- checking login information
The Animal Welfare Cause
1,192,986 people care about Animal Welfare
Loading...Law Would Leave Nevada “Littered With Dead Wild Horses”
A heartbreaking new atrocity is happening to wild horses and burros in Nevada. This time it isn’t BLM flying overhead with helicopters to round them up; instead it is legislation that would deny them access to water.
Horsetalk.co.nz reported the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign have joined forces to urge Nevada state legislators to reject AB 329 — a bill that would “leave Nevada littered with the bodies of wild horses and burros.”
The Animal Law Coalition says the bill would re-define the definition of “wildlife” to specifically exclude wild horses and burros in the appropriation of water.
This means, wild horses and burros would not be entitled to drinking water.
AB 329 has already passed the Assembly with a vote of 35-7. It is now pending in the Senate Natural Resources Committee.
The Animal Law Coalition revealed the rationale behind the proposal:
The bill is the result of cattle ranchers who formed a committee last year to devise a way to remove wild horses and burros from public lands. Their solution: remove the animals for using water or deny them water.
The organization also said, “But whether or not the state of Nevada choose to call these animals ‘wildlife,’ they are still federally protected under the Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, which assures their right to ‘beneficial use’ of water.”
If AB 329 passes it will go directly against federal law.
Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea introduced the proposal as an innocent neutral water appropriation bill, but admits he did so at the request of cattlemen and hunters from northeastern Nevada.
The ASPCA and AWHPC explained, “These narrow special interest groups view wild horses and burros as competition for cheap commercial livestock grazing and big game hunting on public lands.”
The animal welfare organizations have hired attorney Bruce Wagman of the national law firm, Schiff Hardin LLC to represent the interest of the animals.
In a letter to Governor Brian Sandoval, Wagman said:
Contrary to the claims of AB 329 supporters, this proposed law could have a catastrophic impact on wild horses and burros, who depend on these natural water sources for survival. The bill is a direct assault on the federal law, enacted unanimously by the Congress and with overwhelming support of the public, to protect wild horses and burros as part of our national heritage.
Wild horses and burros are an integral part of U.S. history. They deserve to roam free on the land where they were born.
TAKE ACTION: There are two ways to help.
Sign the Care2 petition — Urgent! Nevada Wild Horses And Burros Need Help!
AND
The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign has two petitions to sign. One is for Nevada residents and the other as concerned citizens. Click Here to read the petitions.
Read more: animal welfare, animals, nevada bill wild horses, wild horses, wild mustangs
Creative Commons -David Reece
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
Recent Comments from Causes
This is truly a win-win situation. People from two countries are working together toward a common goal.…
Good.
Sounds quite aMaizing, an urban guerrilla illicit potato patch! A real hill of beans or a beet up vacant…
meet our writers
240 comments
+ add your ownIf you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.
---St. Francis of Assisi
I say "Don't eat Beef" hit them ranchers where it hurts...beef is bad for you anyway! Those beautiful creatures have a right to roam free and to drink the water....Who has the right to deny them this natural resource? NOBODY, that's who!
Erika, stop fretting! This is an old discussion and the proposed bill never passed.
Hit the cattlemen where it hurts ... don't buy beef! Mustangs have a right to the water.
I am just stunned with horror.
Native animals denied the rights to water!
Rainbow Warriors care and are courageous enough to face what is too hard to even think about; to face it and fight it.
I am so proud of US.
WHY,WHy,why??? is this being allowed to happen? Are there no feelings in these human beings? I curse them for their heartlessness. Whomever condones soch tragic cruelty should be strung up by their manparts and given no water and see how they like to be in these horses and burros horseshoes,so-to-speak.This has got to be changed. Something, someone has to step in and help these animals. WHAT can I do? Please tell me. I wish I lived out thattaway,cuz I would have carried water out there for these animals to drink. I am sick at heart at the senseless cruelty of these bigots who pass bills and care not for the bills they do sign. They go home and live their merry lives with no thoughts as to how it affects the creatures of our planet.
How can anyone justify depriving any animal from water,how unspeakably cruel.
Disgusting.
The petition was closed. We need to get the cattle off of OUR public lands and give it back to the wild horses, buffalo and wolves. We need Ken Salazar out of office as he is the cause of all this destruction.
One of the best ways to help wild horses is to BOYCOTT the product these ranchers produce, MASS produced beef. They put BILLIONS of dollars of BRIBE money in the pockets of these GREEDY, BRUTAL politicians. If you must eat meat, please try to purchase from farmers and ranchers who are doing all they can to GIVE BACK and peacefully co-exist with wildlife. if possible, DON'T eat meat at all. Horses and equines ARE wild!! They were here in N. America LONG before humans. This destruction must stop!!
login to add your comment
use your care2 login
add your comment
20