Wild Horse Education (WHE) has filed in Federal Court to obtain critical analysis and information regarding BLMs Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP).

Our new lawsuit filed this week can bring an end, once and for all, to the word games.  We must gain concise and enforceable welfare rules and end this tragic chapter in history of perpetuated abuse.

After WHE members relentlessly took BLM to court over abuse again and again, shutting down roundups (beginning in 2010), BLM crafted a draft welfare policy. In 2015, BLM released a draft policy and an assessment tool. BLM said they would review CAWP annually, make revisions and then provide opportunity for public comment and formalize a policy.

Beginning in 2016, we asked for the annual reviews and when public participation would be permitted. Every year we were told “be patient.” In 2019 our patience ran out and we filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain copies of the assessment, reviews and discussion surrounding where, when and how, CAWP would be placed in the public purview and we could provide input (WHE has the largest data-base of roundup documentation in the world and is the only organization to ever take BLM to court over abuse).

Every year preventable injury and death occur as BLM plays word games with a welfare policy

Instead of providing the information and allowing public participation, BLM simply typed the word “Permanent” on the draft and claimed they now had a so-called “welfare policy.”

Even in the courts today, BLM contradicts themselves as to the nature of CAWP and what constitutes a violation. BLM admits there is no consequence other than “reputation” for repeated violations even though the CAWP “policy” is attached to roundup and facility contracts as a measure of compliance with the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

In court documents BLM is also claiming that time has run out for public participation…. when they never had a public comment period.

ENOUGH.

WHE has filed a new lawsuit to obtain the documents that will not only expose BLM’s failures from 2015-2019, the critical timeframe in the finalization of a purported welfare policy, but expose the falsehoods presented in court in other cases brought by WHE to stop abuses. BLM has argued that their assertion is good enough and they do not have to present those documents to the court in other cases. In this case, they (BLM) will. This information will help gain the reforms we must obtain to stop preventable death and injury and, importantly, create consequences.

Are you tired of watching newborns die in holding that could have been helped (like this baby burros)? Are you tired of watching newborn foals run  by helicopter or trampled during roundups because BLM refuses to identify foaling season using data? Are you tired of watching horses and burros electric shocked in the face and repeatedly on the neck or dragged, kicked or punched? Are you tired of BLM refusing to halt operations during massive heat index rises when catastrophic injury is the most likely to occur (like the death of Sunshine Man or the dozens of broken necks each year)? Hog-tied and slammed to the ground?

If you had a chance to comment (and were not denied the right) what would be on your list? 100% of respondents to a survey about welfare of wild horses and burros wanted opportunity to comment. 99% noted how extremely disappointed they were that BLM did not include veterinary standards on heat index and air quality (wildfire smoke, etc.). BLM has NEVER addressed the fact that burros are not horses and capture stress results in extremely high death rates. Most of you want a chance to comment on what constitutes a reason to euthanize (shoot) a horse or burro. (More HERE)

This new lawsuit can bring an end, once and for all, to the word games.  We must gain concise and enforceable welfare rules and end this tragic chapter in history of perpetuated abuse.

Our team is also battling the 3 broken pillars the entire Wild Horse and Burro Program stands on: AML, forage allocation and acreage.

Everything in the program stands on the falsehoods BLM uses to keep the roundup and stockpile machine running. The broken on-range program is where the corrupt foundation lies.

Last year we began to break down BLM corruption on the range with two Landmark court cases that affirmed BLM skipped management planning and just jumped to roundups. Now, we are fighting to gain accountability to gain real reform and fair management based on science and real data.

We have lawsuits at Stone Cabin/Saulsbury (one of the most historic herds in advocacy), Triple B, Antelope and more. We are also fighting against the sheer lack of mitigation for the loss of critical habitat to livestock and mining.

All of our work is only possible with your support. WHE has no corporate sponsors, no government grants, no big paid staff. Litigation is hard and expensive. But litigation has always been a necessary frontline defense in advocacy for any issue and we need to keep our cases alive… and stretch as far as we can. We can do this… together.

WHE will continue to stand strong against abuse, slaughter and to preserve our treasured wild ones in the wild. 

In these dangerous times for every living being that relies on the natural world for survival, your support is needed and greatly appreciated. Thank you.