09/17/09 Pylesville, Maryland
Out in the plains of Wyoming, you own a very large horse operation. Let me tell you all about it…
The Bureau of Land Management, in its infinite wisdom, looked at a herd of wild mustangs and decided that they could no longer fend for themselves or find their own food. That perhaps the food was scarcer than it had been, and this could lead to detrimental results for the horses.
And so, employing pickup trucks and helicopters (we’ve come a long way from the Ponderosa), they rounded up these majestic beasts into a huge pen. And when I say huge, I mean the government has currently collected 33,000 horses. Again, in its infinite wisdom, it has provided birth equine control (at no cost to the horses). In addition, it is doing DNA testing to identify the horses individually. (Again, at no cost to the horses.)
They are housed and fed at a cost so far this year of $35 million. That’s right — 35 MILLION dollars, paid by you. But you can go adopt one if you like. You’ve paid for it. All you have to do is get there; I guess you could ride your horse home.
Bill Jenkins
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I approve of this operation. The cost is a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the futile wars, and the mustang is one of the last icons of the old west.
Yes, any government program under $100 million may as well be free. Why waste time mentioning it? Does Bill hate wild horses?
This program is an especially good deal because government is the only institution we can trust to put the horses’ interests ahead of its own. Furthermore, when the government does something it does not cause any unintended consequences.
Timothy ,your joking,-right?
And thats not all! There are thousands more wild horses (non-native) in other states and a large operation warehousing unwanted horses in Oklahoma and Kansas. Where I live and work it costs $800 per horse just to gather it off the range! And we have 400 head of wild horses with a carrying capacity of no more than 105. With the economy down no one wants to adopt the horses and they can not be killed by law. Whats so different about horses since we kill thousands of dogs and cats each year. They are just bigger potential pets. Stupid feel good program that does not work. Check out any wild horse territory and see how they impact the range!
Yes, cafeswartz, I was attempting to satirize the predictable talking points that would be trotted out (excuse me) in favor of this program.
But it looks like the joke’s on me; as your question shows, no apology for government policy is too absurd to be taken seriously these days.
It costs nothing to leave the horses on their land. The BLM is out of control and if you read the FOIA, their intent is clear, to extinct the Mustangs. Aren’t you curious why they would plan a round-up of the most famous herd on a holiday weekend when congress is not in session? No way to get a hold of anyone to stop it. Oh, and don’t forget Skyline Uranium that wants to mine in the Pryors. I’m sure that had nothing to do with removing the horses.
The BLM claims the federal land can’t sustain less than 20,000. Curious how it can sustain over 7 million privately owned cattle.
It is the BLM that should be rounded up, not the horses. So much for the change Obama promised…