Lawsuit Proposed Against Multiple Government Agencies by Equine Collaborative International, Inc. – More Smoke and Mirrors to Attract Donations? 

Probably the biggest reason that the wild horse advocacy has been maligned by many ranchers and environmentalists, is the wild misrepresentations and claims that are made by some wild horse nonprofits and grifting to attract donations from good-hearted people. 

The hard-earned money from donors must be treated with respect and put to good uses that leads to probable successes with validated results, not promises and hot-air, leading to a lack of meaningful results.

Let’s take a closer look at what ECI is proposing:

Many wild horse nonprofits simply show videos and photos of the ongoing mismanagement (genuine horror show of abuses and animal cruelty and waste of tax dollars) of American wild horses by the Bureau of Land Management (‘BLM’) and the United States Forest Service (‘USFS’) on their social media platforms, add a ‘donation button’, and then sit-back and watch the money pour-in. That is grifting and that is what makes legitimate wild horse advocates look bad. 

Now comes an alleged wild horse nonprofit, Equine Collaborative International, Inc. (‘ECI’) who is proposing a gigantic lawsuit with numerous claims against numerous U.S. Government agencies and all their employees! And, ECI’s last filed IRS 990 shows a total revenue of under $50k. Common sense from anyone that has been in the real-world knows that such a massive lawsuit would likely cost $-millions of dollars. Just the filing fees would be in the $-thousands of dollars!

The only real questions are these: 

 Is this proposed lawsuit a legitimate legal path towards ending the mismanagement of America’s cultural-heritage wild horses? 

Or, is this just another scheme that proposes a fund-raiser for a lawsuit that is beyond the legal analytical capabilities of the average American donor, who might be tempted to support litigation that could end the ongoing horrific mismanagement of American wild horses?

ECI has publicly stated the following in the PDF shown above (at their website), which asks for donations at the end: 

“EQUINE COLLABORATIVE INTERNATIONAL, INC. (‘ECI’) is looking for your help to raise funds to support a law suit which seeks to end the mistreatment of America’s Wild Horses and Burros, the misuse of America’s public lands, and the acts of fraud upon the American taxpayer created by the misuse of funds to support the people and organizations which are abusing the horses, burros and the land on which they should be roaming freely. 

A notice of Tort Claim has been filed with federal agencies including the Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Department of Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and individuals associated in the decision making process or who have profited in any way from the following: 

a) Taking federal land away from horses and burros in violation of the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act (henceforth referred to as the Act) 

b) Manipulating the Act to round up and transport across state and national borders for the purpose of profit through storage and slaughter of any wild horse or burro under the protection of the Act and any of its amendments 

c) The systematic use of aircraft and mechanized means to traumatize, torture, maim and kill wild horses and burros under the protection of the Act and its amendments as applicable 

d) The willful and wanton destruction of wild horses and burros sent to slaughter and kill plants in an effort to enter into a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) operation for profit to defraud the taxpayers and the U.S. government of a native Western Hemisphere species that is deemed a national treasure and an integral part of our country’s history 

e) The willful and wanton fraud committed upon the taxpayers of the U.S. and its government by conspiring with ranchers, their associations and organizations, to manipulate through a common schemer plan to remove wild horses and burros from their native habitat for profit as cattle and sheep are replacing the natural animals and destroying the public land’s forage and water that keeps horses and burros alive 

f) The illegal sale and removal of taxpayer owned lands, reducing the lands to sustain and keep wild horses and burros safe and intact 

g) The willful and wanton destruction of the genetic diversity of the wild horses and burros that are protected under the Act 

h) The fraud upon the taxpayers of the U.S. and the U.S. government by contractors hired to round up wild rses and burros illegally and in violation of the Act, causing trauma, maiming, torture and killing of a protected species for profit. All contractors that can be identified by their name and address will be sought after, including ranching organizations for sheep and cattle. All federal employees engaged in such activities will be ultimately listed and identified as defendants, attaching any and all federal employees who had knowledge and allowed the acts to continue 

Once the legal action is filed the plaintiff will seek a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to: 

1) Halt and prevent any new grazing leases on federal lands 

2) Halt current grazing on any federal lands 

3) Immediately implement transparency in allowing the public to be able to view all of the wild horses and burros protected under the Act as long as they are not interfering with the wild horses or burros in their native lands 

4) Have the Bureau of Land Management cause and allow full disclosure of all of its record keeping to the public and be made to account for every horse and burro under BLM protection 

5) Temporarily halt all roundups and adoptions including transports to any kill buyers, auctions, sales or reservations- that all times during the pendency of the legal proceedings that the wild horses and burros shall remain only on Federally owned lands, including the removal of horses and burros from private lands designated under fraud and deemed as short term holding, long term holding and pastures, or any other designation until and unless all animals under the Act are identified and accounted for 

6) Further restraining order shall halt all attempts to slaughter and drug or dart any animal for the purposes of sterilization and that the Defendants have to maintain any and all means within their purview to medically treat any animal protected under the Act at all times 

7) See to it that any and all defendants known or unknown at this time are brought under the rule of law with no immunity to repay the taxpayers for the funds lost 

8) Restore the lands unlawfully taken 

9) Mandate the BLM by court order to rewrite their policies and implement more humane treatment, care and protection standards for wild horses and burros 

Therepayment of funds sought are to restore the funds lost to the taxpayers of the U.S., and to establish a trust fund for the wild horses and burros in perpetuity. That, if successful, the trust fund for the animals should be created using fines, property and assets confiscated from the defendants and private individuals who profited from the illegal behavior.  

Equine Collaborative International limits their fundraising to specific causes, there is no donate button on their website or on the Facebook posts. All proceeds from each fundraiser are used specifically for the purpose designated. All funds raised from this and subsequent fundraising requests will go to support expenses incurred by the lawsuit. 

Thank you for your contributions in this effort to help the wild horses and burros. 

Contribution checks can be postal mailed to……Colden, NY and contributions through PayPal”

—————– end

The single most important consideration in ECI’s grandiose legal scheme is this: 

Is it genuinely practical?  In other words, is there any real chance of success, or is this just a lot of self-important chest-pounding to draw attention to themselves for more donations? 

After reviewing their scheme, I had my own concerns about the claims being made by ECI to potential donors, so I reached out to a highly experienced litigator, with many successful cases under his belt. Just one of many examples is the one for the non-profit I am part of, Wild Horse Fire Brigade, where Mike Harris led a legal team to victory over the BLM: https://www.8newsnow.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/645013253/nonprofit-prevails-over-bureau-of-land-management-wins-settlement-in-favor-of-wild-horses/

Here is the email conversation between lawyer Mike Harris and myself as to ECI’s proposed lawsuit: 

——————

Hi Mike:

Please take a look at the proposed lawsuit by ECI… ATTACHED

This seems to me as a ploy to get money for a lawsuit that has no standing, and assuming there was standing, a lawsuit that would cost $1-M in fees and have zero chance of succeeding. 

Please opine.  Bill

 ——————

Bill, 

I agree. I can’t imagine how they [ECI] found an attorney to do this. I searched and could not even find the notice of tort claim that they said was filed. 

Mike Harris (he/him) 

—————————-

So now the questions arise, is ECI just fishing? Are they using this legal hyperbole to create the dramatic appearance of doing something meaningful to garner donations? 

And who is the lawyer that thinks he/she can beat all these government agencies, which have $-millions in legal services by the Department of Justice, paid for with American tax dollars? 

It seems there is a lack of full disclosure to potential donors. And full disclosure is required in most forms of investor requests. And donors are in a manner, investing, expecting to get something meaningful accomplished with their money. Sadly, the wild horse advocacy has a long history that generally (not always) has donors funding failure, much to the benefit of the people of some wild horse nonprofits who live in lap of luxury, paid-for with donations. That must end!  

About Mike Harris: 

* Mike Harris practices environmental, conservation and wildlife law. In addition to having represented clients in numerous court and administrative proceedings across the United States, Mike has taught courses in environmental law, land use law, air pollution law and administrative law. Mike has been part of the advisory board of the all-volunteer 501-3 nonprofit Wild Horses Fire Brigade since 2022. Mike currently practices law at BCM Environmental & Land Law, PLLC (‘BCM’). Before joining BCM, Mike was an Associate Professor and Director of the Environmental Advocacy Clinic at the Vermont Law and Graduate School. Prior to that he lived in Colorado where he was General Counsel and Director of the Wildlife Law Program for Friends of Animals, an international non-profit animal organization. From 2008 through 2014, Mike was an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Denver, Sturm College of Law. He has also worked for Earth Justice, the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Los Angeles, and several private law firms. Mike received his Juris Doctor from the University of California—Berkeley School of Law. He earned a Masters in the Study of Law from Vermont Law School, and a Bachelor of Arts from Pitzer College. 

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