Wild horse advocates are growing increasingly alarmed, as the pace at which wild mustangs are dying or being killed by BLM contractors in Nevada spirals out of control. In just the last few days, at least 11 more horses have been killed, raising the death toll to 39 of the 1892 horses who have been relentlessly chased by helicopters for miles on end over difficult winter terrain, never to see their homelands again.
These deaths are not coming painlessly or humanely; most of the horses are being shot after sustaining terrible injuries, such as broken legs and broken necks, after having been manhandled and crammed into too-tight cargo holds on their way to a 320-acre holding facility at Indian Lakes Road, near Reno. At least two foals have literally had their feet fall off, and upwards of 25 mares have spontaneously aborted due to the extreme stress of the roundup, and a subsequent radical change in their diets.
Information on what is really happening to the Calico Mountain mustangs has been carefully screened by the BLM, but some details continue to leak out, thanks in large part to the heroic efforts of committed observers such as Elyse Gardner, who has been documenting their heart-wrenching plight since last December in her Humane Observer blog.
"Just yesterday, they shot a mare after she was kicked in the head," Ms. Gardner said today. "Another stallion broke his neck; foals are losing their hooves after being chased by these helicopters for miles over rough, rocky, snowy ground. And trying to get even get the facts from BLM, let alone get close enough to monitor these horses, is next to impossible."
"The BLM is fabricating a scenario in which horses are starving and need to be rescued," explained Ms. Gardner, who left the gather site for one day to meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein and to make a public presentation in Petaluma, CA. "These horses were gorgeous and healthy. Again and again, I see how they know how to live in their habitat. They are now being subjected to cruelty that the BLM is doing their best to hide. We want and need an immediate moratorium on all roundups if we are to save our wild herds."
The charges of BLM cruelty can be substantiated by seasoned experts such as Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, who has spent 15 years documenting mustangs in the wild for her PBS programs. According to Ms. Kathrens:
"On at least one occasion, the wild horses were not even given water as they stood overnight in a crowded capture corral. Then, they are separated from their families and trucked four hours to a feedlot-style facility and fed hay. Even BLM admits that deaths are occurring because the horses cannot adjust to this new diet."
A press release issued today by The Cloud Foundation calls for Congressional hearings and an immediate investigation of the BLM Wild Horse and Burro program "that even Interior Secretary Salazar describes as unsustainable." It asserts that "BLM appears to be afraid of the potential passage of the ROAM (Restore Our American Mustangs) Act that passed the House and is now in the Senate. Secretary Salazar has proposed an expensive and absurd plan to move and warehouse 26,000 wild horses to pastures in the Midwest and East, thus removing even more wild horses from the pitiful 4% ofpublic lands they are currently allowed to roam." Meanwhile, it continues, "more than four million head of corporate and privately owned cattle graze on the wild horses' limited acres of public lands."
Comments
It is no secret, the cattle ranchers are who the BLM is catering to.....it's the bottomline.
All of the horses and foals killed as a result of this roundup is heartbreaking. Just imagine, if the BLM would have left them alone, they would still be alive.
It is most unfortunate that the BLM continues to mislead the public. The BLM has proven to the public many times, that our wild horses mean nothing to them. The BLM (Ken Salazar) hired the Cattoors for the roundup; the Cattoors were federally Indicted for horse hunting, how irresponsible is this to hire them? The public asked for an independent assessment/analysis of the horse population by a credible agency, however, the BLM refused. The BLM continues to try to misinform the public that the wild horses are starving, photos do not lie. I have yet to see a starving wild horse. The Humane Society of the United States needs to step up to the plate.
Please add your voice to the outcry to stop these gathers in the middle of winter. A 30 year old mare, who had survived in that tough country many winters- couldn't survive that long drive down to the capture pens being pushed at high speed by helicopters,she was killed at the pens,not from a lack of food on her range...horses went down and couldn't get up. 2 foals so far have sluffed their hoofs, a direct result of being driven over ground frozen like cement,rocky-running for their lives-only to have there lives ended like this..It is deplorable and violates the law inacted to protect them....Ask your elected representitives in D.C to support a moratorium to end these unusual winter gathers. The dept of the Interior, Ken Salazar, stated in court to a judge, this was not- I repeat NOT an emergency gather.
It does not take an Animal Communicator to tell you what these horses are thinking or feeling.
Terror...sheer terror. Panic, fear, absolute horror.
I can't believe this is happening to these beautiful creatures.
When will it stop?
Every life matters...
How can the people conducting these roundups be so heartless? What type of people are we becoming? How do we get the roundup to stop? It makes me so sick.
We need to be strong and steady voices- keep the pressure on. The abuse is sickening, the waste shameful. I am forever changed by the actions of the Burea of Land Manegement funded by taxpayers. We will stop this
We need to boycott the cattle industry and refuse to buy beef. They are becoming to powerful and need to be stopped.
While the fight continues you can do something about the ones that are in the holding pens, please help us save some.
visit wild horses rescue. org or heart for horses .com
Thank you, help us spread the word and save as many as we can
please help us save some while the fight continues to stop the roundups
wild horses rescue . org
heart for horses . com
may be true the Fallon Corral is 340 acres or so; but the Pens where they hold the Horses is a mere 1.5 acres...the rest of the land is used to house farm equipment; that is why the horses are "concentrated into little pens; this is the BlM contract;A.W.
Why is it that humans proven guilty of horrific crimes such as rape, murder, ect...are trated so much better than living beings who have done nothing wrong...humans are intruders & thieves...the cruelty is heartwrenching.
Absolutely disgusting! Worse is that many of the horses who survive the roundup could wind up being sent to Slaughter. They are trying to open up the slaughter houses. Please contact your Senator and ask him/her to support or co-sponsor Senate Bill S727, the Prevention of Equine Cruelty Act. Ask your Representative to support HR 503. When you contact them, ask them to stop the roundup of our Wild Horses (and Burros) as well.
Phone Campain to Stop The BLM and save our Wild Mustangs and Wild Burros.
Call the President (202) 456-1111.White House# 1-202-456-1414 Switch board
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