For Immediate Release – October 20, 2013
Announcing the arrival of the Navajo
orphaned foals to the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, Hot Springs, South
Dakota.
“In making a
public statement against horse slaughter in any form; we at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary wanted
to support the Wild for Life
Foundation’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission by providing permanent
sanctuary for some of the foals whose mother’s were sent slaughter.”
“It is our
continued goal to save lives, offer hope and grant freedom to wild horses in
peril. We are pleased to work in
partnership with the Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery
Mission. These foals will remain at the Black
Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in
Hot Springs, South Dakota for the rest of their lives and are guaranteed a
lifetime of freedom. We hope this partnership will continue into the future by
helping other wild foals and horses in peril. ” says, Black Hills Wild Horse
Sanctuary Program Director, Susan Watt
"We are proud to partner with the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary as an official WFLF Wild Horse Sanctuary Partner,” says Katia Louise, filmmaker, founder and president of the Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF). "We look forward to a long lasting partnership for the benefit of America's wild horses."
17 surviving Navajo foals
were recently rescued by Wild for Life Foundation’s Lifetime Equine Refuge. The
foals had been discovered in a life threatening situation after being rounded
up from their Native home land on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. The foals ranging in ages from 2 - 4 months
were orphaned during the roundups after losing their mothers to slaughter.
Volunteer rescue members from the Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission have put their lives on hold to rescue, recover, evacuate and provide care for these survivors; to assure they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again.
Volunteer rescue members from the Wild for Life Foundation’s Navajo Horse Rescue and Recovery Mission have put their lives on hold to rescue, recover, evacuate and provide care for these survivors; to assure they will never be subject to roundup or slaughter again.
Katia Louise organized the rescue mission. The foals were
transported out of New Mexico to Nevada where the
remaining foals have been receiving continued medical care, plenty
of milk replacer, feed, hay and lots of TLC under the Wild for Life Foundation.
"This is just the beginning for
these orphaned foals," says Katia Louise. "It's going to take months
for many of these little ones to heal, build their strength up and overcome the
physical and emotional injuries they sustained during the roundups." The
foals are being placed over time, some into WFLF’s
own program, some with approved adopters, and others at specially approved rescues and sanctuaries at various
locations across the US, as they become rested and gain the strength needed for
the next leg of their journey(s). Their progress will be closely monitored and
if needed they will be returned safely to WFLF’s Lifetime Equine Refuge.
The Navajo roundups were hinged
on drought conditions combined with a popular livestock grazing campaign which
alleges an overpopulation of “feral” and “destructive” horses. However,
The
actual number of horses residing on the Navajo
reservation
is uncertain, as there has
been no census, and reports are considerably varied. Horses are labeled as “invasive species” by
the livestock industry as a means to justify their removal from the rangelands.
However, in other parts of the world such as
the United Kingdom, where conservation grazing is practiced, wild horse herds
are being successfully restored to the woodlands and pastures to restore the
lands. In the classic book, Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West, J. Boone Kauffman, Ph.D., Professor of
Ecosystem Sciences in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State
University, Corvallis, gives testimony to the far-reaching and devastating
ecological consequences of government-subsidized livestock grazing through his
scientifically supported work, “Lifeblood of the West”; “… livestock grazing
has been the most widespread cause of ecological degradation of riparian/stream
ecosystems. More riparian areas and
stream miles are affected by livestock grazing than by any other type of land
use.”
Approximately 1,600 horses and burros
were swept away from their Native homes as a result of the recent Navajo Nation
roundups and they were reportedly shipped for slaughter.
In a recent turn
of events the widely contested Navajo roundups have been temporarily suspended
by Navajo President Ben Shelly under pressure from his own people including the
Nahooka’ Dine’ (Navajo Elders and Medicine People), together with the Wild for
Life Foundation, and the Foundation to Protect New Mexico
Wildlife, an organization founded by Gov. Richardson and actor, director and
conservationist Robert Redford. The foundation is working to stop the slaughter
of horses, including actively fighting efforts to reopen horse slaughterhouses
in the United States.
“These sacred and majestic horses heal our
hearts and they can heal the lands,” adds Katia Louise. “As Ambassadors for the
horse nation, these 17 surviving foals through WFLF will be helping to educate
and show the world that the re-introduction of horses to rangelands, in truth
can rejuvenate the environment.”
Craig Downer, wildlife ecologist, Wild for Life
Foundation Board Member, and author of “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” points out
that wild horses are a big benefit to the ecosystem. They help to create that
very important soil substance known as Humus...which makes the soils more
nutrient-rich, adhesive and more retentive to water. This aids greatly in
increasing the moisture of soils and elevating the water tables. The manure of
wild horses builds the soils and disperses the intact seeds of many species to
a much greater degree than cattle and sheep. Wild free-roaming horses also
greatly reduce the possibility of catastrophic fires which can sterilize the
soils and destroy its seed banks.
About The Wild For Life Foundation:
Wild for Life
Foundation (WFLF) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to saving,
protecting and preserving equines through rescue, sanctuary and education. WFLF and its wild horse preservation
initiative serves as an educational platform for the protection of wildlife
through the provision of long term sanctuary of wild horses and burros removed
from America's rangelands. WFLF and its Saving America’s Horses Initiative is
an international consortium of scientists, equine welfare experts, researchers,
and horse advocates collaborating efforts to promote wild horse conservation
and preservation initiatives with a focus on the prevention of equine cruelty.
WFLF supports comprehensive and science-based solutions that lead to systemic
change, reduce suffering, and cultivate a more compassionate society. WFLF promotes the preservation of natural
ecosystems, wildlife and the prevention of cruelty to equines, and opposes
practices that threaten the environment, wildlife and that cause suffering to
animals.
About Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary:
The Institute of
Range and American Mustang, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1988 by Dayton O.
Hyde, owns 11,000 acres of private land dedicated to range preservation and a
balanced ecosystem. I.R.A.M.’s finest gift is the Black Hills Wild Horse
Sanctuary, whose purpose is to provide not only freedom for unadoptable and
unwanted wild horses, but also a research area dedicated to solving wild horse
herd management that will contribute to the well-being of wild horses
everywhere.
BHWHS Photo credit: Karla R. LaRive (2013)
