Dear Friend,

As a career biologist, former Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Executive Vice President of Defenders of Wildlife I’m no stranger to animals in distress.

But what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico right now is an unprecedented ecological disaster. It is threatening sea turtles, sperm whales, dolphins, brown pelicans, Atlantic bluefin tuna and scores of other species… along with entire ecosystems.

Today you can help me save one of most visible victims of the Gulf offshore oil disaster: imperiled loggerhead sea turtles.

Urge the Obama administration to improve protections for these amazing seafarers by listing them as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Please take action now.

Today I’m in the Gulf, meeting with senior officials in charge of the oil clean-up and response. Tomorrow I’ll be on one of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s response boats, surveying the damage… and dreading the sight of sea turtles, birds and other wildlife caught in the massive oil slick that’s growing by the day in the Gulf.

I’ll be working with government officials for as long as it takes to protect the wildlife that are innocent victims of BP’s negligence – all the wildlife victims. But today I need your help to save one species in particular: loggerhead sea turtles.

Help ensure loggerheads get the life-saving protections they need. Please send your message to federal officials now.

Loggerhead sea turtles were in trouble before the Gulf oil spill disaster.

The number of female loggerheads nesting on Florida beaches – one of the most important habitats for the species – has declined by 50 percent in the past decade. Scientists and government officials have sounded the alarm about what this could mean for the future of the ancient sea mariners. The National Marine Fisheries Service is now proposing to upgrade protection for loggerheads from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

These turtles need our  help even more now.

The world’s second-largest loggerhead nesting area is on the beaches of the southeastern United States, the vast majority of which includes Florida’s central Atlantic beaches.

This area is expected to be threatened by the horrific oil slick, depending on how much of the slick gets picked up by the Loop Current — a powerful ocean current that could bring the slick around the southern reaches of the state, through the sensitive coral reef and mangrove areas of the Everglades and the Keys, and then into the Gulf Stream and up the east coast of Florida.

The spill could not have happened at a worse time: loggerheads and other sea turtles — as well as many shorebirds — are in the peak of their nesting seasons right now.

Oil is extremely toxic to loggerheads and other species. Exposure can cause skin loss, poisoning, drowning and death… which is exactly why we need every available tool to help save the lives of individual loggerheads and save this species from extinction.

Today you can do something concrete to help save wildlife impacted by the disaster in the Gulf by helping to save loggerhead sea turtles from extinction. Please take action now.

We’ll do everything we can to save the lives of wildlife impacted by this environmental catastrophe. I hope you will too.

With Gratitude,
Jamie Rappaport Clark
Executive Vice President
Defenders of Wildlife

P.S. Please be sure to follow our blog and updates on Facebook and Twitter. I’ll be posting from the Gulf all week as we work to protect coastal wildlife from toxic oil.

The Animal Welfare Institute Files Suit against BP for Burning Endangered Sea Turtles Alive

June 30, 2010 (New Orleans, Louisiana) - The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and other animal protection and conservation organizations have filed suit in federal court today against British Petroleum America, Inc., British Petroleum Exploration & Production and British Petroleum PLC (“BP”) for burning critically endangered sea turtles in the Gulf of Mexico, in violation of the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws.

“It is horrifying that these innocent creatures whose habitat has already been devastated by the oil spill are now being burned alive,” said AWI President, Cathy Liss.  “They are critically endangered and must be protected.”

As part of BP’s efforts to contain the massive oil spill that continues to devastate the Gulf of Mexico, BP is using “controlled burns” whereby oil is corralled by fire resistant booms dragged through the water by shrimp boats and then lit on fire.  Endangered sea turtles, including the Kemp’s ridley, one of the rarest sea turtles on Earth, are caught in the gathered oil and unable to escape when the oil is set ablaze.

The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by AWI along with the Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network and Animal Legal Defense Fund, after notice was given to BP on Monday of its ongoing violations of federal law and the groups’ intent to sue.

Under the suit, the plaintiffs have charged BP with violating the federal Endangered Species Act and the terms of its lease with the United States government for the Deepwater Horizon facility, which lease requires BP to comply with all federal environmental laws. The plaintiffs have asked the court to prevent BP from continuing to engage in burning activities in the Gulf of Mexico which kill or injure endangered sea turtles.  The plaintiffs have also filed a Temporary Restraining Order seeking an immediate halt to the burning until, at a minimum, mechanisms are implemented that will prevent any additional sea turtles from being burned alive.

“While cleaning up the catastrophic oil spill is critically important, so too is doing it in a way which doesn’t destroy wildlife in a flagrantly unlawful manner,” said Liss.  “We hope that our legal efforts will serve to protect the endangered sea turtles whose very existence hangs in the balance.”

The plaintiff groups are being represented by the Washington, D.C. based public interest law firm of Meyer Glitzenstein & Crystal.

For More Information:
D.J. Schubert, Wildlife Biologist, 609-601-2875
Tracy Silverman, General Counsel, 202-460-3231

Dear Humanitarian:

The massive and continuing torrent of oil from the April 20th explosion on and subsequent sinking of BP’s Deepwater Horizon ultra-deepwater drilling rig is the worst environmental disaster in US history. The unfolding devastation will forever alter the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and beyond. Over 100 million gallons of oil are estimated to have been released into the Gulf already, nine times more oil than was released by the catastrophic wreck of the Exxon Valdez.

Recent estimates indicate that, two months after the initial explosion, 2.5 million gallons continue to spew into the fragile and once ecologically rich Gulf ecosystem every day! In other words, BP is releasing the equivalent of a new Exxon Valdez every four and a half days.

Oiled and dead birds, sea turtles, dolphins and fish are showing up in increasing quantities, and many more dead animals are likely to be lost at sea never to be accounted for. Oil is approaching sensitive breeding areas for birds on marshes and beaches, and scientists are predicting a near total breeding failure for those birds this year.

More sea turtles, fish and marine mammals are likely to suffer as the toxic plume, currently measuring 20 miles long and five miles wide, disperses through the water column. The already tenuous future of threatened and endangered sperm whales, manatees, sea turtles, and brown pelicans is particularly worrisome.

At least twenty national wildlife refuges and forty endangered species will be impacted as oil moves through the powerful waters of the Gulf Stream. We will not truly understand the full effects of this unprecedented and still escalating disaster for many years to come.

The effects on wildlife of the experimental dispersants used by BP to break up the oil are largely unknown and may, in fact, do more harm than good, by spreading chemicals throughout the food chain, as well as spreading the oil further.

BP has applied over a million gallons of the toxic chemical to break down the oil and disperse it at sea, protecting shorelines while sacrificing countless animals in the water column and those on the sea floor.

The damage predictions are devastating, and efforts thus far to stop the flow of oil, largely unsuccessful. Crews have been using a variety of methods to keep oil from reaching beaches, wetlands and estuaries, but cleanup efforts have been erratic and insufficient, resulting from BP’s gross lack of emergency preparedness and intentional trivialization of the risks.

There have even been reports of BP workers blocking efforts to rescue endangered sea turtles and burning the animals alive[1] [2]. The lack of government oversight and the failure to follow even loose regulatory measures is painfully apparent.

The industry-friendly Minerals Management Service has allowed, essentially, oil companies to self-regulate for years, encouraging dangerous drilling operations to move forward without environmental safeguards.

On May 27, President Obama announced a 6-month moratorium on new offshore drilling permits. However, most of the existing 3,500 drilling rigs and platforms in U.S. coastal waters (79 of them deepwater wells), including some particularly dangerous projects, are allowed to continue, like ticking time bombs.

The BP Atlantis, for example, one of the largest oil platforms in the world and also in the Gulf, is documented to have serious safety problems, yet remains in operation[3] [4]. Were something to go awry on the Atlantis, the Deepwater Horizon disaster would pale in comparison.

Although the scale of the disaster is overwhelming and the situation seems hopeless, there is something vitally important you can do:

Write to the President

This catastrophe illustrates the need for drilling operations to be strongly regulated and vigorously enforced. Please write a letter to President Obama and request that his Administration:

- immediately and permanently ban all future offshore drilling projects;
- immediately shut down BP Atlantis and other such unsafe drilling projects until proven safe;
- conduct a review (including their impacts to wildlife) of all deepwater platforms currently under construction and in operation and set a rigorous timeframe for resolving issues;
- halt the use of chemical dispersants until their impacts on the environment are fully understood and determined not to pose a significant threat;
- require all oil drilling to comply with environmental laws;
- ensure that wildlife rescue efforts proceed uninterrupted and investigate claims that BP is blocking rescue efforts; and
- develop strong recovery actions for threatened and endangered species.

If you prefer to send an email to President Obama, please visit AWI’s Compassion Index.

Volunteer

To report an oiled shoreline or request volunteer information, please call the Deepwater Horizon Response Volunteer Request Line at 1-866-448-5816. To report wildlife in distress, call the Wildlife Distress Hotline at 866-557-1401.

For state specific volunteer opportunities, visit:

Louisiana:
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/ALUNMTPMBF/5397079296/
Mississippi:
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/AJKLMTPMBH/5397079296
Florida:
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/MIAAMTPMBI/5397079296/
Alabama:
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/ONCXMTPMBJ/5397079296

For more information and for other volunteer opportunities, especially for those individuals with wildlife recovery and spill response experience, visit
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/EOBWMTPMBK/5397079296.

Please share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers. As always, we are grateful for your help.

Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President

[1] Los Angeles Times, “Death by fire in the gulf”,
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/JIWFMTPMBL/5397079296 (June 17,
2010)

[2] Sea Turtle Restoration Project, “BP Blocks Attempt to Save
Endangered Sea Turtles from Oil Spill”,
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/LQLDMTPMBN/5397079296 (June 16,
2010)

[3] Food and Water Watch, “Spill the Truth”,
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/JMEQMTPMBO/5397079296/ (June 21,
2010)

[4] Washington Post, “BP Atlantis rig plans never received
proper approvals, former contractor says”
http://capwiz.com/compassionindex/utr/1/DXOSMTLLHY/HHIDMTPMBP/5397079296 (June 17,
2010)

ENDANGERED SPECIES and COMPANION ANIMALS

NEED YOU TO TAKE ACTION!

Dear Humanitarian:

The U.S. Congress established the Multinational Species Conservation Funds, which provide grants to those dedicated to saving some of the world’s fastest disappearing and most treasured animals in their natural habitats, including certain tiger, rhino, sea turtle,
elephant and great ape species. However, these magnificent animals still face an unprecedented international decline and need your help.

Representative Henry Brown (R-SC) and Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) have introduced bills (H.R. 1454, S. 1567) authorizing the U.S. Postal Service to issue a semipostal stamp that would help raise money for critically important endangered species conservation. The Supportwould be sold at a premium above the first class letter rate of 44 cents, with the supplement going to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to support grants through the Funds for species preservation. Any money raised by the stamp would act as an addition to the annual Congressional appropriation for these programs. This initiative is modeled after the Breast Cancer Research stamp, of which more than 800 million have been sold since its authorization in 1998, raising over $54 million for breast cancer research.

The legislation promotes awareness of these species and provides a convenient way for the public to contribute to projects supported by the Multinational Species Conservation Funds. The U.S. House of  Representatives passed H.R. 1454, The Multinational Species
Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act, in December 2009 by a voice vote. It is time for the Senate to swiftly pass S. 1567, providing much needed assistance to endangered species conservation programs.

Protecting Companion Animals from Experimentation

When you contact your Senators’ offices, please also ask them to cosponsor S. 1834, the Pet Safety and Protection Act (PSPA), introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI).  The PSPA will end the abuse-ridden system of Class B dealers of non-purpose-bred dogs and cats that supplies these animals for use in research. Class B dealers are supposed to acquire the animals they sell only from other dealers, pounds, and individuals who have bred and raised the animals themselves.  However, the dealers routinely flout the Animal Welfare Act; obtain animals through fraud, deception, and outright theft; and falsify their records.  They keep the animals in horrendous conditions.

USDA spends hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars per year unsuccessfully trying to regulate them and has acknowledged that they can’t guarantee that dogs and cats are not being illegally acquired for use in experiments.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1. Please call your Senators today and urge them to cosponsor S. 1567, the Multinational Species Conservation Funds Semipostal Stamp Act.

2. Also, ask your Senators to cosponsor S. 1834, the Pet Safety and Protection Act, to ensure that dogs and cats illegally obtained from their lawful guardians are not being sold for use in experiments. Mention, too, that a study by the well-respected National Academy of  Sciences concluded that Class B dealers are not necessary for researchers to obtain the dogs and cats they need. To send an email to your Senators on this bill please visit AWIs Compassion Index

3. Additional support for the House version of the Pet Safety and Protection Act, H.R. 3907, is urgently needed as well in order to achieve passage before Congress ends this year.  Please contact your Representative and ask him/her to cosponsor H.R. 3907 or to
say” thank you” if he/she has already done so. To send an email to your Representative on this bill please visit AWIs Compassion Index

To find your Senators and Representative and their contact information, visit the AWIs Compassion Index

Thank you for taking action on behalf of endangered species and companion animals! Please share our “Dear Humanitarian” eAlert with family, friends and co-workers. As always, we are grateful for your help.

Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Pamela Rickenbach
Christina Hansen
Blue Star Equiculture, Inc.
PO Box 7
Bondsville, MA 01009
(413) 289-9787 (Equiculture)
(267) 909-5844 (Christina Hansen’s cell)
www.equiculture.org
info@equiculture.org

Blue Star Equiculture Hosts World Peace and Prayer Day, June 19-21, 2010
Special guest Chief Arvol Looking Horse to honor horses and the environment
PALMER, MA. – The summer solstice will bring together all nations, all faiths and all species in one prayer for peace at Blue Star Equiculture Draft Horse Sanctuary and Organic Farm.

Monday, June 21, 2010, will see people of all faiths gather on Burgundy Brook Farm on Rt. 181 to celebrate our sacred connection with the Horse and with Mother Earth. Diverse spiritual and religious groups are invited to participate alongside  Chief Arvol Looking Horse , who will be praying for the future of all horses, of all humans, and of the Earth. All are welcome.

“We are the watchers. We are the witnesses,” says Looking Horse. “We see what has gone before. We see what happens now, at this dangerous moment in human history. We see what’s going to happen, what will surely happen unless we come together — we, the Peoples of all Nations — to restore peace, harmony and balance to the Earth, our Mother…”

Chief Arvol Looking Horse is the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Pipe of the Lakota Sioux. He began World Peace and Prayer Day in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1996 as a means to reconnect all people of all faiths with Mother Earth. This year, Chief Looking Horse, a board member of the International Society of the Protection of Mustangs and Burros, is coming to Blue Star Equiculture to honor the Horse Nation and its contribution to our common history.

Blue Star Equiculture executive director Pamela Rickenbach says that World Peace and Prayer Day is a unique opportunity to raise awareness about both facets of Blue Star’s focus: working horses and the environment. “Horses are crucial to our connection with our own history and with the Earth. Yet horses across the country are facing an uncertain future, through neglect, homelessness and the ever-present specter of horse slaughter. At the same time, the environment is in crisis. We want to show people that horses, especially working horses, can help us restore balance in the environment and in our society.”

Equiculture co-founder and historian, Christina Hansen, agrees. “We like to say around here that draft horses are a national treasure, just like wild mustangs. Horses–whether draft horses, other working horses, riding horses, or mustangs–built our nation. We are all a horse people.” This event is a time to celebrate our connection with the horse and with the earth, and to honor horses’ contribution to our lives.

The weekend’s activities begin on Saturday, June 19, with a benefit concert, Music for the Horse Nation. Music begins at 3 PM, and will feature several popular local bands, including: Jubilee Garden, The Pencils, Gaia Roots, Rhythmic Circus, and Josh Noone and the Federal Crime.

On Sunday, visitors will be entertained and educated by a native historical reenactment by Ken Hamilton, featuring the customs and practices of the Nipmuc people who settled the area before European settlement.

A program introducing the public to the history and life stories of several of the equine residents at Blue Star Equiculture will also be presented. Sunday’s activities will conclude with a drum circle in the evening.

Wagon rides and informational displays about Blue Star Equiculture, horses and horsepower, and the history of the land at Burgundy Brook Farm will be available all weekend. Limited camping is available on site by reservation only, $10 per site per night.

Author Harvey Arden will also be on hand all weekend, and will speak and participate in Monday’s events. Mr. Arden was a National Geographic staff writer for over 23 years. He has continued to pursue his desire to collaborate with extraordinary people to share their stories, life lessons, and messages as an author and editor. He is the author or editor of numerous books including, Wisdomkeepers: Meetings w/ Native American Spiritual Elders, Dreamkeepers: A Spirit-Journey into Aboriginal Australia, and Noble Red Man: Lakota Wisdomkeeper Mathew King.

The International Society of the Protection of Mustangs and Burros will have an informational booth to educate the public about the plight of wild mustangs and burros. The ISPMB is the nation’s oldest wild horse advocacy organization, founded in 1960 by “Wild Horse Annie,” Velma Johnston.

Approximately 30 vendors of crafts, jewelry, food and more will be on site on Saturday and Sunday. Admission to Saturday and Sunday events is $10 per day, $5 for children aged 5-12. All events are family friendly, and a kids’ craft and face-painting booth will be available in the vendor area. Vendors and sponsors are still being sought. “We also need volunteers, lots of them,” says Rickenbach. “This is an opportunity for all of us to come together for the benefit of horses and the Earth.” For more information about vendor, sponsorship, or volunteer opportunities at World Peace and Prayer Day, visit www.worldpeaceandprayerday.org.

All proceeds from the weekend benefit Blue Star Equiculture and Wolakota Foundation’s S’unka Wakan program. Blue Star Equiculture Draft Horse Sanctuary and Organic Farm is a 501c3 non-profit organization specializing in draft horse rescue and retirement, organic farming, environmental education, and horse-drawn history tours. Its mission is to provide homeless working horses a sanctuary and the opportunity to be useful and positively improve their lives, while bringing education, equine awareness, skills and healing to the community and the environment. For more information about Blue Star Equiculture, its mission and its horses, visit them on the web at www.equiculture.org.

Wolakota Foundation is a grassroots non-profit organization emerging from the needs of traditional Lakota (Dakota/Nakota) people to maintain their cultural and spiritual lifeways for the sake of future generations. Since its inception, the organization has sought to promote and protect as well as educate others about the traditional values and wisdom of Indigenous People. For more information, visit www.wolakota.org.

For more information about World Peace and Prayer Day, a schedule of events, information about how to participate, or to download sponsor or vendor forms, please visit www.worldpeaceandprayerday.org. World Peace and Prayer Day is an alcohol-free, drug-free and weapon-free event.

Help Restore Ban on Animal Crush Videos, Support H.R. 5092
Take Action!

Dear Humanitarian:

The Supreme Court handed a victory to animal abusers on April 20 when it overturned the law prohibiting the creation, sale, and possession of depictions of animal cruelty for commercial purposes.

In an 8-1 decision, the Court declared that the “crush video law” was “overbroad” and violated the First Amendment for potentially affecting materials pertaining to legal activities, such as hunting, even though no such prosecution has ever been attempted.  Justice Samuel Alito, the lone dissenter, sensibly argued that the law was designed “not to suppress speech but to prevent horrific acts of animal cruelty.”

Within hours of this decision, crush videos reappeared on the market.

In response to this decision, Representative Elton Gallegly (R-CA), the sponsor of the original bill, Representative James Moran (D-VA) and 54 other Members of the House of Representatives introduced H.R. 5092, to restore the ban on crush videos.  By targeting these videos only, it is hoped that this legislation will pass constitutional muster.

Animal Welfare Institute will work hard to achieve quick passage of this bill and has added H.R. 5092 to our Compassion Index.  Please ask your Representative to cosponsor this bill if he/she hasn’t done so already. As of today, the bill has 199 cosponsors.

To learn more about animal crush videos, please visit AWI.

Take Action!

Police shoot 2 dogs in the presence of a small child to confiscate a small bag of marijuana. The parents were charged with child endangerment (because the seized drugs were trivial?) not the police who fired guns inside the home.

If you have been living with the delusion that militarized drug warriors work for your safety and security

wake up!

Perhaps now that you have seen it with you own eyes you believe the brutal callousness of the police who carry out these violent attacks on peaceful families.

I understand Jonathan’s grief at discovering his dogs had been shot. To add insult to injury, the civil servants who assassinated the innocent animal were hired with Jonathan’s taxes.

This is the reality that the drug war’s defenders ignore. Blaming drugs for violence misses the role of our laws and their enforcers have in creating terroristic threatening, pain, suffering and death.

Drug raid inquiry is ongoing while Jonathan E. Whitworth, 25, of Missouri, entered into a plea agreement with the state to drop charges of possession of marijuana and second-degree child endangerment for a guilty plea to possession of drug paraphernalia.

Police found a grinder, a pipe, a small amount of marijuana and shot two dogs upon entering Whitworth’s home earlier this year.

What justice can we expect as victims of deadly police violence?  Will this become just another one of those special exemptions from the moral law claimed by the people controlling the government’s apparatus of coercion?

The only people who benefit from the failed so-called war on drugs are cowboy cops exercising military fantasies upon the American public, lawyers, the builders of prisons and those who staff them. United States taxpayers pay for this abuse.

Where is the power of the purse?

Where is the power of public indignation?

How much longer will United States taxpayers choose to afford their own persecution?

Will you wait until they bust down your door and shoot your dogs in front of your family before you second-guess a decision reflecting wisdom of an agent of state authority?

There is NO single issue that puts more Americans in harms way than the senselessly violent failed war on drugs!

Only you and your neighbors can help stop the violence. No boot-licking syncophant in authority will help stop the violence.

The Obama administration has made it their official position to continue with the failed so-called war on drugs.

There are local groups literally everywhere in the United States actively working to pressure the government to stop the senseless violence created by the failed so-called war on drugs.

I hope you have joined them all.

Suzanne Moore brings a wealth of vital information, experience and simple clear steps for newcomers to take who want to become effective Wild Horse advocates.

Suzanne, fairly new to the wild horse situation, offers a unique perspective for newcomers and experts alike because she still retains her “Beginner’s Mind.” She knows what a newcomer will face trying to sort out fact from fiction in this heavily leveraged contest of life and death.

We invite all the experts to listen to Suzanne as well because in your long fight to save the horses maybe you’ve forgotten what it was like when you started. If you want more newcomers to enter the movement, please listen to what they need to get involved and make it a priority to help them. The more alliances and liaisons we make the better.

How To Be An Effective Advocate For Wild Horses
by Suzanne Moore

For newcomers ~

Actually, I’m fairly new to the wild horse situation myself. Due to my personal experiences, stopping horse slaughter was always my passion. I’ve never lived far enough west for wild horses to be a common topic of conversation, and I have never seen a wild herd. But when I heard those rumors about sending captive wild horses to slaughter, I decided I needed to investigate.

If you already know about horses, so much the better, because so many people these days have never even SEEN a live horse, so they can easily be misled by the massive disinformation campaign that the anti-horse people have mounted. You need to be able to set them straight.

Knowing the ins and outs of the slaughter debate will help too because it’s become a big part of the wild horse problems. The MOST important thing is learning what’s REALLY happening with the wild horses – and there’s a lot to learn.

You need to get the background on the horses, the advocates – many of whom have been looking after “their” herds for 15-20 years - and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which is the department that was charged with caring for the wild horse herds when the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed in 1971.

There is a LOT of history – and politics – in this complex situation. You need to familiarize yourself with all of this because one of the most important things we can do day today is fight the  disinformation by commenting on articles in the press, by telling your Senators and Representatives the truth.

But, before you can do this, you have to know what the truth IS. You can get it from these sites. There are MANY others, but these are the ones that I know and trust. When you are researching this, keep in mind that you can’t believe everything you find on the Internet!

The Cloud Foundation
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
Animal Welfare Institute
Habitat for Horses
International Society of the Protection of Mustangs and Burros
Equine Welfare Alliance
Society for Animal Protective Legislation
In Defense of Animals
American Herds

This last one, American Herds, has a lot of well researched historical background.

The first thing we MUST have is a moratorium on the roundups. There is a lawsuit pending, but Judge Friedman won’t be making his final decision before late May. We need an independent investigation of the BLM, an accurate count of how many horses are really out there on the range because no one really knows, certainly not the BLM.

This is what we’re lobbying DC for. We’re calling and writing to our Congress people daily. Also President Obama, but we’ve heard absolutely nothing from him although he campaigned on protecting the wild horses.

Some of the disinformation mongers continue to claim that we are asking for an end to the roundups and NO management for the herds in the future. I guess it’s one of those cases where the idea is that if you repeat something enough times, it will become true. These anti-horse people don’t seem to know what the word “moratorium” means – or at least they pretend they don’t.

We just want the frantic pace of the roundups to stop until the lawsuit is settled and we can get an independent, accurate count of the number of horses still in the wild.

The numbers given out by the BLM don’t “add up,” – and it seems they NEVER did. If the latest roundup in the Calico Complex in Nevada doesn’t prove this beyond a reasonable doubt, I don’t know what could.

So get up to speed on the facts, call and write your Senators and Representatives, and refute the disinformation that’s out there. Some of it is so incredible it would be funny except the situation for the horses is so dire.

And don’t let people brand you an “animal rights wacko radical who lives in an Eastern metropolis and has never even SEEN a horse.” Because that’s the mantra. Some folks seem to think everyone who cares about animal suffering belongs to PETA and lives on the East Coast (though what THAT  has to do with anything beats me), is willing to use violence and wants to force everyone to become a vegan.

The anti-horse people use this tactic to frighten the uninformed. It’s far from the truth. Personally, I’m not a radical or a vegan and the majority of the folks I’ve met in this campaign – and in the fight against horse slaughter – aren’t either.

Well, that MUST be enough! If anyone wants to ask me anything, you have my email and my blog. Others on the links I posted can probably answer better than I can, but feel free to contact me anytime.

This is the latest piece of news: BLM envisions tri-state mega complex for wild horses. I don’t quite know what it means, if anything, but it’s certainly different from anything the BLM has ever suggested before.
See ya later!

Wild horse photos courtesy of International Society of the Protection of Mustangs and Burros

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Bill to Promote Horse Slaughter in Tennessee Withdrawn from Consideration

Nashville, TN (April 27, 2010) -  Legislation advocating the slaughter of horses for human consumption will be withdrawn for the legislative session in Tennessee according to the bill’s sponsor Representative Frank Niceley.

This was following overwhelming public opposition to the proposal from the public, Tennessee Volunteers for Animal Protection, Willie Nelson, his daughter Amy Nelson and granddaughter Raelyn Nelson, long time supporters of the Animal Welfare Institute.

“We are pleased that Representative Niceley has agreed to pull his bill from consideration” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of the Animal Welfare Institute.  “There are many more humane and responsible ways of caring for horses in need and we look forward to expanding those in Tennessee.  Slaughter certainly isn’t an option and we feel many legislators realized this.”

Amy and Raelyn Nelson, residents of Tennessee, testified against the bill during a committee hearing earlier this month and plan on returning to Nashville to meet with legislators to discuss equine welfare issues very soon.

“Rep. Niceley has earned his name today.  We’ve had some time to get to know him over the last few weeks, and he really was listening to the facts against horse slaughter and we are grateful for that,” said Amy Nelson.  “We’re  looking forward to exchanging ideas with him regarding end of life decisions for at-risk horses.

In the meantime, please join the Animal Welfare Institute, the Nelson family and over 70 percent of Americans opposed to horse slaughter and help pass the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act (H.R. 503 / S. 727) currently before the U.S. Congress.

The Animal Welfare Institute is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1951 to reduce the sum total of pain and fear inflicted on animals by humans.

For More Information Contact:
Chris Heyde, Animal Welfare Institute – 202-446-2142
Laura Turner, Tennessee Volunteers for Animal Protection – 615-838-9085

Dear Humanitarian:

Whales are under threat from a U.S. led compromise that will permit the resumption of commercial whaling.

Please review this update and tell President Obama how much whales mean to you.

The Whaling Moratorium Is In Jeopardy

Within weeks the U.S. will decide whether to back a plan to resume commercial whaling – including in a whale sanctuary and on endangered species.

This unsavory plan represents capitulation to the three remaining whaling nations; Japan, Norway and Iceland; which continue to ignore international will by slaughtering whales and by undermining the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

In response to a perceived impasse at the IWC and ostensibly to reduce the number of whales being killed, the U.S. and eleven other IWC
nations have been negotiating for the past three years over the way forward. The result is a ten-year plan that will:

1.  Suspend the whaling moratorium thereby sanctioning whaling on all currently hunted whales species, including threatened and endangered populations;
2.  Allow whaling quotas to be set by whaling countries, not science;
3.  Allow whaling in a whale sanctuary; and
4. Fail to close loopholes in the whaling convention that permit countries to whale for so-called scientific research and opt out of
complying with IWC decisions.

U.S. Front and Center

The U.S. claims that it has yet to take a position on the deal, despite leading the negotiations and developing the package. Although many IWC member nations are following the U.S. and are capitulating to the whaling nations, others are standing firm in opposition. Since the whaling nations have manufactured the dysfunction of the IWC, capitulation will reward their years of bad behavior, return the world to the dark days of mass whale slaughter, and set a very bad precedent for other international treaties. The UK and Australia are vocally opposing the deal and the U.S. must join them and encourage other countries to do the same.

President Obama campaigned on a promise to continue to be a leader in whale conservation, saying in 2008 that “allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable.”

He needs to be held to that pledge.

What You Can Do:
Please write the President at:
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania, Ave.
NW, Washington D.C. 20500

and/or submit an online comment

Tell him that a return to whaling is wholly unacceptable.

He should oppose the package and take a hard line with the three whaling nations by using domestic trade legislation along with diplomatic pressure to get them to end their unnecessary, archaic and barbaric whaling practices.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,
Cathy Liss
President
Animal Welfare Institute