Above: At the very end of the day in the Shawave HMA, this lone horse is relentlessly pursued and roped as the heat index climbed and temperatures began to soar. Shawave is NOT supposed to be a “zero out.” But BLM NV is relentlessly pursuing wild horses and burros as if they aim to catch every single horse and burro… no matter the cost in lives. 

There are three wild horse roundups taking place on BLM land right now: North Lander in Wyoming, Blue Wing in Nevada and Swasey in Utah. WHE has had team members at all three roundups since the roundup season kicked off July 1.

The roundup at Blue Wing has a death rate that is 4 times (four times) higher than at North Lander in Wyoming. The death rate is 3 times the national average. (North Lander .56, Blue Wing 2.3)

This district, Winnemucca, logs the highest death rates in the country consistently. If Winnemucca personnel are in charge of a roundup in another district, the death rates rise.

Nothing personal BLM, just the numbers.

BLM NV is also making any attempt to accurately track this carnage as confounding as possible.

Deaths from 7/17 and/or 7/18 not posted until noon on the 19th.

If you look at the way BLM lists the deaths, we can assume the broken neck is the acute injury? Or can we?

7/16 and/or 7/17 posted noon on the 18th

Apparently a mare dropped dead on the trailer (the fourth horse/burro to die in this heat during transport, that we know of) and BLM is calling it a pre-existing heart condition on their website.

If you look at the 4th death listed, the 12-year old bay with a broken hind leg, wouldn’t that be an acute death?

Above: Just an overview snapshot of one day.

If you look at the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (policy, standard, memo, whatever they call it that day), you can see there are documentation requirements for euthanasia.

The BLM person in charge may have “discretion” to “kill or not to kill.” But they do not have discretion when it comes to documenting their actions.

CAWP (page 16)

4. Photos needed to document an animal’s condition should be taken prior to the animal being euthanized. No photos of animals that have been euthanized should be taken. An exception is when a veterinarian or the Lead COR/COR/PI may want to document certain findings discovered during a postmortem examination or necropsy.

5. Any WH&B that dies or is euthanized must be documented by the Lead COR/COR/PI including time of day, circumstances, euthanasia method, location, a description of the age, gender, and color of the animal and the reason the animal was euthanized.

In most cases, BLM simply does not document. When they do, it is minimal and seems to only include one or two photographs if there is active litigation.

In the case of this particular district in NV they refuse to include any information (required by CAWP) requested when you file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. They are now telling us we need to FOIA the USDA APHIS vets BLM uses (even though BLM is also required to keep that information in the gather file at the district office). For those of you that do not know what APHIS stands for: Animal Plant Health Inspection Services. These are the same vets that do things like inspect slaughter bound animals and approved (past tense) things like coyote killing with cyanide bombs, before they were made illegal just last year. 

Our team has repeatedly tracked wild horses and burros from trap through 6 months out in BLM care. The harder the roundup, the higher the death toll even into facilities as capture myopathy (capture stress) can kill instantly or slow and painful. The average death toll is 1 in 9. Out of every 9 wild horses or burros you see captured…

Since BLM began CAWP, the numbers of deaths have not budged one decimal point in the national average. Not one. The amount of money BLM spent paying for UC Davis to craft the draft, to the implementation and publication of the draft, the assessment tool (no one ever used), the staff finally hired, the trips the website,  the reports, etc., none of the money spent has changed the death rate one decimal point (in the right direction).

Note to BLM, maybe if you want to change the death rates, get NV in line?

The only thing consistent to how BLM treats wild horses and burros is inconsistency.

The way one field office to the next interprets policy on capture, euthanasia and even range monitoring… can be like night and day.

Our wild ones desperately deserve a clear, concise and enforceable welfare policy.

You can help.

Please make a call. Our wild ones desperately need an enforceable welfare policy that is crafted with transparency, public participation and complies with current welfare standards for equines.

The phone number for Congress is: (202) 224-3121. You should put it in your speed dial. Call the number tell the operator who your representative is (or where you live if you do not know) and you will be connected to an aide in the office. Ask to register your concerns and request. Ask that an amendment to the funding bill for the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program be crafted to simply create a line item for funding for “Rulemaking to create an enforceable welfare policy.”

Our team remains onsite. 

24 are reported dead in the first 12 days of Blue Wing. 

15-year-old, Gray jenny found deceased on trailer upon arrival at temporary holding. (She died during transport from trap to sorting corrals probably from heart failure or was fatally injured during capture or transport.) 2-year-old, Gray jack BLM put down due to a broken leg. 20-plus-year-old, Gray jack killed because it had club foot. 4-year-old, Brown jenny BLM killed because they said she had deformed front legs. 18-year-old, Brown jenny killed because BLM said she had deformed front feet. 20-plus-year-old, Gray jack put down due to severe arthritis in front right knee. 5-year-old, Gray jenny died due to Colic (a stress and heat related condition). 2-year-old, Pinto jenny found deceased on truck upon arrival at Indian Lakes Off-Range Corrals. A 5-year-old, Bay stallion broke his left hind leg.  BLM put down a 15-year-old Sorrel stallion for arthritis in front left knee. 5-year-old, Bay stallion put down for arthritis in front right knee. 20-year-old, Black stallion put down due to arthritis in front right knee. 16-year-old, Dun mare put down, BLM said due to deformed right front leg. 3-year-old, Grulla stallion due to club foot, right front. 11-year-old, Bay mare BLM said had a developmental deformity, right hind leg. 17-year-old, Bay stallion BLM said fractured front left shoulder. 12-year-old, Bay stallion due to lameness, BLM said “previous injury to right rear hock.” 20-year-old, Roan mare killed due to heart disease-failure (our commentary if you look for the old roan w/foal in video: if she had issues with her heart, it was probably capture stress). 9-year-old, Sorrel stallion killed due to lameness, BLM said “previous injury to front right knee.” 25-plus-year-old, Gray stallion put down BLM said “due to poor body condition (BCS 1) with a poor chance of recovery (this is a body score 1 horse, We saw no body score “1”. 12-year-old, Bay mare put down due to broken left hind leg. 16-year-old, Roan stallion killed due to lameness, BLM said, arthritis in right hip. Foal, Buckskin mare killed, BLM said congenital deformity front legs (baby with lax tendons, very common in domestics not run by helicopter). 1-plus-year-old, Bay mare  due to broken neck.

Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones!

Our friend in Wyoming, wildlife photographer Jim Brown, designed this poignant t-shirt. He is donating all proceeds to help us continue our work. Click HERE.