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BLM is to blame for slaughtering
wild horses in southeastern Utah
By Ashley
Schiller
October 6, 2008 | One of the most beautiful sights
a person can see in the San Rafael Swell is a herd of
wild horses crossing an open plain. Their hooves sound
like a dozen fingers gently drumming an ancient rhythm
atop the surrounding plateaus. They seem the personification
of freedom, and one cannot help but feel in tune with
nature while watching them.
It used to be common to see a small herd of wild horses
in that area, but now the chances seem equal to those
of seeing an alligator. Where have all the horses gone?
Their sad story begins with the Bureau of Land Management,
which is to protect America's wild horses as "living
symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West,"
as outlined in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and
Burro Act. This act also gave the BLM the power to determine
the "appropriate management level" of wild horses on
public lands, which seems to have translated to "as
few as possible so as to appease the cattlemen."
The BLM has rounded up thousands and thousands of
horses (using methods questioned by some), and blown
more than half its $37 million budget on gathering and
housing them. Once under the caring wing of the BLM,
they are cramped into a corral where they wait to be
adopted.
But here's the secret: Not many people want to adopt
wild horses. Just like not many people want to adopt
wild wolves or lions. So most wait indefinitely.
The BLM currently has some 6,000 mustangs collected
from all over the western states and doesn't know what
to do with them. The latest idea? Let's just be humane
and "euthanize" them, BLM officials say. Euthanize:
"the act of putting to death painlessly or allowing
to die, especially for people or animals with an incurable
disease."
How could the BLM possible consider the killing of
healthy, captive horses euthanasia? They are not sick
and have done nothing to deserve death, except being
born. Let's call it like it is: a slaughter. A slaughter
made necessary by the agency's carelessness, willingness
to appease ranchers and irresponsibility in rounding
up more horses than necessary. The agency is still deciding
on a method of euthanasia, according to the Sacramento
Bee. The top three possibilities are to shoot them,
give them a lethal dose of barbiturates or kill them
with a bolt to the head (slaughter-house style).
The BLM should be held responsible for what it is
doing to wild horses. Controlling the population and
raping the land of its natural beauty are two very different
things, and the BLM seems to have embraced the latter.
There were never excess horses terrorizing the San Rafael
Swell. Maybe the cattle needed to share a tiny portion
of their rangeland with the horses. Is that unreasonable?
Should nature always come second to a business opportunity?
Oh, well. What good would it do our children and grandchildren
to hear the gentle hymn of wild horses' hoofs as they
cross a valley in the lazy hours of the morning? They'll
have the Internet to entertain them. Let's do the "humane"
thing and slaughter the wild horses so they don't get
in anyone's way.
NW
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