When the
conquistadors came to America, they brought their noble steeds to carry them
across the new land. Over time, escaped
and runaway horses created herds. Settlers
called the wild horses Mustangs, from the Spanish word mestengo, which means “stray.” Their numbers grew quickly and soon they
stretched all the way across the United States.
Indians started to capture some of the horses and used them to improve
hunting, travel, and to fight in wars. The
horses revolutionized their cultures and changed their lives.
Today, they are the spirit of
America, representing the old west and simpler times. A cruel fate had been thrust upon our
beautiful horses. To try and protect our
friends, our government created the Wild and Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act
of 1971. The Bureau of Land Management was
responsible for managing the horses and the public land they occupy (Miller 2). Estimates by the BLM indicate that there are
37,000 wild horses and burros across 10 western states competing with 8 million
cattle for grazing land (McVicker 7). Horse
activists feel that the BLM has inflated their numbers to justify what they are
doing. It makes you wonder why the Bureau
of Land Management is rounding-up so many of the horses. Horse activists argue that the treatment of
the horses is not held to an acceptable standard.
Over the years, the process of
rounding-up horses has changed. Before
the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 1971, ranchers were allowed to use
motor vehicles to hunt the mustangs.
Congress outlawed it after Velma Johnson, also known as Wild Horse Annie,
and a legion of schoolchildren persuaded them in 1959 (Geelong Advertiser
11). Melissa Farlow, a freelance
photographer, documented a modern BLM round-up.
Farlow describes it as “two helicopters buzzing above. A tame horse, known in the trade as a Judas
horse, was released among the mustangs; they followed him into the corral and
the gates were closed” (Tucker 14). Many
activists and celebrities are strongly against these round-ups because some are
so brutal that there have been cases of fatalities and life threatening
injuries. Even after outlawing motor
vehicles, the horses are still at risk of injuries. In one instance, “an attempt to gather 2,500
wild horses in Nevada resulted in 40 equine fatalities” (Miller 1). The BLM still has not found a safe and humane
way to round-up the horses.
After the round-up, the captured
horses have one of numerous possible fates.
The preferred fate is adoption.
In 2009, only 3,483 horses were adopted, compared to 5,701 in 2005
(McVicker 4). The cost to adopt a horse
is an average of $125 apiece to private owners, “but a horse is expensive to
maintain and can live 25 to 30 years” (Tucker 11). Unfortunately, most of the horses remain
unwanted and live out their lives in long term holding facilities. “The possibility of euthanization of
unadoptable horses was raised by the BLM in June 2008” (McVicker 4). The last outcome for the wild horses could be
slaughter. However, the slaughter of
wild horses has been a huge controversy.
“For most of the 20th century, the industry led people to
believe that only old, lame and sick horses were slaughtered for glue or dog
food. Many people sold their horses in
good faith at auctions or to killer buyers posing as conduits to a ‘good home’”
(DiBenedictis 7). For the horses, the
torture begins before they get to the slaughter house. They are tightly crammed onto livestock
trailers and driven to the slaughter house.
Such horror had been witnessed by Wild Horse Annie. “In 1950, Velma Johnson, a bank secretary on
her way to work in Reno, Nevada, followed a livestock truck leaking blood, then
watched in horror as wounded mustangs were unloaded at a slaughterhouse”
(Tucker 8). After this traumatic
experience, she devoted the rest of her life to fight for the wild horses’
rights. For many years, slaughter in
America was illegal. “In December,
Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on the slaughter of the wild horses…” (Geelong
Advertiser 2). The government feels that
the slaughter of the horses is fine since not all of them can be adopted. Since there are so many horses held in short
and long term facilities, they feel that slaughter is the best way to get rid
of the horses because they make money from slaughtering them. They make more room for the many more horses
that will one day live in the facilities.
Many believe that the reason so few
people have stood up to protect our wild horses is because there is very little
public awareness of the situation. The
government does not release a great deal of information on the issue. “Protests surrounding the Calico Mountain
Complex wild-horse removal and outcry over the resulting horse deaths have
brought this issue to a wide national audience” (Miller 1). Many were upset and wanted to get the word
out to others. To spread the word, “an
online petition to place a moratorium on further removals is currently
circulating, and wild-horse supporters are urging the public to demand a
Congressional investigation of the BLM” (Miller 2). When people heard of the round-ups, they
stood up against the government. Postponements
of scheduled round-ups have been postponed after public outcries by advocate
groups (Miller 2). If people learned about scheduled round-ups and stood up
against them, there could be a chance that the round-ups could be stopped. It is just a matter of getting the
information out to the public. Several
news stations have posted stories of the round-ups, as well as newspapers.
For centuries, the round-up of wild
horses has been happening all across the United States. Recently, they have rounded-up the horses
excessively. The BLM holds several
round-ups each year, rounding up hundreds of horses each session. After each round-up, the horses are sent off
to many different places with little hope of a good future. Only a few horses that are auctioned off are
actually adopted into good homes. Some buyers may seem that they are there to
help find the horses a good home, but they are usually there to send the horses
to slaughter and gain a profit by getting the horses cheap. Sadly, the rest of the unwanted horses live
out their days in a crowded facility.
Any horse showing signs of being lame or sicknesses are euthanized,
rather than seen by a vet or a doctor. I
believe that if the public had more information on the round-ups and the horses’
mistreatment, then they would stand up against the government and the BLM and
try to stop the nightmares.
