SOURCE: PPJ Gazette by Debbie Coffey, Director of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation
On May 23, 2013, several wranglers at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Palomino Valley facility seemed to be too lazy to saddle up their horses, so all 3 of those big boys crammed themselves into a pick-up truck and drove it around inside a pen of wild horses like they were in a Monster truck event, and what may be a government owned vehicle even fishtailed – yee haa!! Apparently, this was supposed to have been an effort to separate out a paint horse from the other horses.
Wild horse advocate Patty Bumgarner was there and this is what she saw:
Is this BLM’s standard operating procedure?
Now, after this little joy ride failed to separate out the horse, they drove the pick-up past Patty, and one of the wranglers asked “Did you get some good pictures?” He didn’t say this in a polite way, but in a way that seemed meant to intimidate and harass her.
It was none of this wrangler’s business if a taxpaying American, who pays his salary and for the operation and activities of this government facility (which is a public place), wants to stand there all day, every day, and take photos and/or video.
Or, isn’t this a free country anymore?
Patty was there representing all of us.
This is just one more example of not only BLM’s reckless actions around wild horses, but of an attitude towards the public that would get them fired in any other work environment. What business do you know of where an employee could get away with treating the public rudely? None. And guess what BLM? We’re NOT going to put up with it.
Bullies are brave when they think they’re anonymous, so let’s all just take a look at a photo of these 3 yahoos:
photo by Patty Bumgarner
We encourage more advocates to go as often as possible to BLM facilities to observe both the activities and the condition of the wild horses, and to take photos and video.
Patty also observed that the horses at Palomino Valley have warts near their mouths,
(photo by Patty Bumgarner)
and noted:
“Warts can spread from one horse to another if they’re not confined.. Warts on a horse is known as papillomavirus, and they usually appear as blemishes on the face, mouth, or nose regions in younger horses. They appear as either single warts, or as clusters of warts that have a “cauliflower” appearance. While unsightly, they usually pose no threat to the horse’s overall health and are considered merely a cosmetic blemish. In most cases, the warts will disappear on their own, in a matter of time. But it is important to remember that warts are a viral, contagious disease and that proper steps should be taken in order to prevent them from spreading from one horse to another, especially if the horse is kept in the vicinity of other horses.
Younger horses are more susceptible to warts because they have less-efficient immune systems than older horses. Their skin also is not as tough, and they have less hair to ward off the insects that can carry the papillomavirus. The good news is that once a horse has been infected, it builds up an immunity and is less susceptible to future infections. Provided the horse is in good physical condition, has a good nutrition program, is wormed regularly, and is under good management, the warts should disappear within six to nine months.”
And what if they’re not under “good management?” There seems to be evidence of moldy hay at the facility.
The BLM has been observed to be busy cleaning the pens at Palomino Valley. (Has anyone ever seen warts on a wild horse in the wild?)
The BLM really needs to clean up their disrespectful attitude of distain and outright contempt towards wild horse advocates and immediately enforce humane handling of the wild horses and burros that they have a mandate to protect.
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
looks like too much beer to me…
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So, once they get them into the pens, they continue to harass & abuse them – they need to go to jail/prison & probably already have – gotta get criminal histories on these guys, probation/parole violations – DUI’s – ANYTHING – where was their supervisor (driving?) – no reason for this – this is the pathologically abusive nature of these people, including the people who hire them & allow this (by act or omission) – can’t believe this has been going on since the 80’s (omg) – who got this started back then & is this why the BLM was chosen by BP & friends to cull the horses & burros from our lands?
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I just hate to see them living like this……makes me so ANGRY!..
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I know they wouldn’t have cared if they had hit one or more of the horses and caused injuries. GRRRR
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I wish I lived closer, I’d exercise my rights as a taxpayer and film them on a daily basis. Why is it that they act as if those horses belong to them, when in reality they belong to us, the American public? Grrrrr.
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Have we forwArded this to doi
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” yea, good enough to get your a$$ fired ” would have been an acceptable response
Americans are watching and these jerks should understand that they do not have a pass for irresponsible behavior
Thanks Patty !
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Attention BLM, these are people are on your pay role? Wasting the tax payers money chasing the wild horses in a flipping truck for what purpose to waste time, terrorize the horses for some fun, burn some gas, really ??? The BLM just keeps looking more and more like what the activists
and whistle blowers have been saying for years (they are a bunch of money hungry rednecks with helicopters, guns and an axe to grind against America so lets go torture our wild equines and who’s gonna bring the 30 pack today?)
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So, THREE federal employees (even at the low end of the pay scale) to round up ONE Horse cost the taxpayers approximately $30 an hour?
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I suppose the BLM will also consider this humane treatment.
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These jerks need to be fired!
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Nice article Debbie. And thanks to Patti and other members of her group that have been gping out regularly and publishing their photos for everyone to see.
The horses deserve everything mentioned here and more, much more. BLM knows how to do it, after all, they hire people with “horse” experience, so there is no reason to accept careless and negligent handling. We expect them to do better and I have hope they will. Thousands of horses and burros will appreciate it.
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OMG I am furious all over again seems to be a constant, watching these idiots, I am telling you if I had that video I would be making copies and sending them to as many officials as I could, NO excuse and NO, NO one would have their jobs if you said something like that to the public and I know I worked for the Federal Gov. for eight very long years of bureaucracy and was preached to about the public was always right no matter what, well you know what I mean…. JERKS working hard using up our money tormenting the horses to boot, yup very responsible……. MAIL IT, I wish I lived around a holding pen cause I would also be their filming as much as I could I would love to do it, just be hard seeing the horses living like this though……
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I would suggest that this link/story be plastered all over the BLM and DoI Facebook pages, also. Keep the volume turned up, it’s the only way we are going to make a difference!!!!
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Everyone should email a copy of this message and YouTube video to their Congressmembers, Sally Jewell, and the mayor of the town nearest Palomino Valley (Fallon?). Let’s make this go viral!
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I’d suggest sending this to Congressman Mike Simpson, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee as well.
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HoofHugs, that’s a great idea, can you take that for action? He has the same template on his website as all the rest, and it’s only for Idahoans’ use (you have to enter your nine-digit zip code). If you know anyone in Idaho, could you ask them? Also, here’s a link to his website, on the bottom is his his office number in DC. Maybe they’ll give out his email address? Thank you!
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I’m with you going to start right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This just infuriates me! I feel so much rage towards these callous individuals who think they can bully us to backing down !! We will not give up the fight until practices like this are banned and employees like this have no longerI have a job handling America’s wild horses!!!!😡😡😡
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Nothing BLM dose surprises me , but lots of it sickens me .Dear God in heaven , please help us stop this shameful travesty .The “Time Has Come” to right a wrong !
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Horses rank about 10th place on the intelligence scale. That’s not bad considering that primates take up the first 4 places. The source I used did not put humans on the scale at all. After watching this video, I think that’s appropriate.Certainly the humanoids in the truck do not belong on an intelligence scale. I’d sure like to know the horses’ “social comments” on these idiots. Sending this article to Sally–How long will it take her to react/act ? Any guesses? Is she in CHARGE?
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I wish Sally would actually have the opportunity to read all of these, but she undoubtedly has minions reading and deleting for her. We can hope and pray, however, that one of those minions has a soft spot for horses and thinks these comments are Sally-worthy.
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Thanks again Patty for being there and for going back often. Thanks Deb for putting this up. I still get amazed at the things these people will do. And they are nasty also.
BLM Nevada, PVC, and Reno, these people need to be told how stupid this escapade was. And maybe fire them. PVC must have regulations for employees to follow? Or are they all like the rest of BLM; insensitive, contrary and dangerous and prone to ignore laws and regulations and guidelines? Yeesh
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This behavior is absolutely ludicrous! Are they really that lazy and why does it take three men, in a truck to separate a few horses?! Again, our tax dollars going down the drain, while our innocent wild horses are being subject to abuse and neglect. They should be running in the wild,where they belong…this is totally shameful and disgusting! Thank you Patty for being there, so the public can view for themselves the unnecessary mis-use of taxdollars and the disrespect shown for our iconic wild horses. It’s really shameful that our country would allow such behavior and very unfortunate for those who love and respect these magnificent creatures.
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If anyone of us had done this to our own animals, we would have been fined or served jail-time. These asshats are completely lacking the most minimum of compassion for animals. Had I been there with a flame-thrower, I would have ignited this truck and its driver.
Thank you for everyone who documented this cruelty! I have fought these roundups for 12 years. I will never give up!!!!
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And this is surprising? Really folks, this behavior has been reported on since the 1970s. The BLM abuse is compounded by the fact that they also have killer buyers wOrKING for blm over the years. This truck wrangling was so serious that at one point they flat out ran foals over in the 80s in the 90s they had an issue with them using four wheelers and running the horses to serious injuries and death. What amazes me is that these were common practices which were exposed and buried under burearocracry amd hypocracy. My grandfather wrote an article on the four wheelers running the horses down in 92 and they responded with, they were not given permission to do that. Clear pictures of the offenders were offered to the paper and blm refused to identify the men. This is not new as a helicopter pilot used to fly so low they could hit the horses until he was grounded. Before the use of the interney there were thousands of reported incidents that only got local exposure, now it receives national atyention. However the pilot and four wheelers did make the world news at that time. Public outcry was enormous but it just gets swept under carpet. We need to pull up the carpet.
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It’s not surprising, Cynthia, but we just keep reporting it. Main stream media is now paying attention and we’re trying to get a Congressional investigation into every aspect of this badly mismanaged program. The BLM should not be the agency managing the wild horses & burros because they do not protect them. We’ll keep writing about these incidents so they don’t get swept under the carpet (both the incidents and the horses).
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I can’t stand to think of these poor animals living like this – at the mercy of these creeps. They probably passed on the diseases to the poor horses too! I hope they are fired.
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Post on Facebook. Send to newspapers. SEND to your congressmen…FAX.
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I just sent emails (with links to both videos and messages from R.T.) to my Senators and Representative, and shared this on Facebook. PLEASE, EVERYONE, do the same!
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What kind of a disgusting person gets their pleasure from this? The same kind of person that gets their pleasure from this: https://rtfitchauthor.com/2013/06/21/video-battle-with-the-blm-over-burros/
All of these videos show our tax-dollars at work. Does anyone have any doubt that what we do NOT see is even worse? These videos show BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro “best practices” management. Sick, disgusting, illegal (for everyone BUT BLM?) and immoral.
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Anger at Advocates taken out on the Animals that can’t fight back. WHAT happens when they are around Children?
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I agree our Congressmen need to see this! This is the BLM opinion on what Congress says for them to do! I sure Congress wouldn’t be too thrilled at that!
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Las Vegas reporter and long time wild horse supporter covers the story in Las Vegas City Life. It also aired on KLAS. Thank you Patty, Debbie, and RT for getting the word out! http://lasvegascitylife.com/sections/opinion/knappster/george-knapp-blm-not-listening.html
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These employees should be reprimanded, fined, or fired.
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What about the horses @ Fish Springs HMA near Reno without water? Record heat today in Nevada.
Judy Lane
507-254-4815 http://www.partylite.biz/judylane Be the LIGHT in someone’s life.
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Thanks, Judy, and we just posted a link to the article about the Fish Springs horses.
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Okay, whew! I just sent emails to the Huffington Post, NY Times, Sally Jewell at DOI, and I registered a complaint on the OIG Hotline. Links to this post and the one about the donkey (with videos) were included in all emails. Now we pray someone takes notice!
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Actually, all of us should send copies of these videos to the same people, and fill up their inboxes! Can someone please send both videos to the network news stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX)?
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What is being done about this? These guys should be fired, and prosecuted for animal cruelty. They should also be given the job of rounding up the trash on the side of the road… No horses, no vehicles (unless provided by the jail system.) I look forward to an answer in regards to this. It is totally disturbing and unacceptable.
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good coverage,thanks for sharing.
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How can BLM and their three yahoos be so ignorant.. when it comes to the well being of the ” wildhorses “? If they can’t treat them with ” respect ” and in a humane way”… they have ” No Business “….. being there!!! Aho.
P.S. I guess they will ” hire” anybody… that wants to work with the horses…
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