14 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2018
IN THE NEWS
ADVOCATES URGE:
SAVE WILD HORSES By JEFF BERMAN
Equine advocates and elected
officials from both sides of the aisle
recently joined forces on Long Island
to brainstorm how best to address the
crisis facing America’s wild horse
population in the West.
The CANA Foundation, an East
Norwich-based nonprofit horse
rescue organization, sponsored the
First Annual Hampton Classic Legislative
Panel on the topic September
1, the last day of the Hampton Classic
Horse Show in Bridgehampton, to
raise awareness of the issue.
“This is really an issue of horses
and habitat and humanity,”
said former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel
(D-Huntington), CANA advisor and
panel moderator. “This is a good
example of one of the bipartisan
elements that exist in Congress
right now – and that is Democrats
and Republicans working together
to protect horses, to protect our
heritage.”
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management
(BLM) estimates that there are
47,683 wild horses and burros in
captivity as of August 2018; most of
those animals are on pastures. Polls
show 80 percent of Americans oppose
either euthanizing or sterilizing the
animals. Opinions vary about how to
best manage the horses, which advocates
say have been driven from their
native rangelands by the oil industry
and agricultural interests.
“We believe rewilding is the answer
to many environmental problems
… and to the wild horse crisis,” said
CANA founder Manda Kalimian, who
defines rewilding as “putting things
back to the original state of being.”
The group is seeking people willing
to adopt wild horses and “find
lands to rewild,” she told attendees.
The group is “cautiously optimistic”
that Suffolk County legislators may
help them place wild horses on the
North Fork, she told the Press.
“Horses saved my life,” said Moses
Brings Plenty, an actor and CANA advocate
who was born on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
Now, he’s looking to return the favor.
“This is something we have to
work together on,” said U.S. Rep.
Peter King (R-Seaford). “There may
not always be easy answers. But the
main goal should be to preserve and
protect as much as possible when it
comes to wildlife and wild horses.”
Also on the panel was author Roberto
Dutesco, Rep. Betty McCollum
(D-Minn.); and equestrian show
jumping rider Kelli Cruciotti.
CANA Foundation is recruiting
volunteers and donors for its #RewildOurWorld
movement. More info
can be found at canafoundation.org.
Wild horses range the Pryor Mountains
outside Lovell, Wyoming.
(Photo by Gary C. Tognoni)
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