Madeleine Pickens Proposes Mustang Sanctuary
Sunday November 23, 2008
Photo: Getty Images
The horses have been threatened with euthanasia, due in no small part to Bush Administration aggressive round-ups. The 31,000 horses held by BLM in June was more than three times the 9,807 held in captivity in 2001; BLM official cite budget pressures.
"Can you imagine somebody suggesting that you euthanize 30,000 horses? It was abominable," said Pickens, who lives in Dallas and has a ranch in the Texas panhandle and a home near San Diego. "That will never happen."
According to the Washington Post, Lifelong animal lovers, Madeleine and her husband, oil businessman T. Boone Pickens, "led the fight to close the last horse slaughterhouse in the United States."
Learn more about the BLM Mustang Adoption Program.
Comments
Oh yes, let’s blame George Bush. I’m sure it was his relatives who brought the horse to this continent in the first place. And then it must have been his relatives who passed the first wild horse management laws and continued to endorse and promote it through out the 70s and into the 21st century?
Odd how not one of you lefty ideologues have come up with a plan that solves the problem? Just throwing money at it is how you lefties operate. Guess it makes you feel better? As one who has lived most of his entire life in Idaho, Montana and Colorado I’m not surprised by the leftist movement trying to dictate how our lands should be used.
Horses are not indigenous to the U.S. They have to be controlled and managed and if there’s no one to adopt them, they have to be killed. No other choice. It’s sad but necessary.
C
You must have cows….
Why euthanize horses with a toxic injection that is a slow death. Paralizing the muscles so the animal suffacates but is compleately immobile while doing so.
Put them down with a bullet doing an X between the eyes and ears and placing the bullet where it crosses. The horse won’t even hear the sound and the meat will be useful for animal or human consumption. It is a waste of good low cholestrol meat to inject them with somleathal or Equithaine.
Hey L,
Most of have cows and horses and a lot of commonsense. A very large pe of these “Wild Horses” today are no more than unwanted pukes that some horse poor slob has turned out on government land or even in you pastures to get rid of because those PETA people have shut down slaughter plants through AG-Ignorant legislators. Killing all of the average horse market.
Hi, Chuck:
(1) The Bush Administration decided to round up horses at a more aggressive rate without a plan, then complained about not having sufficient budget to manage the resulting round-ups. That’s poor management.
(2) As I outlined in July, the current BLM is reducing herd numbers below genetic viability. The BLM had reduced the number of herd management areas by a third. Despite the resulting increase in cattle grazing areas, the per-head “rental” (grazing fee) charged ranchers has not kept pace with inflation. “In nominal dollars, it cost about 20% more to feed an animal in 1996 than today and about 34% more to feed an animal in 1990 than today.”
(3) To Tom: yours is a minority voice re slaughter. Most Americans do not want to eat mustangs or see them slaughtered. There is no evidence for your claim that non-mustangs are being abandoned and are a “very large” percentage of the “wild horse” herds.
Tom: I think you are in Lala land. How many people actualy eat horse? Very few. Unwanted pukes? Animals have no choice whether they want to be born or not. Humans need to realize that we are not treating animals fairly. We are taking their land. Domestic animals have even more of a harder time with all the idiots who are losing their homes and leaving their animals behind. If you can’t take care of an animal don’t get one as a pet.
Besides Stephanie your all a bunch of heartless wastes of space! [inflammatory comment deleted]
Sorry I just saw red when I read the first 4 piles of you know what . [edited per prior comment]
Kathy,
So we have to take your word that the BLM(spearheaded by bush? Come on, get real) accelerrated it’s roundup of horses with no plan? Pull the other one and don’t give me any links to your lefty PETA type buddies.
Hmmm? Could they have stepped up the process because there were too many horses? Did they gather more horses than they could find homes for? HMMM? Yup, it’s the evil Bushies thirst for killing that’s to blame here.
Again, all you whiney city slicker liberals, where’s your plan to solve the problem? You’re quck to point fingers and so slow to create solutions.
[personal attack on another commenter deleted]
C
Hi, Chuck:
In case you have forgotten, leaders of agencies are Bush appointees (the term is “Bush Administration” - you are the only person accusing the President of making the decision).
One of the reasons that the cost of feed has increased is a direct result of Bush Administration biofuels policy (note this is documented in the earlier article).
Given that BLM has dramatically increased the number of horses rounded up without adding new outlets for adoption … what else can you call this but a lack of planning? Unless the plan is to break the program, that is.
And let me remind y’all that one of the top beneficiaries of the publicly-subsidized grazing program — a beneficiary of an aggressive mustang roundup — is privately-owned J.R. Simplot, which supplies most of the French fries sold by McDonald’s.
Chuck, RE your comment to Danny:
***
And Danny … I’d ask you to do the math on how quickly these herds will multiply over the next 20 years and what must be done but I’m sure it’s beyond your capacity.
***
The point on breeding is documented in the earlier article.
I have grown very tired of your attacks on other people. I’m editing this comment — in the future I will simply delete the entire thing.
What does J R Simplot have to do with horses? HUH?
And how did biofuels sneak into this? Both red herrings. imo
You’re tap dancing around your “Bush Administration” comment. Just another opportunity to bash the outgoing president and you never miss an opportunity or to create one.
Again, what is your solution or is this just another opportunity to complain, whine and point fingers?
When you and your ilk(Danny) stop attacking people, I’ll stop. Edit or delete, either way you want to censor me just go for it. No loss for me.
C
Chuck, one of the reasons given for culling the herds is because the land is also used for cattle. That’s the reason for JR Simplot — it’s one of the largest consumers of public land for grazing. And I’ve already pointed out how BLM (and/or Congress) is mismanaging that program because we charge under market for range fees.
Gee, if we charged more for grazing fees we might not have such a budget issue with feeding the mustangs that have been pulled off the range? Ya think?
Because mustangs and cattle are considered competing uses for the resource (even though there’s more than an order of magnitude difference - more cattle, in case you wondered), you can’t talk about one issue without the other.
Cattle are food. Horses are…….What? Not necessary? They shouldn’t be there in the first place. No need to spend millions of dollars keeping them alive in corrals. Round them up and sell them to Purina. Step aside you animal rights fanatics. It’s that simple. No horses, no upkeep, no more problem for 4 more years.
Yeah, I know it sounds harsh but I try to live in the real world and you have no solutions other than spend more money. Some problems have no solutions and can only be mitigated and this is probably one of them. Wild horses are not indigenous to the West or the U.S. and serve no purpose that I can see. They’re beautiful animals but they endanger our economy and our natural resources.
C
Wild horses aren’t indigenous to this country? What? Are you kidding me? No one has proved that in any case! It has all been based on conjecture and a few findings by some very uneducated ecologists and so called wild horse “experts”!
Wild horses were here long before the Spanish Colonial Horse.The questions is;when did the species actually die off?No they did not die off 10,000 years ago as some paleontologists have assumed.The modern wild horses that were here before the Conquistadors were not just escapees from farmers etc!There were wild horses here long before the settlers in the 1500’s! Just ask some Native American Indigenous people that utilized the wild species as part of their culture? Yes that means wild horse were indeed a Native wild species in North American and what is now known as the United States.
The problem is-The BLM,USFG,US Forest Commission and State Agriculture departments have denied these facts that wild horses are an indigenous-non invasive species in order to suppress wild horse reproduction. Why? The BLM and their associates are hard pressed to preserve land for commercial prophet.They cater to the ranchers,industrial real estate markets,mineral excavation companies and big game hunting industries. Their claims that wild horses are overpopulating and degrading their ecosystem is pure lies. Their claims that wild horses are competing for space and forage is true but that’s nature. Categorically,wild horses have been reclassified as a non native species and that is what has caused their demise.For more information about wild horses contact me and I will set the record straight! I have been a big game hunter and wild horse advocate for over 35 years and have seen what has really plagued this iconic species!
Hi, Chuck - as the nutritionist notes (above) there is evidence that wild horses predated western arrival.
And what’s “indigenous”? People aren’t indigenous if you believe the fossil trail — we developed in Africa and then spread around the world.
The law is clear, your narrow viewpoint to the contrary. Here’s the preamble to The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act in 1971 (from my earlier post):
“Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
I really wonder how much of what you write is what you believe and how much is a form of trolling. My page views appreciate it but my heart rate doesn’t. LOL!
“The BLM,USFG,US Forest Commission and State Agriculture departments have denied these facts that wild horses are an indigenous-non invasive species in order to suppress wild horse reproduction.”
AHHH, I get it now. It’s a conspiracy? Oooo, nothing like a conspiracy to sink your teeth into, unless it’s a replacement for facts. As I’ve said before, conspiracy theories give easy answers to complex problems.
Rabid animal rights conspiracy theorists don’t sway me. And like I said, these horses serve no purpose. Purina time!
And believe me, I believe what I post. It’s so like liberals to assume your point of view is the “only” point of view worth regarding. I find your point of view in this matter to be interesting but not persuasive or logical. Emoting over an animal that threatens our ecology and a struggling economy is a waste of time.
C
Chuck,
I certainly understand your point of view, though I have a small comment: you are seriously thinking that wild mustangs are endangering the US economy? Isn’t it rather years of mismanagement by the Bush administration, deregulation by the same administration (and, to be fair, some of the previous ones), a costly and totally unjust and unnecessary war and an hyper-inflated spendings on “Defense” that would be laughable if it wasn’t s sad?
To be honest, I have no opinion on the mustangs, because I don’t know the issue nor the data involved. But blaming them for the economy… Or even for the decline of the US agriculture? That sounds a bit too far.
This is the most unheard of thing, this is their land and we are trying to control it..GOD put them here for a reason to roam free and they should be allowed to, the farmers are being greedy, the cattle and horses can cohabit with one another, there should be no reason to kill them off, maybe bush should have had a better plan before he rounded them up, once again he let the american people down, hats off to Madeleine Pickens for doing something about this, i grew up with the love of horses, i don’t have any now, but when i get a place with some land i will surely adopt the allow limit, i can’t wait to save them from there forseen killers….
I hope that the Pickens plan for the 30, 000 wild horses includes sterilization of many if not all of them. The US government, let by Bush most recently does not want anything eating on federal land other than cows. Bison are being killed in Montana after being harassed by state authorities and Yellowstone staff. Killed because they are on federal property leased out to ranchers. I have quit eating beef entirely as has my husband to quit supporting an industry that kills bison, takes the calves from the mothers and tortures the animals. Your tax dollars at work yet again. Hopefully us liberal leftist commie tree hugger bunny huggers can shut down yet another selfish system of killing a natural animal of the praries and mountains, unlike cows that are NOT natural to the west proven by how they cannot survive winters without human intervention and have their calves in the worst of the winter.
I have lived in the northwest all my life and have been a rancher, raising cattle, sheep, horses as well as about every other type of domestic animal. I have run cattle on public lands and in our area they are pretty well managed. People need to remember that nature has a balance “prey & predator” Horses are not predator’s but wolves and cougars are and if the government feels it’s necessary to bring the predator’s in to an area then maybe they should bring in the mustang as well to feed them. Nature will create the balance if left alone. I have owned mustangs, trained them and used them on our ranch for years. They are a great animal and I am a horse lover but everyone has to realize that in the wild only the strong survive therefore some will die and if the weak and sick are not removed they will infect the rest of the heard and cause it’s total destruction. No different than any other animal. The biggest problem is for people to try to save everything. There is a time to live and a time to die. If a prey animal is overpopulating an area introduce a natural predator. The strongest will survive but when the predators become a problem they must be controlled by man “the top of the food chain”.
Since 1971 the Annie act was passed to protect the wild burros and mustangs.
Since this time the horses and burros have been mismanaged, abused in many ways 2 of the worst are the horrible conditions they go through on the way and at the slaughter houses. The other is the use of aircraft to round them up the ones that make the cut sit in pens to rot. The rest are ran back out using aircraft some unable to walk because there hoofs were worn down to the coffin bone running to the holding pens. then ran back out 20 plus miles.
Adopting an animal is just about impossible.
Due to greed, Billions of dollars has been pocked from killing 100,000’s of these horse’s and burros. (where is that money)
birth control has been around since 1971. Instead of management of the mustangs, they have been breeding them for slaughter. 1.00 a pound times 100,000’s is a whole lot of money not to mention the money the american public has paid in taxes.
Even though 30,000 mustangs will be saved. the laws need to be changed to protect all horses from being bought by kill buyers during these desperate times or stolen to be sent across the borders to slaughter houses.
If any animals is raised for food it should have the right to be treated with respect and killed as humanly as possible with the least amount of pain just the way you would want it. kimberly
Dear Mam: Thank you for saving some of Americas heritage. Just like the Red man it is the intent of white settelers to exterminate the Amerin Heritage. I have seen the true Mustangs of the Priors because my Uncle used to live in Lodgegrass. He said in 1927 both the Elk and Bison were still on the open range when he got there.And it was at least a three days ride before you would find a fence.But he also said one of the sadest things he ever had to do was shoot a wild Mustang that was stelling his mares.Even he sad the mustang should always remain free there may be some mischuf but we let the Elk run free and he causes plenty of trouble.Were do we draw the line are we going to be fencing in Jack Rabbits boy ID like to see that happen.Anyway please thank that Lady for having more common sense. About saving one of Americas Monuments lord knows our Government is suffering from Backside Ignorance.God Bless and Take Care!! Yaa-H0!!!
FINALLY! After 35 years of studying wild horses on a physiological and biological level,there is someone who really is doing something about the 33,000 wild horses in captivity.The wild horse rescue project that is being undertaken by Madeleine Pickens is of enormous magnitude.This tasks is unprecedented! No wild or domestic species has been rescued on this scale ever in history!There are many variables that will determine the success of this mission.Such as how many will be reintroduced at one time. In what intervals? How and who will secure the perimeters to keep the horses from straying back onto public lands and being recaptured by the Bureau of Land Management.The areas that are regulated by the Bureau of Land Management,U.S.Fish Game and Wildlife and the Forest Commision are going to be carefully monitored so that none of the reintroduced horses wander onto the public lands.It will take a massive amount of qualified personnel on Madelein’s part to manage and maintain over one million acres with 33,000 horses on it.I am hoping that Madeleine will use her resources wisely and choose the right people to assist her during the critical reintroduction stage of the project.It will take more than just a few ecologists,biologists and volunteers to make this a successful transition!Best of luck to Madeleine and God’speed to the horses release!
Wild horses,YES “wild” horses were here long before their Spanish Colonial cousins.Need Proof?
Ask the Mohawk,Oneida,Onondaga,Cayuga, and Seneca which used wild horses to grow their culture in the 15th century!Yes that was over 150 years before the Spanish Settlers and their horses arrived!Oh and by the way Chuck!You seem to like to dispute anything that is in favor of the horses return to the wild. Could it be that your narrow minded biased opinion is based on your own personal monetary interests? You seem to be the conspiracist that will do anything to thwart wild horse advocates efforts to find refuge for these animals! If you want to go head to head with me Chuck,I welcome your argument. Name the place and time and I will be there!You really need to get off your proverbial,pompous high horse!
If you are going to save these horses make sure you save the wolves with them that will take care of your horse problem the natural way,the animal rights way. If wolves are like coyotes they will eat a horse before they eat anything else. If you lay a dead cow and a horse beside each other the coyotes will eat the horse first. Maybe before you turn the wolves back to the wild feed them horses. So when the wolves kill their first horse they will prefer them, it will also provide a place to put the wolves. That way you don’t have to deal with those crazy ranchers that are trying to make a living and paying taxes. Or those terrible hunters that bring in thousands of dallars to the local economy so they can pay taxes. It’s like killing two birds with one stone. I should be a government employee. I could save the tax payer millions of dallars and keep everybody happy. The horses are free again (Happy). The wolves are fat (happy). Mother natures way. Mother nature (happy),and private livestock is safe (Ranchers Happy). PETA (happy)because they don’t have to waist their money euthanizing them like they do to the dogs and cats they save, and it doesn’t cost the tax payer a darn thing if donations and Pickins buy the land. Tax payer (Happy). Pickins gets a tax break saves worthless horses. Pickins(Happy) And if there gets to be to many wolves let the hunters in. Hunters (Happy) If we could just pull this thing off we could all be happy again. We have the horses we can round up the wolves off of land they should not be on and we have the hunters all we need to do is buy the land. You would think maybe one of those really smart people in Washington DC that ran the country into the ground would have thought of this a long time ago. Maybe it just makes to many people and animals happy to work.
Animals are not asked to be brought into this world. Stupid and uneducated people bring animals into this word. These horses are an American symbol and deserve to be in our Country more than some people do. The people who feel like these horses are costing our government too much money, maybe we should cut off their Social Security and Medicare when they get old since it will cost too much money for their care.
WOW!! What a bunch of idiots!! How dare these people(?) talk about the wild horses this way. A bunch of “pukes”? I have seen some mustangs that would put YOU to shame. I have grown very angry (with age) at the jerks out there that think that this country is for HUMANS and humans, alone. HOGWASH. You must be related to the jerk that said that we need to rid our world of geese, since the jet that flew into a flock of them - yes, the jet flew into the flock - not the other way around. Maybe we should rid our world of airplanes. Chuck Manson, get a life and leave our horses alone.
To Stephanice:
The Japanese eat horse, whale, dog, etc. they chop them and turn them into ice cream and other types of dairy products. The Europeans have been eating horse meat since cave man times…
http://japaneseicecream.blogspot.com/2007/05/japanese-ice-cream.html
no actually they dont have to be killed they lived here before you did so i think if they are not doing anythang to hurt you or your livestock then you need to mind your own buisness and let them live! If yall dont have nothing better to do then go out and kill horses then someone has some serious issues! go out and use your bullets for something you might actually eat, i was always tought that if you are goin to use a gun then you use it on a animal you can eat and i dont think yall are eating them so!!!!!
I can’t believe the ignorance in alot of the previous comments. They were stated as though the individual knew what they were talking about.One in particular is Kim Miller.
I have adopted 12 mustangs over the past ten years and they all turned out to be great riding horses. I adopted them from 4 different states and have been to many more of the adoption and holding locations.I have also been on several of the gather sites and watched the gather. None of them were cruel or inhumane. Great care is given to make sure the horses are not injured and in the event they are there is a vet onsite.
I love the wild horses alot and currently promote their adoption by riding in parades and showing them. However one must be real about their protection. The wild horse and burro protectionis good, but the over population must be addressed. The heards normally increase from 15 to as much as 40% per year and people are in fact turning more horses loose in this economy and for the same reason there are less adoptors.
I hate the thought of killing the horse but it may come to be the lesser of evils as eventually there will be vast over population. The horses have to be managed.
It is unfortunate that there is no easy
solution but they must be managed. Maybe the Pickens plan will help but then what. They still multiply. I can’t afford any more. Maybe big mouth Kim can take a few.
what the government needs to do is to monitor these herds more closely. any local SPCA will neuter male dogs cheap or free of charge. why can’t that be done to the young colts born? take each yearling foal and it’s mother to be inspected and determine it’s sex. then if it is a stallion, geld him!! it’s that simple and more cost effective than keeping them penned up in an inclosure that’s not only wrong but costly. then we could keep our wild herds and cut down on the population as well. plus the government needs to adopt out more studs and geldings than mares.
Jaime, These horses roam on millions of acres and it would be impossible to collect and check the horses as you suggest. It would be an impossible task to gather all the horses as they run in small bands in rugged desolate terrain. All it takes is one stallion to serve any number of mares and they have ways of getting together ,even if the are from a separate band. Also, even if you attempted such a task, they would have to gather every year looking for the one that got away the year before. That I think, would cost more than the cost of housing under the current system. There are private contractors that gather the animals for the BLM and it is not a quick and simple task.
When the horses are gathered, usually most of the mares that are age 2 and older are at some stage of pregnancy. Normal pregnancy tests require the mares be along to a point that it can be determined. That presents another problem of housing if in fact you attempt to check them all not knowing if there is still a loose stallion out there.
More expense! There are alot of considerations
that even your average horse owner/lover are not aware of. I hope something can be done that will allow the Pickens plan to work but I haven’t heard the specifics of it yet. Loving the wild horses and being emotional about it will not cure the problem
The million acre preserve and 800 million dollars alone are not enough. There has to be specific guidelines for that particular plan and the that still leaves the ones that are free and multiplying to be delt with in the future.
I don’t have a problem with what you do with YOUR horses nor do I care how much money you spend on them. If you want to spend thousands on a horse that would be worthless to me that’s your choice. Buy land and all the horses you want just use your money and not tax money or public land unless you lease it with your money. What I do care about is when people think they have the right to tell me what is best for my horses and take a choice away from me. Leave the processing plants and the rest of the world alone. When a viable outlet for food and culling is taken away and it substantially decreases the value of all horses then YOU are in everybody elses business. I will never adopt or be financially committed for life to a animal and it will never come before any human, that’s just insane. And if someone looks at a horse and sees it as food that’s their choice not yours or mine. I think eggs and tomatos are disgusting does that mean no one in the world should eat them. Eat what ever you want and let others do the same. Socialism does not save animals. And telling people what they can do and not do with their property an lives, if its not harming any other person is socialism and they are the people who eat horses. So get a life and leave the rest of us alone.
I have ridden/trained and have been friends with Bill for years and he is doing what he can for Mustangs as an individual. Not very many folks can say the same. He dosen’t just talk the talk he lives it every day as best as he can.
I have some logistic concerns about Marilyn’s plan although I have no idea anymore than anyone else on how she is planning to run it. My first question would be the logistic nightmare of trying to fence 1 million acres off. This is no 4 strand barbed wire cattle fence. It would need to be more like wildlife fencing. The second would be the expense of food, medical care and general maintainence of such a facility for imperpetuity? Even billionaires have a financial budget. Horses average lifespans are 25 years. I would imagine she would keep acquiring more horses in the future. What happens “after Marilyn”? She’s a mortal human and what would happen to all these animals after she’s gone? I would much rather see this become a training facility where these animals can be gentled/trained and sent out into the world as useful animals. This would also create jobs for a full time training staff.