Aug 24, 2006 7:33 pm US/Central
Gov't Auctioning Wild Animals In Glen Rose
by Bud Gillett
GLEN ROSE (CBS 11 News) ―
One-hundred-ten wild horses and burros will be up for auction in Glen Rose this weekend as part of a U.S. government auction of animals living on federal lands.
Horses helped tame the west; the majestic Mustang remains an icon of freedom. But so many of the animals were returned to the wild that there's an overpopulation problem, and auctions, like the one at the Somervell County Expo Center in Glen Rose, are the solution.
"This is the only method we have to control their numbers. There's approximately 32,000 horses running wild; I'd like to get that down to about 25,000 for management level," says Pat Hofmann, who manages the Wild Horse Adoption Project for the Federal Bureau of Land Management for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mexico.
"The horse helped tame the American west; a lot of people still see 'em as that way. Nobody wants to get rid of them all, we just need a way to manage and control their numbers," Hofmann said.
The minimum price for a bid is $125, plus proof you can care for the animal. The animals are technically adopted for a year, not sold, but if an adopting owner can keep them successfully after twelve months the government will formally sign over ownership.
Al Tiemann was on hand Thursday to pick up a horse he had adopted online a month ago; the BLM brought it to Texas with the rest of the herd.
"There's a surplus of the animals and it's a good place, y'know, to give the horse a home," Tiemann said. "They're overcrowded in the far west and they need a place to be taken care of. But it's not a toy, people need to understand these are animals and they're not pet animals; it's not the place to buy a kid pony for some beginner."
Tiemann warns against considering the animals backyard pets, but says if you know your way around a horse lot the purchase could spark a lasting relationship.
BLM volunteer Susan Franz adopted her horse, Reno, at an auction in Belton last year. "He still spooks, he still gets scared, but he needs reassurance, he needs time. He needs to check things out and then he's okay with it."
Franz has been around horses all her life and claims the ones in Glen Rose are adoptable. "I don't think there's a horse there that can't be tamed and can't be rode. Some may take longer than others. Some may go quicker."
Prospective adopting parties agree. Abbie Williams and Sonny Kirkpatrick looked over the herd Thursday. Kirkpatrick is in the market for a burro to help keep his yard trimmed.
"A burro that won't mow the fence down," he says, "something that's kind of gentle."
Williams, also a longtime horse owner, believes there are lots of good options. "There is a big choice here, big choice of anything you want. If you want a gentle horse, you want a pretty horse, you want a big one--whatever you want to use it for, I think you'd find it here."
A competitive auction begins at 10:00 am Friday; walkup bids will be allowed until 6:00 pm, then again Saturday from 8:00 am until noon.
(CBS 11 News)
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