“The impact of stopping the tours pales in comparison to the impact to our employees and BLM’s image.” – Dean Bolstad (stated this in 2010, while he was the Deputy Division Chief of the Wild Horse and Burro Program)
As we’re all wondering when the BLM will give the public a tour of the Scott City, Kansas feedlot where wild horses (the ones that haven’t died yet) are being held, or a tour of any of the Long Term Holding pastures where the BLM conceals wild horses from access by the American public, the BLM feigns an annual sham of transparency by sticking the public on wagons and zipping them past wild horses on contractor Troy Adam’s Indian Lakes Road Holding facility.
We’ve written a lot about the Indian Lakes Road facility, including the real reason it was closed to the public in “BLM ‘News Release’ Fraud,” and about Troy Adam’s contract with the BLM in “The BLM’s Sweet Deal.” – Debbie Coffey
BLM offers tour of Nevada wild horse & burro facility
SOURCE: the horse.com
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering a public tour of the Indian Lakes Road Short-Term Holding Facility in Fallon, Nevada, on Friday, Oct. 17. The facility is one of three locations in Nevada that provides care to wild horses and burros removed from the range.
The BLM will offer two tours, each lasting approximately two hours and able to accommodate 20 people. The first tour will begin at 10:30 a.m. and the second tour will begin at 1:30 p.m. PDT. Spaces will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. The public can sign up to attend and get driving directions to the facility by calling the BLM at 775/475-2222.
About a 90 minute drive east of Reno, the Indian Lakes Road Short-Term Holding Facility is located at 5676 Indian Lakes Road, Fallon, and is privately owned and operated. Tour attendees will be taken around the facility as a group on a wagon to learn about the facility, the animals, and the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.
The Indian Lakes Road corral facility can provide care for up to 2,850 wild horses or burros. The facility encompasses 320 acres containing 36 large holding pens, each pen measuring 70,000 square feet and with a capacity to safely hold approximately 100 horses. The horses receive feed tailored to their needs each day, along with a constant supply of fresh water through automatic watering troughs. Free choice mineral block supplements are also provided to the animals in each pen. A veterinarian routinely inspects the horses and provides necessary medical care as needed.
The BLM strives to place horses removed from the range into good, private homes. Horses at the Indian Lakes Road facility are made available to the public for adoption or sale throughout the year at off-site adoption events and through the BLM’s adoption or sales program. Horses will not be available for adoption during the public tour; however, if there is interest in an animal viewed during the tour, the BLM could make arrangements for adoption at a later time.
More information about the Indian Lakes Road facility and the public tours can be found at www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/prog/wh_b/Indian_Lakes_Facility.html.
Categories: Horse Health, Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
“..with a capacity to safely hold approximately 100 horses.” The description of “safely” is highly debatable and flawed. The story fails to note, safety from weather —scorching sun, blasting arctic wind, snow, rain and sleet—are NOT provided, hypocritically contradicting the BLM’s own adoption requirement that these sheltering issues are provided.
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Animal Cruelty Will Soon Be A Top Tier Felony
http://www.habitatforhorses.org/animal-cruelty-will-soon-be-a-top-tier-felony/
Finally, the same extensive databases that homicides detectives tap into will be created for investigators to use for animal cruelty cases. As the article states below, it will take time to develop this information. The sooner we begin, the better. Also FBI involvement in pursuing animal cruelty cases will only help bring to justice those who would do harm to our four-legged friends. ~ HfH
From: Alternet
By: Evelyn Nieves
Zeroing In On Sociopaths: Feds Finally Make Animal Cruelty a Top-Tier Felony
The move will finally offer a way to track animal abuse and analyze crimes against animals.
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HI — I’m on the list for the morning “tour” and I’ll certainly ask questions. If possible (reception is spotty out there), I’ll liveTweet as we go. Since sign-ups are taken at Palomino Valley I asked how the shade structures (tarps erected 3 weeks ago, plastic chosen over something more substantial) were holding up in today’s high winds and found out that they’ll be taking them down. Fill in the blank with your own comments about ____________ false economy.
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Terri-
As of last Friday, NO shelters could be seen at Palomino Valley – even with binoculars and even after slowly driving the entire perimeter of the facility. There could have been some very small shelters in the middle but they were not visible to us and we saw almost all the horses – about 1,000 – and they did not have any shelter from the hot sun or the winter blizzard conditions that are upcoming.
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ANIMALS’ ANGELS INVESTIGATION
Broken Arrow Wild Horse Holding Facility, Fallon, NV 5/20/14-5/24/14
http://www.animalsangels.org/investigations/horses/broken-arrow-wild-horse-holding-facility-fallon-nv-5-20-14-5-24-14
Animals’ Angels investigators arrived at the premises on 5/20/14 at 9:00am. This BLM Short-Term Holding facility is privately owned and operated and can hold up to 2,850 wild horses. According to the BLM’s website, the 320 acre property contains 36 large holding pens, each capable of holding approximately 100 horses. Troy Adams, a rancher who is also in the Angus business, obtained a 5 year contract with the BLM (1/01/2010 to 12/31/2015) to take care of these horses, which will cost the US taxpayer more than 18 Million Dollars.
Broken Arrow is no stranger to controversy. Although hard-working American tax dollars pay for the operations of the facility, after the infamous Calico round-up of 2009/2010 and public outcry over images of emaciated foals, injured or ill animals taken during one of the few public tours, the doors were shut to the public for good.
Throughout the 4 days at the property, investigators couldn’t help but be reminded of the Bouvry feedlots in Canada, as the set-up (like a feedlot) as well as lethargic horses lying flat on their sides was remarkably similar. The pens were crowded, and no shelter was available in most of them.
On the second day of documenting, investigators heard what sounded to be a series of six gunshots coming from the pen area, out of sight.
We have requested the mortality and disposal records from the Broken Arrow/Indian Lakes facility and will continue to monitor the facility.
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BLM’s sweet deal (paid for with your tax dollars, of course!)
Debbie Coffey
http://ppjg.me/2011/04/17/blm%E2%80%99s-sweet-deal-paid-for-with-your-tax-dollars-of-course/
The BLM has its hand out at appropriations hearings asking for even more money for their mismanaged Wild Horse and Burro Program. Where’s your money going?
Look at one example. Troy Adams/Broken ArrowUSAhas the contract for theIndian Lakes Road(AKA Broken Arrow) short term wild horse and burro holding facility inFallon,NV. How does a guy fromCalifornia, who sold a cloned cow, get enough knowledge in wild horse behavior, and enough ability in safely handling wild horses, to win a bid to manage a facility that can hold up to 3,000 of our wild horses?
Troy Adams/Broken ArrowUSAcontract with the BLM is for 5 years (1/01/2010 to 12/31/2015):
Base year (2010 – 2011) – $2,525,000 with an option for “additional labor” for $127,920 ($24.60 per hour, per laborer) to FREEZEBRAND, RETAG, TRIM FEET, ETC. (same tasks apply to years below)
Year 1 (2011-2012) – $3,640,875 with an option for “additional labor” for $130,468 ($25.09 per hour)
Year 2 (2012 – 2013) – $3,759,500 with an option for “additional labor” for $133,068 ($25.59 per hour)
Year 3 (2013 – 2014) – $3,832,500 with an option for “additional labor” for $135,720 ($26.10 per hour)
Year 4 (2014 – 2015) – $3,905,500 with an option for “additional labor” for $138,424 ($26.62 per hour)
So, the estimated 5 year TOTAL is $17,663,375, with optional “additional labor” adding $665,600 to that the total is ($18,328,975). (Note: The money in this contract is based on estimated feed days. See details of this at the end of the article.)
Over $18 million in 5 years. And since Troy Adams supplies the land, pens and corrals the first year, and it’s not an expense every year, why is there such a huge increase in the amount of money for in the remaining years of the contract?
The contractor (Troy Adams) supplies: land, pens, corrals, feed, salt, minerals, water and personnel for general tasks.
The BLM: pays for veterinary care, a farrier, hoof care (hey, are we paying for this twice, since TRIM FEET is listed above?), the working chute (squeeze chute), and prepares the paperwork for shipment of animals to other locations, prepares all wild horses and burros prior to shipment and paperwork related to vaccination or “other action taken.”
One surprising item in this contract, on Page 5 of 15 (7 a.) is that this facility had to get permits required for a Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) according to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection. So, in more ways than one, it seems that our wild horses are considered to be, and are being treated as, livestock.
IS THERE BREACH OF CONTRACT? (continued)
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When adopting a gelding and a mare (separate pastures) who had lived at Indian Lakes for about a year … their manes were scraped off when we picked them up. I later found out that this was the case for other (all?) Indian Lakes horses caused by them trying to reach the hay – caused by incompetent feeding procedures by the BLM’s facility managers. I also understand that this issue had previously been brought to the attention of BLM – and they “said” they would remedy the problem … obviously they did not. Anyone going on this upcoming tour should try to take a look at the feeding stations and also to see if horses still have their manes scraped off from this problem. Thanks.
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I’m very disappointed to hear this since I’m finding out only 2 days before the tour. I had contacted BLM about a year and a half ago because I wanted to see the facility for myself. Do they keep an email list of interested visitors? Hell, no. Do they arrange tours on a regular basis? Hell, no. It’s up to each of us to spend our time checking their site daily since they are too incompetent to let people know. It’s infuriating!
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“We” aren’t the ones doing it.
It’s time to shout stop on this war on the living world (excerpts)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/georgemonbiot/2014/oct/01/george-monbiot-war-on-the-living-world-wildlife
This is a moment at which anyone with the capacity for reflection should stop and wonder what we are doing.
If the news that in the past 40 years the world has lost over 50% of its vertebrate wildlife (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish) fails to tell us that there is something wrong with the way we live, it’s hard to imagine what could. Who believes that a social and economic system which has this effect is a healthy one? Who, contemplating this loss, could call it progress?
We are waging an increasingly asymmetric war against the living world.
Perhaps it is misleading to suggest that “we” are doing all this.
It’s being done not only by us but to us.
One of the remarkable characteristics of recent growth in the rich world is how few people benefit. Almost all the gains go to a tiny number of people: one study suggests that the richest 1% in the United States capture 93% of the increase in incomes that growth delivers.
What and whom is this growth for?
It’s for the people who run or own the banks, the hedge funds, the mining companies, the advertising firms, the lobbying companies, the weapons manufacturers, the buy-to-let portfolios, the office blocks, the country estates, the offshore accounts. The rest of us are induced to regard it as necessary and desirable through a system of marketing and framing so intensive and all-pervasive that it amounts to brainwashing.
Is this not the point at which we challenge the inevitability of endless growth on a finite planet? If not now, when?
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