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January 28, 2005
Revised wild horse law challenged
By SAMANTHA YOUNG "We need to stop this senseless and inhumane policy change before it can be carried out," said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., said. Rahall, the ranking Democrat on the House Resources Committee, criticized a new law that lifts long-standing restrictions on how many horses the Bureau of Land Management can sell, to whom and for what purpose. Congress lifted the restrictions last December to give the government more avenues to reduce wild horse herds to manageable levels in 10 western states. The BLM estimates roughly half of the country's 36,000 wild horses roam on public lands in Nevada, where ranchers and state officials have called for increased federal assistance to remove the animals. The new law allows the BLM to sell without limits any horse older than 10 years of age, and horses that have been put up for adoption three times without any takers. "This backdoor legislative maneuver, enacted without public notice, will make these animals available to the highest bidder for processing into commercial products," Rahall said. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., had sponsored the law loosening the restrictions on wild horse sales. Burns disagreed they would lead to horse slaughter, saying large numbers of wild horses now can be sold to friendly groups seeking to care for them. Previously, the BLM had limited the number of horses that could be obtained by individual buyers. "The adoption program has not worked and so long as it's not working then we have to do something," Burns said Tuesday. "This allows the BLM to manage the herd and keep them healthy." Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who sits on the House Resources Committee, described the new law as a "a last resort" measure that he hoped would spur improvements to the wild horse adoption program. "The fact remains that too many of our wild horses are literally starving to death and something needs to be done to improve the management of our wild horses," Gibbons said in a statement. "These provisions allow the BLM to better manage the herds and protect our ranges, just as some states have instituted hunting seasons to control animal population." BLM spokeswoman Celia Boddington said the agency is reviewing how to implement the new law. "We have a team that is currently meeting and exploring implementation issues," Boddington said. "As with any new direction for a program it's going to take a while to put this law into action." Wild horse advocates said they were hopeful Congress would enact Rahall's legislation and restore animal protections. "Rounding up horses from public lands and putting them in the pipeline for slaughter is cruel and inhumane," said Michael Markarian, executive vice president of the Humane Society of the United States. "Our hope is Congress can correct the mistake before thousands of horses go to slaughter." |
