION ABOUT WILD HORSES
ARE YOU HAPPY
about
HELICOPTER ROUNDUPS?
NEVADA & UTAH BLM
WANT TO KNOW
Send your emails:
blm_ut_biblesprings@blm.gov
blm_nv_whb_motorizedvehicleco@blm.gov
Dear BLM:
A helicopter round-up begins far out on the range.
If you sat on a butte with a crest flat as a table top, you’d
still feel the helicopters, before you saw them.
Vibrations shudder down your bones and shiver your insides. You’d
guess the feeling came from a far-off explosion, if it didn’t come in quick
pulses like a heartbeat.
Wild horses which have never experienced a helicopter
round-up wonder if a thunderstorm is on its way. But the pounding is closer
than the sky, closer than a predator, unknown and terrible.
I've
been present at a dozen helicopter roundups and each year the
contractors get greedier and the roundups more cruel. No longer are
family bands kept together for days or even hours. They are instantly
split up and traumatized.
Wild Horse Annie said "People have different degrees of humaneness." That's true,
but it's not the issue addressed by the National Academy of Sciences
which said that roundups are backfiring --- triggering higher levels of
reproduction among wild horses.
Roundups are costing Americans millions of dollars, and a valuable piece of their heritage. Stop now.
Sincerely,
Terri Farley
Need more ideas for you letter? Click here
Labels: BLM . utah, helicopter roundups, Nevada, wild horses
Permalink to this blog post
Posted by
Terri Farley @ 7:17 PM
Comments:
I am a pilot, horsewoman and retired emergency medicine physician. I have 30+ years of experience with planes, including helicopters, horses and acute care medicine.
The helicopter round-ups are cruel, inhumane and egregiously harmful to equines (horses and burros). The stress and injury caused to all the horses, but particularly the young ones and pregnant mares amounts to animal abuse at taxpayer expense.
When will BLM assist advocates in caring for our 'protected' wild ones instead of caving in to the welfare ranchers and big oil?
Nothing I say can say is better than the words of Gandhi:
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated” – Mahatma Gandhi
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi
Please, BLM, search your soul and find your compassion again. Be on the side of truth and righteousness. Don't sell your hearts and souls in dereliction of your duty to protect these animals, who are to be protected under our federal laws, and fulfill your fiduciary duty to the majority of American taxpayers who do not want their dollars spent on animal cruelty. End the helicopters round-ups now!
Thank you, Debra Heverly, MD FACEP
Debra, thanks so much for this comment. BLM business-as-usual doesn't require heart or thought but it does require our tax dollars. A shove from someone with your credentials might get their attention. Fingers crossed, Terri