20 year old mare euthanized at roundup photo/BLM
Nine wild horses have died in BLM's highly publicized Calico Complex roundup in Nevada. The roundup, arguably the most widely scrutinized in history, has had comparatively more details made available to the public. Gather activity updates from the BLM web site report:
- Dec. 30 - 20 year old + mare euthanized: poor condition.
- Jan 10 - Colt dies as it was being brought in: necropsy shows pre-existing pulmonary condition.
- Jan 7 - 20 year old + mare put down on site: poor body condition.
- Jan 11 - mare found dead at Fallon facility: dietary feed change.
- Jan 13 - 12 year old mare found dead at Fallon Facility: arrived four days prior in poor condition.
- Jan 14 - Observer notified BLM of downed mare in transport truck. Driver corrected the situation.
- Two mares found dead a Fallon Facility: dietary feed change.
- Jan 21 - Mare that was downed in transport truck euthanized at Fallon facility: weak on arrival & did not recover.
- Colt with multiple hoof sloughs from capture euthanized at Fallon facility.
- 20-25 horses at Fallon facility have received treatment for various injuries.
Though one could reasonably accept the deaths of the older mares as an act of mercy ( Lisa Ross, BLM public affairs specialist, understood one to be a 30year+ male with worn out teeth), their advanced age brings other thoughts to those who are watching this roundup closely. Willis Lamm, Alliance of Wild Horse Advocates, states," BLM says that the range can't 'survive' a roundup moratorium until a more practical horse management strategy is worked out... The presence of elder horses indicates that in fact there is enough forage to go around. While it still may be arguable that range populations need to be regulated, it doesn't seem to be the dire situation that BLM is portraying."
Of the four found dead at the Fallon facility from the inability to adjust to an oat / grass hay diet, Lamm said,
Finding four horses dead in a BLM contract facility is an ominous sign. clearly the 'observation strategy' for horses making the transition from the range to holding facility conditions warrants improvement. If a horse starts to colic, it's promptly reported and the veterinarian tries and fails to resolve the problem, then the contractor and BLM did try to take the appropriate action. Yet it seems contradictory for BLM to euthanize horses on the range that they deem to be in mortal condition while a contractor lets horses colic and die in his corrals. If BLM is going to bring in these horses, the responsibility for mitigating the risks associated with gathering must extend through BLM to its contractors.
The standard format in BLM gather statistic reports classify deaths in two categories: those due to gather activities and those not due to gather activities. The higher echelons of BLM management have recently stated that the number of deaths involved in the gathers is less than 1%. It has not been confirmed which of the figures management is quoting. Heather Emmonds, BLM public relations for the Calico gather, confirmed that, of the 9 deaths reported at the Calico roundup, only one will be considered as " due to gather activities". John Neill, BLM facility manager at Fallon, confirmed that deaths due to feed change are not considered to be unusual, however the percentage of deaths is very low. It is uncertain if deaths at holding facilities such as the Fallon facility are logged in standard gather statistics.
A curiosity in the gather update page is the apparent loss of 82 horses. Of the 1,195 horses reported as gathered, only 1,113 are accounted for.
Notes of interest:
- Emmonds reports a handful of albinos have been captured in addition to some rare "curly" horses.
- George Knapp, channel 8 Las Vegas Now, reports the black nick named "Freedom" who esscaped from BLM corral has been recaptured. video
For more info:
Judge orders go ahead - sort of
Comments
Its so sad to think that these horses have lived a wild and free life and to be tortured and scared to death. Imagine being forced to run into a holding pen and barefooted,frightened at the ripe old age of 30...how sad this is that our government would do this.
Maybe I'm just not as "professional" and the BLM "experts" but it seems to me that ALL these deaths were caused by the roundup, er, gather.
They shot the first mare because she was in "poor condition."
The foal with the heart defect would still be alive if he hadn't been run until he collapsed.
Shot the second mare in "poor condition."
Mare died of feed change that wouldn't have happened if left on her range.
Mare that "died" in poor condition - who knows. Over stress? No shelter?
Mare down in truck and didn't survive. Speaks for itself.
Two Mares die from "feed change." What are they feeding!
Foal euthanized after the BLM caused him to destroy his baby feet running down the mountain.
This is beyond inhumane. And Salazoo wants to move ALL wild horses to pastures in the lush MIDWEST!
The dilemma stems from the fact that the BLM manages our horses and our land. A conflict since other use of the land seems to be taking precedent. I believe the horses and lands specifically set aside for their welfare be established so that nature culls the herds at some viable levels. If the wild horses selectively breed by survival of the fittest the results will be something no management program can match. Who could argue that a horse would rather live free on his own then fed in a cage? The mandate should set a number 50 thousand or so and the new agency must manage enough lands so nature culls the herds at about that number either through predators, old age , or unfitness. It's our land and our horses and our taxes, that's being squandered for a greedy few. In any case it's obvious the BLM has failed miserably at everything. Their mandate is unattainable.
Gathers have dangerous potential under the best of conditions and should be reserved as a last resort option. Although a lot of people agree that there are other strategies that could reduce the need to round up and hold horses, there seldom seems to be money available for such alternatives. The Sala-zoo would just pour more money into holding horses and would do nothing to better utilize the millions of acres currently available.
There seems to be this bureaucratic tradition of circling the wagons when DOI / BLM really needs to tell Congress that this program is a mess and that it will take legislative changes and some money to get it right. If the management strategy dilemma can be corrected, everyone stands to benefit - including the horses and taxpayers.
What happened to the 82 missing horses?
If this is not cruelty to horses I don't know what is. I read the other day they were using two helicopters, the horses don't have a chance, and what have they ever done to hurt man. We need a moratorium on the roundups NOW.
EVERY action that the BLM and the DOI are allowed to take is criminal offense punishable by prison sentences and stripping of their rights to freedom. ALL OF IT! EVERY LAST ACTION from signing death warrant contracts with the Cooks and Cattoors to the time they pick up their paychecks. Every single person involved should be fired and charged with felony crimes against America. They are stealing taxpayers dollars, destroying land and murdering wildlife in broad daylight in plain sight of every American who pays taxes and with the full knowledge of our Federal Government. Our Commander in Chief is allowing free reign to an agency causing mass destruction of land and extinction of American icons. Our past and present Commander in Chief have been authorizing political waste and selling out our beloved country to foreign interests with no restraints. I blame the 8 wicked & greedy eight years of Bush administration for what is happening to our Mustangs, Burros, public lands, national
for 30 years that mare survived nevada winters, which are tough. She couldn't survive the being pushed for miles at full speed by 2 helicopters...I'd say the forage must be pretty good and so were her genetics..I'd love to own a foal out of that mare. I hope you are proud of yourself Mr. Salazar, Mr Reid, and Mr Obama-these are your policies being implemented not george bushes. How about taking the 1 million you have spent on this and the other 94 million you have budgeted to spend on this whole debacle- and restore the habitat if you are so worried about it...OR take that money and feed every last one of those horses for the rest of their days and still have enough to pay off the national debt.There is way more to this story than habitat...go to the DOI website and see why Salazar is fastracking 300 million acres of lprive leases to energy companies and setting aside another million acres for rightaways for roads and transmission lines..as far as the eye can see-a wall of solar panels
I applaud the BLM for getting these habitat-destroyers OFF mule deer and antelope habitat. These feral ranch stock are NOT native, and since they have nothing but old age or food to limit their numbers-- you know that anything edible will go down their gullet before the grim reaper gets them. It's enough that NATIVE wildlife have to contend with thousands of sheep and cattle--- but at least those can be dealt with. The ravenous mouths of hundreds of "sacred" horses protected by federal law --is downright stupid. THANK YOU BLM---WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!
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