Judge denies U.S. motion to dismiss lawsuit from wild-horse advocates

RENO — Horse protection advocates have claimed a rare legal victory as part of a larger effort to end federal roundups of free-roaming mustangs on public lands in the western United States.

A federal judge in Sacramento ruled Wednesday that In Defense of Animals and others can move forward with their lawsuit accusing the Bureau of Land Management of violating U.S. laws that protect the animals on the range.

Judge Morrison England Jr. denied the BLM's motion to dismiss the suit based on claims it is moot because the specific roundup in question was completed months ago in Nevada and California. He says if he ultimately finds the roundups illegal, he can order the horses returned to the range. He says he also can order the BLM to follow the law in future.

RELATED WILD HORSE NEWS:
• Speakers at Las Vegas conference argue for the revival of U.S. horse slaughter industry
• North Carolina wild horse population faces an uncertain future

-- Scott Sonner, Associated Press

Photo: Wild horses are herded by helicopter in Skull Valley, Utah, in a 2000 photo. Credit: Jason Olson / Associated Press

Horseback riding while intoxicated: Legal in Montana (but probably not as safe as taking a taxi)

HELENA, Mont. — A Montana Department of Transportation public safety video that features a horse picking up a rider at a bar is intended as a metaphor to encourage drinkers to get a ride home.

But it is being taken literally by some in a state well known for its horse culture.

Helena Police Chief Troy McGee says he's received many calls from residents wanting to know if riding a horse while under the influence is legal. McGee tells the Independent Record newspaper that it is.

Montana law carefully defines a vehicle, and excludes those running under animal power.

The popular 30-second video titled "Sober Friend" shows a savvy horse carefully obeying traffic laws on a nighttime journey through town before stopping in front of a bar to pick up a rider.

RELATED QUESTIONABLE IDEAS:
• Drunk Australian man is injured while trying to pet 16-foot saltwater crocodile
• Man arrested for drunkenness after giving mouth-to-mouth to roadkill

-- Associated Press

Video: The "Sober Friend" commercial. Credit: Montana Department of Transportation

Speakers at Las Vegas conference argue for the revival of U.S. horse slaughter industry

 

LAS VEGAS — Horses should be slaughtered and processed in the United States and then sold as food to other countries that regularly consume the lean, tender meat, speakers said Wednesday at a conference aimed at reviving the country's unpopular horse processing industry.

Horses, traditionally regarded in the U.S. as companions or distinguished beasts, have been elevated to a position where they mistakenly are no longer treated as livestock ripe for consumption, argued slaughter proponents at the first Summit of the Horse conference.

Not eating the animals, in fact, disregards the food chain's natural cycle that sustains all creatures, said Sue Wallis, vice president of the United Horseman group of Wyoming, which organized the conference.

"It's not intuitive," Wallis said of the country's ban on horse processing.

The consumption of horses has long been taboo in the United States, where cows, pigs and chickens are considered the protein of choice. Only three horse slaughterhouses remained in the country in 2007, when complaints over inhumane slayings and unsafe conditions prompted Congress to effectively ban horse processing.

Wild-horse advocates clash with proponents of horse slaughter at Las Vegas summit

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management chief blasted critics of the federal government's periodic wild horse roundups on Tuesday, calling the practice rare and necessary as he spoke at a horse slaughter summit in Las Vegas.

The roundups, which are aimed at controlling the population of horses on federal rangelands in the West, have been deemed ineffective by advocates on both sides of the debate. Animal rights groups contend they are an inhumane solution and slaughter proponents declare them a waste of public money.

"These horses are part of our heritage," BLM chief Robert Abbey said to a room of more than 100 breeders, trainers and lawmakers. "Make no mistake, they deserve to be treated the best way that we can treat them."

The first Summit of the Horse on Tuesday drew advocates from across the West who slammed animal rights groups and implored the federal government to once again embrace horse meat as a legal source of nutrition, saying it is already safely consumed in dozens of countries.

Congress ended the killing of horses for human consumption in 2007 after animal rights activists objected to the way the animals were treated.

New Interior Department report on wild horses calls for more research into population-control methods

RENO, Nev. — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management needs to step up its research into population control methods for wild horses to help curb the spiraling costs of rounding up the mustangs across the West and housing them in holding facilities, federal inspectors say.

The report Monday by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General mostly defended the BLM roundups that often are criticized by horse-protection advocates.

The OIG said it observed roundups this year in Nevada, Oregon and California and visited several holding facilities, and it found no evidence of inhumane treatment of animals. The office concluded the roundups are necessary to cull the overpopulated herds, which take a toll on the health of the range as their populations naturally double about every four years.

The BLM manages 38,365 wild horses and burros in 180 different herd management areas covering about 32 million acres in 10 western states. Another nearly 38,000 are in holding facilities in Kansas, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

"The growing population of these animals must be addressed to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance of the authorized uses of the land, thus gathers are necessary and justified actions," the OIG report said.

From racehorse to pet: The story of Spot the Diplomat

For some, a racehorse's worth can be summed up in a dollar amount -- prize winnings, successful bets, even stud fees. But Times sports columnist Bill Dwyre recently told the story of a family who views their own racehorse in very different -- and much better, if you ask us -- terms.

This horse, a thoroughbred with the unusual name Spot the Diplomat (it reminds one of Santa's Little Helper from "The Simpsons," doesn't it?), wasn't a big winner on the racetrack. His odds were respectable enough -- total winnings: $342,231 -- but he really came into his own after a sesamoid fracture permanently ended his racing career.

Spot was sent to rehabilitate at a farm in Riverside County. Around the same time, Grant and Greta Hays of L.A. began considering a change of scene to better suit the needs of their two young sons, Jack and Dylan, both of whom are severely autistic. A visit to a Texas horse ranch last year made a big impression on the boys. "Jack speaks no words," Grant Hays explained, "but we got off the plane and he turned to me and said, 'Texas.' I was stunned."

So the family made plans to move to Texas and looked into adding a horse to their family. As it happened, Grant knew Bob Ike, a partner in Summit Racing, the company that owned Spot. Spot moved to Texas, and the rest is history. "In Los Angeles, we were a stressed-out family," Hays told Dwyre. "Now, we are all happy. The boys are constantly with Spot. They play around him, ride him, sometimes sit on him for two or three hours at a time."

Learn more about Spot's new career as a much-loved pet in Dwyre's recent column.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Photo: Dylan Hays sits atop Spot the Diplomat. Photo courtesy of the Hays family

Long sentence for Puerto Rico man convicted of horse-dragging spurs debate

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A 12-year prison sentence for a man who dragged a horse behind his truck has touched off a debate over whether a new animal cruelty law goes too far, when even homicide can result in lighter penalties.

Georgenan Lopez, who is in his early 20s, is the first person convicted by a jury under the law implemented in August 2008 in response to complaints that the island is indifferent to cruel treatment of animals.

The criticism gained traction -- and publicity -- in 2007 when authorities seized dozens of dogs from public housing projects and threw them to their deaths from a bridge.

Lopez's attorney said Wednesday that he will appeal, calling the sentence excessive, unusual and cruel, since convictions for crimes like second-degree murder often yield lesser sentences.

"They are comparing an animal to a human being," lawyer Julian Claudio said. "The animal didn't even die."

Prosecutor Andres Fernandez said the horse was dragged for about 15 minutes behind the truck as it tried to keep its balance and kept falling down. He said it had a rope around its neck that was tied to the vehicle.

Nevada men who used wild horses for target practice receive 6-month prison sentences

RENO, Nev. — A federal judge Wednesday ordered prison time for two men who admitted to using wild horses as target practice but sought leniency, telling them that "drunken and boneheaded is not an excuse" for the crime.

"I keep thinking about it, and I keep coming back to the senselessness of it," said U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert McQuaid Jr., who rejected defense lawyers' plea for probation and sentenced Joshua Keathley and Todd Davis to six months each in prison.

"I might feel differently if you were 18-year-old kids, but you are not 18," he said during the hearing in Reno. "You need to have some time to think about it, alone."

Keathley, 36, and Davis, 45, both of Lovelock, pleaded guilty in June to shooting the mustangs. Keathley said the two had been drinking and were looking for places to do some trapping when they came across the horses in the rangeland about 150 miles northwest of Reno.

In seeking the lighter sentences, Keathley's lawyer, John Springgate, told the judge that "there is no question it was senseless."

U.S. Department of Agriculture report says show horses are at risk of abuse

WASHINGTON — A federal report says show horses are at risk of abuse because of lax government oversight.

At issue is the illegal practice of soring, which involves irritating the horse's foreleg and hoof to force the animal to walk with a certain gait.

Auditors at USDA, which oversees the animals' safety, said in an internal Agriculture Department report released Thursday that inspectors hired by the industry to ward against the practice are often under pressure from their employers to ignore the abuse.

The department's inspector general said soring is ingrained in the industry and many do not see it as a serious problem. The report recommended USDA hire independent veterinarians to inspect the animals instead of the industry-sponsored vets.

RELATED HORSE NEWS:
Madeleine Pickens purchases Nevada ranch, hopes to relocate wild horses there
Pennsylvania racehorse trainer accused of giving horses performance-enhancing drugs

-- Mary Clare Jalonick, Associated Press

Photo: A horse (not one that has been subjected to the practice of soring) is seen in silhouette at a horse show in 1998. Credit: Eric Draper / Associated Press

Madeleine Pickens purchases Nevada ranch, hopes to relocate wild horses there

RENO, Nev. — Madeleine Pickens, the wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has bought a sprawling Nevada ranch to serve as a wild horse sanctuary that would keep mustangs on the range instead of in government-funded holding facilities.

If approved by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the move would mark the first time the government has released a large number of mustangs to such a facility.

Pickens is hoping to initially relocate 1,000 horses to the 14,000-acre Spruce Ranch about 70 miles east of Elko. Eventually, she wants to return all 34,000 horses in government-funded holding facilities and pastures to their natural habitat.

"It's such a huge beginning," Pickens told the Associated Press. "I plan to buy more property out there. There's such an overload of horses in government holding."

Pickens said BLM Deputy Director Mike Pool expressed support for the plan during meetings with her last month in Washington.

BLM officials said they recently received a formal written proposal from Pickens and must review it before taking an official position.