Latest / UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell / Emergency Town Hall: Help Save Wild Horses

Transcript

Emergency Town Hall: Help Save Wild Horses · UNCHAINEDTV'S Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell

• 0:00
  Emergency Town Hall by Unchained TV for wild
• 0:04
  horses and burros in crisis.
• 0:06
  Americans cherish their horses.
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  These magnificent beings help build our nation.
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  They remain iconic symbols of freedom, resilience, and
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  the untamed spirit of the American West.
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  Yet, few people realize that our country's wild
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  horses and burros are now facing a dire
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  emergency.
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  One unfolding largely out of public view.
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  I am talking about wild horse roundups conducted
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  with our tax dollars by the Bureau of
• 0:37
  Land Management.
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  Don't take my word for it.
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  Watch right now and I hope this will
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  inspire you to help because this is unconscionable.
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  It must end.
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  So that is the problem and now you're
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  going to meet people who are fighting to
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  achieve the solution.
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  I want to start with Adita Bernkrant of
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  New York class.
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  Years ago, you went and protested against the
• 2:05
  Bureau of Land Management and what they are
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  doing.
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  Tell us your thoughts on why this is
• 2:10
  happening.
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  You know, it's so heartbreaking to see what
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  our own government is doing to wild horses
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  who should be living wild and free on
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  our public lands.
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  The photo behind me was a wild horse
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  band, a picture I took in Nevada.
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  What's going on is a travesty.
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  There's such a visceral hatred of these wild
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  horses.
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  I've been in several of these Bureau of
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  Land Management meetings where ranchers have testified, the
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  Bureau of Land Management themselves.
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  There is a visceral hatred of these wild
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  horses.
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  They are blamed for degrading the lands when
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  the truth is our federal public land should
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  be refuges for these wild horses and all
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  wildlife.
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  Instead, they've been turned over to cattle and
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  sheep ranchers who use them as feedlots.
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  That's what's degrading the lands.
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  Instead of protecting wild horses who, as you
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  pointed out, helped build this country, where would
• 3:08
  we be without horses?
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  What's going on is we're wasting hundreds of
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  millions of dollars.
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  You know, I've been dragged out of these
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  public meetings, disrupting them, calling out the Bureau
• 3:21
  of Land Management, calling out the ranchers who
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  run the show there.
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  The people in charge just hate these wild
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  horses and they want them dead because they
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  are privileging the ranching industry.
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  The so-called free-range meat that people
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  pay a lot of money for, the collateral
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  damage is wild horses are being rounded up,
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  killed, and thrown to the trash heap.
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  We also did civil disobedience at one of
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  these grotesque holding pens where these wild horses
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  have been ripped from their families and are
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  just thrown in a prison, a barren prison.
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  No one knows what their fate will be.
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  Horses are herd animals.
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  To rip them from their family is brutal.
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  It's heartbreaking to see what they go through.
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  Then in some cases, they break their spirits,
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  they turn them into domesticated horses.
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  We have an overpopulation of domesticated horses.
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  We need to keep wild horses living wild
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  and free.
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  I'm disgusted that the government is still doing
• 4:22
  the wrong thing here.
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  We're wasting hundreds of millions every few years,
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  a hundred million a year at least, just
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  to keep these wild horses kept prisoner, ripped
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  from their families instead of on our lands.
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  I can't hear.
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  I want to play one of your protests.
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  So that was one of your many protests.
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  We've got people from all aspects of this
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  wild horse and burrow rescue effort.
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  I want to go straight out to Suzanne
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  Roy.
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  You are a person who has been, your
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  name has been associated with wild horses and
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  burrows for many years, running the American Wild
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  Horse Conservation Organization.
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  It hasn't gotten better over the years.
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  It's gotten worse.
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  I am told now that up to 73
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  ,000 wild horses are languishing in government holding
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  pens.
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  What the hell is going on here?
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  Unmute.
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  We can't hear you.
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  Just get rid of all that.
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  We'll come back to you.
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  Put those away.
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  Thank you.
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  Let's go to Amelia.
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  Amelia, what is going on?
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  Absolutely.
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  The Bureau of Land Management rounds up wild
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  horses by the thousands every year and spends
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  our taxpayers to warehouse them in federal holding
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  facilities.
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  These roundups in these holding facilities separate wild
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  horses from all they hold dear, from their
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  family, from their freedom, and they rip them
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  from the homes they are ecologically and legally
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  supposed to roam.
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  We advocate for protecting wild horses in the
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  wild and ensuring that they stay wild as
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  the American public wants.
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  80% of the American public wants wild
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  horses protected and not warehoused in holding.
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  We stand to advocate for keeping them wild,
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  keeping them with their families, and keeping them
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  free on our public lands where we all
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  want them.
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  These holding facilities, they are really bad places
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  for disease outbreaks.
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  If you look at Canyon City in Colorado,
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  over 120 horses died from a disease outbreak
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  because they did not vaccinate the horses in
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  time.
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  You look at other holding facilities where horses
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  are dying from diseases like strangles where they
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  get infections and die.
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  It's really top to bottom an inhumane way
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  to manage wild horses.
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  There's a better way to do this, and
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  we stand ready to work and advocate for
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  that and continue to rally our 800,000
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  supporters to speak up for our wild herds
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  and our wild horses.
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  The pain and suffering doesn't end when the
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  helicopters do.
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  We then see horses funneled into the adoption
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  pipeline and funneled into slaughter auctions.
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  Then our iconic American wild horses and burros
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  are ending up in slaughter across foreign borders.
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  It's just top to bottom, a mismanaged, backwards
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  program that needs to change.
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  Look at this little injured foal.
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  I mean, it is absolutely heartbreaking to see
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  this, especially when the American public is not
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  in favor of this.
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  The American public taxpayers look at the comments
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  coming in.
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  This is so sad.
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  Horses want to run free.
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  People are really, really upset about this, and
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  yet it continues on because our government, and
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  it's a bipartisan problem.
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  We don't get into politics here, partisan politics
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  on Unshade TV.
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  Let's just say it's been happening in Democratic
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  administrations and Republican administrations.
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  It's been happening for decades.
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  No matter what anybody says, it continues, and
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  it's got to stop.
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  I mean, we are, first of all, driving
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  wild animals into extinction, and yet it's infuriating
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  to me that this continues even though the
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  American public is overwhelmingly against it.
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  I want to bring in some folks.
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  Should we give Suzanne a try?
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  Suzanne, try one more time.
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  Okay, cannot hear you, so I don't know
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  what's happening.
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  I apologize, but we're going to keep moving
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  forward.
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  Maybe I'll bounce you out and come back.
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  Let me bring in some women that I
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  ran into by accident who are doing heroic
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  work.
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  I stumbled upon this instant message group, this
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  chat on Facebook, BLM Mustangs, Burros, Donkeys, Mules,
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  and Domestics.
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  I got involved because every day they're rescuing
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  horses and burros who are about to go
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  on the kill truck for the ride to
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  slaughter in Mexico.
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  Every day, every five minutes.
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  These heroic women are working around the clock
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  with little sleep to make this happen.
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  I want to start with Jill Robertson Fuoco.
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  I'm unmuting you.
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  Jill, tell us what you do and how
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  you do it.
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  Okay, I started this about five years ago.
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  I got into it through Facebook.
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  A friend introduced me to what was going
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  on with the wild horses and burros.
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  Now, I've been trained by this friend.
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  She's no longer in it, but I put
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  up fundraisers for BLM Mustangs and Burros that
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  are in kill pens that have a limited
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  amount of time.
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  Usually, they get about seven days, sometimes less.
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  In this chat here that you're showing, we
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  fundraise and raise their bail and sometimes also
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  raise their transport costs.
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  It's huge amounts of money that we have
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  to raise.
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  It's a lot of stress, a lot of
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  pressure to get these animals out before their
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  ship date.
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  A lot of times we have to pay
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  for board of these horses while they're sitting
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  there being fundraised for.
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  It's never-ending.
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  Let me ask you about this horse right
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  now.
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  I looked at it last night getting ready
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  for this emergency town hall.
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  I saw this poor horse with this giant
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  cut.
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  I know you are trying to raise money.
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  Tell us about this particular horse.
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  Take a look at this, people.
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  Look at the cut on the side of
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  this horse.
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  This is disgusting.
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  Tell us, Jill.
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  He is shipping to Mexico on the 21st.
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  This is an Arabian stallion, unknown age, open
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  cut and skin hanging.
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  The kill pen will not do anything for
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  this horse.
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  No vet will come out to help this
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  horse.
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  They have given me excuses as to why,
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  but he's not aggressive.
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  They say he's wild, so they can't really
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  do anything for him.
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  I'm in the process of trying to find
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  out what his bail is.
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  I have to direct message the kill buyers.
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  I have to wait until they respond.
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  This is an example, people, if you're watching,
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  because I see some of the comments, people
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  are like, solutions.
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  Somebody said, we want solutions.
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  We all want solutions.
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  I hate to tell you this, but the
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  solution is to donate.
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  The solution is to donate.
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  I want to bring in the two other
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  women who, and thank you for everybody else's
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  patience.
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  We're going one at a time to try
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  to get the story told.
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  Michelle Brower, I've dealt with you.
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  You are Sweet Grass Rescue for North American
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  equines.
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  Folks, if you see that QR code that
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  goes to her donate page, I hope that
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  you will grab a shot of that and
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  donate whatever you can because they really need
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  help.
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  These women are working selflessly around the clock
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  to rescue these animals.
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  As soon as they rescue a group, then
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  another group comes in.
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  Instead of having whatever, 40 people on their
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  thread, on their chat, if they had 400,
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  everybody could give 10 bucks and we could
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  save these animals.
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  Right now, it's like a desperate plea for
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  so many.
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  Michelle, tell us how you find these horses
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  and how you rescue them.
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  Before I start that, I just want to
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  point out to people that you've seen the
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  videos of the horses on the landscape that
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  this landscape is not suitable for cattle.
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  I am referencing Eric Mulvara of Western Watersheds
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  here.
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  I just want to make that point.
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  The cattle should be in the area.
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  Where I'm finding the horses is through social
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  media.
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  We actually have one person that I network
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  with who pretty much tracks all the mustangs
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  and burros who are landing in the kill
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  pens.
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  As soon as she can, she puts up
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  their ship date and their bail and we
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  take it from there.
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  Jill is really good at finding homes for
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  them, which we usually like to have before
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  the fundraiser starts.
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  She also arranges transport when needed.
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  My advocacy is really to help educate and
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  advocate and fundraise if needed for wild horses
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  and for domestic horses.
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  My mission has been completely eclipsed by the
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  urgency of the fundraisers needed for the mustangs
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  and burros that are getting dumped by illegitimate
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  adopters.
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  I'm going to jump back to you.
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  I want to go to Jenny Sloan.
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  Jenny, we keep putting this photo up of
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  this horse on the right.
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  Look at the cut on this horse's face.
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  I mean, this is unconscionable.
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  This is happening left and right.
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  These animals coming in brutalized by our government,
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  by the Bureau of Land Management.
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  Now, you took this horse in.
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  Will you tell us that whole story and
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  how that poor being is doing?
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  She's actually doing really well.
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  She came from a lot in Arkansas.
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  Jill and the other ladies, everybody posted her
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  information and I contacted one of the groups
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  that I work with.
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  We were able to go get her.
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  The hardest thing is actually working with the
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  kill pens, working with them.
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  That horse had to stay at the pin
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  for over a week before we were allowed
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  to come get her.
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  By the time we were able to get
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  her, the wound was already scabbed over.
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  It was already in the process of being
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  infected and all the things.
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  By the time my husband drove down there
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  and got her and got her back here,
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  we got her to the vet literally yesterday.
• 17:45
  The vet was able to clean her up,
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  was able to get her treated with antibiotics.
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  At that point, she is sick.
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  She's snotty.
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  She's coughing.
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  On top of that, she has this horrific
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  wound who is mostly healed at this point.
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  The vet had to dig it open and
• 18:04
  clean it out and get all the infection
• 18:06
  and things out of it.
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  My job is when they come in like
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  this is to try to get them to
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  understand that not everybody in the world is
• 18:16
  as horrible as those places.
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  Ironically enough, what happened is what the kill
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  pen told us is that an adopter put
• 18:25
  a ulcer on her at the facility and
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  left it on her.
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  It had been on her for however long,
• 18:34
  a year.
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  Her face grew into it.
• 18:39
  The kill pen put her in the chute
• 18:42
  and they removed it.
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  They removed it, I guess, as an act
• 18:48
  of compassion.
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  I don't know why, but they did.
• 18:52
  The wound that you're seeing was the result
• 18:55
  of them removing it.
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  It should have probably been removed by a
• 18:58
  vet under sedation and medication and all those
• 19:00
  things, but it didn't happen that way.
• 19:04
  Needless to say, she is healing.
• 19:05
  She is improving.
• 19:07
  She will ultimately go west to one of
• 19:12
  the organizations that I work with.
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  She will very likely be rewilded at the
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  end of this process.
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  How fantastic.
• 19:23
  Now, we want to get to all the
• 19:25
  nuances, but I do want to go back
• 19:27
  to Amelia Perrin of the American Wild Horse
• 19:30
  Conservation, such an incredible organization.
• 19:33
  I want to talk a little bit before
• 19:35
  we move forward, and we're going to get
• 19:36
  to indefensive animals in a second.
• 19:40
  What is happening with legislation?
• 19:42
  We did pass a Wild Horse and Burrows
• 19:46
  Protection Act back in 1971 during the Nixon
• 19:50
  era.
• 19:52
  Our horses are supposed to be protected by
• 19:55
  the Wild, Free, Roaming Horses and Burrows Act
• 19:58
  of 1971.
• 20:00
  Yet, the problem is, despite these legal protections,
• 20:03
  and this is right off your website, the
• 20:04
  Federal Bureau of Land Management spends more than
• 20:07
  $150 million each year to cruelly remove and
• 20:11
  confine tens of thousands of wild horses and
• 20:14
  burrows using helicopters.
• 20:16
  That's a disconnect.
• 20:18
  Then, they basically banned horse slaughter in the
• 20:23
  United States through a technical maneuver, but now
• 20:26
  they're just being shipped to Mexico, which is
• 20:28
  even more cruel.
• 20:29
  What can be done?
• 20:31
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 20:32
  The 1971 law protects wild horses and burrows
• 20:35
  as integral parts of our natural western landscape,
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  but unfortunately, that law has been weakened over
• 20:42
  the years due to commercial interests and private
• 20:46
  interests dictating policy.
• 20:49
  We see things like the 2004 Burns Amendment,
• 20:51
  which allowed for the Bureau of Land Management
• 20:54
  to implement a sales program and actually took
• 20:57
  away any protections for slaughter for wild horses
• 20:59
  and burrows.
• 21:00
  What that means for us every year is
• 21:03
  that we have to advocate for wild horses
• 21:05
  to maintain the ban on wild horse slaughter
• 21:09
  in Congress every single year.
• 21:12
  What can we all do about this?
• 21:13
  What can everyone watching do about this is
• 21:15
  please continue to advocate to your legislators that
• 21:20
  wild horses and burrows must be protected from
• 21:23
  slaughter, but not only that, they must be
• 21:25
  managed in the wild.
• 21:26
  We need to stop spending so much money
• 21:28
  on this roundup and holding complex and instead
• 21:31
  flip that and manage these wild horses in
• 21:33
  the wild where they belong.
• 21:35
  There's some really great bipartisan solutions that are
• 21:39
  being put forth in Congress right now, such
• 21:41
  as Dena Titus's Wild Horse and Burrow Protection
• 21:44
  Act, which would eliminate the use of helicopters
• 21:47
  for roundups over a course of a two
• 21:50
  -year period.
• 21:51
  But the key part there is that it
• 21:53
  would immediately make cameras on every single helicopter
• 21:57
  used for federal roundups, which would bring an
• 22:00
  unseen level of transparency and accountability for these
• 22:03
  roundup contractors.
• 22:05
  Then there's other things like advocating for managing
• 22:07
  horses in the wild using humane fertility control
• 22:10
  in the appropriations process.
• 22:12
  Then there's other bills like the SAFE Act
• 22:14
  that would ban, protect domestic and wild horses
• 22:17
  across the world.
• 22:18
  Wait, how does the SAFE Act work?
• 22:20
  Because the SAFE Act is super important.
• 22:25
  What?
• 22:25
  Yes, it is.
• 22:26
  Yes, I was agreeing.
• 22:27
  The SAFE Act, I mean, the worst part
• 22:29
  of all this, I mean, it's all bad.
• 22:31
  It's all horrific.
• 22:32
  The worst part is the idea that, oh,
• 22:37
  we were so nice to ban slaughter in
• 22:39
  the United States, so let's just ship them
• 22:41
  all to Mexico and Canada, which just exacerbates
• 22:44
  the cruelty.
• 22:45
  They're on these rides without water, without food,
• 22:48
  opener trucks.
• 22:50
  It's just, it's extreme cruelty.
• 22:54
  Why isn't the SAFE Act something that everybody
• 22:57
  can get behind?
• 22:58
  Is it because of the meat industry's tremendous
• 23:01
  control over Congress?
• 23:03
  There's huge influence of private industry and Congress,
• 23:06
  and I think that it does play a
• 23:07
  role in any of these animal, just general
• 23:11
  animal protection bills, wild horse protection bills, and
• 23:13
  domestic horse protection bills.
• 23:15
  This is something that we've really rallied around,
• 23:18
  and a lot of domestic horse organizations have
• 23:22
  rallied around, is supporting the SAFE Act.
• 23:24
  We keep getting a lot of co-sponsors
• 23:26
  on that, and a lot of broadband support
• 23:28
  for this, which the SAFE Act would ban
• 23:30
  officially closed slaughterhouses in the United States, and
• 23:35
  then ban the export of horses to Canada
• 23:38
  and Mexico for human consumption, and so this
• 23:40
  would be, this would take down a huge
• 23:41
  industry, and it would be a really great
• 23:43
  step in protecting our wild horses, domestic and
• 23:46
  wild horses, from the cruel, cruel fate of
• 23:49
  slaughter, which again, we all stand very strongly
• 23:52
  against.
• 23:53
  We don't want our wild horses slaughtered.
• 23:54
  We want them protected on our federal lands,
• 23:57
  and unfortunately, the Bureau of Land Management's adoption
• 24:00
  and sale programs have funneled these horses directly
• 24:02
  from the holding facilities to the slaughter pipeline,
• 24:06
  through the Adoption Incentive Program, which AWHC has
• 24:08
  been investigating since 2020, and ultimately our litigation
• 24:12
  ended that program, to the now the sales
• 24:15
  program, where people can buy horses for $25,
• 24:19
  get immediate ownership to them, and then put
• 24:21
  them right in the kill pens without any
• 24:23
  protection or accountability for protecting them from slaughter,
• 24:27
  which by the way, every one person that
• 24:30
  signs adoption or a sale contract with Bureau
• 24:33
  of Land Management signs that they have no
• 24:35
  intent to sell this horse to any person
• 24:37
  or organization that will process the horse into
• 24:40
  commercial slaughter, so there's just no accountability measures
• 24:43
  in place right now.
• 24:44
  There's no accountability measures within the Adoption Incentive
• 24:46
  Program, which gave people $1,000 to adopt
• 24:49
  a wild unhandled horse or burrow, and led
• 24:51
  to thousands.
• 24:53
  We documented 2,100 at least in the
• 24:56
  kill pens, and confirmed through our investigative Freedom
• 24:59
  of Information Acts that 70% of those
• 25:02
  were actually Adoption Incentive Program horses.
• 25:04
  So wait a second, I gotta ask you,
• 25:06
  I mean this is insane.
• 25:09
  There's widespread corruption in our government, they have
• 25:12
  an adoption program, and this is what I've
• 25:14
  been learning from these ladies, and we'll go
• 25:15
  to them again, and they basically flip them.
• 25:18
  You've heard of flipping houses, this is flipping
• 25:20
  horses, and they take them on the cheap
• 25:23
  from these adoption, via these adoption programs.
• 25:26
  The BLM has to know, because if you
• 25:28
  have the same people coming back over and
• 25:30
  over again, duh, they're flipping them, and yet
• 25:34
  the government looks the other way.
• 25:36
  My final question to you, can't you sue
• 25:39
  to stop this?
• 25:40
  So we did sue to stop the Adoption
• 25:42
  Incentive Program, and we did put a halt
• 25:43
  to that program, and terminated it.
• 25:46
  There are other ways that we are advocating
• 25:48
  for accountability within the government, and we're working
• 25:51
  directly with lawmakers to make sure that there
• 25:53
  are humane welfare standards, and that there are
• 25:56
  these compliance inspections done at, you know.
• 26:00
  But I need a new lawsuit, they're obviously
• 26:02
  still doing it.
• 26:03
  We've got thousands of horses flooding into the
• 26:06
  kill slaughter pipeline.
• 26:09
  Why can't we, can we sue again?
• 26:11
  I think the idea is to keep suing.
• 26:13
  Yeah, absolutely, and we take part in strategic
• 26:16
  litigation that we know we're gonna win.
• 26:18
  The worst thing we can do is sue
• 26:20
  and lose, and set a bad precedent for
• 26:22
  wild horses across the board.
• 26:24
  So we are continuing to evaluate all of
• 26:27
  this information, compile this information.
• 26:29
  And so, you know, anyone out there that
• 26:31
  has any information about a wild horse in
• 26:33
  borough, please send it in to us.
• 26:35
  We have a database where we track all
• 26:36
  the wild horses that we can identify, and
• 26:39
  continue to evaluate all of our options to
• 26:41
  fight this.
• 26:42
  I think the landscape is changing with the
• 26:44
  end of the Adoption Incentive Program, and so
• 26:46
  we're currently looking at what is possible here,
• 26:48
  what is the best course of action for
• 26:50
  our wild horses, and what is one that
• 26:52
  is going to set us up to win,
• 26:54
  and win for generations to come.
• 26:56
  And so that's kind of how we're looking
• 26:58
  at this, and making sure that we can
• 26:59
  step up for our wild horses through congressional
• 27:01
  action, through laws being passed, through potential litigation,
• 27:05
  and through our advocacy efforts.
• 27:07
  People can't care about this if they don't
• 27:09
  know about this.
• 27:10
  And one thing we know is when we
• 27:11
  reach new audiences, they are enraged, like all
• 27:15
  of us, and are ready to take action.
• 27:17
  And so, those are our key areas.
• 27:19
  We are working in Congress, we are working
• 27:21
  boots on the ground, and we are working
• 27:23
  in the courts to make sure we get
• 27:25
  lasting protections for our wild horses and bros.
• 27:28
  Wow, amazing work.
• 27:29
  Thank you so much.
• 27:31
  I just don't understand if the 80%
• 27:34
  of the American public is outraged by this,
• 27:38
  how we can't somehow get bipartisan buy-in
• 27:43
  to stop it.
• 27:45
  And to me, it's that our government has
• 27:48
  been co-opted by the meat and dairy
• 27:51
  industry, by the ranchers.
• 27:53
  And this is so upsetting.
• 27:55
  Lisa Levinson, you have been extremely patient, but
• 27:59
  In Defense of Animals is doing other work
• 28:02
  along with your organization, Amelia.
• 28:06
  In Defense of Animals is trying to get
• 28:08
  people involved.
• 28:09
  Can you tell us how IDA is trying
• 28:15
  to be part of the solution, Lisa?
• 28:20
  Sure.
• 28:21
  Yes, IDAs, we've been involved for many years.
• 28:24
  I think actually some of the people who
• 28:26
  started their own organizations to protect horses did
• 28:29
  start working under IDA for our wild horse
• 28:35
  and burrow campaign, which is very strong, and
• 28:38
  we're so delighted that we can continue this
• 28:40
  program.
• 28:41
  We've been promoting and advocating for the SAFE
• 28:45
  Act to pass that once and for all.
• 28:48
  However, it's been a struggle, as many people
• 28:52
  have talked about.
• 28:53
  And we're also really excited to begin helping
• 28:57
  some of the people that we've heard speak
• 29:00
  about helping the animals who are directly in
• 29:04
  the kill pens.
• 29:05
  So there's lots of strategies.
• 29:07
  One is to work legally, which we're doing
• 29:09
  with the legislation, and then also to work
• 29:12
  with people who are boots on the ground
• 29:14
  trying to save horses from the kill pens.
• 29:17
  So we're really interested in doing an appeal
• 29:19
  to help them to raise some funds so
• 29:21
  that we can stop this terror that's going
• 29:25
  on for wild horses.
• 29:28
  And it really is terror.
• 29:30
  I want to go to Madhu Anderson.
• 29:33
  You have actually watched the roundups and you
• 29:36
  happen to live in Wyoming.
• 29:38
  I want to ask you about the emotional
• 29:41
  impact on you as an American citizen, as
• 29:45
  somebody who, you know, has to pay taxes
• 29:48
  just like we all do.
• 29:49
  I'm outraged, but I haven't seen it with
• 29:52
  my own eyes.
• 29:52
  What was the emotional impact when you saw
• 29:55
  it with your own eyes?
• 29:57
  Unmute.
• 29:59
  Yes, thanks, Jane.
• 30:01
  Yes, I do live in Wyoming, and I
• 30:03
  have lived in Wyoming more than 10 years.
• 30:07
  I have, like, on my camping trips and
• 30:10
  hiking, I have seen so many wild horses,
• 30:13
  horse herds, and they are beautiful.
• 30:15
  Definitely they run for miles every day, and
• 30:17
  I saw them playing in the river waters.
• 30:20
  It's gorgeous, beautiful to see them.
• 30:22
  And then I live just a few blocks
• 30:24
  from a wild horse holding facility and a
• 30:28
  BLM regional office, BLM field office, which is
• 30:31
  in Rock Springs, too.
• 30:33
  It's heartbreaking to see them confined like that.
• 30:36
  There is no shelter on their Rock Springs
• 30:38
  facility.
• 30:40
  And of course, they are, again, away from
• 30:42
  their family members.
• 30:44
  So I will share briefly about my experience.
• 30:47
  In August 2024, there was a wild, a
• 30:52
  white fountain HME area where the roundup was
• 30:57
  occurring, and I registered with BLM.
• 31:01
  Like, you have to register, you have to
• 31:02
  give your name and your email address, and
• 31:04
  then you can go and see this roundup,
• 31:06
  because they're going to email you the location
• 31:09
  where you're going to meet them.
• 31:11
  So I went and attended this, and I
• 31:15
  was an observer for four days.
• 31:16
  It started on the August 15th and ended
• 31:18
  on the August 19th in 2024.
• 31:20
  It was the most horrific thing which I've
• 31:23
  ever seen in my life.
• 31:25
  I have seen these horses so wild and
• 31:27
  free, and then I saw them in distress
• 31:30
  being chased by helicopters.
• 31:32
  So according to these horses, these helicopters are
• 31:36
  some giant monster, some animal which is chasing
• 31:39
  them, and they feel so scared.
• 31:41
  And I have seen little foals, like baby
• 31:45
  horses.
• 31:46
  They couldn't even keep up with the band.
• 31:48
  It was a nightmare.
• 31:50
  I had never seen anything like this in
• 31:52
  my life, and I had nightmares.
• 31:53
  I still have nightmares.
• 31:55
  All this footage just stays in my head,
• 31:57
  which I've seen.
• 31:59
  So I said, like, why is BLM doing
• 32:03
  this thing?
• 32:04
  What is the reason BLM will do something
• 32:06
  like this when these horses, when people from
• 32:08
  all over the world come to see horses?
• 32:11
  Like, if you go in my town in
• 32:13
  Rock Springs, like, most of the hotels and
• 32:16
  restaurants have these big posters of wild horses
• 32:19
  in the wild.
• 32:21
  So I say, like, when you promote this
• 32:24
  tourism, how can you put these horses in
• 32:26
  these little holding facilities?
• 32:28
  And then I found out BLM has something
• 32:31
  called AML.
• 32:33
  It's called Appropriate Management Level.
• 32:36
  That's the number of, that means that, Amma,
• 32:40
  that number of horses, only that number of
• 32:43
  horses are allowed in a specific land.
• 32:46
  So, like, in 240,000 acres of White
• 32:50
  Mountain HMA, HMA is herd management area, where
• 32:53
  BLM is allowed to control the horse population.
• 32:58
  BLM says that on 240,000 acres of
• 33:03
  land, only 205 horses are allowed.
• 33:07
  All the other horses are too many, because
• 33:12
  they are degrading the rangeland.
• 33:14
  That's what BLM was claiming.
• 33:16
  But at the same time, there are thousands
• 33:18
  of cattle, cows and sheep grazed on the
• 33:21
  same land.
• 33:22
  BLM, actually, these horses, these wild horses compete
• 33:27
  with these cattle's food because they eat the
• 33:29
  same food.
• 33:30
  Cows and sheep eat the same food as
• 33:32
  the horses.
• 33:33
  So to work in the interest of the
• 33:36
  ranchers, the BLM wants to remove all these
• 33:38
  horses.
• 33:39
  In fact, they are just saying this AML
• 33:41
  number, they reduced the number.
• 33:43
  There is no logic behind this number, Jane.
• 33:45
  There is no logic.
• 33:46
  How come 240,000 acres of this vast
• 33:49
  land and only 200 horses are allowed on
• 33:52
  that land?
• 33:53
  It's all insane.
• 33:54
  Thank you.
• 33:55
  You really summed it up, your experience.
• 33:58
  I want to try to go back to
• 33:59
  Suzanne.
• 34:00
  Roy, let's give you a shot one more
• 34:02
  time.
• 34:04
  Unmute.
• 34:07
  Hey, how's this?
• 34:09
  Great.
• 34:10
  What's your take on all this?
• 34:12
  Because you've been watching this for years.
• 34:14
  It's not getting any better.
• 34:16
  It's getting worse.
• 34:17
  Well, the system is very difficult to change,
• 34:22
  but I would challenge that it hasn't changed
• 34:24
  at all.
• 34:25
  Because what we have is a stronger movement
• 34:29
  than we had 15 years ago.
• 34:32
  I went to my first roundup on my
• 34:34
  birthday 15 years ago.
• 34:36
  And I, like everyone else here, was just
• 34:39
  shocked at what I saw.
• 34:41
  And one of the most tragic things was
• 34:43
  I saw a stallion charge the bars of
• 34:48
  the pen, break his neck, and die.
• 34:51
  They don't die immediately either.
• 34:54
  The BLM says they do, but they don't.
• 34:56
  Dragged onto a trailer with his poor mare
• 34:59
  standing over his dead body for two hours
• 35:02
  before they hauled him off.
• 35:04
  So the horror of the situation, it does
• 35:07
  continue.
• 35:08
  But what we have is we have a
• 35:09
  stronger movement than we have had ever before.
• 35:13
  We have slaughter is off the table.
• 35:16
  I recently met with the Deputy Secretary of
• 35:19
  Interior.
• 35:21
  Another of our people has met with the
• 35:24
  director of the BLM and in Congress.
• 35:28
  They are all saying the same thing.
• 35:30
  Slaughter is not an option here.
• 35:32
  Well, slaughter in Mexico though.
• 35:35
  There's slaughter in Mexico.
• 35:36
  Okay.
• 35:37
  So there's the legality of slaughter, which is
• 35:40
  allowed, as Amelia said, under the Wild Horse
• 35:43
  Act.
• 35:44
  But every year Congress passes a ban into
• 35:48
  the procreation bill to make it illegal to
• 35:53
  sell wild horses for slaughter.
• 35:56
  But it's being violated.
• 35:57
  Okay.
• 35:58
  But if it was legalized, Jane, those 64
• 36:02
  ,000 horses in holding, they would literally open
• 36:06
  the gates and the kill trucks would come
• 36:08
  right to the gates, load them all and
• 36:11
  they'd all be in Mexico.
• 36:12
  What's happening now is they're using loopholes to
• 36:16
  funnel horses through the system into the slaughter
• 36:20
  pipeline.
• 36:21
  So we have the adoption incentive program, as
• 36:23
  Amelia said, paying people $1,000 to adopt
• 36:28
  up to four horses a person.
• 36:30
  And it was being defrauded left and right.
• 36:34
  The horses were being flipped into the slaughter
• 36:36
  pipeline.
• 36:37
  AWRC was able to shut that down.
• 36:40
  Now it's shifted to the sales program.
• 36:42
  So a new investigation is necessary.
• 36:45
  The documentation has to be compiled.
• 36:48
  So this is maybe a couple thousand horses
• 36:50
  going into the slaughter pipeline versus if that
• 36:53
  ban were lifted, 64,000 horses would be
• 36:57
  in Mexico tomorrow.
• 36:58
  And what I've seen in my years of
• 37:04
  working on this is the bipartisan support in
• 37:07
  Congress has significantly increased.
• 37:10
  And many offices will say we get more
• 37:13
  mail on this than almost anything else.
• 37:15
  They know that people care about this issue
• 37:18
  and they know that slaughter is not viable.
• 37:21
  So we're literally the line that stands between
• 37:25
  the horses and massive doom.
• 37:29
  So that's important to understand.
• 37:31
  The other thing that's important to understand is
• 37:33
  that we now have a proven solution.
• 37:36
  We can use fertility control.
• 37:38
  We can use birth control to keep wild
• 37:41
  horses in check with the environment without removing
• 37:45
  them from the range and shattering their families
• 37:48
  and taking away their freedom.
• 37:50
  And so that is the recognition of that
• 37:53
  alternative, which AWRC has really promoted and shown
• 37:58
  to be effective, including in public science.
• 38:03
  Congress recognizes that there's an alternative and they're
• 38:07
  building pressure on the BLM to implement this.
• 38:11
  And just this year, the BLM National Advisory
• 38:15
  Board, Wild Horse and Burrow Advisory Board, that
• 38:18
  represents cattle industry, trophy hunting, wildlife management, wild
• 38:24
  horse and burrow advocacy, the range of interest
• 38:27
  in this issue, they recommended unanimously that BLM
• 38:32
  begin fertility control now to stop talking about
• 38:36
  it, stop continuing the approach that's failed for
• 38:41
  40 plus years and start implementing birth control
• 38:46
  instead of these helicopter roundups.
• 38:48
  So things take time.
• 38:50
  You know, Jane, in animal rights, I've been
• 38:52
  in animal rights a lot.
• 38:53
  Let me just say this.
• 38:54
  First of all, I appreciate your optimism because
• 38:57
  as far as I'm concerned, looking at this
• 39:00
  situation, it's a giant bleep show and it's
• 39:03
  getting worse because now we have, according to
• 39:06
  Dr. Riley, who we're going to go to
• 39:09
  next, we have 73,000 now.
• 39:15
  It was 64,000.
• 39:17
  And now you're saying, Dr. Riley, it's going
• 39:21
  up.
• 39:21
  So I want to ask you, and let
• 39:25
  me introduce this.
• 39:26
  First of all, this is a very complicated
• 39:28
  issue, but I want to try to simplify
• 39:30
  it so people understand.
• 39:32
  Dr. Riley recently asked the Department of Justice
• 39:36
  to do an investigation into the cruelty and
• 39:39
  abuse of Bureau of Land Management, wild horses
• 39:44
  and burrows.
• 39:46
  And so she did a whole in-depth
• 39:49
  report, which I read, but I'm just putting
• 39:51
  up a little bit of it, which shows
• 39:53
  that there are many deaths with the roundups.
• 39:57
  The condition at the holding facilities is horrible.
• 40:00
  There's animals dying.
• 40:02
  There's thousands of horses being sold to slaughter
• 40:05
  in violation of the rules themselves.
• 40:10
  And the government knows all about it.
• 40:14
  They're looking the other way.
• 40:16
  There's widespread corruption.
• 40:18
  So I love Suzanne's optimism.
• 40:21
  Let's go to Dr. Riley and get your
• 40:23
  thoughts on where we're at.
• 40:27
  We're at an enormous crisis stage right now
• 40:30
  with the wild horses.
• 40:31
  There's no question about it, going to slaughter.
• 40:35
  I've had many conversations with Holly Waddell, who
• 40:39
  is the director of the wild horses and
• 40:43
  burrows sales program.
• 40:47
  And last I talked to her about two
• 40:50
  months ago, there were 70,000 that she
• 40:53
  had in holding.
• 40:55
  And a couple of days ago, I looked
• 40:56
  up the numbers and now it's up to
• 40:57
  73,000.
• 41:00
  So quick action is not going to help.
• 41:05
  What we are trying to do, and I
• 41:08
  work with Mike Jenkins, who's with Equus Calibus.
• 41:13
  One thing that we're trying to do is
• 41:15
  start at the root level.
• 41:18
  And one lawsuit has been filed.
• 41:22
  Another lawsuit is about to be filed against
• 41:25
  Interior and the Department of Agriculture regarding all
• 41:32
  the illegal fraudulent issues that have gone on
• 41:38
  through the years, which has caused the horses
• 41:42
  to lose their land.
• 41:44
  Now, I've been working very hard with some
• 41:49
  senators.
• 41:50
  I'm getting some pushback from some, and I'm
• 41:54
  getting some possibilities with the other.
• 41:57
  We're at such a crisis stage now that
• 42:00
  the SAFE Act has failed for the last
• 42:02
  13 years.
• 42:04
  It's passed the House twice, and it's died
• 42:10
  in the Senate.
• 42:11
  And right now, the way the SAFE Act
• 42:15
  reads is that they want to tag it,
• 42:18
  as one senator's staffer put it, they want
• 42:22
  to tag it on to the farm bill
• 42:25
  with the inability to slaughter cats and dogs,
• 42:30
  which was passed the last farm bill.
• 42:34
  Senator Rubio and Senator Gillibrand got the cats
• 42:38
  and dogs added on, and they want to
• 42:40
  just tag this on to the farm bill.
• 42:42
  But the real problem, which has occurred over
• 42:46
  the last 13 years, six and a half
• 42:49
  sessions of Congress, is that the cattlemen own
• 42:55
  the Agriculture Committee and the House and the
• 42:59
  Senate.
• 43:00
  They, through their PAC funding, which is Political
• 43:03
  Action Committee funding, the cattlemen put in 100
• 43:08
  % of the politicians that they back, who
• 43:15
  are anti- or pro-slaughter, they're anti
• 43:19
  -horse, they want the public lands, they want
• 43:24
  to increase the subsidized leases for their cattle
• 43:30
  and their sheep.
• 43:31
  They are blocking it.
• 43:34
  It cannot get out of the Agriculture Committee.
• 43:38
  The way bills work is they're introduced to
• 43:46
  the House and Senate, they go to, they're
• 43:49
  assigned to a committee, the committee assigns a
• 43:52
  subcommittee.
• 43:53
  And then, so the SAVE Act sits in
• 43:56
  subcommittee of the Agriculture Subcommittee.
• 44:03
  It just sits there and it goes nowhere.
• 44:06
  I get it, I get it.
• 44:07
  Every single issue that we face when it
• 44:11
  comes to animal agriculture, follow the money.
• 44:15
  The meat and dairy industry have co-opted
• 44:18
  our government.
• 44:19
  So, if you're upset about this, don't eat
• 44:22
  animals, because that's why the wild horses are
• 44:24
  being driven off the land.
• 44:27
  It's so, the cattle can be on there.
• 44:32
  Yeah, that's part of it, Jane.
• 44:34
  It's a big part of it.
• 44:35
  That's part of it, but we've got two
• 44:39
  lawsuits that go to the root level for
• 44:46
  the federal land management.
• 44:48
  And then, what I'm working on is getting
• 44:53
  the SAVE Act done now, which would mean
• 44:58
  - Yeah, excuse me, let me just say
• 45:00
  something.
• 45:00
  You just said that it's languishing in committee.
• 45:03
  So, how are we going to get it
• 45:05
  done when it's stuck in committee?
• 45:06
  That's what I was just about to get
• 45:08
  to.
• 45:08
  I mean, that's the point, is that it's
• 45:10
  a dead end.
• 45:11
  That's the problem, is that supposedly, we have
• 45:15
  a legislative process.
• 45:17
  Supposedly, our representatives work for the people, 80
• 45:21
  % of whom, Democrat, Republican, Independent, don't want
• 45:25
  to see wild horses chased off the lands.
• 45:28
  And yet, guess who controls the agriculture committee?
• 45:32
  The ranchers and the agricultural interests.
• 45:36
  There's a way to get the SAVE Act
• 45:40
  through quickly, and that is using a discharge
• 45:45
  petition, which I've been working on.
• 45:49
  I've got some support from a couple representatives.
• 45:53
  I've got some support from a few senators
• 45:57
  who are considering it.
• 45:59
  Senator Kennedy from Louisiana, two weeks ago, used
• 46:03
  the discharge petition to try to get the
• 46:07
  barrowed owls, who are, the BLM is also
• 46:11
  - Yeah, they want to kill millions of
• 46:14
  owls on top of everything else.
• 46:15
  So I'm working hard to get the SAVE
• 46:19
  Act, to get a discharge petition for the
• 46:22
  SAVE Act.
• 46:24
  Unfortunately, one of the leaders of the SAVE
• 46:29
  Act in the Senate, he just thinks that
• 46:33
  it is going to tag along with the
• 46:35
  Farm Bill.
• 46:37
  Well, God knows, the Farm Bill is over
• 46:39
  two years overdue.
• 46:40
  Exactly.
• 46:41
  You're proving my point.
• 46:42
  I am fighting with- I appreciate your
• 46:46
  fight.
• 46:47
  I appreciate your fight.
• 46:49
  And I thank you, and keep fighting.
• 46:51
  I want to get back to what people
• 46:52
  can do now.
• 46:53
  And here's what you could do.
• 46:55
  You could donate, you could share this video
• 46:57
  out, you can get involved.
• 46:58
  And this is where I want to go
• 47:00
  back to the actual animals whose lives are
• 47:04
  on the line right now.
• 47:05
  And I want to urge everybody to try
• 47:08
  to join this group on Facebook.
• 47:11
  It's a chat group on Facebook, BLM Mustangs,
• 47:15
  Burros, Donkeys, Mules, and Domestics.
• 47:17
  You can also just donate directly to Sweetgrass
• 47:22
  Advocacy for North American Equines.
• 47:27
  If you put your phone on the QR
• 47:29
  code right there, that'll take you right to
• 47:33
  Sweetgrass Advocacy for North American Equines.
• 47:37
  They are rescuing horses and burros left and
• 47:40
  right, left and right.
• 47:43
  So I urge you, everybody, while you're watching
• 47:45
  now, just snap a photo of it, or
• 47:48
  just go on your phone and go in
• 47:51
  there and donate and get involved.
• 47:54
  I want to tell you that there's a
• 47:56
  lot of joy when a rescue happens.
• 47:59
  I happen to be involved in a couple,
• 48:02
  and I want to show you the burros
• 48:05
  who were rescued.
• 48:06
  You can rescue a lot of them or
• 48:10
  very little because it turns out that they
• 48:15
  are so cheap at this point that they
• 48:21
  go for basically a couple of hundred bucks
• 48:26
  here and there.
• 48:27
  So check this out.
• 48:28
  This was a group of burros that we
• 48:30
  rescued.
• 48:32
  There's nothing you could buy that makes you
• 48:35
  feel as good as knowing that these lives
• 48:38
  are...
• 48:40
  There they are, rescued burros.
• 48:42
  Look at these babies.
• 48:44
  They were saved by this group.
• 48:46
  One, two, three, four, five, and they're looking
• 48:52
  and they jump and they say six.
• 48:55
  There you go.
• 48:57
  They're going to live safe, happy lives because
• 48:59
  they were rescued by this group.
• 49:03
  Look at these.
• 49:04
  Tell us about this rescue.
• 49:06
  Would you do me a favor?
• 49:09
  You've been very patient, Nicole.
• 49:12
  Tell us about the rescue of those and
• 49:15
  other animals.
• 49:16
  I'm going to unmute you.
• 49:17
  Go ahead.
• 49:19
  Thank you, Jane.
• 49:20
  This group of burros was posted and we
• 49:24
  were told they didn't have to be bailed.
• 49:26
  They couldn't be held like others.
• 49:28
  So basically, they were noting them as a
• 49:31
  direct ship that they weren't fully bailed that
• 49:33
  day.
• 49:34
  These are mama and baby pears in that
• 49:36
  group that were rescued.
• 49:39
  Unfortunately, one of the mothers did pass away.
• 49:44
  She was really thin and weak.
• 49:46
  The baby's now getting all the medical attention,
• 49:49
  hoping that the baby survives.
• 49:54
  How can you take a group of mama
• 49:58
  and babies, young babies still nursing, and tell
• 50:02
  them, oh, they're going to be direct shipped
• 50:04
  across the border if they're not fully bailed
• 50:07
  and even off the lot?
• 50:10
  It's just heartbreaking for any animal to be
• 50:15
  put up like that, injured, sick, any of
• 50:19
  them.
• 50:20
  I've done several urgent medical cases recently.
• 50:26
  It's just heartbreaking.
• 50:28
  We need help.
• 50:29
  We need home.
• 50:30
  We need rescues.
• 50:31
  We need donations, rescues, non-profits.
• 50:35
  That's how we manage the animals.
• 50:37
  That's how we take care of them.
• 50:38
  That's how we help each other in the
• 50:40
  rescue community.
• 50:43
  But it's just, it's tragedy and it's safe
• 50:46
  act has to be passed to continue for
• 50:48
  the horses' lives.
• 50:50
  Thank you so much.
• 50:52
  You guys are my heroes and I wanted
• 50:54
  everybody to see firsthand who we're dealing with
• 50:57
  here so that people feel confident about donating.
• 51:02
  I did some deep background checking out when
• 51:06
  a horse was rescued and they say they're
• 51:08
  shipping to this group.
• 51:10
  I call the group.
• 51:11
  So this is legit.
• 51:13
  I urge you all, take a photograph of
• 51:16
  this QR code or just go on there
• 51:19
  and donate.
• 51:20
  And then there's another way you can get
• 51:22
  involved.
• 51:23
  And it's a little complicated, but I urge
• 51:25
  everybody to do this.
• 51:26
  Okay.
• 51:27
  So I'm giving you a second to take
• 51:29
  a picture of that.
• 51:31
  Every cent you give to Sweetgrass Advocacy for
• 51:37
  North American Equines goes directly to getting these
• 51:42
  horses right off the slaughter truck.
• 51:46
  And there's no better feeling than when the
• 51:50
  thread goes, yay.
• 51:52
  Now this thread, and again, people are like,
• 51:55
  well, why don't you have this?
• 51:56
  Why don't you have that?
• 51:57
  Well, these are a bunch of women who
• 51:59
  are just doing this out of the goodness
• 52:01
  of their heart.
• 52:02
  They don't have a team of people who
• 52:05
  are designing social media for them.
• 52:08
  Here's an example of a horse right now
• 52:11
  they're raising funds for.
• 52:13
  And so the idea is that you can
• 52:15
  help by going to Sweetgrass Advocacy for North
• 52:21
  American Equines, and you can also join this
• 52:25
  chat and you'll see one horse after the
• 52:27
  next come up.
• 52:28
  Now, how are you going to join this
• 52:30
  chat?
• 52:30
  This is where it gets a little tricky,
• 52:32
  but I wrote a little description here.
• 52:35
  You can friend Jill Robertson Fuoco on Facebook,
• 52:40
  and then you can private message her that
• 52:42
  you want to join the Facebook chat to
• 52:45
  save mustangs and burros.
• 52:47
  Jill is right here right now on this
• 52:50
  emergency town hall, and we're going to go
• 52:53
  back to her so that she can explain.
• 52:58
  Oh, she dropped off, but you know what,
• 53:00
  Michelle, you are Sweetgrass Advocacy for North American
• 53:07
  Rescues.
• 53:08
  Can you explain how people can get involved?
• 53:16
  Through social media, you can friend Jill.
• 53:25
  There are a lot of groups and I
• 53:31
  can share the posts with at least 10
• 53:34
  different groups who then share them with their
• 53:36
  members.
• 53:38
  So that would be the most expedient way
• 53:42
  to get involved.
• 53:43
  And you can also message me and I
• 53:48
  can network you in and answer any questions
• 53:53
  that you have.
• 53:54
  And I'm writing this down because I have
• 53:58
  the website on the written intro, but you
• 54:06
  can also go to, correct me if I'm
• 54:08
  wrong, sweetgrassadvocacyfornorthamericanequines.com.
• 54:17
  Yes, we have a website.
• 54:18
  It shows a lot of the horses that
• 54:22
  we've rescued.
• 54:23
  It shows our mission and it has the
• 54:27
  donor link.
• 54:30
  You know, again, I want to thank everybody
• 54:33
  for being part of this.
• 54:35
  It's a slow process because there's so many
• 54:37
  people who are doing different things.
• 54:40
  So let's bring in Lindsey Baker, who is
• 54:46
  our host at Unshade TV, who has done
• 54:48
  numerous stories on this.
• 54:50
  Lindsey, when you see these animals, it's so
• 54:55
  heartbreaking and I know that's one of the
• 54:57
  reasons why you got involved the way you
• 55:01
  have.
• 55:02
  How would you urge people to donate and
• 55:06
  share out and get involved?
• 55:09
  Well, you know, I think it's so important,
• 55:12
  particularly this time of the year, when we
• 55:15
  maybe spend money on things that we could
• 55:18
  avoid spending money on and give the money
• 55:21
  to organizations that are helping get this through,
• 55:25
  helping to end horses going through this horrific
• 55:29
  treatment, veros going through this horrific treatment.
• 55:32
  I think we can all step up a
• 55:34
  little bit.
• 55:34
  I plan to step up.
• 55:36
  I've been working and I would love to
• 55:39
  hear from Craig, too, because he's one of
• 55:41
  the people I've interviewed a lot about this.
• 55:44
  The thing is, it's twofold.
• 55:47
  Well, it's multi-fold, but we have to
• 55:49
  get the BLM and the government to stop
• 55:53
  cutting back the land, cutting back the land.
• 55:57
  They were supposed to be allotted since 1971.
• 56:02
  There was an act passed for the wild
• 56:04
  horses and veros.
• 56:05
  I don't know if you covered this yet,
• 56:06
  but that has to be enacted because these
• 56:10
  horses and veros continue to come through and
• 56:13
  it's because we are not doing the right
• 56:16
  thing.
• 56:16
  I also want to urge the organizations to
• 56:19
  pull together now.
• 56:22
  Donate and work together.
• 56:24
  There's a lot of ideas, there's a lot
• 56:26
  of solutions, but we need to crystallize because
• 56:29
  we are going to lose the most precious,
• 56:32
  these horses.
• 56:33
  Not only are they important because of their
• 56:36
  heritage and they worked for us, they brought,
• 56:39
  they made this country what it is, one
• 56:41
  could argue, but because it affects the environment,
• 56:45
  it's a big, big risk to the environment.
• 56:48
  So for so many reasons, I think this
• 56:50
  will be one of my number, there's so
• 56:51
  many good causes, but this will be one
• 56:53
  of my number one organizations, situations where I
• 56:57
  donate and to support this fully.
• 57:01
  I'll be honest with you.
• 57:02
  One of the reasons I'm holding this town
• 57:04
  hall is that I got caught up because
• 57:07
  I looked at the faces of these animals
• 57:09
  who are five minutes away from going on
• 57:12
  a truck to be shipped to Canada, have
• 57:14
  their throats slit and I couldn't say no.
• 57:17
  And I started donating and donating and then
• 57:19
  I realized, no, we need more people.
• 57:23
  No one person could do this alone and
• 57:25
  I certainly can't do it, but it's really,
• 57:28
  really hard.
• 57:28
  And I will also say that when the
• 57:31
  good news happens and you're able to do
• 57:36
  something like this and rescue a whole bunch
• 57:39
  of burros, I'll never forget this.
• 57:42
  The feeling that I had being involved in
• 57:45
  this rescue and seeing those animals get off
• 57:49
  the truck, these innocent beings, there's nothing, there's
• 57:52
  nothing I could buy, okay, that makes me
• 57:55
  as happy as seeing that.
• 57:57
  And that's why I'm saying people donate.
• 58:01
  We need help.
• 58:03
  These women who are doing this around the
• 58:05
  clock, you see them, they're on this town
• 58:08
  hall now.
• 58:09
  They are doing this just out of the
• 58:11
  goodness of their heart.
• 58:12
  And they also donate themselves.
• 58:13
  I see it.
• 58:14
  And they don't have the money and they
• 58:16
  say, I'm tapped out, but I'm donating anyway.
• 58:19
  And I'll tell you, just, you know, $50
• 58:23
  here, $25 there.
• 58:25
  Cause a lot of times it's like, if
• 58:27
  we don't get $75 in the next five
• 58:30
  minutes, X, Y, Z horses go into slaughter.
• 58:33
  And so there's the clock is ticking.
• 58:35
  And when you get involved and you see,
• 58:38
  you go, okay, or there's matches.
• 58:40
  People say, I'll, I'll put up a hundred
• 58:43
  dollars who can match me and you get
• 58:46
  involved.
• 58:47
  And together as a group, we rescue these
• 58:50
  animals.
• 58:50
  Of course we want long-term solutions, but
• 58:53
  you know what they say, when you save
• 58:55
  a life, you've saved the world for that
• 58:57
  life.
• 58:57
  I want to bring in Craig Downer.
• 58:59
  We have your videos, your great documentaries on
• 59:02
  Unchained TV.
• 59:05
  You know, we have these big legislative goals
• 59:09
  and then we have the individual goals of
• 59:12
  rescuing the individual animals minute by minute.
• 59:15
  Give us your thoughts.
• 59:17
  Yeah.
• 59:17
  Thank you.
• 59:18
  Yeah.
• 59:18
  I think it really is a crisis.
• 59:20
  I'm so glad you're doing this program, bringing
• 59:22
  all these lovely ladies that are, have a
• 59:26
  heart and compassion to take action.
• 59:29
  It's very impressive.
• 59:31
  I'm a wildlife ecologist that specialized in their
• 59:34
  order and their family.
• 59:37
  I recognize them as deeply rooted, returned Natives
• 59:41
  in, and Keystone species in North America.
• 59:45
  I just want to say, I want to
• 59:46
  promote this bill, House of Representatives 10587, which
• 59:53
  is the Volunteer Federal Grazing Permit Surrender Act
• 59:58
  bill, because it's a very intelligent way of
• 1:00:01
  free, freeing up the habitat and the resources
• 1:00:04
  for the horses and burros.
• 1:00:06
  So I urge you to contact your representative
• 1:00:09
  and senators about supporting that.
• 1:00:12
  But no, it is- What's it called
• 1:00:13
  again?
• 1:00:14
  What's it called?
• 1:00:15
  Well, it's something like Volunteer Federal Grazing Permit
• 1:00:19
  Surrender Act, and it's 10587 in the House.
• 1:00:24
  So it's been introduced by Representative White, I
• 1:00:27
  think, from Washington and others.
• 1:00:29
  So it's a very intelligent way and it's
• 1:00:31
  been tried before.
• 1:00:34
  And I just want to say that-
• 1:00:35
  What would it do?
• 1:00:36
  What would it do?
• 1:00:36
  To really- Yeah, it would allow public
• 1:00:42
  lands ranchers to surrender their grazing permits and
• 1:00:46
  open it up for wildlife, including the wild
• 1:00:49
  horse and burros.
• 1:00:50
  So it would allow, instead of having 85
• 1:00:52
  % of the grazing forage going to cattle
• 1:00:56
  and sheep, it would go to the wild
• 1:01:00
  horses and wildlife instead of being- Well,
• 1:01:02
  wait a second.
• 1:01:03
  Why would the ranchers agree to that?
• 1:01:06
  Well, some of them would because they would
• 1:01:08
  get a compensation.
• 1:01:10
  That's not- But according to the bill,
• 1:01:12
  they would get a fair market compensation.
• 1:01:15
  So it isn't necessary, but it would be
• 1:01:17
  an incentive.
• 1:01:18
  And I think many of these ranchers that
• 1:01:20
  I've talked to, not the huge corporations, but
• 1:01:24
  the less wealthy ones would go for this
• 1:01:27
  and it would allow many of these areas
• 1:01:31
  to be, as the law says, devoted principally
• 1:01:36
  to the welfare and benefit of the wild
• 1:01:38
  horse and burros.
• 1:01:39
  So that's my dream.
• 1:01:41
  I just wanted to get that in there
• 1:01:43
  and that I stand for a more natural,
• 1:01:47
  respectful way of creating self-stabilizing herds once
• 1:01:53
  we have complete habitats.
• 1:01:55
  But I certainly don't believe in giving up
• 1:01:57
  on the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burros
• 1:01:59
  Act.
• 1:02:00
  We must stand for the true implementation of
• 1:02:05
  its meaning and just insist on it because,
• 1:02:08
  gee whiz, if 80% of the public
• 1:02:10
  believe in this, then we're not a bunch
• 1:02:12
  of wimps.
• 1:02:13
  We have power and we just have to
• 1:02:16
  learn to insist that the law be enforced
• 1:02:19
  and implemented.
• 1:02:20
  It's a wonderful law and I think it
• 1:02:22
  would make such a wonderful difference in America.
• 1:02:25
  Well, I'm sorry to see that Suzanne dropped
• 1:02:28
  off because I was just going to say
• 1:02:29
  that this is what we have to coordinate.
• 1:02:31
  I see everybody proposing different laws.
• 1:02:35
  Let me just say this.
• 1:02:42
  The days of people writing down a bill
• 1:02:45
  and writing a letter, those are gone.
• 1:02:47
  It has to be a campaign such as
• 1:02:50
  organizations like PETA do where you go like
• 1:02:54
  this and you hit, hit, hit, and it
• 1:02:56
  sends it out to senators and congressmembers and
• 1:03:00
  everything else.
• 1:03:01
  If you're relying on people to sit there
• 1:03:04
  and write letters, forget about it, as they
• 1:03:06
  say.
• 1:03:09
  Ann Reilly just dropped off.
• 1:03:11
  Western Watersheds greatly backed Eric Movar.
• 1:03:15
  They greatly backed this bill to surrender the
• 1:03:20
  permits, volunteer surrender.
• 1:03:23
  So that's Eric Movar and they have a
• 1:03:25
  lot of sway.
• 1:03:27
  They have a lot of sway.
• 1:03:29
  They're like Pierre also.
• 1:03:32
  They have a lot of sway.
• 1:03:34
  They've done great reports.
• 1:03:37
  They're using this drought thing and then the
• 1:03:41
  wild horse in Burroughs.
• 1:03:43
  That's obscene.
• 1:03:45
  That's a big lie.
• 1:03:48
  Okay.
• 1:03:48
  That's a big lie.
• 1:03:49
  Pierre did an expose on that.
• 1:03:52
  I'm going to jump in.
• 1:03:54
  And so did Cowdale.
• 1:03:57
  I'm going to unmute you because I've got
• 1:03:59
  to jump in.
• 1:04:01
  And what I want to say is we're
• 1:04:04
  hearing good ideas, a lot of good ideas,
• 1:04:07
  but one thing that I'm not seeing and
• 1:04:10
  that I think would be great, and Dr.
• 1:04:12
  Reilly, I'd like you to work, jump in
• 1:04:14
  on this, is what about a coordinated approach?
• 1:04:19
  I see all these, there's various bills now,
• 1:04:22
  various lawsuits, various things.
• 1:04:25
  I mean, how do we coordinate with all
• 1:04:28
  the groups?
• 1:04:29
  You know that the bad guys, they're organized
• 1:04:32
  and they get together and they sit in
• 1:04:34
  a giant conference room and they say, this
• 1:04:37
  is what we're going to do.
• 1:04:38
  Whereas it seems like we animal lovers, everybody's
• 1:04:43
  trying their own thing.
• 1:04:45
  Now on this one emergency town hall, we've
• 1:04:51
  had really good top organizations and on the
• 1:04:55
  ground rescuers.
• 1:04:56
  Is there a way to get them together
• 1:04:58
  so that his bill and your bill and
• 1:05:02
  the other bill, that there's a coordinated approach?
• 1:05:06
  Because I can tell you that if 80
• 1:05:09
  % of Americans are mailing their representatives that
• 1:05:15
  they want this done, there's a certain point
• 1:05:17
  where it overwhelms the agricultural and the industrial
• 1:05:23
  and the financial interests.
• 1:05:25
  Because these people know at the end of
• 1:05:27
  the day, they do have to go up
• 1:05:29
  for reelection.
• 1:05:31
  And so, it has to be absolutely overwhelming.
• 1:05:36
  And that's what I think we could achieve
• 1:05:39
  if all of these groups got together.
• 1:05:42
  Dr. Reilly, what are your thoughts?
• 1:05:44
  I agree with you a hundred percent.
• 1:05:49
  Our group just did a national mailing.
• 1:05:53
  You can still do it.
• 1:05:55
  It went to for an executive order to
• 1:05:58
  President Trump asking for the SAFE Act to
• 1:06:02
  pass or end slaughter.
• 1:06:07
  To be honest, and I'm going to be
• 1:06:09
  real honest here, what I see is that
• 1:06:16
  there's too much drama between the two groups
• 1:06:20
  and that we need to focus more on
• 1:06:23
  our mission.
• 1:06:24
  All of our mission is saving the horses,
• 1:06:28
  stopping slaughter, and keeping the horses safe.
• 1:06:32
  Period.
• 1:06:33
  End of story.
• 1:06:34
  Stopping the BLM, hopefully rewilding the 70,000
• 1:06:40
  or so that are in holding at the
• 1:06:44
  moment, not letting them land in auctions where
• 1:06:47
  they get hurt, they get sick, they die.
• 1:06:51
  But the organizations need to get together and
• 1:06:55
  work together.
• 1:06:56
  Our group, my organization is pro bono.
• 1:07:01
  And I work with Mike Jenkins.
• 1:07:03
  He's pro bono.
• 1:07:05
  Some of the other organizations...
• 1:07:09
  Again, to your point, we don't want to
• 1:07:14
  critique any other organizations.
• 1:07:15
  The first rule is don't critique another organization.
• 1:07:20
  I deal with this constantly in the animal
• 1:07:22
  rights world in general.
• 1:07:25
  It's like everybody wants to be the top
• 1:07:27
  hero.
• 1:07:28
  But the point is that I think if
• 1:07:30
  we all come together and maybe have, not
• 1:07:34
  on camera, a summit where all of the
• 1:07:38
  email lists are coordinated under one thing.
• 1:07:43
  And PETA has developed a way that people,
• 1:07:48
  no matter what I'm doing, when I get
• 1:07:50
  a PETA action alert, I go, I'm stopping
• 1:07:52
  what I'm doing because I can literally go
• 1:07:54
  like this on my phone, boop, boop, boop,
• 1:07:56
  boop, boop.
• 1:07:57
  And I send letters to a whole bunch
• 1:08:00
  of senators and members of Congress and heads
• 1:08:02
  of corporation.
• 1:08:03
  We need to get high tech.
• 1:08:05
  And we need to unite all the horse
• 1:08:09
  groups, every single email list, and send it
• 1:08:13
  out.
• 1:08:15
  Because that, I think, would overwhelm the agricultural
• 1:08:19
  interests.
• 1:08:20
  But is that going to happen?
• 1:08:22
  Is everybody going to participate?
• 1:08:25
  I don't know.
• 1:08:26
  There's a lot of people operating in their
• 1:08:30
  silos, not to critique anybody, but it's hard
• 1:08:33
  to get everybody together.
• 1:08:34
  Michelle, you want to say something?
• 1:08:37
  Well, I don't have any specific solutions, but
• 1:08:40
  I'm an environmental activist and I'm involved in
• 1:08:44
  this crisis.
• 1:08:48
  And the issues and the problems are the
• 1:08:50
  same.
• 1:08:51
  And I am advocating for the environmental agencies
• 1:08:55
  to collaborate with the wild horse advocacies and
• 1:08:59
  the anti-slaughter advocacies.
• 1:09:02
  It just makes sense in terms of the
• 1:09:07
  legalities and the resources.
• 1:09:10
  So that's the only input I have on
• 1:09:13
  that.
• 1:09:14
  Yeah.
• 1:09:14
  Well, thank you.
• 1:09:15
  And again, your organization is, and I want
• 1:09:19
  to put it up, anybody who wants to
• 1:09:21
  help, it's so simple, really.
• 1:09:23
  You just look at this QR code, grab
• 1:09:26
  a picture of it, and donate, whatever you
• 1:09:28
  can, 50, 100, 25, 10.
• 1:09:31
  And a monthly donation would be incredible.
• 1:09:34
  If you start on monthly donations, it's the
• 1:09:39
  price of a cup of coffee.
• 1:09:41
  And that $10 or $15 or $20 can
• 1:09:44
  save a horse or two or three a
• 1:09:47
  month.
• 1:09:48
  So I urge everybody, please take a photo
• 1:09:52
  of that QR code and get involved.
• 1:09:56
  There's nothing you could buy that feels as
• 1:09:59
  good.
• 1:09:59
  And you know what?
• 1:10:00
  You can do it for your holiday shopping
• 1:10:02
  gifts.
• 1:10:02
  This is what I do.
• 1:10:03
  I say, I rescued a horse in your
• 1:10:05
  name.
• 1:10:06
  I rescued a donkey in your name.
• 1:10:08
  And you know what?
• 1:10:09
  If they don't like it, tough.
• 1:10:11
  Tough.
• 1:10:12
  I could care less.
• 1:10:13
  It's that or no gift at all.
• 1:10:16
  We've been talking for more than an hour.
• 1:10:18
  I want to do round robin.
• 1:10:20
  I think we've covered a lot.
• 1:10:21
  We've covered legislation.
• 1:10:23
  We've covered the problem, obviously.
• 1:10:25
  And we've covered the immediate solution, rescue these
• 1:10:28
  horses that are coming into the slaughter pipeline,
• 1:10:31
  as well as the long-term solution of
• 1:10:34
  legislation.
• 1:10:36
  Let's get final thoughts from everybody.
• 1:10:39
  And I will start with the very patient
• 1:10:43
  Jenny Sloan.
• 1:10:45
  Thank you.
• 1:10:47
  I'm so far out of this loop with
• 1:10:50
  the legalities of everything because I'm the one
• 1:10:53
  that's actually doing the work of taking care
• 1:10:55
  of many of these horses.
• 1:10:58
  We're the ones that get them out of
• 1:11:00
  the actual pipeline.
• 1:11:01
  So I understand the process of having to
• 1:11:05
  go through and get the bills passed, but
• 1:11:09
  it doesn't help the ones right now.
• 1:11:12
  They're here right now.
• 1:11:14
  They're here today.
• 1:11:16
  They're sitting there.
• 1:11:18
  They're waiting.
• 1:11:19
  They don't have food.
• 1:11:21
  They don't have water.
• 1:11:22
  They don't have shelter.
• 1:11:23
  They're sick.
• 1:11:24
  They're snotty.
• 1:11:25
  They're days away from being crammed on an
• 1:11:29
  over-crammed trailer.
• 1:11:35
  We don't have time to wait for the
• 1:11:42
  legal process to happen in a lot of
• 1:11:46
  cases.
• 1:11:47
  And that's why people like Jill reach out
• 1:11:50
  to people like me.
• 1:11:51
  I literally can go there tomorrow and pick
• 1:11:53
  them up and get them safe and get
• 1:11:54
  them to the next stop and the next
• 1:11:56
  stop.
• 1:11:56
  And I've worked with a lot of these
• 1:11:58
  other people and that's what we do.
• 1:12:00
  But it is urgent.
• 1:12:04
  We can't be patient with their lives anymore.
• 1:12:08
  There's too many of them.
• 1:12:10
  It's every day, every day.
• 1:12:12
  There's 20, 30, 40, 50 more Mustangs sitting
• 1:12:17
  in facilities within an hour radius of my
• 1:12:21
  home and they're sitting there and they're waiting
• 1:12:23
  to go somewhere.
• 1:12:26
  So that is, on my end, that's what
• 1:12:29
  I feel is the urgent thing, that I
• 1:12:32
  appreciate the legislation and I appreciate all of
• 1:12:36
  those pieces, but there is the immediate, the
• 1:12:40
  animal that is in front of us is
• 1:12:43
  here now.
• 1:12:45
  And those are the ones that need help.
• 1:12:47
  And I'm going to put up this, the
• 1:12:49
  one that is the focus today, one of
• 1:12:53
  many, but look at this Arabian stallion with
• 1:12:56
  a cut and this Arabian stallion will go
• 1:13:00
  to slaughter if several hundred dollars is not
• 1:13:04
  raised in the next couple of days.
• 1:13:07
  And imagine getting this horse, getting on a
• 1:13:09
  truck, packed with other horses and riding without
• 1:13:13
  food or water to Mexico with this injury
• 1:13:16
  and then having his throat slit.
• 1:13:19
  That's why I donate.
• 1:13:22
  And that's why I'm urging all of you
• 1:13:24
  to donate.
• 1:13:25
  Again, just take a picture of that.
• 1:13:29
  Go on right now, become a monthly donor.
• 1:13:32
  It's, you can see that QR code, you
• 1:13:36
  just click.
• 1:13:37
  We vetted this organization.
• 1:13:39
  This is a good organization, Sweetgrass Advocacy for
• 1:13:42
  North American Equines.
• 1:13:45
  There's also Heart of the Wild, but this
• 1:13:47
  one, they're both great, but this one, we
• 1:13:50
  have the QR code today.
• 1:13:52
  So you know what?
• 1:13:53
  If 15 people, 20 people watching this sign
• 1:13:58
  on and they go there and donate, that
• 1:14:01
  horse might make it through and might not
• 1:14:04
  go to slaughter.
• 1:14:06
  So I'm begging.
• 1:14:08
  That's how it's gotten.
• 1:14:09
  I'm begging.
• 1:14:10
  The other thing real quick, just to throw
• 1:14:12
  in there is, yes, money is vital.
• 1:14:15
  Yes, it is.
• 1:14:17
  But having an end result for these animals,
• 1:14:21
  they need homes.
• 1:14:23
  They need people.
• 1:14:25
  They need an end result too.
• 1:14:29
  So otherwise we just end up warehousing them
• 1:14:31
  again.
• 1:14:31
  They need a place to go.
• 1:14:33
  So if an average horse person has room
• 1:14:35
  for one more, they need to step up
• 1:14:38
  in that regard as well, because there can't
• 1:14:42
  just be 10 people that keep taking all
• 1:14:44
  the same horses over and over again.
• 1:14:46
  There needs to be places for them to
• 1:14:49
  go once we do rescue them.
• 1:14:52
  That is a huge component too.
• 1:14:55
  So we're getting so many people commenting, we
• 1:15:00
  are losing them.
• 1:15:02
  Everybody wants to help.
• 1:15:04
  And it is daily.
• 1:15:05
  It's even more than daily.
• 1:15:06
  It's hourly.
• 1:15:08
  And here's the one that Craig was talking
• 1:15:11
  about, Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act.
• 1:15:14
  Is this the one, Craig?
• 1:15:19
  Yeah, that's the one.
• 1:15:20
  Okay, great.
• 1:15:21
  Because people are asking about it.
• 1:15:22
  Oh, I see.
• 1:15:23
  I had a different number then.
• 1:15:24
  There it is.
• 1:15:27
  But again, we have to get together.
• 1:15:34
  Ann, would you be able to suggest an
• 1:15:37
  off-camera conference where all the people that
• 1:15:41
  we've gathered, but others too who run organizations
• 1:15:44
  and sanctuaries would be willing to do a
• 1:15:47
  Zoom meeting and figure this out?
• 1:15:51
  Like one email blast to all the legislators.
• 1:15:55
  Yes, absolutely.
• 1:15:57
  I think that's what's really necessary.
• 1:16:00
  Listen, we can argue till we're blue in
• 1:16:04
  the face of, do we feel that it's
• 1:16:06
  needed birth control or not?
• 1:16:09
  I've heard arguments on both sides.
• 1:16:12
  Let's not go down into that vortex.
• 1:16:14
  What we want to stop is the horrible
• 1:16:19
  transportation of these animals to Mexico and Canada.
• 1:16:22
  Let's aim for that, the SAFE Act, as
• 1:16:25
  well as, and they're not mutually exclusive, the
• 1:16:29
  Voluntary Grazing Permit Retirement Act.
• 1:16:32
  I think that those are two really smart
• 1:16:34
  solutions that have come out of this.
• 1:16:37
  And if we can meet and say, we're
• 1:16:39
  not going to argue about all the inside
• 1:16:42
  baseball stuff that these groups always end up
• 1:16:45
  arguing about.
• 1:16:46
  I remember 20 years ago, they were arguing
• 1:16:48
  about the birth control or not.
• 1:16:50
  Forget about it.
• 1:16:52
  Let's focus on two items, two items that
• 1:16:57
  are maybe achievable and go for that, and
• 1:17:00
  then get everybody's email lists and have it
• 1:17:02
  done in a coordinated way.
• 1:17:04
  All right, I'm going to give Lindsay Baker
• 1:17:06
  her final thoughts right now.
• 1:17:09
  Unmute.
• 1:17:13
  Well, I love exactly what you're saying.
• 1:17:16
  I love the multi-pronged approach.
• 1:17:18
  I love the idea of us coming together.
• 1:17:20
  I also love the idea of becoming a
• 1:17:23
  monthly subscriber, even if it's only $10 a
• 1:17:26
  month, because we forget over time, but if
• 1:17:28
  we set it up, hey, $17 to $20
• 1:17:32
  a month is one of your streaming networks.
• 1:17:34
  Come on.
• 1:17:34
  We can stop watching the reruns of some
• 1:17:37
  dumb show and actually make a difference for
• 1:17:40
  these animals.
• 1:17:41
  I mean, it doesn't take that much.
• 1:17:43
  And sharing, sharing this out, talking about it,
• 1:17:47
  getting more people involved.
• 1:17:48
  But that Zoom call, I think, is very
• 1:17:50
  key because just like you, Jane, I've been
• 1:17:53
  doing these stories.
• 1:17:54
  I'm not like you doing this part, but
• 1:17:56
  I've been doing it since 2016.
• 1:17:58
  And I've interviewed many, many, many people, more
• 1:18:01
  people than are here today, all great intention,
• 1:18:04
  all doing great work, but we need to
• 1:18:06
  come together for solutions.
• 1:18:07
  And I would say that's the key.
• 1:18:09
  Let's support now the immediate problem and let's
• 1:18:12
  come together for more solutions.
• 1:18:15
  Excellent idea.
• 1:18:16
  And that we've achieved something.
• 1:18:19
  Because one of the reasons why I hold
• 1:18:21
  these town halls is that a lot of
• 1:18:23
  times what comes out is an idea.
• 1:18:26
  And I do feel that there's a lot
• 1:18:28
  of silos in the horse rescue.
• 1:18:30
  First of all, there's so many horse rescue
• 1:18:32
  groups.
• 1:18:33
  I was shocked when I went looking for
• 1:18:35
  Heart of the Wild Rescue.
• 1:18:37
  There's a bunch that have similar names.
• 1:18:40
  And in every state, there's people, good people
• 1:18:42
  rescuing these horses, rescuing these horses.
• 1:18:45
  Imagine if we all came together and we
• 1:18:47
  combined our email lists and we sent out
• 1:18:51
  a email to all of them saying, click,
• 1:18:56
  click, click, click.
• 1:18:58
  And that would be something that would go
• 1:19:01
  into the inboxes of the president, of the
• 1:19:04
  Senate, of the House.
• 1:19:07
  And that would be very, very powerful.
• 1:19:10
  So now I'm going to go to Michelle.
• 1:19:12
  Well, let's go to somebody who's been overlooked
• 1:19:15
  and I apologize, Nicole Scholl.
• 1:19:20
  Unmute and give us your final thoughts.
• 1:19:24
  Well, honestly, we have a system that's failing
• 1:19:27
  every animal, not just horses, donkeys, but all
• 1:19:30
  animals that they claim they're protecting.
• 1:19:34
  So honestly, we all as a group, if
• 1:19:37
  you care about animals, be their voice.
• 1:19:40
  They can't talk like we can.
• 1:19:41
  Step up, be there for them, advocate, bring
• 1:19:45
  the awareness.
• 1:19:47
  That's all I can really do, be their
• 1:19:51
  voice.
• 1:19:52
  And you have an incredible organization as well.
• 1:19:55
  I've donated to your organization and will continue
• 1:19:58
  to do so.
• 1:19:59
  But again, no individual can do it alone.
• 1:20:04
  I held this town hall because I can't,
• 1:20:08
  I'm tapped.
• 1:20:10
  I mean, but then you see the faces
• 1:20:11
  and you go on that instant message group,
• 1:20:15
  that chat, and you see more of the
• 1:20:18
  faces and it's like, how can I not?
• 1:20:20
  How can I not?
• 1:20:21
  This horse and that donkey, it's truly overwhelming.
• 1:20:25
  But that's why I say together, if we
• 1:20:28
  all pitch in, we can do it.
• 1:20:30
  We can do it because it is a
• 1:20:32
  pipeline, but it's not infinite.
• 1:20:34
  It's overwhelming, but it's not infinite.
• 1:20:36
  And if there's enough people donating, then those
• 1:20:40
  horses can be saved because these women, they
• 1:20:43
  work like hell around the clock to save
• 1:20:46
  these horses.
• 1:20:47
  Okay.
• 1:20:48
  Final thought from, who do we got?
• 1:20:52
  Madhu.
• 1:20:52
  Madhu.
• 1:20:54
  Oh, that's not Madhu.
• 1:20:56
  Hold on.
• 1:20:57
  Madhu.
• 1:20:59
  Yeah.
• 1:21:00
  Hi, Jane.
• 1:21:01
  Yeah.
• 1:21:02
  I also think that the cruelty starts from
• 1:21:06
  when the roundup starts, as I have witnessed
• 1:21:09
  this cruelty with my own eyes.
• 1:21:13
  Horses getting separated from their families, dying with
• 1:21:16
  injured leg injuries or breaking their legs, overcrowded
• 1:21:22
  pens, et cetera.
• 1:21:24
  So I believe that another way people can
• 1:21:26
  help is if you go on the BLM
• 1:21:28
  website, you can always find out when the
• 1:21:32
  next scheduled roundups are.
• 1:21:34
  Roundup is going to happen whether it's in
• 1:21:36
  California, Nevada, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, wherever, and make
• 1:21:41
  a call, please.
• 1:21:42
  You can call BLM directly and tell them
• 1:21:44
  to stop that particular roundup because it's cruel
• 1:21:46
  to the animals and it is cruel and
• 1:21:50
  it's costing the taxpayers a lot of money.
• 1:21:52
  We can also participate in the public comment
• 1:21:56
  periods because BLM does open public comment periods
• 1:21:59
  for certain roundups and we can always speak
• 1:22:02
  up against them there because cruelty starts from
• 1:22:05
  the minute the helicopter starts and it is
• 1:22:08
  the most horrible way of treating wild horses.
• 1:22:12
  Oh, so awful.
• 1:22:14
  I mean, I love everything you say.
• 1:22:16
  I doubt, I mean, it's always good to
• 1:22:18
  protest.
• 1:22:20
  I had seen these protests for years.
• 1:22:40
  Political pressure will get to them, but they
• 1:22:44
  have a tendency to be, because they're so
• 1:22:47
  controlled by the industry, they pretty much, you
• 1:22:53
  know, I mean, I think it's good to
• 1:22:56
  protest, but I think the legislative solutions are
• 1:23:01
  absolutely key.
• 1:23:03
  All right, final thoughts from, Michelle, did you
• 1:23:07
  give, you did your give your final thought,
• 1:23:09
  right?
• 1:23:09
  Yeah, pretty much.
• 1:23:11
  Okay, well, no, you know, I do want
• 1:23:14
  to say something that I, yes, my link
• 1:23:18
  is up for the donations, but I'm sharing
• 1:23:20
  with Nicole because we work together and we
• 1:23:27
  support each other and so if you're donating
• 1:23:29
  to me, you're donating to her as well.
• 1:23:33
  Excellent, thank you so much.
• 1:23:34
  Craig, your final thought?
• 1:23:37
  Yeah, I think this is really wonderful to
• 1:23:40
  see how many people really care and have
• 1:23:43
  such great empathy for the wild horses at
• 1:23:46
  Burroughs for being so victimized and I just
• 1:23:49
  want to say that I do too really
• 1:23:52
  feel for these individual animals.
• 1:23:54
  It's really important not to forget the individuals,
• 1:23:58
  just like us, they're sentient beings and with
• 1:24:00
  extraordinary abilities and conceptions, but I want to
• 1:24:05
  say that I do hold on to the
• 1:24:08
  vision of the Wild, Free, Roaming Horse and
• 1:24:11
  Burroughs Act that these millions of acres on
• 1:24:13
  the BLM, and let us not forget the
• 1:24:15
  U.S. Forest Service lands, was designated principally
• 1:24:19
  for their welfare and benefit, not for the
• 1:24:22
  welfare and benefit of the ranchers that already
• 1:24:25
  graze most of our public lands, so why
• 1:24:29
  are these fat cats getting even more and
• 1:24:32
  they're being bullies?
• 1:24:34
  So I think we have to hold true
• 1:24:36
  to the true intent of the law and
• 1:24:39
  that the fact that this is honoring the
• 1:24:42
  true nature of the wild horses at Burroughs
• 1:24:45
  and it's a real rarity among humanity that
• 1:24:50
  we're saying, hey, let's let them be themselves
• 1:24:53
  and be their natural selves and play their
• 1:24:56
  wonderful God-given role in our world, you
• 1:25:00
  know, that's so important for all of us,
• 1:25:02
  so let's not give up on this because
• 1:25:04
  things can change.
• 1:25:06
  This whole world is coming to kind of
• 1:25:08
  a crisis stage and I think that's an
• 1:25:11
  opportunity for major changes because people are going
• 1:25:14
  to come clean and they're going to see
• 1:25:17
  there's new ways of life, like we don't
• 1:25:20
  have to eat so much meat and dairy
• 1:25:22
  products or any at all, we can eat
• 1:25:24
  vegetables and fruits and, you know, there's just
• 1:25:28
  radical changes that need to be made so
• 1:25:31
  we can restore harmony to our interrelationships here
• 1:25:35
  on earth and that's what the Wild Free
• 1:25:37
  Roaming Horses and Burroughs Act really is trying
• 1:25:40
  to do.
• 1:25:41
  Thank you.
• 1:25:42
  Thank you, excellent points.
• 1:25:43
  Has everybody, did you do your final thought,
• 1:25:48
  Anne?
• 1:25:49
  Basically, my final thought was that I will,
• 1:25:53
  U.S. Forest Welfare and Rescue will organize
• 1:25:57
  a Zoom meeting to and invite all the
• 1:26:02
  leaders of all the organizations together to see
• 1:26:06
  if we can collectively beat the ranchers and
• 1:26:13
  get these horses seen.
• 1:26:15
  I love it and what an incredible way
• 1:26:18
  to end.
• 1:26:20
  Fantastic, because we have an action point and
• 1:26:24
  I want to thank you, Dr. Riley, for
• 1:26:27
  making that commitment.
• 1:26:28
  I hope you will allow me to attend
• 1:26:30
  as well as Lindsay Baker from our team
• 1:26:35
  and that everybody who was on this emergency
• 1:26:39
  town hall will be able to attend and
• 1:26:43
  we can all work together and combine our
• 1:26:47
  email lists and do a national campaign and
• 1:26:51
  that's really what we need.
• 1:26:54
  I mean, I think that if that comes
• 1:26:57
  out of this town hall, it will have
• 1:26:59
  been well worth it.
• 1:27:01
  I want to thank you, Anne, for, Dr.
• 1:27:04
  Riley, for agreeing to arrange that.
• 1:27:07
  One second, Jane, can you get me the
• 1:27:11
  emails, the email of all the people?
• 1:27:15
  Absolutely, I will.
• 1:27:18
  And then I, well, there's a lot of
• 1:27:20
  other rescues and advocates.
• 1:27:22
  Yes, it's probably going to take a month
• 1:27:25
  to gather all the emails and what we
• 1:27:28
  can do is all of us start collecting
• 1:27:31
  all the emails that we know, right?
• 1:27:34
  And together, if we all collect various emails
• 1:27:37
  of the organizations and then invite them.
• 1:27:41
  This happened just recently with another aspect of
• 1:27:44
  the animal rights movement and was very successful.
• 1:27:48
  We have strengthened numbers.
• 1:27:50
  We've been operating in silos.
• 1:27:52
  We need to get together.
• 1:27:53
  That's the outcome of this emergency town hall
• 1:27:56
  and I feel that that makes it very
• 1:27:58
  successful.
• 1:28:00
  Thank you everybody for being a part of
• 1:28:02
  this and remember for those watching at home,
• 1:28:05
  the bottom line is very simple.
• 1:28:08
  You can be part of this.
• 1:28:09
  You can be part of the solution.
• 1:28:11
  You can be part of history.
• 1:28:13
  Donate, grab that QR code that is on
• 1:28:17
  your screen right now and just donate what
• 1:28:21
  you can.
• 1:28:22
  If you can become a monthly donor, that
• 1:28:24
  would be extraordinary.
• 1:28:27
  And I don't ask anybody to do something
• 1:28:29
  that I don't do.
• 1:28:30
  I have donated repeatedly to this organization and
• 1:28:33
  will continue to do so along with Heart
• 1:28:37
  of the Wild and some of the other
• 1:28:39
  groups.
• 1:28:40
  So please join me together.
• 1:28:42
  We can save lives.
• 1:28:44
  Thank you so much for being part of
• 1:28:47
  this emergency town hall and we will do
• 1:28:51
  an update after we have the meeting that
• 1:28:55
  Dr. Riley is going to arrange.
• 1:28:59
  Thank you everyone.
• 1:29:00
  Bye.
• 1:29:01
  Thank you.
• 1:29:03
  Thank you.
• 1:29:04
  Thank you.