<Before we go all teary eyed about the death of some unowned feral
horses let us consider some of the facts relating to unowned animals in
general, and horses in particular
< This tremendous increase in human population requires that
unowned animals must be managed so we have enough room to live and grow the
food, including cows, we eat.
The first part of this is true (huge increase in
human population, which is a problem in itself), but there may be
far
more efficient ways to produce food for humans
than running cattle on marginal rangeland that horses and other wildlife
occupy.
<. I personally, would not want the
numbers of my horses controlled by wandering predators.
However having grazing animals preyed on by
predators is a natural way to insure the strongest survive...in
any
case, we are not talking about YOUR horses.
hunting is not a viable option to control
horses
BLM has yet to try other methods of herd control
such as sterilization....even when studies show this might be a far more cost
effective way to control herds than the labor and cost intensive adoption
program. Might be a viable option as well as adoption to QUALIFIED
indivuduals.
This supply of domestic horses, most of
which are generally superior to wild horses for casual riding and ownership,
limits the demand for captured wild horses.
Totally disagree with this, no facts to back this
up, your opinion only...I have seen mustangs with faultless conformation, and
domestic bred horses that can barely move. Give me a choice of a trained
mustang to cover ground versis a halter QH? One
only has to look at the horses Dr.Ottinger selects, or others such as Steens
Vaquero to see great legs and conformaiton.
<Careful consideration of the above facts leads
to the inescapable conclusion that we, through our government, will have to
continue to remove many horses from the western range to protect the
environment.
This may be true, however, there may be better
alternatives than the sneaky bill introduced by Burns.. Andthis has nothing to
do with "protecting" the environment, it;s all about stock grazing. I
don't hear the stockmen hollering about protecting the environment from
overgrazing from cattle or sheep.....
*I vote with my Senator and support his stand on
unowned, feral horses.
His bill makes no sense at all. The release of
these horses and relaxation of BLM standards are going to only
mean misery and eventual slaughter of these
horses. You simply cannot adopt out these horses with no controls,
below meat market price and not expect the killer buyers to take them.
If that is the outcome,makes more sense for the goverment to dirive them
directly to slaughter themselves and pocket the $. Might as well just
overturn the whole Wild Horse and Burro Act. However, this is the path
the current administration is taking on any conservation or enviromnental
issues.....
Ed, you are totally entitled to your opinions,
just don't try to disguise them as facts....
