This is a wild family in the Green Mountain Herd in Wyoming. For the past three days the BLM has been chasing hundreds of horses with helicopters and rounding them up and yesterday two foals died of what the contractor calls “capture shock.”
Here’s the BLM’s story in the Gather Reports: “Summary: BLM euthanized a captured horse with a pre-existing condition. Two colts were treated for capture shock during sorting at the holding corral. One colt died shortly after being treated and the other died while being transferred to the veterinary hospital in Lander”
Here’s our opinion: It was very hot. These foals likely ran to keep up with their mothers while being chased by a helicopter. The BLM ran them to death. So while the BLM attempts to put lipstick on a pig by blaming the deaths of the foals on “capture shock,” we place the blame directly where it belongs – on the BLM.
If the foals were treated, where are the vet reports?
This is so cruel and unnecessary – the forage and water is in great shape in Wyoming.
Categories: Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Has anyone called and demanded a stop of the gather and investigation of the contractors?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Utah wild horses ran into barbed wire during aerial roundup; four animals with pre-existing injuries were euthanized
“We call on the [Bureau of Land Management] to suspend the roundup underway currently in Utah by grounding the helicopters while an investigation is undertaken of the animal welfare violations documented by our observer,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wild Horse Campaign. “Nearly hitting wild horses with helicopters, repeatedly causing them to crash into barbed wire, and stampeding horses in a manner that leaves foals behind is unconscionable.”
She cited her group’s concerns in a letter sent Tuesday to the BLM’s Utah director, Ed Roberson. The complaint targets the practices of BLM contractor SAMPSON LIVESTOCK, based in the Millard County town of Meadow, and demands the agency’s horse gathers comply with the agency’s Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policy.
The BLM acknowledged that horses hit the fence while a helicopter pursued them.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/08/09/deadly-aerial-roundup-ran/
LikeLike
Actually, it was Citizens Against Equine slaughter who called Director Roberson, 2 hours before Ms. Roy posted her letter on social media. This was only after we shared the 3 days worth of abuse shown in photos by an AWHC photographer on their social media, with no action from AWHC. The public outrage at AWHC for doing nothing literally FORCED them to act. And again today we made contact with the Wyoming BLM director Ms. Rugwell asking for this gather to be stopped also while an investigation of these deaths is done. We posted that letter on our Facebook page….tired of all credit going to an org who didn’t do it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
CITIZENS AGAINST EQUINE SLAUGHTER, THANK YOU
Do you have a website or facebook page where we can keep up with or post your information?
LikeLike
Of course!! Yet another death(s) that didn’t have to happen at the hands of the (B) Bad (L) Land (M) Management!! I want this heard loudly!!!!! …THE BLM IS” TOTALLY ” AT FAULT FOR “ALL” THE DEATHS OF “EVERY” WILD HORSE THAT IS.. & HAS EVER BEEN ROUNDED UP & & PUT INTO HOLDING PENS .. AFTER RUNNING THEM FOR MORE THAN 10 MILES BY HELICOPTER INTO THE GROUND..& THEN LEFT TO SUCCUMB TO EXTREME WEATHER OF TRIPLE DIGIT HEAT/ POUNDING RAINS/FRIDGID COLD/ SNOW THAT BURIES THEM SO DEEP THAT THEY HAVE NOTHING “(0)” TO EXIST ON.. OR TO PROTECT THEM! THEY ARE WITHOUT THE BARE NECESSITIES OF LIFE!! (SHELTERS, SHADE, WATER OR FOOD) And who’s fault is this??
THE BLM’s….. PERIOD!!!!!!!!!!!!
They are a greedy bunch of heartless fools that have their hands in others pockets.. & are in line with the cattle barons/ranchers & frackers minning 1000’s of acres fencing areas with natural creeks/ponds/waterways keeping the horses out where they are used to going to get life sustaining water to drink & are dying because of not being able to get at it!! Doing unheathy unnecessary castration.. & spaying/operating on mares without anesthesia..or sterile instruments & NOT GIVING A DAMN or REMORSE about KILLING THESE PRECIOUS ICONS OF THE AMERICAN WEST!!!
YEA .. I SAID IT!!! And I’m proud to have said it! The BLM is the absolute worst at the job they’re doing! This is ” OUR LAND!!!”
WE THE PEOPLE SAY NO MORE!!!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! We need to stand together & bear arms if necessary to defend the defenceless! Do you see the BLM doing the same to the cattle.. pronghorns..or rams..or deer that are out there in numbers in population tower over our wild horses by far? HELL NO!!! WHY IS THAT!??
BLM.. YOU HAVE GOT TO GO!
You should have the same treatment done to you. An eye for an eye!! I don’t know how you can sleep at nite!
ITS TIME WE DO SOMETHING!!!!!
STOP THE B.S.!!!!!!
STOP THE BLM!!!!!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Could not have said it better!! Thank you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Makes me sick what they’re doing. No one to blame for ANY of the deaths except BLM. This has to stop.
LikeLiked by 1 person
What kind of people are we when we repeatedly pay for “management” that rips ovaries out of live mares, disappears thousands to a horrific slaughter end, and has zero consideration for foals — who consistently suffer and die as a direct result of BLM actions? Never any consequences for the perpetrators, who must and should be held to the letter and intent of federal law. It clearly mandates:
“It is the policy of Congress that wild free-roaming horses and burros shall be protected from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and to accomplish this they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands.”
Killing foals should be a felony and those responsible prosecuted. They are especially vulnerable to heat exhaustion and dehydration. It is unnaturally hot and dry in these parts this summer, and running mares will also dehydrate them, depleting their milk supply for foals as well.
Why do we keep paying for this retrograde agency to kill what it is mandated to protect?
Ultimately it’s our fault. VOTE!!!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
VOTING RECORDS
Each year the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives take thousands of votes, some to pass bills, resolutions, nominations, and treaties, and others on procedural matters such as on cloture and other motions. Not all votes are recorded, such as when there is no one opposed. This page shows the outcome of all recorded votes on the Senate floor and House floor. It does not include votes in committee.
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes
LikeLike
“THE CHASE
There you are, a wild horse leisurely passing the day on the open rangelands of western
United States. Life is good—congenial herd mates, nice weather and enough to eat.
Suddenly you are startled by movement and strange sounds behind you. All of your
senses instantly come alive—your eye sight sharpens and your hearing becomes more
acute. You make a flash decision … run!”
“So let me tell you what happens to a wild horse’s physiology when he/she suffers
the severe stress, trauma, of being chased by a helicopter and sequestered into captivity.”
Above excerpts from:
Wild Horses
The Stress of Captivity
Bruce Nock, PhD
Click to access Wild%20Horse%20Stress.pdf
LikeLike
This is a disgrace the BLM does not care about the wild horses all they care about is getting that land for the rich ranchers.
LikeLike
Agree … hope that you are writing to and calling your elected representatives and the news media about the TRUTH.
LikeLike
The foals were literally scared to death.
“Fear isn’t just the mind-killer… it can actually kill your body as well. The notion of being scared to death may sound like a myth, but it does happen to people — and animals.”
– The Science of Being Scared to Death
Esther Inglis-Arkell
LikeLike
And even the foals that DO survive the initial chase and capture …
LikeLike
Well now … are we surprised that just two days ago the BLM announced it is offering 350 parcels In their September Oil And Gas Lease Sale. This is the Red Desert area of Wyoming where our wild horses are being captured and removed. What a coincidence – NOT!
“Leasing is the first step in the process to developing federal oil and gas resources.”
https://wyo4news.com/news/blm-offers-350-parcels-in-september-oil-and-gas-lease-sale-releases-stipulations-and-conservation-measures/
LikeLiked by 1 person
Attempted to comment on this article – but my access was denied! Not all that big a surprise.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Did BLM have a vet onsight or not?
One colt treated, the other left to die in pain from NEGLECT
LikeLike
No report yet for today but here are the BLM reports for the past two days. I heard that one of the so-called “pre-existing” killings was for a stallion with blindness in one eye who had apparently lived just fine in the wild but was not up to the standards of the BLM.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9
Summary: BLM humanely euthanized one captured horse with a pre-existing condition. One colt was also humanely euthanized after breaking its right hind leg. One orphaned foal was sent to the Wyoming Honor Farm for additional care.
Animals gathered: 87
Animals shipped to Rock Springs: 93
Animals shipped to Axtell: 36
Total deaths today: 2
Acute: 1
Chronic/pre-existing: 1
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8
Summary: BLM humanely euthanized a captured horse with a pre-existing condition. Two colts were treated for capture shock during sorting at the holding corral. One colt died shortly after being treated and the other died while being transferred to the veterinary hospital in Lander.
Animals gathered: 160
Animals shipped to Rock Springs: 89
Animals shipped to Axtell: 75
Total deaths today: 3
Acute: 2
Chronic/pre-existing: 1
LikeLike
As has been noted many times here, its amazing that wild horses whose ability to exist & belong to a herd and live FREE – only have a problem with their chronic/pre-existing condition when they have been captured – which of course means they have to be put down! Stampeding mares & young foals in the heat over many miles is so unnecessary and, I seem to remember there is a CAWP that was supposed require humane treatment – what happened to that? They dont appear to have any hesitation this year in ignoring the slightest welfare of our wild horses. Even more obvious than before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Send a Fax to your Senators
https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php
LikeLike
Send a Fax to your Congressional Representative
https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php
LikeLike
From AWHC
Helicopter Cowboys
Rounding up horses with helicopters for the federal government is a lucrative business. At $500-$800 per head, it’s turned a number of Utah and Nevada cattlemen into multi-millionaires. Here’s the line up of BLM’s current helicopter wranglers:
Cattoor Livestock Roundup, the BLM’s helicopter roundup contractor of choice. In 1975, they began working for the BLM rounding wild horses and burros with helicopters as well as processing and transporting them. As of 2010, they had captured over 150,000 wild horses and burros for the BLM. Today, the number is closer to 200,000. From 2008-2018, the Cattoors have made $20,462,928 through 159 contracts with the BLM.
Sun J Livestock of Vernal Utah pulled in $7,738,566 via 33 contracts with the BLM between 2008 and 2018.
Sampson Livestock, headed by a former Cattoor employee, is newer on the scene. Sampson earned $1,682,994 through roundup contracts with BLM between 2012-2018
.
Bait Trappers
Although it doesn’t involve expensive aircraft, bait trapping wild horses for the federal government is also lucrative:
Uhalde Livestock LLC of Ely, Nevada was awarded a $5 million contract in September 2017 to conduct trapping operations in the 10 Western states to remove wild horses and burros from public lands.
LikeLike
We need a NEW wild horse Annie. Anger on a post does little but fill the blogs pages. We need to contact radio DJs indpendant stations and grab NPR by the short hairs. Take it to the radio. Perhaps we as wild horse advocates should start buying airtime and commercials on major stations. T.V, Radio, Pandora etc.
LikeLike
We do all of that and more. This blog is a place to share information for those who can use it and will do so.
Check out Wild Horse Freedom Federation and share the 5 year investigation into the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse & Burro Program.
Also check out and share Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s THE TRUTH facts and FOIAs
LikeLiked by 1 person
I understand that, but some responses are very long-winded. And obviously very frustrated. Folks don’t need to convince the readers. I’m familiar with all of those groups, and they all are the same in tone and tenor. My point was: I don’t hear any PSA’s about the Wild horse Plight. I’m not seeing FaceBook ads, or feed pop-ups alerting me to things that” Might interest me”. There is a broader audience that is being missed.
That is all.
LikeLike
For sure Slave2thePaint, and it’s not for the lack of activism. There’s a couple of things that might help to understand the depth of corruption that advocates are up against.
You also have to understand that most major media is corporate-owned.
AMERICAN HERDS 2009
The four-year grand jury investigation of the Wild Horse & Burro Program and the over 3,000 pieces of evidence it accumulated that was slammed shut in 1996 (without any of this evidence ever being heard) is often referred to in wild horse circles as “Del Rio”.
Does anyone remember what the final straw was that broke the back of the Del Rio grand jury’s investigation? It was a subpoena issued to BLM demanding an “inventory” of a 1,200 capacity long-term holding facility in Osasge County, OK, – a legal subpoena BLM refused to grant.
Let me repeat this so it is crystal clear…
Because a subpoena demanded an accounting of the number of wild horses in a BLM holding facility, the BLM successfully shut down a grand jury investigation of the United States of America rather than comply and allow independent law enforcement to verify the number of wild horses BLM said they were holding in the facility. (To be fair, this wasn’t the only reason BLM didn’t want the mountain of evidence assembled against them to ever be heard but it was the subpoena that forced their hand to dismantle the investigation through a variety of tactics).
Horses to Slaughter – Anatomy of a Coverup within the BLM (April 1997)
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) within the Department of Interior is the agency mandated by law “to protect and manage wild free-roaming horses…as components of the public lands.” Yet, the BLM has tolerated and in some instances facilitated the routine and illegal trafficking of wild horses to slaughter. The agency has obstructed efforts by its own law enforcement officers to expose commercial theft of wild horses, fraudulent adoption schemes and fictitious “sanctuary” herds not only to avoid embarrassment but also to maintain the flow of horses off the range.
Click to access 1997_horses_to_slaughter.pdf
LikeLiked by 1 person
“…not only to avoid embarrassment …”
I agree and with the large number of BLM employees involved in that illegal scam, the investigation of illegal activities would have worked it’s way up the ladder to many of those on top of the BLM agency. The same basic thing happened with the Tom Davis investigation. So many of the BLM employees would have been proven to be part of those illegal activities involving the Davis issue that many of the top BLM employees would have been proven to have been involved with the selling of about 1700 of our wild horses and burros to eventual slaughter – thanks to BLM. Don’t kid yourself into thinking that it was only a few BLM employees. Almost every single WH&B BLM employee knew exactly what was going on.
LikeLike
Something else that might shed some light on the depth of corruption is in this article from AMERICAN HERDS.
At The Root
Whether you’re passion is wild horses and burros, wildlife or just someone who loves to go hiking around in nature, eventually we all run into the same issue; the degradation of public lands by poorly managed livestock grazing and our government authorizing unsustainable numbers for decades.
The question becomes why…..
Why does public lands ranching have such a death grip on our natural resources? How is it that after all these years, little has changed despite overwhelming evidence of the damage? Why, despite all the laws and many, many good dedicated people in the government agencies themselves that have tried to effect change, nothing substantial can be done? Why is it that report after report submitted to Congress clearly outlining the mismanagement and malfeasance of livestock grazing to our resources, including wild horses and burros, is met with indifference as they not only continue to support livestock grazing but will viciously fight for the rights of ranchers time and time again? And how is it possible that just a handful of ranchers who produce less than 3% of America’s beef on public lands continue to wield so much power over our Nation?
Well, the answer is, they don’t. The banks do, just like everything else these days and it’s the banks that continue to dictate American policy and cause Congress to ask “How high?” when they ask them to jump.
http://americanherds.blogspot.com/2008/05/at-root.html
LikeLiked by 1 person
RIGHT ON Grandma Gregg. Cages would be rattled all the way to the top
“…..the investigation of illegal activities would have worked it’s way up the ladder to many of those on top of the BLM agency.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
We also MUST develop and share better ideas to manage a sustainable population of wild horses and burros on our public lands, ON RANGE. It’s easy to be angry but much harder to grapple with finding better ways forward. I challenge everyone reading this to come up with at least one new idea that would be possible financially and morally for our country and our horses, and share it. Congress cannot develop ideas but could buy into something that was clearly doable and practical, and SOON!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The information and ideas that are contained on this blog are the equivalent of a giant sledgehammer for those who are willing to use it. It does take a HUGE commitment, TONS of time and often $ from your own pocket.
WHFF does and has put forth an excellent Wild Horse & Burro Management Plan. It was sent to Congress
Craig Downer has also, many times, presented a Reserve Design coupled with ON THE RANGE MANAGEMENT.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, and yes. I have been in the trenches a long while myself. I frequent this blog as it keeps the most current information and generally credible posts. My point was not to criticize but to challenge. What we have been doing is not yet enough — ask why there are funds to rip ovaries out of wild mares, but nothing for Craig Downer’s Reserve Design proposals — and with all the brainpower in our country we surely can and must develop new and innovative strategies that may not exist today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
IcySpots, I think most are open to new ideas, but there are plenty of solutions on the table. What is lacking is the “inspiration” (sledgehammer) from the agencies to even listen, must less implement them.
As we keep repeating, the 22 Million plus acres that was stolen from our WH&B AND the American Public must first be returned and there MUST be an independent and accurate census. It can’t be repeated often enough.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This might have been posted here already but not sure everyone has read it.
“….. little FINANCIAL INCENTIVE translated means “there goes the gravy train”.
Wild horse “fire brigade” concept goes national on US TV
May 14, 2018
Simpson is the author of the Natural Wildfire Abatement and Forest Protection Plan. His concept – the Wild Horse Fire Brigade – advocates using wild horses, which are being held in government corrals at taxpayer expense, to graze the areas where there are no longer enough deer to control the undergrowth.
He said only about 3% of the 2018 US Forest Service’s budget of $2.5 billion for wildfire fighting is dedicated to wildfire prevention. “As it appears, there is LITTLE FINANCIAL INCENTIVE to engage in wildfire prevention,” Simpson says. “And most of the ‘prevention’ that is funded in the USFS budget relates to more burning, as in ‘prescribed burns’, which in some cases leads to uncontrolled wildfires.
https://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2018/05/14/wild-horse-fire-brigade-national-tv/
LikeLike
SKY PROTEST
On Sunday November 22nd, as on the previous Friday (as reported in the Denver Post and 5280 Denver’s Magazine), a plane and banner message critical of Secretary Salazar will be flying over Denver, prior to the Denver Broncos game.
Frustrated and angry over continued Wild Horse round-ups, the message sponsors are working toward a conversation on the real issues on our public lands discussed in this press release.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a fools’ errand to expect policy changes within the BLM or even the DOI. Congress directs them both, and Congress (at least in theory) responds to the voters. The “inspiration” needed to effect change has to come from the over 300 million US citizens with a stake in our wild horses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s the “sledgehammer” part IcySpots
LikeLike
FIVE Red Desert wild horses have been SHOT this past year (news report from Feb 2018) and those are only the ones the public is told about.
http://www.kgwn.tv/content/news/Wild-goreses-shot-in-Red-Desert-473071213.html
LikeLike
They are sobs blm does not care about our horses and burros . They do not care if some die so what. Stand up America now for our horses and Burros.
LikeLiked by 1 person
CAPTURE SHOCK?….THEY RAN THEM TO DEATH…. THEY COULDN’T TAKE IT NO MORE….IMAGINE THAT…..THATS INHUMANE!
THAT’S TORTURE PLAIN N SIMPLE
….THIS NEEDS TO STOP.
IT’S NATURAL N ITS NATURE FOR THEM TO LIVE WILD N LIVE NATURAL LIFE CYCLES.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So, if livestock are considered to be killed by wolves and thus eligible for taxpayer damage payments — even days after any wolves are in the area — why aren’t roundup foal and wild horse mortalities also considered a direct result of predation by helicopters and humans? Why do livestock have more value and rights than wildlife on our public lands?
“Specifically, Idaho Wildlife Services now maintains that it can confirm a wolf kill even where there is no evidence of predation, injury, or struggle. Last fall, Wildlife Services began claiming that cattle killed by wolves “often show no signs of a wolf attack,” and encouraged ranchers to report all livestock deaths in an effort to confirm more wolf depredations. The agency now asserts that livestock can die from “myopathy”—a form of muscle weakness caused by overexertion or stress—hours or even days after an encounter with wolves.”
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2018/08/03/reports-of-record-wolf-depredations-based-on-misinformation/
LikeLike
Pitiful behavior by BLM. The bond of mother and baby. That bond broken and lives destroyed as infant horses have to be terrorized and be forced to keep up with a herd of frightened horses. That’s inhumane. Foals treated like so much trash. And thoses helicopter pilots. Did they get some kind of excitement running horses into barbed-wire fences? Bet that was a real knee-slapper. They probably fight pitbulls when they get home.
LikeLike