Since the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began a roundup of wild horses in the Calico Mountains Complex of Northern Nevada on Monday, Dec. 28, activists have cried out against the action, demanding a moratorium.
The BLM plans to remove 2,500 wild horses from the 500,000-acre Calico Mountains Complex, leaving about 600 to 900 wild horses and burros. In addition, they plan to impose fertility control on mares to remain in the area, with the goal of bringing the male/female sex ratio of horses to 60/40 percent. The roundup is to continue until late February or early March 2010, according to a press release.
The wild horse gather is projected to cost taxpayers $900,000, according to BLM Nevada State spokesperson JoLynn Worley. Since it’s very difficult to find adopters for the horses, remaining horses will be sent to the BLM’s permanent holding facilities, where the horses will be provided with food and veterinary care for the rest of their lives, said Worley. According to The Cloud Foundation, a wild horse preservation organization, there are already 34,000 wild horses warehoused by the BLM at taxpayers’ expense.
“The BLM is misrepresenting the facts, misrepresenting the statistics—blatantly misrepresenting the truth,” said Dr. Elliot Katz, DVM, president and founder of In Defense of Animals, a California-based international animal rights and welfare agency. He said that according to the 1971 Wild Horse Act, free-roaming horses and burros are “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” He said the BLM is acting counter the ideals put forth by Congress in gathering—really “battering,” Dr. Katz said—horses in order to make way for cattle ranching.
The Wild Horse Act was created to prohibit harm and disturbance of wild horses and burros and provide for their transfer to suitable areas when populations became too large, according to The American Mustang Foundation’s Web site.
The BLM plans to remove 2,500 wild horses from the 500,000-acre Calico Mountains Complex, leaving about 600 to 900 wild horses and burros. In addition, they plan to impose fertility control on mares to remain in the area, with the goal of bringing the male/female sex ratio of horses to 60/40 percent. The roundup is to continue until late February or early March 2010, according to a press release.
The wild horse gather is projected to cost taxpayers $900,000, according to BLM Nevada State spokesperson JoLynn Worley. Since it’s very difficult to find adopters for the horses, remaining horses will be sent to the BLM’s permanent holding facilities, where the horses will be provided with food and veterinary care for the rest of their lives, said Worley. According to The Cloud Foundation, a wild horse preservation organization, there are already 34,000 wild horses warehoused by the BLM at taxpayers’ expense.
“The BLM is misrepresenting the facts, misrepresenting the statistics—blatantly misrepresenting the truth,” said Dr. Elliot Katz, DVM, president and founder of In Defense of Animals, a California-based international animal rights and welfare agency. He said that according to the 1971 Wild Horse Act, free-roaming horses and burros are “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West; that they contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.” He said the BLM is acting counter the ideals put forth by Congress in gathering—really “battering,” Dr. Katz said—horses in order to make way for cattle ranching.
The Wild Horse Act was created to prohibit harm and disturbance of wild horses and burros and provide for their transfer to suitable areas when populations became too large, according to The American Mustang Foundation’s Web site.
