| Federally sanctioned roundups are in full swing as the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to target thousands of wild horses across the West. As we speak, innocent horses and foals on Wyoming’s North Lander Complex are the targets of a grueling, multi-week helicopter roundup that is set to cost taxpayers in excess of $100 million.
American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) observers are on the ground documenting these brutalities in real time, but what you may not know, is that the BLM blocks observers from seeing the most barbaric events unfolding.
The trap site, where wild horses and burros are driven at the end of a helicopter chase, is the most dangerous part of a roundup — often resulting in severe injury and death.
Despite public observation of a government operation being guaranteed under the First Amendment, AWHC observers are frequently positioned so far from the trap site that they can’t see it at all. For example, at the ongoing North Lander roundup in Wyoming, our observers have been placed up to 1.6 miles from the site.
Thank you to AWHC observers Monica Martinez Ross and Steve Paige, who are on the ground in Blue Wing, Nevada, where at least 1,277 horses and burros have been captured so far. Their documentation (below) puts into perspective the distance BLM inserts between our volunteers and the brutal realities of government roundups — and the lengths BLM is willing to go to hide their costly, inhumane herd management tactics.
Video Credit: Monica Martinez Ross
When the Blue Wing roundup kicked off across the Nevada desert, AWHC’s roundup observers were positioned over a mile from the trap, which was in a ravine — rendering any view of the situation nearly impossible. So far this summer, at least 31 horses and burros have died during the Blue Wing roundups.
Our observation teams are doing their best to document what’s happening to these innocent animals, but there’s only one way to guarantee no BLM atrocity goes unrecorded: cameras. Will you join us in calling on the BLM to mandate cameras on all helicopters used for government roundups?
These roundup operations already take place in some of the most remote regions of the West — away from the public eye. Limitations on observation are only meant to further shroud the BLM’s irresponsible, unscientific management practices from the American people. For example, within just the first two weeks of the North Lander roundups in Wyoming, three foals died of “capture myopathy,” a serious condition involving muscle damage incurred when horses are subjected to extreme stress.
Over 10,000 wild horses will be rounded up by October. That includes thousands of foals who were born mere weeks before being senselessly chased and captured — sometimes separated from their mothers. AWHC is fighting every day to end costly, inhumane helicopter roundups. But until we can stop them for good, we need to ensure that we hold the BLM accountable for the tax-funded operation the federal government doesn’t want you to see.
We are calling on the BLM to require camera installations on all helicopters used for federally sanctioned roundup operations. Will you join us and help ensure the BLM is held accountable for violations committed during grueling helicopter roundups?
Thank you for your advocacy.
Onward,
Team AWHC |
