FROM THE 1980s
Wild Horses Ensnared in People's Battles
1989, New York Times
July 2 - Whoever shot the wild horses that roam this stark desert
valley near the Utah border apparently wanted to hide the evidence.
A single shot to the gut sent each animal to stagger off into the
sagebrush in agony, to bleed slowly and die alone. The issue is more
than just the cruel deaths; it is the very control of the land in
what remains of the Wild West. Wild horses and burros, which once
numbered in the millions but which the Federal Government counted
at 44,907 in 1988, are caught in competing interests of animal rights
advocates, environmentalists, ranchers and the BLM. ''Ranchers are
stealing them, shooting them, trucking them off for slaughter, anything
to get rid of these horses,'' said Robert K. Hillman, field services
director for the Animal Protection Institute of America.
Court Stiffens Rules to Prevent Abuse in 'Adopt a Horse'
Program
1988, Associated Press
Nov. 2 - A Federal ''adopt-a-horse'' program that is supposed to
protect wild horses and burros is actually sending some of them to
slaughter, an appeals court has ruled in upholding restrictions on
the program. The Bureau of Land Management ''renders the adoption
process a farce'' by failing to screen out owners whose intention
is killing the horses for use as pet food, the United States Court
of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in its 3-to-0 ruling Monday.
180 More Wild Horses Found Dead in Nevada
1988, New York Times
October 12 - A ground search in central Nevada by the Bureau of
Land Management has found 180 more wild horses slaughtered, bringing
to 450 the total believed to have been shot to death bureau officials
said today. Bob Stewart, a spokesman for the bureau, declined to
say whether it had any suspects or strong leads. One possible reason
for the shootings is that the horses consume scarce water and grass
in areas that are leased for grazing cattle.
U.S. Curbs a Program On Wild Horse Control
1988, New York Times
September 19 - The Federal Bureau of Land Management has ordered
an end to free mass adoptions of wild horses, a practice that critics
said attracted people who sold the animals for dog food and other
commercial purposes.
U.S. Weighs Fate of Unwanted Wild Horses
1987, New York Times
December 27 - On the rolling plains of northeast Nebraska, the Federal
Government manages the nation's largest wild horse ranch with 3,000
mares, colts and stallions confined in pens across 74 acres. Rounded
up by Government wranglers as part of a program to control the herds
of wild horses on public lands in the West, the animals are among
7,000 horses in Federal corrals across the country, where they await
adoption by people willing to pay up to $125 each for them. But in
recent years, the Government's horse inventory has increased as paid
adoptions have dropped. With the Government's bill for feeding the
horses more than $7 million a year, a sharp debate has arisen over
the program and over whether the Government should kill surplus horses,
even those that are healthy.
Wild Horse Adoption Fee Cut
1983, Associated Press
The Federal Government, seeking to reduce the number of wild horses
on public lands and get more people to adopt them, is reducing the
fee for the adoption to $125 from $200, effective Friday.
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