FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, November 15, 1996
CONTACT:
Andrea Lococo, (307) 859-8840
D.J. Schubert, (202) 588-5206
Today, The Fund for Animals warned Montana Governor Marc Racicot, Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Mike Finley, and Gallatin National Forest Supervisor Dave Garber, that the proposed capture and transport of Yellowstone bison to slaughterhouses may violate Montana's animal cruelty law, and must be stopped immediately. In an 8-page letter to the Governor and the federal agencies, The Fund declared that the "inherently inhumane" bison plan would result in "hours of physical and psychological trauma, suffering, and cruelty."
Says Andrea Lococo, Rocky Mountain Coordinator for The Fund for Animals, "It is astonishing that Governor Racicot, Montana's former Attorney General, would endorse a bison management plan which will most likely violate state law. As an attorney and as a human being, Governor Racicot has an obligation to prevent such cruelty, an obligation shared by the federal agencies."
Montana officials have admitted that the plan to ship bison to slaughterhouses was based on convenience for the agencies and to hide the slaughter of Yellowstone bison behind closed doors, out of view of wildlife advocates and the media. Adds Lococo, "If the agencies are not willing to defend their scientifically fraudulent and ethically repugnant bison management policies in front of world view, then more reasonable and humane policies must be adopted."
The proposed bison plan may repeat the ill-fated attempt of Texas A&M University in 1993 to capture live Yellowstone bison for a research project. Approximately 80-85 captured bison who did not meet the experimental criteria were shipped to slaughter. A Crow Indian who observed the arrival of one of the trucks at a slaughterhouse provided a grisly description of the animals upon arrival:
"Upon unloading, one bison was dead with its side ripped open to the ribs. Another bison was standing on top of the dead bison. A third bison was nearly dead. A fourth had a broken leg. A fifth bison had a large wound -- a gore wound -- to its hindquarters. This wound was bleeding profusely. State livestock officials and slaughterhouse workers used electrical prods on the sensitive areas of the bison (i.e. face, testicles) to make them move out of the truck."
While The Fund remains unalterably opposed to the killing of Yellowstone bison for disease control, the inhumane nature of live transport and slaughter is especially egregious. The Fund also points out in the letter that there are several serious deficiencies with the proposal, including the lack of adequate monitoring of the animals' condition.
The Fund for Animals is a national animal protection society headquartered in New York City. The Fund has been the leading advocate for Yellowstone bison since 1985.