Just one day after suddenly calling a halt to the roundup of wild horses in the Calico Mountain Complex in Nevada, the BLM has just as abruptly postponed its planned "gather" of 500 horses in the state's Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA), a 670,000-acre trace in eastern Nevada that is roughly the size of Rhode Island. The BLM had previously announced plans to remove all but 100 of the horses who roam there, beginning on Valentine's Day.
In a press release issued this weekend, the BLM attributes its unexpected change of plans to the fact that "there is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA) gather prior to the beginning of foaling season." But it's also possible that it is deferring to the increasing public outcry against its inhumane tactics. At least 39 horses are known to have died during the just-concluded Calico roundup, and In Defense of Animals (IDA) announced last week that it will file a lawsuit against the BLM in an effort to permanently halt the Eagle Herd gather.
William Spriggs, the lead counsel for Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney, which will file the suit on behalf of IDA, asserts that, "Americans strongly support protecting wild horses on their natural ranges in the West. The Obama Administration must reform the BLM wild horse program to protect these animals in their western lands and uphold the will of Congress to preserve these horses as an important part of our national heritage."
The BLM says it will "defer issuing a decision on the proposed (Eagle Herd) gather until later this year, after the foaling season." More than two dozen mares captured during the Calico roundup spontaneously aborted their foals, according to BLM reports and onsite observers.
The agency had received more than 9000 public comments about the proposed Eagle Herd roundup.
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What you can do to protect America's wild herds from further destruction: Call for an immediate moratorium on further wild horse roundups and an investigation into the policies of the BLM.
Visit The Cloud Foundation's site for updates.
Comments
Amen! We just need to make sure they don't reschedule the round up when the new foals can be horribly damaged by helicopter round ups. Stop it altogether. There are only 500 horses in an area the size of Rhode Island. Leave them be. Let them be free. Leave them alone.
Leave them ALL alone now. Enough damage has been done.
Death, families broken apart, captivity and prison walls.
Freedom for the wild horses and burros.
My first mustang, Mariah, now 7 years old, was captured at age 5 months in northern Nevada. BLM records claimed she "had no mother" when arriving in the capture pen.She had been chased 12 miles over steep terrain. She is physically and emotionally damaged. She lives at my sanctuary, Journey's End Ranch, in Arizona. She is in constant discomfort, but still manages to enjoy her life here where nothing is expected of her. I live with the results of BLM cruelty daily, when I look at my once-wild equines, all of which have problems caused by man. Stop the roundups. Get the welfare cattle reduced and give the horses back the 21 million acres already stolen from them. This is a national disgrace.
Ken Salazar and the BLM need to be held accountable for this disgraceful treatment of these animals. They are no different than any other animal abuser and should not get a get out of jail free card just because of where they work. Animal abuse is animal abuse irreguardless of who you think you are and the laws they are breaking is wrong on so many levels, that they have not been brought up on charges before now. Whats up with the double standards.If any one of us had done these atrocities to these animals we would have already been arrested and awaiting trial. "The House Of Shame Is Bursting At The Seems"
And, we must make sure that Congress does NOT grant the BLM the $50 million+ INCREASE in the proposed budget to purchase land for Salazoo's Killing Fields! Tell Obama NO!
Isn't it funny how these people come crawling out of the woodwork to save these ranch horses gone wild--- while no one gives the slightest attention to the destroyed range, the antelope and mule deer who get run off the water holes by these mangy horses who camp on top of the only watersource for miles and destroy any edible plant along what used to be --thriving riparian areas. Go give more of your money to the Cloud Foundation...who is laughing all the way to the bank.
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