Imperiled Mustangs find a new home in California

Imperiled Mustangs find a new home in California

Imperiled Mustangs find a new home in California Temecula, CA,

November 3, 2014 - Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF) welcomes the last family bands of the a small band of historic wild horses to its Temecula facility. These Mustangs once roamed freely across America's public range-lands, but had sadly become in grave danger of going to slaughter.

It's been a long hard road for this herd of imperiled Mustangs that had already been through so much. Many of them first lost their freedom and their families when they were chased down by government helicopters and ATV's - the trauma and physical suffering caused by these brutal roundups is virtually unspeakable. These survivors were provided sanctuary by a 501c3 charity in New Mexico.

The last members of this formerly imperiled herd are now safely reunited with their family members in California, including the last group of six mares and their 3-4 month old foals that most recently arrived after a three-month stop over at Equine Voices in Arizona. These mares and foals needed additional time to build strength before completing their full journey to California (CA) under WFLF's wild horse sanctuary program.

All of these Mustangs are now part of WFLF's program in CA where its new transitional recovery center features large multi-acre open space natural habitat and rehab facilities. It's a transitional facility for incoming Mustangs under Wild For Life Foundation's Wild Horse sanctuary expansion project.

This herd of Mustangs had lived peacefully on a 5,000 acre ranch in New Mexico where they group held tours of their conservation program before losing their gratis lease.

 There were approximately 130 - 150 Mustangs that had recently lost their freedom and their home and were in grave danger of going to slaughter, for the second time in their lives. The group's founder states that these horses a variety of mixed breed wild horses that are now under extreme threat of extinction due to an ongoing conflict with commercial livestock interests for land use.

 The Wild For Life Foundation has saved the lives of these majestic horses, and is helping to assure that their legacy lives on.  The founder of the group has now also arrived to CA where she has joined WFLF's Equine Program as the new on site Wild Horse Manager.

 The other charity had lost their sanctuary lease and within a few months the entire herd was in grave danger of going to slaughter. Claypool says, "We hit rock bottom and there was no hope in site. If it wasn't for Katia and the Wild for Life Foundation, our entire herd would have been brutally butchered alive for their meat."

 Katia is an expert on both the issue of horse slaughter and the plight of America's wild horses. "When I heard that these horses' lives were at stake, and knowing the untold horrors of their would-be fate, I knew we had to take immediate action," Ms Louise said. Being a grassroots charity emerged in equine rescue and preservation, Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF) works around the clock in the trenches to meet these kinds of challenges on an everyday basis. "Going in, I knew this would be one of the biggest most challenging rescue missions WFLF would take on."

 And that's how the special WFLF Mustang Rescue Mission was born. It was a matter of life and death urgency and an effort to prevent the most egregious cruelty inflicted upon animals by mankind. "It's a leap of faith for humanity and the future of the world we share together with these animals," Katia added. "Thank heavens for our supporters and their steadfast dedication in support of our work. We couldn't do it without you."

 "Thanks to the many kind and generous donations from caring horse lovers who have come together in support of this WFLF mission, we have been able to provide emergency rescue services in effort to save the entire herd of majestic wild horses, including provision of their needed hay, veterinary care, housing and transport,” says Katia. "It has taken several months to save and restore these majestic herd members to new safe haven natural habitat homes, including pregnant mares and new born foals, the last of which have just recently arrived to our California sanctuary facilities."

"WFLF resources have been stretched to the limits by the many emergency rescue costs including transportation costs to get them safely out of Mew Mexico," said Ms Louise. Water and hay had to be trucked in daily to keep them fed and healthy during while funds were raised to save them. "Transporting large numbers of horses across state lines is complicated and costly. Stops must be made so the horses can rest, be watered and fed. Safely transporting horses across the country is limited during inclement weather and these factors have all played into this major rescue mission."

At WFLF rescue is just the beginning of a long, dedicated endeavor to provide the best quality of life for these vulnerable and displaced victims. Partnerships are crucial to helping the Wild For Life Foundation serve community enrichment through its multi-layered mission of preserving wildlife, preventing animal cruelty, and nature and educational initiatives. WFLF saves the lives of homeless, mistreated and slaughter bound horses whose healing hearts enhance the lives of people. Since fall of 2013, WFLF has rescued and placed approx 180 wild Mustangs, including approximately 216 orphaned foals (ages 1-6 months old), and several pregnant mares who all had lost their freedom and their homes in New Mexico. The baby horses had been orphaned as a result of the roundups and slaughter, which the vast majority of American people oppose.

 As the remaining number of Wild Horses in the U.S. nears extinction, education and appreciation through the protection and observation of Wild Horses in sanctuary becomes tantamount to their survival as a species. America's Wild Horses cannot be reproduced once they are gone.

"With wild mustang herds across the west vanishing, the importance of protecting and preserving them, and providing the public the opportunity to view and experience wild mustangs in their natural environment is essential to the history and the future of our Nation," adds Ms. Louise. "Wild horses are scientifically recognized for restoring range-lands, boosting biodiversity and helping the return of a wider variety of plants and invertebrates to the lands where they roam. Scientists and conservationists have indeed found that the re-introduction of wild equines to open lands provides a meaningful way to restore and sustain the natural environment and wildlife."

"The Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF), a U.S, registered 501(c)3 nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving wild and domestic horses through rescue, sanctuary, and education. WFLF relies 100% on tax deductible donations to do this lifesaving work. Federal ID No. 26-3052458 

Media Contacts: Wild For Life Foundation
Phone: 310.439.9817
www.wildforlifefoundation.org

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Wild for Life Foundation Welcomes Navajo Mustangs to Bonsall, CA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Bonsall, CA, Monday, Dec 30, 2013 - Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF) welcomes 17 Native Navajo Mustangs to Bonsall, CA. These sacred Navajo ponies were at risk of slaughter after being captured off the reservation “as strays”.  They were evacuated out of northern New Mexico by WFLF’s Navajo Horses Rescue and Recovery Mission to CA where they were received in love and compassion under WFLF’s Lifetime Equine Refuge. More than 2,000 of their four-legged brothers and sisters have lost their lives during the U.S. government funded roundups which the vast majority of Navajo people oppose. 

Navajo's sacred horses forever safe in CA

These lucky few Navajo Mustangs will be pastured and given the opportunity to fully heal in a sanctuary environment through Wild For Life Foundation. “We are extremely grateful for the kind and generous support of Best Friends Animal Society, Lynne Hayes of Horse Spirit Ranch, Linda Harris, director of Ambassadors For Compassion and the many compassionate individuals who helped to make the initial lifesaving phase of this rescue mission possible,” says Katia Louise, Founder, President and Executive Director of the WFLF. “This is just the beginning,” adds Ms Louise.  “WFLF is dedicated to assuring their forever safe harbor, which means providing for their housing and care for the lifetime of each horse.”  To accomplish this, the WFLF is seeking sponsorship for land acquisition for an educational sanctuary where it can implement a variety of community programs to benefit both people and the horses. In this manner, WFLF will serve America's most needy equines while at the same time, touch the lives of local disadvantaged youth and wounded warriors through natural partnerships and equine assisted learning programs.

"By helping to save these voiceless, sacred lives, we are also helping to build the awareness for the need to

Istas: baby mule foal

protect America’s wild horses from roundups and slaughter,” adds Ms Louise.  “America’s majestic horses heal our hearts and they can heal the lands.” Through WFLF’s educational outreach programs these Navajo Mustangs will also help to educate and show the world that the re-introduction of horses to rangelands, in truth can rejuvenate the environment.

U.S. Government Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) roundups are driven by a popular livestock grazing campaign which alleges an overpopulation of “feral” and “destructive” horses.  Horses are labeled as “invasive species” by the livestock industry as a means to justify their removal from the rangelands.  However, as brought to light in Ms Louise's report, "In Truth of Wild Horses on Native Land and Tongue," in other parts of the world such as the United Kingdom, where conservation grazing is practiced, wild horse herds are being successfully restored to the woodlands and pastures to restore the lands.   In the classic book, Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West,  J. Boone Kauffman, Ph.D., Professor of Ecosystem Sciences in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, gives testimony to the far-reaching and devastating ecological consequences of government-subsidized livestock grazing through his scientifically supported work, “Lifeblood of the West”; “… livestock grazing has been the most widespread cause of ecological degradation of riparian/stream ecosystems.  More riparian areas and stream miles are affected by livestock grazing than by any other type of land use.”

Craig Downer, BOD Wild for Life Foundation, wildlife ecologist, and author of “The Wild Horse Conspiracy” points out that wild horses are a big benefit to the ecosystem. They help to create that very important soil substance known as Humus...which makes the soils more nutrient-rich, adhesive and more retentive to water. This aids greatly in increasing the moisture of soils and elevating the water tables. The manure of wild horses builds the soils and disperses the intact seeds of many species to a much greater degree than cattle and sheep. Wild free-roaming horses also greatly reduce the possibility of catastrophic fires which can sterilize the soils and destroy its seed banks.

Navajo’s sacred horses and burros, like other countless wild equines across America, have fallen victim to the U.S. Government funded roundups and brutal slaughter, despite the overwhelming opposition by both the Navajo people and the public at large. Over 2,000 Navajo sacred horses have been violently swept up from their Native homelands and sent straight to slaughter in Mexico just since August 2013. The Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture (NNDA) claims there are anywhere from 15,000 – 75,000 wild horses on the Navajo reservation, though in truth the actual number of horses is uncertain, as there has been no census, and reports are considerably varied. 

As news spreads about what’s happening to these horses, people are asking why tribes would go against their indigenous cultural beliefs and values to label the horse, a species many tribes consider sacred and as family; to instead label them as “feral”and sell them for their meat. For one thing as revealed in the documentary film, “SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES: A NATION BETRAYED”, Agriculture and Forestry have threatened tribes with a loss of livestock grazing permits if they fail to implement certain management policies. "Formidable power is held by those with grazing rights, and when you consider the political power and influence of the western livestock industry it may come as no surprise to find government issued data revealing persuasive agency tactics , such as threats, or creative forms of bribery or misrepresentation," says Katia Louise. "Tribes that are involved in livestock grazing stand much to lose if they don’t go along with the BLM rangeland policies." 

In effort to bridge the gap and save the horses, the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) is working together with the Nohooka' Diné, the Navajo  Elders and Medicine People to create an environment that promotes the humane treatment of all animals. In recognition of the Navajo’s horses and burros as Di’ yin’ Nohooka’ Diné, Holy Earth Surface People’s Horses, the WFLF has proposed a Preserve Plan which utilizes the Diné way of life and the Diné spiritual foundation to create and promote peace and harmony within the Diné community and with the Diné Sacred relative – the horse."The horse is our medicine, and has helped us survive many hardships. They must be given respect and honored for their Sacred place within the creation, as they possess the same fundamental right to life as we five fingered ones do," says Leland Grass, Traditionalist, Nahooka' Diné. "We must create a working solution today so our children won't be fighting amongst themselves tomorrow."

Wild for Life Foundation, an all volunteer 501 c3 charity that relies 100% on donations is working around the clock to assure the forever safe harbor for these and other wild and domestic equines. Funds are currently being raised to pay for needed feed, hay and vet medical care. Donations can be made on line and by mail, and are 100% tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.

Cochise: Navajo gelding runs to meet his
relatives as they arrive in the second trailer

About The Wild For Life Foundation: Lifetime Equine Refuge (LER) is the primary equine rescue and sanctuary program under the Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF), a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving equines through rescue, sanctuary and education. WFLF and its wild horse preservation initiative serves as an educational platform for the protection of wildlife through the provision of long term sanctuary of wild horses and burros removed from America's rangelands. WFLF and its Saving America’s Horses Initiative is an international consortium of scientists, equine welfare experts, researchers, and horse advocates collaborating efforts to promote wild horse conservation and preservation initiatives with a focus on the prevention of equine cruelty. To find out more about Wild for Life Foundation, go to:  www.wildforlifefoundation.org, www.LifetimeEquineRefuge.org, www.SavingAmericasHorses.org Federal ID No. 26-3052458.

Wild for Life Foundation

19510 Van Buren Blvd, # F3236

Riverside, CA 92508

Media Contact:

Phone: 310.439.9817

Photos: Courtesy of the Wild for Life Foundation