Stallion in the Antelope Complex

Court Update:

We know many of you are waiting to hear from our team. We are very tired. Documenting a roundup and reporting is hard. Having to file litigation at the same time is so intense we cannot put it into words.

As the hearing was not public via listening mode and the judge issued the Order from the bench (very unusual as most orders are issued the next day) we felt you deserved a fast note.

We will give you a more in-depth look at proceedings after some rest. The underlying Complaint is still active, in front of the same judge.

We are discussing our options with our attorney and will update you when it is appropriate to do so.

The Judge is allowing the roundup to move forward with only a caution on First Amendment issues.

BLM was trying to claim our case was frivolous. Although the court did not stop the roundup, he stated the claim was not frivolous and recognized the devotion it takes to do this work year-after-year. But he felt that we did not provide enough evidence on the welfare issues to refute BLM staff.

The Judge said that our Constitutional Rights to view one of the traps was likely violated, he did not see any necessity to restrain BLM from doing it again. He trusted BLMs assurance that there would be no further trapping on private property with access denied. If it happens again, we can file for an order.

He did recognize that the presence of observers is a valuable part of the process and probably contributes to make sure gathers are humane.

AP article

Our reaction

We do agree that the public plays an important role.

But we, and millions of Americans, disagree that BLM is humane.

We are extremely disappointed that the data reflecting the low number of foals actually coming in every single day, that BLM could not explain, was not enough of a serious question for the court to issue any caution. We were told we needed photographs of mares “giving birth on this range, now.” Although we did have video evidence of a lone foal, it was not enough. (BLM uses a broad measure, not a single piece of site-specific information at all, to determine the same foaling season in all HMAs throughout the West from Wyoming to Arizona.)

It is sheer unbearable agony to watch our own government commit actions like running a mare for nearly an hour, roping her and keeping her on the rope for around 30 minutes and then watching as the BLM person in charge participates in dragging her by the neck until she collapses simply because he can and no one will tell him he can’t.

We are discussing with our attorney our options on how to proceed with the underlying Complaint to address the lack of enforceable humane standards.

Our work does not stop here.

Millions of Americans are outraged at how our wild horses are treated and the eyes of the world are, once again, back on BLM and the issue of abuse.

Our wild horses deserve an enforceable welfare policy and we won’t stop until there is one.

We must hang onto the fact that abuse is back in the spotlight.

The entire world is watching BLM.

Onward.

We will update you on actions in the long-fight (the underlying complaint) after consultation with attorneys.