Dear Editor:
This letter is in regard to Patti William’s letter concerning the wild horses becoming extinct. There are supposed to be at least 37,000 wild horses still in the wild. Everybody agrees that if not managed properly, they will double every four years; 37,000 now 74,000 four years from now, 148,000 eight years … you get the drift.
The reason wild horses cost so much is thanks to PETA, Western Water Sheds, the Endangered Species Act and all other “greenies.” They keep suing the BLM, running up millions in lawyer fees and then the government has to pay for those fees. The taxpayers foot the bill.
There are about 45,000 horses in pastures and feed lots, costing about $60 million a year. These too are also having foals. Taxpayers get this bill also. Slaughtering old and unwanted horses could be a $50 million to $60 million business a year to boost the economy, thus eliminating the $60 million cost to the taxpayers.
I don’t want the wild horses eliminated either because I like horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and any form of livestock. My family has been in the meat packing business since my mom and dad came to Meeker in 1928. Some years we had no plant, all animals killed at our plant and all plants were killed instantly, this is not inhumane; letting them starve to death is.
When I was a kid here in Meeker, the ranchers kept wild horses in check and it didn’t cost the taxpayers a dime. Here come the “greenies,” sticking their noses in everybody’s business but their own and costing taxpayers millions a year. The ranchers here have had up to 25 percent cuts in their permits in the last 10 to 15 years. Now the BLM wants to add another 50 percent cut.
How many “greenies” have anywhere from $200,000 to $300,000 in farm and ranching equipment plus two to five hired men; buying fuel, tires, trucks, groceries and any thing they need to keep the economy going. No I don’t have a BLM permit. I run a few cows on our private land. Put these farmers and ranchers out of business and the spinoff will put a lot of business’s our of business including my families. Do the math.
Please read the obituary of Common Sense, then you might have a different look at life and the lives of other people who have been taking care of the land for more than 100 years.
Want something screwed up? Get the government or “greenies” involved and you will get your wish.
The Obituary of Mr. Common Sense
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who had been with us for many years.
No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple sound financial policies: Don’t spend more than you earn and reliable strategies; Adults, not children are in charge.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by his three stepbrothers, I Know My Rights, Someone Else is to Blame and I’m a Victim.
Not many attended the funeral because so few realized Common Sense was gone.
Bryce Purkey
Meeker
