Thanks to your generosity, we can tell their stories

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

With Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup season starting in just a few days, we are sending observers to document any cruelty during these dangerous operations. But our work doesn’t stop there. We also investigate what happens after wild horses and burros are captured and funneled into the BLM’s overcrowded holding system. Our Investigations Team files Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to obtain government documents that reveal the harsh reality wild horses and burros face in BLM holding facilities.

Below, I’m going to tell you about some of the important FOIA work we’ve been doing to expose what’s happening to our wild horses and burros in BLM captivity — but first, please chip in to help us reach our $25,000 goal and prepare for the summer roundup season! →

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a federal law that enables private citizens and organizations to access public records that federal agencies, such as the BLM, may be reluctant to release. This makes FOIA a powerful tool for uncovering critical and often revealing information about the mismanagement of our nation’s wild horses and burros.

For example, we discovered through a FOIA request earlier this year that, in 2023, a staggering 267 wild horses died at the Fallon (Indian Lakes) Off-Range Holding Corral in Nevada. This facility, which is the agency’s largest short-term holding facility in Nevada, has an average population of a little over 3,000 animals, with a capacity to hold over 7,000. This means 9% of the population died in just one year.

And these are not isolated incidents, Meredith. In 2022, we filed FOIA requests regarding the Blue Wing Complex roundup in Nevada. The BLM reported only 14 deaths during the roundup. But through our FOIA requests, we found that, in the 30 days after the roundup began, an additional 38 wild horses and burros perished in the Axtell holding facility where they had been sent.

As if that isn’t bad enough, the FOIA records also reveal in the three months after the roundup, another 25 horses and burros died in the holding facility. Their causes of death ranged from complications during gelding, to colic, to spinal cord injuries, and more. This brought the total deaths since the start of the roundup to approximately 77 wild horses and burros — a much larger number than the 14 animals the BLM reported as dead.

But perhaps the best example of how FOIA helps our cause is the work we’ve done investigating the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP). When we first heard that the AIP was sending adopted horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline, our investigations team leapt into action and filed dozens of FOIA requests to obtain the concrete evidence needed to expose the program. This work led to a front-page New York Times exposé and heightened congressional concern.

With thousands of wild horses and burros in the BLM’s crosshairs this summer, we’ve set a goal of raising $25,000 before July 1 to power our work to stand up for these iconic animals — including funding our investigations program. Will you make a contribution to help ensure our Investigations Team has the resources it needs to continue exposing the cruelty our wild herds suffer in BLM captivity?

Thank you for your support,

Amelia Perrin
American Wild Horse Conservation