Wild Horses - Placitas, NM

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Protection of the Wild Horses in Placitas, New Mexico

Summary

WHOA seeks to protect the Wild Horses in the Placitas, NM area. Several Wild Horse herds have lived in the area for at least the past 50 years, but recent actions by local residents and the NM Livestock Board in conjunction with the BLM have placed the herds in danger. A stallion was killed in the process of capturing one herd, while several others have been auctioned and have most likely been sent to slaughterhouses in Texas and Mexico.

Results

Community Work

	Petitions: Gathered over 800 signatures in support of the Placitas Wild Horses.
	Affidavits: WHOA has 14 affidavits as well as another public document proving the Placitas Wild Horses should be protected as wild horses, not Livestock, under the 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act.
	Fencing: WHOA built a fence for a Placitas residence to keep the horses away from his garden so that the horses could remain in the area peacefully. WHOA also advertised that they would be the caretakers of the Placitas Wild horses and asked folks to contact WHOA in case the horses were a bother.
	Tracked Placitas Wild Horses: Discovered fate of most of the horses rounded up last summer. One team member adopted a mare and another foal which then bonded. Many of the other horses were lost and went as meat.

Media Work

Brought media attention to the plight of the Wild Horses of Placitas.

Published Articles:

	Shirley McClain’s website.
	Published Letter to the Editor in Albuquerque Journal
	Article in Horsemen’s Voice asking people not to breed horses while 65,000 domestic and wild horses each year, are being put down for meat for folks over seas. Better to adopt while there is a huge excess just like that of cats and dogs.

Legal Work

	NM Attorney General: Attorney General’s office agreed with WHOA to review a certain decision (opinion) regarding the definition of wild horses versus Livestock and request that this definition apply to all the wild horses of NM, including the Placitas Wild Horses.
	NM Legislation: Co-Wrote/Passed a bill this session to have a study done on how to protect and preserve the wild horses of NM. (SMJ96) Sponsored by Senator Komadina.
	Livestock Board intervention: Saved 8 wild horses from the Gila National Forest from becoming meat.
	WHOA has also sent many Freedom of information requests to the Livestock Board, BLM and informally to the Forest Service to get the facts for the horses and the public.

What Can You Do Now

Write the BLM, Livestock Board, all your representatives, and NM Attorney General Patricia Madrid. Ask them to leave the Placitas Wild Horses alone and to stop considering them or any other horse as estray or Livestock, as case law does allow.

Also...

Tell them this country was built on the backs of horses and to let them live free of Spring round-ups (where mothers and foals are often a casualty as they were this Spring in the El Rito Round-ups) and wild horses should be considered ahead of commercial cattle in our Congressionally mandated Wild Horse Territories.

Tell them to support the Anti-Horse for meat Bill (H.R. 857) Sponsored by Representatives John Sweeney (R-NY) and John Spratt, Jr. (D-SC). 65,000 horses went for meat last year according to US Department of Agriculture, under the new transportation law.

Tell them to stop importation of millions and millions of tons of beef from South America, depressing our beef industry so that they are after our wild horses due to grazing competition. We only have 218 Wild Horses officially allowed and designated as wild in our entire state across ten Wild horse territories including one BLM sanctuary. On all but one of the ten, horses are out numbered by cattle by at least 100-to-1.

Tell them to respect SMJ(96) and let our NM wild horses remain free even if they have to be moved to the Congressionally mandated Wild Horse Territories in order not to interfere with development.

Lastly...

Sign the Anti-Horse for Meat petition on web. (Over 7,000 signatures so far!!): http://www.petitiononline.com/trotaway/petition.html

Junior Optimist Club of Placitas -

Takes Action in Support of Their Wild Horses

The children of the Junior Optimist Club of Placitas, New Mexico got together with pencil, crayon, and paper to send letters of support for the Wild Horses of Placitas. See all their wonderful drawings.

The Children of Santo Domingo Elementary School -

Take Action in Support of The Placitas Wild Horses

The children of the Santo Domingo Elementary School got together with pencil, crayon, and paper to send letters of support for the Wild Horses of Placitas. See all their wonderful drawings.

See WHOA's other website regarding the Placitas Wild Horses