California Legislators Urge Federal Ban on Forest Service Wild Horse Slaughter

Gloria, Colleagues Send Letter to California’s Senators Urging Action on U.S. Forest Service’s Round Up of Wild Horses

June 26, 2019 (SACRAMENTO, CA) – California State AssemblymemberTodd Gloria(D-San Diego) and 25 of his legislative colleagues are calling on California’s U.S. Senators to take action to protect the State’s wild horse and burro population from slaughter. In a bipartisan signed letter sent to U.S. Senators Feinstein and Harris, Gloria urges the Senators to ensure explicit language is included in the 2020 Interior Appropriations bill that prohibits the slaughter of federally-protected wild horses and burros.

“This Forest Service plan places hundreds of California wild horses at risk of being purchased for slaughter, something Californians strongly oppose,” wrote Assemblymember Gloria. “The Forest Service’s decision to sell Devil’s Garden wild horses without limitation on slaughter marks a radical departure from previouspolicyandwe urgeCongressto apply the same protection to wild horses and burros on Forest Service land that apply to these same animals on Bureau of Land Management land.

Assemblymember Gloria has taken the lead on this issue since the U.S. Forest Service rounded up 932 wild and domestic horses in the Modoc National Forest less than a year ago. This year, in response, Assemblymember Gloria has authoredAssembly Bill 128to strengthen California’s protections of its wild and domestic horse population.

In addition to Assemblymember Gloria, the letter was signed by California State AssemblymembersDavid Chiu(D-San Francisco),Al Muratsuchi(D-Torrance),Tasha Boerner Horvath(D-Encinitas),Luz Rivas(D-Arleta),Marie Waldron(R-Escondido),Monique Limón(D-Santa Barbara),Marc Berman(D-Palo Alto),Ash Kalra(D-San Jose),Mark Stone(D-Monterey),Laura Friedman(D-Glendale),Richard Bloom(D-Santa Monica),Steven Choi(R-Irvine),Marc Levine(D-Marin County),Jose Medina(D-Riverside),Lorena Gonzalez(D-San Diego),Brian Maienschein(D-San Diego), andJesse Gabriel(D-San Fernando Valley). California State SenatorsBob Hertzberg(D-Van Nuys),Henry Stern(D-Calabasas),Scott Wiener(D-San Francisco),Cathleen Galgiani(D-Stockton),Anthony Portantino(D-La Cañada),Ling Ling Chang(R-Diamond Bar),Jerry Hill(D-San Mateo), andBen Allen(D-Santa Monica) also signed the letter.

Letter to Senators Feinstein and Harris Re Protect CA Wild Horse Population.pdf