Spiritual Leader Inspires Protection for Wild Horses

News Release | April 1, 2015 - Spiritual Leader, Daniel Cualtli Yahtl Ramos of the Dine, Apache and Yamassee tribes is recognized as a Good Will Ambassador to the Wild For Life Foundation (WFLF) and its SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES Initiative.

“Daniel’s voice has touched so many people and is continuing to make a real difference in the lives of  America’s sacred and majestic horses,” said Katia Louise, founder and president of the Wild For Life Foundation.  “We are honored to welcome and recognize Daniel Cualtli Yahtl Ramos for his passionate and invaluable support for SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES. As a Good Will Ambassador Daniel’s voice will undoubtedly touch the heart of people and give strength to a more united effort in the protection of America's horses from unspeakable cruelty.”

Daniel Cualtli Yahtl also brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to WFLF’s equine assisted learning program as he continues to serve as a volunteer Chairperson on WFLF’s Wild Horse Sanctuary Committee Board with a focus on youth and adult rehabilitation.  Mr. Ramos recently retired from his lifelong career as a Supervising Children Social Worker for the LA County Department of Children and Family Services where he served the abandoned, neglected and abused children of LA County, and Deputy Probation Officer of the LA County Dept of Probation where he supervised youths in secure and open camp settings. 

Cualtli Yahtl (Eagle Warrior) has been a long time Ambassador to SAVING AMERICA’S HORSES, the movie; first speaking out at one of the film’s most prestigious openings in Hollywood, CA.  He has also contributed invaluable spiritual support to WFLF’s wild horse rescue and recovery mission.  “As a member of the Navajo tribe, Cualtli Yahtl shares a deep connection to our four-legged relatives and ‘carries the fire’ for their healing and protection in his ‘sacred earth walk’,” said Katia. “We are truly honored by Daniel Cualtli Yahtl and his passionate support for the Wild For Life Foundation and our efforts in Saving America's Horses.”

“Katia surely carries the prayer of our ancestors and Elder Councils with her amazing love for our sacred four-legged relatives,” said Daniel Ramos.  “It truly is a great honor to be part of this sacred work.”

As a Good Will Ambassador, Daniel Cualtli Yahtl seeks to raise awareness and support to aid in the protection and preservation of America’s wild and domestic horses from cruelty.  Cualtli Yahtl will continue to share his compassion for these children of our nation as he continues his journeys in the spirit world, sitting in ‘sacred ceremonies’ with “Elders’ of the Apache, Navajo, Hopi and Lokota nations, and those who hold the ‘Sacred Ways’.

“Many truths now are coming forward. We must come together to acknowledge that our four-legged cousins, our sisters and brothers are in peril. We must embrace them and bring back the joy in our world, the love in our world and live together in peace and in harmony,” said Daniel Cualtli Yahtl Ramos.

“Katia, Red Horse Spirit Hawk, is the four-legged entrusted one.  She is their “Angel” mother and daughter of the 4 winds.   I am thankful for Katia’s amazing courage, that what is so wrong must be undone and made right.”

WFLF’s Saving America’s Horses Initiative and its ‘Give Horses Hope’ program is dedicated to wild horse preservation and the prevention of equine cruelty through elevating lifesaving stewardship and the healing hearts of horses. The program strives to inspire the public to take a more active role in protecting and caring for wild and domestic horses. Through human education, the program delivers a broad and balanced reflection of compelling prevention, conservation and preservation ethics—ways that illuminate how letting go of the old can lead to paths of healing and harmonious coexistence.

‘Saving America’s Horses: A Nation Betrayed’ is a multi-international award winning educational feature documentary film under Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF), an all-volunteer nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving wild and domestic equines through rescue, sanctuary and education.  WFLF relies 100 percent on tax deductible donations to carry out its mission. Federal ID# 26-3052458

www.WildforLifeFoundation.org    www.SavingAmericasHorses.org

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Media Contact:
310.439.9817
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Navajo President Drops Support of Horse Slaughter and Suspends Roundups

NEW MEXICO, October 9, 2013 — The Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) applauds Navajo Nation (NN) President Ben Shelly for reversing his support of horse slaughter in the U.S. Under pressure by many of his own people, the Nahooka’ Dine’, several Navajo Chapters and The Dine' Hataali Association, (a Navajo organization comprised of medicine men and women that serve as board of directors from six Navajo regions), together with the Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife, and several animal welfare groups including the Wild for Life Foundation, the Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission (NHRRM) and others, the Navajo Leader agreed that he will no longer support horse slaughter.

Rescue team members and partnering sanctuaries of WFLF’s NHRRM, including The Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary, Northeastern Nevada Equine Rescue, Live and Let Live Equine Sanctuary, Sacred Heart’s Firelight South, Wild Burro Protection League, Harmony Horseworks, Saving Horses Inc., have issued a harmonious statement of support for Navajo President Shelly's powerful stance in opposition to horse slaughter. With praises for Shelly's promise to suspend the roundups of wild horses on the reservation, the NHRRM encourages permanent suspensions together with positive, viable and humane alternatives for the management of wild horses on Navajo lands. 

The New York Times (NYT) broke the news online yesterday, reporting that “Shelly will also order a temporary suspension of wild horse roundups on the reservation.” According to the NYT the Navajo leader said, “I am interested in long-term humane solutions to manage our horse populations,” Mr. Shelly said. “Our land is precious to the Navajo people as are all the horses on the Navajo Nation. Horses are sacred animals to us.

NN President Ben Shelly agreed to suspend horse roundups on the Navajo Nation during a meeting with former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson over the week end. Gov. Richardson represents the Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife, which he founded with actor, director and conservationist Robert Redford. The foundation is working to stop the slaughter of horses, including actively fighting efforts to reopen horse slaughterhouses in the United States.

In a press release issued by NN President Ben Shelly, Gov. Richardson said, "I commend President Shelly for calling for an immediate end to horse roundups and for making it clear that moving forward the Navajo Nation will not support horse slaughter or the return of horse slaughter facilities. This is exactly the outcome horse advocates, such as myself, had hoped for.”

The two leaders agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that would suspend horse round ups on the Navajo Nation.

WFLF, President, horse advocate and filmmaker, Katia Louise has been actively working behind the scenes over the last several months with Navajo Elders, and with Richardson, in garnishing collaborative support in a united effort on behalf of protecting and preserving America’s horse and burro population.

WFLF’s Navajo Rescue and Recovery Mission (NHRRM) recently rescued 17 Navajo foals that had been orphaned during the Navajo Nation roundups. “These roundup survivors they are now helping to show the world that the re-introduction of horses to rangelands, in truth can rejuvenate the environment,” says Katia Louise.  “They are sacred and majestic beings - they heal our hearts and can heal the lands.”

  

Wild for Life Foundation’s NHRRM 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. WFLF supports comprehensive and science-based solutions that lead to systemic change, reduce suffering, and cultivate a more compassionate society.

  

MEDIA CONTACT:

WFLF: 310.439.9817        

About the WFLF 

The Wild for Life Foundation (WFLF) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit charity dedicated to saving, protecting and preserving equines through rescue, sanctuary and education. WFLF promotes the preservation of natural ecosystems, wildlife and the prevention of cruelty to equines, and opposes practices that threaten the environment, wildlife and that cause suffering to animals. Federal ID No. 26-3052458 — On the Web at www.WildforLifeFoundation.org  

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Baby horses caught in the cross fire of the turbulent Navajo roundup

Sept 15, 2013, Update on Navajo foals- The surviving foals that had been rounded up with their mothers last week in the widely contested Navajo government-mandated roundups, which the vast majority of  Navajo people oppose, are safely recovering and receiving needed veterinary care at the local county humane shelter. Livestock officials have reported that the mothers of these foals were shipped to slaughter.

Donations to help with costs for feed and vet care during their stay at the local shelter can be made online at: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NM64.html 

Sadly, 989 wild and domestic horses and burros were captured to date, in the Navajo government roundups, which were funded with American tax dollars. The tally includes wild horses and both branded and unbranded family pet ponies, trail riding horses, ranch horses, burros and more. 

According to the Navajo President's roundup orders all unbranded horses were subject to shipment on the same day they were rounded up.  However, the turn around time from roundup to sale has often taken place in less than 24 hours for many of the captured horses and burros.
 
Wild for Life Foundation's search and rescue teams together with partnering rescue team members, are working behind the scenes to locate and save as many horses and burros as possible that were captured during the turbulent Navajo roundups.  More rescue and adoption information will be posted as it becomes available. 
Learn more: http://www.wildforlifefoundation.org/navajohorses.html

Contact us, or to join this effort:
admin@wildforlifefoundation.org

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