Kits and Mustangs

The kits have been sticking pretty close to me, knowing I've been upset and that my emotions were in a turmoil. Of course, if they get a chance to go outside, they do run for it - we have a new neighbor, who actually lives upstairs, who has a new puppy. My kits and the puppy met this morning - the puppy was excited and friendly; my kits were freaked. Only once before have they met a dog in the backyard, and that time it took me forever to get Banichi out of a tree - this time both Lovey and Banichi came charging back inside. The puppy is cute - it's a mutt, mostly white with a few orange spots, and looks to be part hound/hunting dog....

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I love horses - any type of horse. Growing up on the east coast, I had heard of mustangs and read of mustangs, but I wasn't well informed about them. Then Marguerite Henry published Mustang: Wild Spirit of the West - about Wild Horse Annie and her fight with the US government to have mustangs protected under federal law. I read everything I could get my hands on about mustangs, their habitat, and the Bureau of Land Management. I wrote to my representatives in Congress, even though I was a kid living in Florida at the time.

I'm sure that most of you have seen the ads for "Adopt a Horse or Burro from the BLM" at some time. The BLM has never, in my opinion, used good judgement in their round-ups, holding areas, or adoption programs. It's one of the most poorly-run government programs in existence. The BLM has many thousands of horses, mules, and burros living in holding pens, without room for real exercise - but receiving shots, hoof care and food. The Wild Horse Protection Act passed in 1971 - and since that time, the US has reduced the living space of wild horses by over 20 million acres. The US government and the BLM are meeting tomorrow in Reno, Nevada to decide whether or not to allow BLM agents to kill or allow unrestricted sale of the horses and/or burros due to a growing dollar short-fall in caring for these penned creatures. A very good article about it may be found at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27738672/

The Wild Horse Protection Act was passed, originally, to keep wild horses and burros from being inhumanely rounded up and sent to the slaughterhouse for dog and cat food (along with the occasional pet/show/blooded horse that might be out loose in open pasture). The "unrestricted" sale of these currently penned, relatively tame mustangs means they will be sold to slaughterhouses for both pet and human consumption (remember that horsemeat is the norm for steak in Europe and Asia, not beef). This is exactly what the Horse Protection Act was created to stop!!! Helloooo? Is anyone in the US government/BLM listening? I can pretty much guarantee NOT.

I realize that the symbol of the United States is the bald eagle (even though Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey); but I feel that a true symbol of America is the silhouette of a mustang running free and proud on a high mountain ridge!