Tuesday, June 25, 2013 • Study shows BLM wild horse program ineffective
Publisher’s note: This story originally appeared in the Tuesday, June 25, 2013 edition of the Lassen County Times.
A panel assembled by the National Academies of Science’s National Research Council, at the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, released its findings and recommendations after a two-year review of the government’s wild horse and burro management program.
Wild horses at the BLM’s Litchfield Corral.Much of the independent panel’s observations are congruent with those of The Humane Society of the United States — BLM needs to stop relying on short-sighted roundups and instead make the immediate changes necessary to set the program on a long-term, humane and financially sustainable path.
A helicopter chases these wild horses into a BLM catch pen.Holly Hazard, senior vice president of programs and innovations for the Humane Society said, “The current wild horse program has been a fiscal and animal-welfare disaster, and the BLM needs to get off this treadmill. It’s time for a new way forward that is better for horses and better for taxpayers.
These once wild horses are in a trailer to be transported to a BLM facility. After being chased by helicopters and separated from their family members, most of them will suffer the fate of living the rest of their once-free lives in BLM captivity.“We’re pleased to see that many of the committee’s key findings echo the long-standing concerns that The Humane Society of the United States has posed to the department. We hope that the new leadership will take these findings seriously and begin to make management decisions through a collaborative process that involves both the agency and the public, as recommended in the report.
This dead foal was discovered lying on the ground amid other horses at the privately owned Winnemucca Holding Facility earlier this month. Photo by American Wild Horse Conservation.“To that end, the HSUS has developed a proposal to present to the agency for a bold new program that meets the challenges of the budget, the horse population and land-use issues head on. We plan to present this to the department within the next few weeks.”
Yesterday, a trailer transporting recently captured mustangs, flew open, sending nine horses tumbling out of the moving vehicle. According to American Wild Horse Conservation observers, there were no fatalities, but the extent of the injuries sustained is unknown as all nine horses escaped capture and fled to their habitat. According to the BLM, the horses have not been recaptured.
