NEWSBYLAURA ALLEN

The Bureau of Land Management is the federal agency within the Department of Interior that is tasked with protecting wild horses and burros.

But someone needs to tell the BLM that.

The Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act is specific in requiring BLM to protect wild horses and burros as "components" of the public lands, free from "harassment" and "capture," and manage them at the "minimal feasible level" to maintain "free -roaming" behavior. Instead, BLM has turned the Act on its head, managing these animals primarily by rounding them up and placing them in long term holding facilities.

Two federal judges have already warned BLM that its policy of keeping wild horses and burros in long term holding facilities may not be legal.

This past week, Laura Leigh filed a lawsuit in Nevada federal court asking Judge Larry Hicks to order BLM to delay the Tuscarora roundup until after foaling season, and also to allow media access to the roundup.

Leigh claims BLM violated its own policies in rounding up wild horses so clo

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is supposed to enforce regulations about the handling of animals during slaughter. It has come to light, however, that at horse slaughter facilities, inspectors were actually ordered to stay off the kill floors during slaughter.

Why? According to Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union that represents inspectors, out of fear for their safety. Kingston explained, "Anybody could just walk in, grab a rifle, and start shooting. Basically that's the way it was working. I mean, they had no idea whether the person using the firearms was qualified, was stable, or anything else."

Canadian officials fear inspectors will be injured or killed as workers manhandle and fire guns at horses. There may also be concern that inspectors will suffer post traumatic stress from observing such brutal treatment of animals. So they abandoned regulatory oversight of the slaughter process.  

Horses in Canada are supposed to be stunned prior to slaughter with a rifle

The number of American horses that are slaughtered is driven by a demand in some other countries for horsemeat, where it's usually a pricey delicacy. The demand has dropped dramatically over the years from a high in 1989 of 348,400 horses to 134,059 horses slaughtered in 2008. In 2009-2010, demand has dropped even more. In Europe, in particular, demand in the past year has dropped as consumers have learned of the shocking cruelty of horse slaughter in North America.

The demand for American horsemeat may soon plummet and end altogether, especially in the European market. Indeed, the second largest grocer in Belgium and Holland pulled American horsemeat from the shelves. 

But there's more good news for our horses and those calling for an end to the slaughter. Beginning July 31, 2010, the European Union will begin enforcing restrictions on the sale of meat from horses that have been given certain drugs and steroids. This means that, where horsemeat is destined for the E.U., Canadian or Mexican slaughterhouses (where U.S. horses are sent for slaughter) must obtain veterinary records of all drugs or medication provided to the horse in the preceding six months. By 2013, all horses to be slaughtered for human consumption in the E.U. must be accompanied by veterinary records from birth that show the horse has never been given banned substances.

This is impossible for American horses.

American horses are not tracked, and there is no way to know the drugs, ster

There is tough talk from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar since the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As oil creeps across marshes and spreads out across the Gulf coast — the  muck coating and choking mammals, birds, turtles, fish and other life — Salazar says he has his boot on BP's neck.

Maybe ... but only when the cameras are rolling.

The Mineral Management Service is the agency under Salazar that is supposed to make sure oil and gas operations comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a law that prohibits harassment, hunting, capturing or killing, or other ways of "taking" marine mammals, including by interfering with behavior patterns. MMS is also supposed to follow the Endangered Species Act, which protects endangered or threatened species. These laws allow only limited interference with the wildlife they protect, and any development can occur only with approval, after careful study and precautions are in place. The Submerged Lands Act requires the Department of the Interior to stop development that threatens harm to wildlife.

Salazar has ignored these laws.

He has

Federal Judge Paul L. Friedman has dismissed a case many had hoped would end the policy of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and the Bureau of Land Management of warehousing America's wild horses and burros in long term holding facilities.

The judge rejected a motion when the case was first filed to stop the roundup and removal of wild horses from Nevada's Calico Mountains Complex, at least until he reached a final decision. The case was brought against Salazar and BLM by plaintiffs In Defense of Animals, an animal welfare organization that has worked for years to protect wild horse and burros; Craig Downer, a Nevada wildlife ecologist who has made a career of studying wild horses; and Terri Farley, a popular Nevada-based author of children's books about wild horses.

At the time, the judge agreed with the plaintiffs that BLM has no authority to put healthy, unadoptable wild horses in long term holding facilities, especially in places where they do not naturally live, like Kansas. In the same breath, however, the judge backed away, saying he could not stop the roundup.

Judge Friedman did suggest that BLM voluntarily postpone the roundup. Not su

Veterinarians in New Jersey may soon be able to earn up to 10 of their required 20 or more credits for continuing education by offering free spay/neuter services.

Sounds like a win-win for everyone: Less time in lectures and seminars for veterinarians, and more spay/neuter to reduce numbers of homeless animals that end up in public shelters. 

Under a bill that has now passed the legislature, S.B. 515, veterinarians could earn one hour of continuing education credit from the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for every two dogs or cats that are spayed for free, and one hour credit for every four dogs or cats that are neutered, also free of charge. Pet owners who receive certain types of state and federal assistance and feral cat Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs operated by municipalities or nonprofit organizations would be eligible for the free surgeries.