WASHINGTON -- April 27 -- At a press conference today on Capitol Hill, the American Horse Defense Fund expressed outrage about the 35 more wild horses, sold recently to the Rosebud Sioux Indians on South Dakota were needlessly slaughtered again at Cavel International in Illinois.

"This sale authority must stop now and forever. Wild Horse Annie is surely turning over in her grave. The blood of these 41 horses is on Senator Burn's hands (and any other senator who approved of the rider). Our national treasures have been senselessly, brutally and needlessly killed due to short- sightedness, stupidity, greed and incompetence. Anyone with responsibility should be ashamed. When we were first to hear of the tragedy on April 21st, we thought only six had been killed, now it stands at 41. It could have been 60 or 200. Virtually any and all of the wild horses sold recently under the new Burns sale authority are in jeopardy-the change was a disaster waiting to happen and now it has," said Trina Bellak, Esq., AHDF president. There are more than 7,500 now at immediate risk due to this recent and reprehensible change in the long-standing, widely supported law that passed Congress with a unanimous vote in 1971.

The 34-year-old protection from slaughter granted to wild horses and burros roaming a number of the nation's states, was unilaterally repealed by Montana Senator Conrad Burns last December. There were no hearings, no public opportunity for comment and the vast majority of Congress was caught unaware. Bills now before Congress, H.R. 297 by West Virginia Representative Nick Rahall, and S. 576 by West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd, would reinstate the protections. The House bill has almost 50 cosponsors.

"Passage of these bills is truly extremely urgent," said Ginger Kathrens, Emmy award winning film maker and author of the book and TV PBS special, Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies. Cloud and his band live in Montana and may well be subject to round up and dangerous fates later this year.

"Our nation's wild horses are under attack. They will not be safe again until these bills are passed and policy designed to preserve and protect them is the law. The BLM should halt all sales in light of undeniable proof that they cannot safeguard even small numbers of horses," added Bellak.

Regulations specifying screening procedures and safeguards were suggested in writing to the BLM by the American Horse Defense Fund and members of a national coalition including The Humane Society of the US, American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, Wild Horse & Burro Freedom Alliance, ASPCA, American Humane Association, Return To Freedom, International Society for the Protection of Mustangs & Burros, American Horse Protection Association and the Society for Animal Protective Legislation.

For more information, go to http://www.AHDF.org and http://www.wildhorsepreservation.com

AHDF is the nation's active horse protection, education and advocacy nonprofit.

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