Today, I wanted to share with you the trailer for the feature documentary film Blue Zeus, which just won the Best Feature Documentary Film award at the Jersey Shore Film Festival this weekend. Blue Zeus is a wild horse, an iconic American Mustang, from the Red Desert in Wyoming. He was rounded up by the Bureau of Land Management and lost his family in the process, but thankfully, this much-loved wild horse was reunited with them through the efforts of Clare Staples of Skydog Sanctuary. She bid $25 at the auction to win back his freedom. After weeks of searching, she found his family. (This is a video of their reunion.) As a avid supporter of our wild horses and burros in the western states, and a financial supporter of Skydog Sanctuary, this beautiful documentary is more important now than ever, as the current administration is putting forth a provision in the Big Beautiful Bill to remove the protections that prevent the wild horses and burros from being slaughtered to dispose of them. There are currently 64,000 formerly wild horses and burros in government-run corrals, which means there are more in captivity than in the wild. And they are scheduled to begin rounding up more in July, in a few days, the helicopters will be bearing down on them again, like they do every year, removing hundreds of them, not just a few youngsters that could be trained to be domesticated, they take them all, even older stallions and mares, who have no interest in becoming saddle horses. Many will die in the process. Some are euthanized because of injuries, and some because they have blue eyes, which it is falsely claimed that blue-eyed horses are blind. (They are not.) Tiny foals die trying to keep up with their mothers, or they are orphaned, because they get lost in the chaos. This is a terrible practice that must end.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Gandhi
This is the law as written. The wild horses and burros are federally protected just like the bald eagle.
THE WILD FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND BURROS ACT OF 1971 (PUBLIC LAW 92-195) §1331. Congressional findings and declaration of policy
Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people; and that these horses and burros are fast disappearing from the American scene. It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.
I hope everyone is well. Be extra good to yourselves, follow your bliss, and find joy. Remember to be kind to others, okay? You never know what someone is going through—and we’re all going through a lot these days.
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