We recently got a note from ~theplanetmary that said:

"Hey, I am a horse owner, lover and advocate and I am trying to spread the word about a chance to drop the Burns Amendment (legalizing the sale of wild horses for slaughter, passed in 2006 by President G.W. Bush) in the coming U.S. Congress and Senate sessions this year. Please post a link...."

What is the Burns Amendment?

In 1971, an act entitled the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act was passed that stated that wild horses et al "contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people... It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death." Opponents of this act claimed that wild horses were overtaxing the land by eating too much. However, the truth was that cattle farmers and oil seekers wanted the land that the horses inhabited for their own interests. Senator Burns introduced his amendment to Congress sneakily right before Thanksgiving 2004, giving it no chance for review. On December 6, 2004, President GW Bush signed into law this amendment allowing the slaughter of wild horses for international human consumption. For more information click here.


There are other solutions!

Wild horses do not have to slaughtered in order to ensure that their numbers are kept low. This amendment is wholly unnecessary; ecotourism and fertility control are two alternate (and probably cheaper) methods of controlling the herds.


What can I do about it?

Buy a wild horse or burro! If you do this, please make sure you'd be able to take sufficient care of your horse!

Sign this petition! You do not have to be a US citizen to disagree.

Contact your Congressman! Only effective if you live in the USA.

For other methods of counteracting this amendment, click here.

If you're on facebook, check out these groups: [link] [link] [link]
Join them to show you care!

And of course, tell your friends! Please link to this journal or post about it in your own journal!

You are not alone in this endeavor! Other supporters of reversing this act include, but are not limited to: Clint Eastwood, John Fusco (screenwriter of Spirit and Hidalgo), Ellen DeGeneres, Laura Hillenbrand (author of Seabiscuit), Robert Redford, Kinky Friedman, Nick Zito (Kentucky Derby winning trainer), Dr. Jane Goodall, and more!

Please help us protect a beloved national icon, a source of inspiration to many, a species of animal that is central to American history... the wild horse!