Poll: Wild horse spaying

[jsparks747]

Was reading the newspaper (yes people still do that) and saw and article about the BLM planning to spay wild horse mares to control the population. I am unsure of how it will work. What do you guys think?

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[pokerace]

They have talked about that before. Don't know if they ever did it.

 

[rick benjamin]

Wild horses compete for forage with other herbivores.
Not enough predators to manage their numbers.
A while ago, BLM would round some up and sell them for meat.
Used to be able to buy horse meat at the butcher's shop for pennies.
Liberal folks whinnied about eating em.
Cost to round up and slaughter vs fixin em.
Who cares...taxpayer pays for it

 

[mjbskwim]

Maybe rubber band the stallions but how long will they monitor the mares?
Are they going to board them for a month?
If not might as well shoot them cause they could get infected and die anyway

 

[Kristina]

They have talked about that before. Don't know if they ever did it.

I know that birth control was used for a while, but the injection only lasted for a year or so and once the females became fertile again, they were MEGA ULTRA SUPER fertile and were shooting out foals left and right.

 

[PaulB47]

Open a hunting season on 'em.

Only in America, would large animals with a lot of meat on them be considered a problem.

Wait for the crash. They will cease to be any kind of problem then.

 

[slimmer13]

I'm just glad we have all our other problems solved as a country and are so flush with cash, we need spay wild horses.

 

[Dungannon]

I'm fairly certain that spaying the mares was one of several recommended ways to control herd numbers. In the public arena, if you're going to decide a course of action, you basically have to analyze and/or try out all the alternatives. You'll get sued no matter what, but trying and proving that one or more alternatives is cost prohibitive, ineffectual, or risky is often the best approach to proving that the preferred alternative is the most reasonable course of action.

Me? I think of them as non-native, domestic animals gone feral. Much worse that cattle at trampling fences. I'm okay with turning them into dog food or coyote bait.

The serious enviro-crowd would categorize them as charismatic mega-fauna [yeah, that's a word they really use] and say they don't belong on the landscape, but then they have much the same thought about humans as well.

 

[clearconscience]

Yes, and better than selling them to Mexico slaughter houses!

 

[jbett98]

I say feed the homeless.

 

[BigBull 301]

Sell tags. Eat it or donate it.

 

[Brutus57]

"Wild, wild horses...couldn't drag me a way."

I say leave em be and let the cougars sort them out...also nice transportation post apocalypto. Give me one that's green broke and a saddle and some time....we'll get better gas mileage than a Prius and damn near as fast and I ain't no uber horseman.

I get really tired of these bureaucrats who like to play god with public land and resources. Wolves Yes/ NO! Cougars, NO/Yes, bears NO YES but can't hunt with dogs. Grizzlies need to be brought back into the CaSCADES YES! Hell NOOOOOO you idiots, bring back grizzlies and Susie RottenCrotch hiker on a losing streak doesn't show up Monday to teach 1st grade at Midvale Grade School because she went on a day hike Saturday....

Brutus Out

 

[Oregonhunter5]

Well seeing that I own, and ride a mustang weekly, I say hell no. Do we spay elk, deer, bears, pronghorn?

 

[jbett98]

Well seeing that I own, and ride a mustang weekly, I say hell no. Do we spay elk, deer, bears, pronghorn?

Elk, deer, bears and pronghorn are managed by hunting, not spaying.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

That's true. Is there another option?
My mustang George provides a lot of fun and humor for us. So if you have any horse sense and want to have a real adventure, go buy a mustang.
And I will say this. Hunting doesn't control a lot. Between the hunting rules in Oregon, and the impatient hunters, animals laugh and just live another year.

 

[jbett98]

One other option is the importation of more wolf packs.

 

[Kristina]

There is an episode of Oregon Field Guide on this subject. I'd recommend watching it if you have more than a fleeting interest in this issue.

There is no solution that makes all parties happy...
Ranchers don't want their cattle to have to compete for forage, but they also don't want wolves around which are the best natural way of keeping the wild horse herds small. The general public doesn't want them killed for food because its "gross" or doesn't see justification for the expense of birth control or spaying. Other parties say just leave them be...

The BLM is supposed to act as the steward of our public lands and the natural resources on them, but when the public doesn't agree on what that means... Well, then the BLM is left trying to manage an unsustainably large herd of wild horses.

 

[Oregonhunter5]

If you want to have a new outlook on a mustang, watch this movie. Brain fart. It's called unbridled or unbranded. Can't remember. 4 college graduates train green wild mustangs and ride them from Mexico to Canada.

 

[jsparks747]

Maybe rubber band the stallions but how long will they monitor the mares?
Are they going to board them for a month?
If not might as well shoot them cause they could get infected and die anyway

rubber banding can cause pain for the animal and also opens the wound to infection. As my sister pointed out as i told her about this, There is a rank of stallions in a wild herd and spaying them disrupts the rank.

 

[mjbskwim]

rubber banding can cause pain for the animal and also opens the wound to infection. As my sister pointed out as i told her about this, There is a rank of stallions in a wild herd and spaying them disrupts the rank.

So just leave them the foock alone?
No way.......