(HORSES/ANIMAL WELFARE) The Sundance Kid rides again! Iconic actor Robert Redford and former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson are fighting to protect horses, and people are finally listening. The Navajo Nation dropped their support for a domestic slaughter plant. The group has suspended horse roundups, and is now working with Redford and Richardson’s “Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife” in favor of finding more humane, long-term solutions to the problem of overpopulated feral horses.

There are reportedly seventy-five thousand uncared for animals roaming Navajo land and drinking from their water supplies. In the past, the answer was to slaughter these beautiful creatures, but now with the help of horse advocate agencies like the Foundation, the tribe will have the resources to solve this problem more compassionately. Read on for more about New Mexico’s horse population debate and the more humane options for managing these animals. Let us know what you think should be done in the comments section below. — Global Animal

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Navajo Nation says it will end its wild horse roundups and reverse its public support for a return to domestic horse slaughter following talks with former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

Navajo Nation President Ben Shelly said Tuesday that he met with Richardson over the weekend and they agreed to work together to find

more long-term and humane solutions to the horse overpopulation problem.

Richardson and actor Robert Redford created the Foundation to Protect New Mexico Wildlife this summer to fight efforts by a Roswell, N.M., company and others to slaughter horses.

Shortly after the foundation was announced, the Navajo Nation came out in support of the company, saying it has 75,000 feral horses drinking wells dry and causing ecological damage to the drought-stricken range. It has also been rounding up and selling horses, knowing some would likely make their way to horse slaughter plants south of the border.

But in a statement issued Tuesday, Shelly said the tribe will pull back its support for the plant and suspend horse round ups while it works with the foundation and other groups to develop and implement alternative policies to manage feral horse populations. Possible solutions include equine birth control, adoption, land management and public education.

“Our land is precious to the Navajo people as are all the horses on the Navajo Nation. Horses are sacred animals to us. Both the land and the animals must be responsibly managed,” Shelly said in a statement. “For too long this issue has gone unaddressed putting us in the situation we are today where chapters are facing real problems with uncared for animals damaging local land and domestic livestock. I am thankful we can partner with agencies that have resources to help us find real long-term solutions.”

Richardson said that persuading Shelly to change his position on horse round ups and slaughter

“is exactly the outcome horse advocates, such as myself, had hoped for.”

Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for plant inspectors in 2006. The ban was lifted in 2011, and Valley Meat Co. has been battling ever since for permission to open its converted cattle slaughterhouse. The USDA issued a permit this summer, but litigation by animal protection groups has delayed its planned August opening.

The return to domestic slaughter has divided horse rescue and animal welfare groups, ranchers, politicians and Indian tribes about what is the most humane way to deal with the country’s horse overpopulation. Much of the debate also focuses on whether they are companion animals or livestock.

Supporters of a return to domestic horse slaughter argue that it is a more humane solution than shipping unhealthy and starving animals south of the border to facilities with unregulated and often cruel circumstances.

Opponents have been pushing for a ban that would also outlaw the shipment of horses across the border.

More Associated Press: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HORSE_SLAUGHTER_NAVAJO

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