Above: Screen grab of hotshot (electric shock prod) being used to speed up loading.

Instead of slowing down and taking precautions due to the number of pregnant mares and new foals being born, BLM sped up. They captured wild horses 146 (56 Stallions, 69 Mares, and 21 Foals).

Wild horses are being shipped direct to the off-limits to the public facility in Winnemucca (built in a flood zone). Any injury that results in death will not be considered roundup related. Any pregnant mare that colics or dies from being run right before giving birth won’t be consider roundup related. Those deaths will be considered facility deaths and never released by BLM unless a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is filed. Even then, it can take years to get any answer. Any foal, no matter how close to full term that foal was, that dies from a spontaneous abortion will never even be counted as a facility death (BLM keeps no statistics).

1 horse, a 4-year-old Sorrel Mare, suffered a fracture to the eye socket in the chaos and died. Only immediate deaths will be counted since the news media started covering the rising death count.

Above: Runs came from the backside of trap making observation difficult. Observers were not allowed to move any closer even though runs were happing over a mile away.

This is a clear illustration of how BLM addresses “policy that is not policy.” When heavily pregnant mares are visible, and new foals are seen, BLM is supposed to stop.

Instead, when the public alerts them to the issue, BLM ignores you and speeds up. It always seems like they speed up to get to their goal number (to keep livestock and mining happy) and to finish before you can get a lawsuit drafted. This is how BLM operates. They do not operate with data, science and welfare first and foremost, ever.

However, we already have a lawsuit moving through the courts now that addresses the fact that BLM has no enforceable welfare policy and, they speed up and hide when the pressure is on. The case also addresses the fact that BLM never discloses a data-based justification in something called a “Decision of NEPA Adequacy” anymore for wild horses. This is the same BLM lead that was in charge of the Antelope Complex roundup last July. 

Above: The only thing we could document (and still at an extreme distance) was the rapid loading from the stock trailers onto the semi trucks taking horses directly to the facility. This additional stress moments after capture, adds a whole new level of risk, as mares and stallions are not sorted prior to shipping. You can see the hot sho clearly, the rough use of flags and paddles, even a driver running to get into the semi to take his round trip drive.

Our team member onsite has already reported in on 2/4 that a “teeny, tiny baby” was run today.

This roundup is a clear illustration that, no matter how many times BLM asserts through public relations that “they care about the horses,” that is simply not the objective. The ground crew will move fast to satisfy livestock and mining. When issues arise, they move even faster to avoid scrutiny and public ire.

We ask that you help us make gaining an enforceable welfare policy a priority. 

Congress needs to stop simply helping big corporate lobby run accelerate removals to get to numbers BLM never justified through data. “Accelerated fertility control” is a tagline being used to get to politically set AML and stay there to keep big business happy. BLM has accelerated removals. BLM has not tried to reform, fix, create data-based planning.

And in the meantime, our wild ones suffer.

Please, send a fast letter to your lawmakers in Congress by clicking the linked text: Roundups need to stop until BLM creates an enforceable welfare policy. Click HERE.

Our team will have more for you soon.

Big winter storms are moving in.

Our team is busy in field documenting. We are busy working with our attorneys on our active lawsuit to gain an enforceable welfare policy and additional litigation to address the lack of data, transparency and management plans.

Our wild horses and burros need to be protected and preserved wild on the range. They also deserve to be free of abuses. We need your help to stay in the field and to continue to keep the lawsuit active in the courts now to bring about an enforceable welfare policy. 

Thank you for keeping us running for the wild!