Sources:  Various

Willie Nelson, one of country music's biggest stars, has recorded one of the Rolling Stones' big hits, "Wild Horses", to benefit the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI).  

The announcement that proceeds from the recording made by Willie and The Nelson Family was made on Nelson's website.  It says:

"The BLM has been rounding them [wild horses] up at an alarming rate, supposedly for their own good. Sadly, there are more wild horses in holding pens than in the wild. Something is wrong with that, so we must act now before the BLM has managed these magnificent animals into extinction," said Willie Nelson. “It’s time for the cowboys to stand up for the horses.”

 

The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act was enacted in 1971 to halt the disappearance of these iconic animals from public lands in the American West. Since then, however, over 20 million acres of land set aside by Congress for wild horses have been removed from their range, even as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—the very agency charged with their protection—claims there is not enough land to support existing herds. The BLM is unnecessarily removing horses based on spurious claims of damage to range and other adverse impacts. The BLM’s mismanagement of America’s wild horses is largely designed to benefit a livestock industry that has for decades, exploited western public lands while profiting from massive subsidies funded by taxpayer dollars. Willie & The Nelson Family and AWI are calling on the BLM and the Obama administration to immediately halt all wild horse round-ups, restore the land provided by law to wild horses and to stop warehousing horses on private lands at even greater expense to the taxpayer.

“There is no greater voice than Willie Nelson when it comes to speaking for the underdog. For decades, Willie has fought to protect family farmers in America, while also advocating for the humane treatment of horses and other animals,” said Chris Heyde, deputy director of government and legal affairs for AWI. “We are so grateful for the support of Willie and the entire Nelson family and we hope this song will raise awareness of the deteriorating situation facing wild horses and help turn things around before they disappear from their lands forever.”