I wrote earlier this month about my love for horses and how every time I saw one I was reminded of my mom who passed away in 2009. I shared that I look forward to helping my children see the beauty in these animals and sharing my passion for horses with my children. I also briefly mentioned a cause that is important to me called Saving America’s Mustangs.
Saving America’s Mustangs is a foundation that was created to protect wild horses. Businesswoman and philanthropist, Madeleine Pickens, started this foundation so that American citizens from all walks of life could unite to create a permanent home for these horses and save them from the unnecessary and cruel Government scheduled roundups.
Honestly, when I first heard about Saving America’s Mustangs I didn’t understand why there was a need for such a foundation because I was unaware that a problem even existed here in our country. I didn’t know that innocent horses were being inhumanely rounded up and killed. The thought of it made me sick to my stomach. Did you know that in the United States it is not illegal to slaughter horses?! American horses are being sold to killer buyers who slaughter them for financial gain! And it’s not just a few horses being killed. According to Wikipedia, 110 years ago there were 2 million mustangs roaming free and now there are only about 30,000. That’s not just a small fraction of them. That’s an alarming amount and a number that makes me think that at the rate they are being slaughtered they may not be around for my grandchildren to enjoy. That just makes me mad!
The United States government has allowed the slaughter of horses but they aren’t their horses. The Bureau of Land Management manages them but they don’t actually own them. In 1971, the Wild Horse and Burro Act ruled that these horses should be protected under federal law but they belong to the American people. Know what that means? It means they are mine. And yours. And I did not say that slaughtering my horses was okay. And I’m going to guess that you didn’t give the okay for this to happen either. Why are they deciding the fate of our horses?
What’s even worse is that, not only are they allowing this, but we are paying for it! Our hard earned tax dollars {about $85 million per year} are being spent on the removal and holding of the horses. Madeleine Pickens wants to instead bring them to her Mustang Monument where she could humanely house these horses for almost 4x less the cost. The horses would be saved and the American people would save millions each year. How does our government not see that this is the best choice?
I hope you will join the cause and unite with others who want to protect America’s wild horses. I also urge you to contact Government representatives and let them know that you are not okay with what they are allowing to happen to our horses. You can contact your local legislators, Nevada’s Senator, the US Secretary of the Interior, the Speaker of the House, and President Obama.
We also have a few ways to spread the word via social media.
Facebook: If you are on Facebook you can “like” Saving America’s Mustangs page.
Twitter: There is a Twitter party coming up on August 22nd at 1pm EST that you could join in {more details here}. Besides supporting a great cause there are prizes to be won. Our hope is to get the hashtag #saveamericasmustangs trending to bring awareness to what is going on here in America.
Pinterest: We are also having a Pinterest party where you can pin to win {more details on that here}. Whoever wins the Pinterest contest also gets a donation made in their honor to Saving America’s Mustangs.
EXTRA CHANCES TO WIN HERE AT MAKING TIME FOR MOMMY:
Since this cause is important to me I am going to offer one extra entry into any of my open giveaways for what you do to support this cause! You can get one extra entry for each thing you do above and an extra entry if you share about this cause on one of your social networks. All you have to do is comment on this post what you have done and comment on the giveaway post you want an extra entry for! I want to thank you for helping me support this cause that I am passionate about!
(Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Saving America’s Mustangs.  #CBias #SocialFabric All thoughts are my own!)
Thanks for the info on what I can do to help!
It blows me away that this isn’t legal. These horses are beautiful and part of our history! We need to be protecting them. Thanks for sharing!
It’s amazing how many Americans don’t know that this problem exists and that they are paying to perpetuate this atrocity! We, the American Public, need to stop this from happening. As you said, these beautiful creatures belong to US so together WE can make a difference and ensure that they are not only read about in history books by future generations. Thanks for putting this out there Alicia!