As the director of a nonprofit horse rescue in Deschutes County, I write to express my opposition to the plan outlined by Carlisle Harrison (“Horse meat should be considered as food for the poor,” Saturday, Dec. 5) that says we should be killing off our wild horses and feeding them to poor people.

I have rescued and found homes for a number of formerly wild horses over the years and, like most Americans, I want these iconic creatures living on our public lands forever. The image of them being chased down, killed and butchered will never sit with the American people and is sure to generate conflict and divisions.

It’s also belittling to the working poor to suggest they should be fed a meat that is highly suspect and from an animal no one thinks of as food. Is Mr. Harrison going to suggest that our unwanted dogs and cats in animal shelters should likewise be exploited as a source of protein for those living in poverty?

In support of his bizarre proposal, Mr. Harrison regurgitates the tired old livestock industry trope that wild horses are “overpopulated” on the range. What bunk. Wild horses occupy just a tiny fraction of the lands managed by the BLM, and are outnumbered by cattle and sheep by the millions. It’s not the wild horses that should be removed, it’s the livestock.

The BLM needs to stop listening to people like Mr. Harrison and manage the horses to be wild and free on our public lands, where the American people want them.

Cyndi Davis

Bend