Reported by Maureen Harmonay – Equine Advocacy Examiner
Wild Horses continue to Suffer from BLM Cruelty
Suffering Horses from Calico Roundup - Photo by Elyse Gardner
An on-the-ground investigation by Last Chance for Animals’ Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the wild horses held in BLM custody at two facilities in Nevada reveals graphic evidence of the horses’ suffering from broken bodies and broken spirits as a result of their violent capture.
Investigators from the Los Angeles-based animal advocacy organization were present in Gerlach, Nevada in February, 2010 to witness the last few days of the BLM roundup of more than 1900 wild horses form the five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in Nevada’s Calico Mountain Complex. What they saw corroborates previous testimony by a host of other humane observers, including Elyse Gardner, Craig Downer, Terri Farley, and Laura Leigh:
“Helicopters, with deafening blades, terrorize and force herds of frightened wild, free-roaming horses to gallop for their lives, not realizing they are being herded to a corral where they will be forever removed from their native land. As a result of the roundups, some of the horses become bloodied, injured, and exhausted, and some mares miscarried their foals. Others simply die in the process.
The family structure of these horses is torn apart. As the horses are herded into the trap, the stallions are separated form the mares and the foals from their mothers. The horses are shipped to another facility where they stand, their spirits broken and all life erased from their eyes, in their own waste with no escape from the elements. These iconic creatures of the Wild West will never see their grazing lands or their family again.”
Based on their assessment of the condition of the horses being stampeded from the Calico range into BLM traps, the LCA investigators strongly disputed the BLM’s oft-repeated contention that wild horses need to be rounded up because otherwise they would perish from starvation if left to forage on their own:
“The BLM’s stated reason for removing the wild horses is because they are starving or soon will be. As you can clearly see by our video of the horses being rounded up, not a single one is starving or even thin. The facts belie the BLM’s statements. We also saw other wild horses out in the same area and we did not see a single one who looked to be in any kind of distress. In fact, the only horses we saw who were injured were those that had become so due to the BLM’s ill-advised roundup.”
At the conclusion of the Calico roundup, LCA representatives visited both the Broken Arrow feedlot facility in Fallon, Nevada, where the Calico horses are currently being held, and the Palomino Valley long-term holding and adoption facility in Reno. They documented the substandard conditions which the horses are forced to endure in both places:
“The horses, including young foals, do not have any access to shade or cover in order to escape the elements. These facilities are in Nevada where temperatures reach into the 120’s during the summer and sub-freezing during winter. Icy cold winds whip through the facilities but the horses have no way to escape the elements. They are forced to stand in the mud of their own feces and urine. We saw numerous foals and horses with bloody hooves.”
Last Chance for Animals has launched a “Stop the Genocide, Stop the BLM Roundups” campaign, with a striking poster featuring fitness guru Jillian Michaels and a horse named, “Buzz.”
For more information about LCA’s Special Investigation of the Calico roundup, please watch the video.
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Categories: Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
I have to wonder, after all this time since the roundups ceased – if this is the effect rounding up healthy horses has, what kind of devastation would have been visited upon the Wild Ones if they had actually BEEN starving?
What kinda BS would the Bureau have fed the Public after that?
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Every single observer states the same thing. I have read no opposing reports–if there is one from an observer please pass it along to me. I wear my t-shirt featuring Conquistador from the Pryors and people have actually teared up just looking at it. I scream to the heavens “why, why, why?”
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History says they let them die. Intervention has come for lack of water in some instances. Some get rescued from forest/range fires. I think that the manipulation of HMAs and the spin have failed to convince the public that there is anything more than a BLM created problem. The horses and burros need their lands and the involvement of the public, close watch and complete transparency. mar
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The ugly truth is that none of this seems to matter to BLM and government officials, it is business as usual, this time it is the horses that are suffering, this is just more in this country’s history of destroying whatever stands in the way of “progress”: the bison, native peoples, native wildlife; now the horses that were the means to destroy all of the above are now being destroyed. Humans are NOT the top of the foodchain, and mankind better wake up to that fact before all this destruction rebounds. How can anybody look at the videos, all the evidence and find one thing right about this?
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The governments slogan “If it’s free, kill it”
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And the Book of Genesis says God gave man “dominion” over everything on this earth that isn’t human. Unfortunately, He didn’t mention responsibility, at least to Adam.
Here’s a take on Biblical “dominion” you may find interesting.
http://www.directionjournal.org/article/?922
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Thanks for this work and your efforts on behalf of the wild ones and captives. This has become such a highly scrutinized story that each response from BLM personnel becomes a public statement that represents the deep mess they created just because they could. I find no better explanation as this situation with the wild ones’ removals and imprisonment has been passed from one administration to the next until their only recourse appears to be extermination of wild free, roaming horses and burros. They say one thing and do another. We experience this and wait for the whole catastrophe to implode. Maybe it has? I am hoping that with this additional pressure we may finally see the end of the worse management of any wild animals in this nation come to an end and turn the corner. We will keep fighting until we know the wild ones and the captives are safe and living as they should despite this chapter that has damaged, killed and removed so many herds. mar
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Are there not deep pockets within the Hollywood stars alone that could pull these horses from these god awful pens.?? There seem to be Big names attached to helping mustangs well step on up and adopt away! ???
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I’m working on selling a screenplay to Hollywood about horse slaughter, PMU, and the foreign horse meat market.
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Keep us informed you know we’ll be there.
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I will! I’m counting on some good hearts left in Hollywood! I know there are many who care about this country’s legendary Horse. And I believe in the power of public opinion to returns us to our IDEALS in this country!
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This is a great report and video. The video is especially moving, the guys at the end so depressed with their hooves on the gates – oh my – more restless nights for me.
I do wish someone would take the videos of the horses before the roundup and compare them to these pictures – a picture is worth a thousand words. Just flash between them during the video and info – before – after – before – after, with some BLM goof saying its for the good of the horses.
And I wish someone would do a video just a string of the lies, one after another, start with “Bush, Oil and Mustangs”.
The poster on the link is great – “Wanted Alive”. Hope that makes many papers and magazines. This would be a great push, to have many different stars in this same image, like “Got Milk”, just keep repeating, repeating, repeating.
Has anyone investigated why DOI/BLM is opposed to Madeleines proposal? Has anyone investigated who these people are in the mid west and east that DOI/BLM is supporting to take the horses?
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I’ll add to Roxy’s list—has anyone (Humane observers, wild horse advocate groups, etc) visited the wild horses in long term holding? If not, legal proceedings should be started to petition for some advocate group to visit all of these “facilities” and document the horses and their condition.
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Few have done so. We need the addresses of all the facilities on the the Feb 2010 Facilities List..
file:///Users/roger/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library/FacRpt0210%20holding%20facilities.pdf
Advocates need to be attempting to get visitation to these places for documentation, even on the local level. mar
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Sorry, FacRpt0210%20holding%20facilities.pdf ?
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Mar, I couldn’t bring up that link. Do you have a different one?
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Morgan, this is the first time it did not come up and i put it up all over all the time.. so I will send it to you from Herd Watch… I think you are there? You can send me a note at herdwatch@gmail.com
if you are not…mar
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Thanks Roxey, that is exactly what I wish were done. Hundreds of BEFORE after pictures, over and over.
And pictures of just captured mustangs that are missing, asking where is this mustang?
Pictures of pregnant mustangs asking where is the foal?
The games BLM plays with killing mustangs , someone has to stop their 40 years of killing mustangs with no oversight or questions answered. It is sickening the BLM is shown to take horrible care of animals, not even try hard to adopt mustangs.. and to have them get away with these crimes for years is sickening.
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That video of BLM conditions is so sad, they have the shamefull appearance of the lowest class, crappy horse facility.
noticed 3 mustangs in the vid at palimino valley blm mudpit, freezebranded with the big blm “U” of doom brand. This special freezebrand means the mustangs are to be sold for cheap(like 5 dollars) to anyone with cash. please someone, Mrs. Pickens? collect these few doomed wild horses and get them saved. They show up by the ones and 2s on craigs lists across the country, and a couple on each of the BLMs failed facilities.
someone needs to catch these doomed sale-authority freeze branded mustangs before they all slip away.
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Laura, I agree. i do wish that Madeleine had bought a ranch. Why did she not have advisors to say that the sale authority and 3 strikes horses would need to have somewhere to go??
Madeleine please help save horses now.. they need sanctuary. Titled horses need to be let loose somewhere safe. mar
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yes, please Madeleine. So many older BLM musatngs going through those low class auctions, sold to the meatman.
One in particular, I saved the pictures of her and her BLM brand. 5 dollar mare, tried so hard to live but was in such bad condition she never made it.
Damit, these mustangs needed pulling from the meatman NOW!! not next year!
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heres a pic of her blm brand, it has chalk on it so to read it.
http://tinypic.com/r/5bb6a9/5
here she is the auction sale day, you proud BLM? the homes you get for mustangs are even worse than a fast death!!
http://tinypic.com/r/dexzir/5
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is there anyway blood samples can be obtained of wild horses right after round-up and samples from these sick horses in holding?
If sent to a lab, there will be proof of how dehydrated the horses are right after round-up and proof of how sick they are under BLM care. manure samples too.
same thing about testing goes for horsemeat for sale in the foreign stores. Pay a lab to collect sample meat from stores and drug-test the meat.
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