Any Earth Day should include a celebration of the animal
lives—the wildlife—that contribute to the ecological
balance and biodiversity of the planet. Not just a celebration, but a
reminder of what we can do to save these animals from our relentless
hunting, trapping and killing and destruction of their habitat, and
what we can do to preserve them as wild animals.
America’s
wild horses and burros have been much on the minds of many people this
year. They are one of our country’s most iconic wildlife species.
Wildlife ecologist Craig Downer, who has studied wild horses and burros
extensively since the 1960s, has emphasized the importance of these
animals to the ecological balance of the West especially because they
are better suited to digesting the coarse, dry vegetation than cattle,
sheep, elk, and deer. Also, horses are better than those animals at
ferreting out remote water sources and even prolonging their viability
for use by other species.
There is a federal law that is
supposed to protect the wild horses and burros in their native habitat,
the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. §1331 et
seq, but the policy of the Bureau of Land Management has been to round
them up and put them in holding facilities. By the end of this year, if
BLM continues with its schedule of roundups, there will be more wild
horses and burros in holding pens than on the range.
The
roundups are brutal, often causing serious injury, illness and even
death to these animals. In the last large roundup, two foals died when
their hooves were literally torn off from running from the helicopters
the BLM uses to corral them. Also, herds and herd behavior are
destroyed forever, and these animals are no longer free roaming and
wild.
Over the years, the BLM has also facilitated the sale of thousands of wild horses and burros for slaughter.
We
are losing our public lands and the wildlife that is supposed to be
protected on these lands in favor of grazing, commercial development,
mining and other special interests. Additionally, the BLM now has
a plan to keep wild horses and burros in zoo-like settings and prevent
them from reproducing so that they will eventually be extinct.
This
Earth Day, call on President Obama to put a moratorium on the roundups
of wild horses and burros. Urge the president and your members of
Congress to convene a hearing and investigate what is happening to the
wild horses and burros and come up with a plan where the few remaining
wild horses and burros can remain free on the millions of acres of
available public lands.
Laura Allen, Esq., is the Founder and Executive Director of Animal Law Coalition,
a 501c4 non-profit, which brings the latest animal legal news to
attorneys, law students and the public and offers legal analysis of the
issues affecting animals. Animal Law Coalition takes the fight to stop
animal cruelty to Congress, state legislatures, local governments and
the courts. Animal Law Coalition educates the public on how they can
participate and take control of government agencies to stop cruelty and
promote animal welfare. Animal Law Coalition is actively involved in
legislation relating to breed discrimination, puppy and cat mills,
animal euthanasia, animal cruelty, and wild horses and burros.
