Babies run in extreme heat for miles and miles at Triple B

On Wednesday July 10 the last brief in the recent flurry of activity on Triple B (now called Three HMA by BLM) was filed by Plaintiff. BLM has one last brief to file and then we wait to see how the Judge rules.

This case began in August of 2011 when intolerable conduct was witnessed at BLM’s roundup in the Triple B Complex. The conduct included babies and pregnant mares hotshot, animals dragged by the neck, kicked in the head and even hit with the skids of the helicopter. The case gained the first Temporary Restraining Order in history to conduct. The case was amended and new case law was built in another case… and a second TRO and Preliminary Injunction were won.

Triple B video (still) that gained TRO in August of 2011(Leigh)

As this case entered into Discovery Leigh’s attorney requested documents that pertain to the operation and disposition of animals. Documents requested included all documentation associated with BLMs Triple B Review where they admit the alleged conduct in fact did occur and all death statistics and veterinary reports including foal deaths from both the Triple B and Jackson Mountain operations. After the request was made BLM filed a Motion to dismiss Jackson Mountain and was denied in March of 2013. As Discovery began again and Leigh renewed her request for this information BLM attorneys filed yet another Motion to dismiss.

Leigh has also amended the complaint to include the new “off limits” bait trapping. The newly described and identified wild horse roundup operations for these areas will be based on bait trapping and would likely result in inhumane conduct. Moreover, the intended roundups, announced on May 14, 2013 are to be conducted completely outside of public observation. This is a violation of the First Amendment constitutional right of the public to observe and report on these roundups.

From Brief:

The defendants moved to dismiss the Jackson Mountain portion of the complaint after the plaintiff requested documents (in discovery) that the defendants generated from the Jackson Mountain roundups. The defendants’ motion to dismiss and motion for judgment on the pleadings were filed January 2, 2013. Dkt.70. These motions from the defendants were essentially denied March 26, 2013. Dkt.74.

When the plaintiff renewed her request for the same documents, the defendants resisted again, this time claiming they never understood, until now, the direction of the plaintiff’s case, an argument that precipitated yet another motion to dismiss See Dkt.84. The defendants’ second motion to dismiss is fully briefed as of this writing.

“BLM is trying to hide information from the public and the courts in Discovery and now they plan to hide their actions,” stated Leigh “we can not let this happen without a challenge. It’s an outrage.”

Last brief:(Doc102)Reply2Opp2Mot2Amend

Horse flipping over barbed wire at the Owyhee Complex roundup

note: Our attorney has filed 6 briefs on our behalf in the last 30 days in just one case. He has our gratitude for working nights and weekends and dealing with Ms. Leigh’s doctors schedules. In another case we have new information and are heading to hearing on Owyhee next week. Below is a partial reprint on an article so you can read about Owyhee.

If you have been following the Owyhee case on our WHE Blog, Facebook page and website, you know that WHE was at the first phase of operations in the Owhyee roundup, almost daily, and documented issues that raised serious concern. WHE documented horses being run into barbed wire, excessive and unjustified  hotshot use, foals literally being run to exhaustion, and horse run until they were steaming in extremely cold temperatures. The distances these horses were stampeded  exceeded ten miles. The next scheduled roundups in the Owyhee Complex operation could require stampeding horses at distances as much as twenty five miles to reach the chosen trap location. These are Issues that WHE, and the  public, through a  letter writing campaign, made every possible attempt to rectify. READ the REST HERE >>>

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