The current situation today, is that horses and donkeys have exceeded the amount to keep an ecological balance; from 26,600 wildlife to 38,300 wildlife. The horse program enacted by the bill passed in 1971, costs the government approximately $49 million a year. It takes the majority of the budget to manage the already captured horses; taking into account the life of the horses, it has been concluded that the total cost would be closer to $1 billion (Dean Bolstad, Roundup of Wild Horses…). A Federal law, allows the Bureau of Land Management to kill “excess horses to maintain what it calls ‘a thriving natural ecological balance’” (Ginger Kathrens). However, due to retaliation of animal right groups, the BLM has not taken any measures to eliminate
This was passed through a rider inserted by Senator Burns. The bill forces the Bureau of Land Management “to sell "without limitation" every captured horse that is 10 or older or has proved unadoptable” (Murr, 51). Howard Crystal, a lawyer for the Humane Society adds that " [the bill] consigns thousands of horses to death," prompting horse advocates for a more humane solution to the overcrowding of horses in current government management. Also, to manage the excess horses, the BLM also has debated whether to induce euthanasia on the horses. However, due to backlash to animal activist communities, the BLM are inconclusive on using lethal
For example, the contraceptive, Porcine zona pellucida, also referred to as PZP, has been used in another heavily horse-populated area, Maryland’s Assateague Island. The contraceptive would be used in the form of darts that will help keep population down by decreasing the reproductive hormones in male horses. Using contraceptives would allow for a more humane on regulating horse population. The same contraceptive has also been used in other sections of the United States to limit population growth such as white-tailed deers, and pigs. However, contraceptives have caused controversy in the safety of the horses’ healths. However, in a study done by Turner, A., and Kirkpatrick, JF., the effects of the contraceptive were studied in foals over the course of twelve years in Assateague Island. Horses that were vaccinated with the contraceptive returned to fertility between 1-5 years, however, when exceeded the seven year mark, the horses remained infertile. It was also concluded that there were no difference in survival rates of the horses. For activists concerning the safety of PZP, in the studies done by Fitzpatrick, it was found that PZP in wild horses had no permanent or negative effects on wild horses- the same studies were done to pregnant mares. PZP had proven more positive effects on the condition of the horses, for example, there was increased body condition in the horses, as
The drug Premarin, a drug used to relieve symptoms of menopause in women, is made by harvesting the urine of pregnant horses. Premarin Farms, which are called PMU farms for short, are the site where this takes place. The mares are hooked up to rig that collects their urine throughout most of their pregnancy, which leaves them practically immobile. PMU farmers collect several different equine conjugated hormones found in the pregnant mares’ urine to make Premarin, which includes drugs such as Prempro, Premphase, Premelle, and Prempac. Some farms treat their horses with the upmost respect, and give them the proper vet care and food that they need, while on other farms, the horses are not quite that lucky. There have been allegations of the abuse of horses on these PMU farms for years, yet most farms haven’t been forced to change their horrible ways.
... middle of paper ... ... Wild horses do not belong in the BLM’s horse prisons. The horses have a close knit unit in the wild, as they are protected by a stallion and lead to water holes by a lead mare.
However, this approach has many challenges for which solutions have been elusive to date. Ideally, methods for contraception of wild horses should be safe and reversible, effective for several years, practical to administer and be of a reasonable cost and whilst having minimal effect on reproductive and/or harem behavior. This ensures the methods that are used to control the reproductive cycle are considered to be humane and ethical.
The use of horses for human consumption dates back to the earliest use of animals for human consumption. Horses are used for food in many counties but are also considered inhumane in other countries. In the United States specifically, horsemeat is not the norm for consumed meat. There seems to be a problem that has arisen. It is suspected that horses being slaughtered at horse slaughtering factories are not the most up to date, pain free for the horse, and human as people suspect them to be like beef kill floors. There are many pros and cons to horse slaughter that accompany the pressure groups on each side of horse slaughter. Another big controversy with horse slaughter is the argument of legalizing horse slaughter and what those details will entail in the law.
Why breed-specific legislation doesn't work. (2013, January 9). The Humane Society of the United States. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/breed-specific-legislation/fact_sheets/breed-specific-legislation-flaws.html
Animal activists and various animal rights/animal welfare support groups have been publicly declaring their beliefs against rodeos since the late 1800’s. Rodeo abolitionists believe PRCA members and contestants have always and always will mistreat their livestock. To support their opinion, activists use information such as the injury/death rate, veterinarians ignoring injured animals, and the belief that wranglers torment the animals into performing. The injury/death percentage is very low in PRCA rodeos. “PRCA has continuously called upon on-site, independent rodeo veterinarians at PRCA-sanctioned events
WASHINGTON — When American Pharoah, the colt with a thunderous gallop, became the first Triple Crown winner in nearly four decades, he couldn’t have had better timing.
citizens have different ways they see horses. Citizens see horses as worker; food; pet and companions. Activist believe horse slaughter is barbaric; and believe congress's actions will lead to the reopening of slaughter houses in the U.S. (“Horse Slaughter May Return”). Many equestrians and breeders are against horse slaughter, but what happens if the people against slaughter actually caused the problem.
The “Bucks only” laws passed years ago to help in re-establishing the dwindling deer herds now work against the deer by resulting in an overabundance of does. Even with the overabundance of does, many hunters refuse to shoot a doe. They believe in the old saying, “It takes a doe to yield a buck.” This is entirely true, but it ignores the basic law of nature that any piece of land, and the food and cover in it, can support so much game. If the excess game is not harvested by hunters or killed by predators, nature will take over and exterminate enough animals as needed, or more through disease and starvation.
There is a very important distinction when dealing with animal welfare and animal rights. After learning to tell the difference between the two, it is easier to distinguish the organization that wants to help animals and the people who wish to end the use of animals. Even though there are different groups that support different agendas for the sport, both should have the same goal. Animal rights are organizations that seek to end the ownership and use of animals. The largest of those groups are The Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. There is a ‘Pro-Rodeo’ organization under the guise ‘Friends of Rodeo.’ They claim to be the only organization solely devoted to protecting and promoting the sport of rodeo, all of rodeo regardless of association affiliation. “What rodeo proponents fail to acknowledge is that rodeos harm animals that are forced to perform in a competition that is essentially a display of human domination over other species” (The Rodeo 1).
Environmentalists call this problem the Urban Deer Dilemma. This exists when the number of deer exceeds the ability of the environment to support the deer (2). During the 1600s, when Jamestown’s first settlers arrived, there were between 24 and 31 million white-tailed deer in North America (4). As settlers pioneered farther west, the deer population steadily decreased until a dramatic drop in the 19th century. By the end of the century, less than half-a-million deer were left. In some parts of the United States, there were none. In 1886, the US Supreme Court forced hunters to get licenses and follow certain restrictions. Conservationists urged hunters kill bucks instead of does. Because of these precautions, by the 1940s, 30 states in the United States had deer herds large enough to starve themselves (4).
Endangered animals will never be seen again if citizens don't act now. Specifically the Woodland Caribou of The Great White North. The Woodland Caribou is the most endangered mammal in North America and is becoming more and more every year. Without the help of citizens and organizations from around the continent, this species will be gone forever. The absence of the Woodland Caribou in the Canadian and American ecosystems will cause tremendous effects that won't be good for any ecosystem in North America. In order to save this vital species, habitats need to be protected, illegal hunting of the Woodland Caribou needs to be enforced, and compromises need to be made to make a foundation for the Woodland Caribou.
Horses are being inhumanely slaughtered! Tens of thousands of horses are being slaughter each year. This is far too many deaths, the slaughtering needs to stop.
For my research project I chose Animal Mutilation because it is a method used in factory farming, I believe that this practise could be improved for the welfare of the animal. It is a practise that allows handlers to mutilate or disfigure the animal’s body parts, generally for the welfare of both animal and handler. I chose to research “Dehorning and Disbudding: Is this an ethical practise?” This was because I believe that in researching this topic it will enable me to improve welfare and particular situations farm animals are bred into, for both the health of the consumers and the livestock. The research methods I used were, discussions papers, websites and current guidelines used by cattle farmers.