Friday, July 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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Regardless of who is heading the Bureau of Land Management, and what administration is in Washington, D.C., although some have been worse than others, the BLM has run roughshod over wild horses, contrary to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
They pick and choose which numbers to consider, listen to only their own biologists, and spend millions to chase horses with helicopters over rough terrain and in deadly heat.
They pay for people to take horses off their hands, knowing this attracts kill buyers who ultimately send them to slaughter in Mexico under horrifying conditions. They keep horses in crowded conditions, and in the case of a captive herd in Colorado recently, neglected to vaccinate the herd which resulted in over 140 horses dying.
They ignore the greater use of anti-fertility drugs, which would render unnecessary the helicopter chases, and give lame reasons for doing so. They are not the stewards of the land and its wild denizens, they are destroyers. The secretary of the interior, who had inspired hope for change, doesn’t seem to care, has done nothing, and is unreachable by virtually any means.
It is up to public and political pressure to stop this willful rending of the social fabric of an iconic Western wild animal.
Raise your voice and help stop this slaughter.
