Simple solution evades the BLM

The Aug. 18 story “Roundups revive debate over how to limit number of wild horses” outlines the perennial wild horse and burro boondoggle. The American public is paying $80,000 for the maintenance of feral animals.

The herds have been given federally protected status. Meanwhile, the herd size is growing, the cost is rising, and the proposed solutions are ridiculous.

The Bureau of Land Management has tried to maintain the herds on the open range, where starvation is an ongoing problem. So, the animals are rounded up and the BLM is faulted for waiting so long — and faulted for taking them off the range.

The horses are fed and checked for health, and some are adopted. The remaining animals are moved to BLM ranches and live comfortably until death. The Sun reports that each ranch animal now costs over $40,000.

One commonly advocated solution, birth control for the females, adds to the cost. All 80,000 animals would have to be rounded up. The females would have to be separated and a licensed veterinarian would have to administer a shot that has an expiration date.

In the meantime, no one seems to propose the easiest, cost-effective way of guaranteeing attrition to wild herds and public expense: neutering. A few good cowboys can ride into a herd and fix the males just as is done with domestic herds.