A DEPARTURE, AN ARRIVAL
By Jill Starr
Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue comes to the rescue
What was supposed to have been a sanctuary, The 3 Strikes Ranch, in
Alliance, Nebraska was a last stop, a life long resting place for American
mustangs deemed "unadoptable" by the Bureau of Land Management, the
agency responsible for capture, processing and placement of America's
last living link to the wild west. As it turned out, it became a grave yard
for at least 74 of our nation's born-wild horses and the incident is being
called the worst case of animal abuse in the history of Nebraska.
By all appearances, the ranch was picture perfect. A rambling amber sea
of prairie grass, crystal clear pools of water, and fresh breeze blowing the
manes and tails of 300 stallions, mares, geldings and young foals who
were born out on the open ranges of this country's western states. A beau-
tiful image and romantic notion that would bring a faraway smile to even
the hardest nosed cowboy or highest stepping city slicker.
But something went wrong - terribly wrong.
The BLM happy to have a private rancher to take the over-stock of mus-
tangs removed from public lands due to over-populations, drought, or
down-sizing of herd areas were sending Jason Meduna, the 3 Strike Ranch
owner, as many horses as he asked for. They would come in by the truck-
load. Some say that Meduna was receiving a Ford Foundation grant of
$100 for every 3 Strike horse he took in.
The ranch derived its name from the BLM horses, and rule, that have
been offered for adoption to the public but either passed over or returned
up to three times, or are over the age of ten years old. If the 3 Strike
Ranch had not taken them in, then they would have been included in one
of the 3 government funded sanctuaries that give lifetime sanctuary to un-
adoptable mustangs at the expense of taxpayers. These are the horses that
are the subject of great controversy right now and the very ones that Mrs.
T. Boone Pickens vows to save from the BLM's threat of euthanasia to
save the taxpayers 29 million dollars 4e0 ach year in care costs.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66