Good News for Wild Horses & Burros

Date: November 20, 2017
Contact: Lisa Friday, Director of Communications
804-389-8218
lisa@thecloudfoundation.org

DRAFT BILL DENIES FUNDS FOR KILLING

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Our wild horses and burros received a small victory from the United States Senate this Thanksgiving week.

The Senate Appropriations Committee released a draft version of their Interior Appropriations Bill on November 20, 2017. The draft language maintains protections for our wild horses and burros, and states that they cannot be killed or sold in any way that results in their destruction.

This draft language retains the status quo, meaning our wild horses and burros will be protected as they have been for nearly ten years.

“While this is only a temporary victory, we at The Cloud Foundation are extremely thankful for this good news out of the Senate,” said Lisa Friday, Director of Communications for The Cloud Foundation. “We are so grateful to Senators Murkowski and Udall, and the entire committee, for standing with the wild horses and burros today.”

This draft bill will enable the ranking members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to begin negotiations on critical items within their respective draft bills. The House draft bill removed many of the protections for wild horses and burros. Now the negotiations will begin between the two bodies to determine what will end up in the final draft, including whether or not the killing of wild horses or burros will be allowed.

“Our work is not finished, but as we gather with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving, we at The Cloud Foundation are giving thanks not only to the Senators who stood with the wild ones, but also to the American public who spoke up loud and clear,” said Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation. “The thousands of calls to lawmakers made by wild horse and burro advocates across the country were instrumental in producing today’s good news.”

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The Cloud Foundation (TCF) is a Colorado based 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our western public lands.