Your editorial on wild horse slaughter was interesting. You failed to mention the real reasons for this discussion. Senator Conrad Burns, a Republican from Montana, dropped a middle-of the-night rider into the federal appropriations package against Senate ethics rules, which gutted the federal protections for wild horses and cleared the land for ranchers who want to expand their grazing base. The reason there is pressure to “cull” the wild horses is because ranchers have put pressure on Congress to open this land to grazing of cattle at less than $1.50 a month per cow.

The land these horses live on is public land. The ranchers want to use this public land, mine and yours, to graze their cattle. It amounts to a government subsidy at the expense of wild horses and anything else that gets in the way. Next time check the facts.

Maxine Hillary, M.A.

Washington, D.C.