They Named Him FREEDOM

They Named Him FREEDOM It lasted only minutes, but his life changed forever. His ordeal was horrific but he had no choice, he was motivated to risk everything in his escape to freedom. Freedom’s story needs to be told, so we don’t forget what it means to be FREE! Dear IDA Member, In January, Freedom and his family were among hundreds of America’s wild horses mercilessly chased by helicopters over dangerous terrain toward capture pens, where uncertain futures and sometimes death awaited them. Most were terrorized - frozen with fear. But Freedom fought back! With dramatic determination, he regained his freedom by jumping a 6-foot fence, then breaking through barbed wire, as it painfully tore his flesh, in his successful effort to regain his liberty. The photos below show Freedom’s emotional and inspiring escape. Today, IDA is fighting for all the wild horses who are threatened by man’s inhumanity. And we need your help! Tens of thousands of America’s wild horses have been rounded up and trapped in internment camp-like corrals. They are threatened like never before by the BLM’s accelerating efforts to steal their land and drive them into extinction. The BLM, doing the dirty work of the cattle industry and corrupt politicians, has removed tens of thousands of wild horses through cruel, unnecessary and illegal roundups - sending thousands of wild horses to their deaths in slaughterhouses, as millions of acres of land that had been reserved for them have been deliberately confiscated by this reckless agency. As Dances With Wolves author Michael Blake wrote in an op-ed to be distributed by IDA: Since 1971 our horses have been given no protection at all. They have been shot to death, poisoned, rustled for slaughter and captured in the tens of thousands by a government charged with protecting them…. The genocide of America’s wild horses has accelerated wildly. Today these iconic animals are approaching extinction. The BLM claims that the last of our wild horses are being captured to protect them from starvation, lack of water, over-breeding and disruption of cattle ranching. The only wild horses I have seen in starvation are those in captivity. On many occasions I have witnessed wild horses having to travel twenty or thirty miles a day for water because ranchers and the government have denied them water by fencing off access to streams. Simply put, the government’s removal of wild horses from public land is based entirely on the production of money. The public land that allegedly belongs to all citizens is being ruled by corporations engaged with the BLM. If the American laws we depend on were fair and equal, the Secretary of the Interior and the BLM squads involved in the roundups and killings would be defending themselves in court. And that is precisely where we are today… In federal court to stop the eradication of our nation’s wild horses. In addition to the ground-breaking lawsuit IDA filed in December to stop the roundups, we have: • Exposed the secretive plan by the BLM to rush a roundup of 200 horses living in Utah’s Confusion Mountains, forcing the BLM to postpone the roundup and initiate a new Environmental Assessment that will allow for full public participation after receiving thousands of outraged emails from IDA supporters. • Successfully pressured the BLM to indefinitely postpone the stampede and capture of almost 500 horses in the Eagle Herd Management Area in Eastern Nevada through threat of additional legal action and letters of opposition from IDA supporters and activists. • Funded video documentation and flyovers to gather evidence of the roundups. • Sent action alerts that have generated over 17,000 emails to the Obama Administration. • Helped organize protests nationwide including San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Denver, Albany, New York City, Phoenix, and Reno. These protests and our news releases and action alerts have generated hundreds of media stories. With your help, here is what we will continue to do to SAVE AMERICA’S WILD HORSES: • We will continue our lawsuit to stop the roundups. • We will demand an end to massive, indiscriminate roundups that break up family structures and bonds and destroy long-standing relationships. • We will press for the limitation of livestock grazing on the horses’ range lands. • We will push for monitoring, counting, and identifying wild horses and their social groups. • We will demand an end to the stockpiling of wild horses in cramped holding facilities. Please, send IDA the most generous contribution you can. This vital campaign has already cost over $25,000 and is certain to cost tens of thousands more. Your gift will be put to immediate use to help protect America’s wild horses and to care for horses rescued from abuse and neglect or who are at risk of going to slaughter. Freedom’s story is real! So are the monster helicopters. So are the older horses, pregnant horses, and little foals who are chased to exhaustion and death. So are the more than 35,000 horses crammed into BLM holding facilities, awaiting their fate. With your support today, IDA will WIN this fight - and thousands of wild horses just like Freedom - the living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of this great country - will not be rounded up, confined for life - or worse - but continue to run FREE on their range the way nature and Congress intended. Thank you for your continued generosity and caring. Respectfully, Elliot M. Katz, DVM Founder and President, In Defense of Animals (IDA)

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In Defense of Animals, located in San Rafael, Calif., is an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members and supporters dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by protecting their rights and welfare. IDA's efforts include educational events, cruelty investigations, boycotts, grassroots activism, and hands-on rescue through our sanctuaries in Mississippi, Mumbai, India, and Cameroon, Africa. In Defense of Animals is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We welcome your feedback and appreciate your donations. Please join today! All donations to IDA are tax-deductible. In Defense of Animals 3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901 Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031 idainfo@idausa.org

Michelle Obama Lets' Move Campaign. Good start !!!

However considering the amazing solution of steering away from animal based foods, I have not heard her say anything about that. Maybe this is the first step. She seems very sincere and passionate about her campaign, that's a good thing!










Michelle Obama Lets' Move Campaign. Good start !!!