UPDATE: More than 124 wild horses have now died at this BLM facility
The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
Last week, we alerted you to a highly contagious and deadly infectious disease outbreak occurring in real time at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Cañon City holding facility in Colorado. In just the last 11 days, at least 124 wild horses have died in these holding pens — making this possibly the deadliest disease outbreak in BLM history.
Nearly 2,500 wild horses are confined in this facility and remain at risk — please speak up for them now by calling on your members of Congress to demand an investigation into the BLM’s holding corrals.
Since we last emailed you, the BLM was able to identify the virus that has killed dozens of these cherished animals — Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) — a virus that the BLM is supposed to vaccinate wild horses and burros against once they are rounded up and removed from the wild.
The BLM reported that the 124 mustangs killed were either entirely unvaccinated or only partially-vaccinated against the deadly virus even though they had been at the facility for over 9 months.
At the same time, an active disease outbreak is occuring at the BLM’s off range holding corrals in Wheatland, Wyoming, where a highly contagious bacterial infection that causes strangles has so far infected half of the 2,750 horses confined there.
This developing situation raises serious concerns about the conditions in the BLM’s off-range holding system where 59,749 wild horses and 862 wild burros are being held — and we deserve answers.
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Thanks for your help.
— AWHC Team
———- Forwarded message ———
From: ACTION ALERT! via AWHC <contact@americanwildhorsecampaign.org>
Date: Wed, Apr 27, 2022 at 6:26 PM
Subject: BREAKING: Wild horses are in danger at this BLM facility
To: <meredith@luckythreeranch.com>
Since Saturday, at least 67 wild horses have died in a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facility in Colorado due to an unidentified, highly contagious, and deadly infectious disease.
More than 2,500 BLM-managed wild horses are confined to the Cañon City facility where this outbreak occurred and are at risk. You could help us speak up for them by contacting your members of Congress calling for an investigation into the BLM’s off-range corrals.
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This is the second government holding facility to close in recent weeks due to disease outbreaks related to the intense confinement of these wild animals.
RIGHT NOW → almost 60,000 wild horses and 862 wild burros are confined in BLM off-range holding facilities. And with plans to remove 19,000 more wild horses and burros from public lands this year, the BLM is putting thousands of these innocent animals at risk.
And — wild horses and burros aren’t just dying from disease in these facilities. Records show that hundreds of mustangs are dying from traumatic injuries like broken necks, skull fractures, broken legs, and even evisceration from castration surgeries following capture at government facilities across the country.
These wild horses do no harm where they belong — in the wild, but our government is placing them in harm’s way by cramming them into crowded holding facilities.
We must protect the thousands of federally-protected wild horses and burros in captivity today, but Meredith, we need your voice to help them.
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Thanks for taking action — we’re grateful for your support.
AWHC Team