Biased by omission
The recent article (“Animal welfare advocates sue to halt cruel, unjustified, secretive horse and burro roundups”) published on lassennews.com about the BLM’s rounding up of wild horses appears biased by omission
Especially I noted the information listed at the bottom of the article regarding Animal Wellness Action as one-sided. There is a lack of information about what happens to the rounded-up mustangs/burros. BLM does improve the overall habitat, as well as extend and improve the lives of those animals. Insofar as removing horses and mustangs from cattle and sheep grazing areas, when was the last time anyone saw horsemeat being sold for consumption by humans?
See the BLM mentioned in this Quora article: “How does the BLM choose what horse to keep or not? In theory, it’s a question of what characteristics — sex, age, genetic stock — the BLM’s local wild horse specialist thinks will best help a herd maintain its “appropriate management level” or AML. An AML is a target population for a herd that guarantees that there will be adequate vegetation and water for livestock and other wildlife without undue stress on the environment. In some locations, these criteria are determined with the help of wild horse advocates. Horses under 5 years old are sent to a facility where they are vaccinated, wormed, and freezemarked (branded with an iron chilled in liquid nitrogen) before being offered for adoption. Horses that are over 10 years old are defined as ready for retirement and are transferred to government-run long-term holding centers to receive permanent care. Horses between the ages of 5 and 9 are returned to the range. The bureau says that ‘under normal circumstances,’ unadoptable horses are returned to the range.”
Drew Hyslop
Sparks, Nevada
Editor’s note: When we asked, a spokesperson for the BLM declined to comment on the “Animal welfare advocates sue to halt cruel, unjustified, secretive horse and burro roundups” story because the BLM does not comment on litigation. However, we also published the story “BLM enhances protections in wild horse and burro Adoption Incentive Program,” a story submitted by BLM that addresses some of the same issues and concerns, but it is not a direct response to the previously mentioned lawsuit story.