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Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA), friend to wild horses

Congress has begun reviewing the President’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 which includes the budget for the Wild Horse and Burro program under the Department of Interior.

Congress’ appropriations (budgeting) process is long and complex. Numerous committees and subcommittees review and modify the President’s proposed budgets for the various departments before they are ultimately approved. We want to make sure all committees and subcommittees that hold hearings on the Interior Department’s budget hear from Americans who want the broken Wild Horse and Burro program completely reformed. As the appropriations process proceeds we will continue to keep you informed of actions you can take to be sure Congress knows what you think.

Three Congressional hearings took place over the past week.

This Monday IDA initiated a 1-Day Action Blitz for Wild Horses & Burros. IDA members and wild horse advocate made their voices heard – over 6,000 faxes were sent to members of the House and Senate Subcommittees. Thanks to you, the Subcommittee members know of the intense national concern about our magnificent wild horses and burros.

On Monday, March 9, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey testified before the House Appropriations Committee to justify BLM’s FY 2011 budget, which includes an additional $12 million for the controversial BLM Wild Horse and Burro program, as well as $42.5 million to purchase private land in the Midwest or East for long-term holding “preserves” for wild horses taken from Western public lands.

We are working to provide a recap of that meeting. Earlier on Monday, Secretary Salazar testified in the Senate Appropriations subcommittee – this meeting focused on renewable energy and other issues were not discussed.

Last Wednesday, March 3, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing (available online here) on the U.S. Department of Interior’s budget proposal. Thanks to all of you who took action last week opposing Salazar’s proposal for wild horses and burros, the senators heard you and both Senators Murkowski (R-AK) and Landrieu (D-LA) addressed the wild horse issue at the hearing. In opening comments Vice Chair Murkoski voiced her “concern” about the direction the agency and about moving more horses to the Midwest and East and not managing on them on their Western range.

Senator Landrieu highlighted her concerns of the program and specifically asked the Secretary what was being done to restore the millions of acres the wild horses have lost over the years. The Senator went on to express her deep concerns over the inhumane roundups during winter weather of ice and snow, and she pointed out that the “horses only have a measly 31 million acres” out of 500 million acres overseen by the Department of Interior. Salazar responded (looking at Landrieu and gesturing to other senators) that he’s aware of their concerns and that he is “not wedded” to his proposal , is open to better ideas and looks forward to working together.

This is a good first step, but we have a lot of work ahead. We’ll continue to provide updates and action alerts – so please stay tuned. The horses and burros need you to keep fighting for them … and please tell a friend about their plight. We need to grow this grassroots movement and that will happen one person at a time.

This photo taken from video shot by Deniz Bolbol, shows just how close the helicopters get to the horses when stampeding them into traps.

As IDA gears up for 2 Nevada demonstrations this weekend, (Las Vegas on Thursday, Carson City on Saturday), the BLM announced on February 12 that beginning February 21^st, the wild horses rounded up from Nevada’s Calico Mountain complex can only be seen on guided tours of 10 people per week during a two-hour window on Sundays. So much for BLM’s promised transparency!

The BLM announced in a news release that the strict new visitation policy is necessary “due to horse preparation for adoption activities (freezemarking, vaccinations, blood tests, deworming, aging and recordation of animal descriptions).” IDA is dismayed that humane observers such as Craig Downer will be restricted from performing their legally-mandated duties. The humane observers are the only eyes on the ground for the horses, and now they’re being told they must close their eyes for most of the week. But we have confidence that they will keep their eyes open and continue to reveal to the world the BLM’s inhumane policies.

The BLM also released a report claiming that 18 horses who have died or been euthanized since being captured in the Calico roundup “came off the range in poor condition” and those euthanized received “acts of mercy.” But astute observers such as award-winning investigative reporter George Knapp dispute the BLM’s claims that the wild horses were in “poor condition” before they were chased by helicopters, stampeded for miles and held captive in holding pens. Such cruel helicopter stampedes constitute much of BLM’s so-called “management.” IDA has little doubt that the Calico death toll will continue to rise during their inhumane internment, which even BLM admits can cause stress, disease and injury in captured wild horses.

Calico stallion interred at BLM Fallon holding facility Photo credit: Wild Horses of Nevada Photography

Wanted to share a terrific investigative news segment on the consequences of the Calico Mountain Complex. Kudos to George Knapp,  chief investigative reporter with KLAS I-Team (Las Vegas), for asking good questions and exposing this story. (note: in the piece you may some images of a downed mare which were taken by an IDA observer at the Fallon, NV holding facility)

I-Team: Wild Horses Forced into a Stampede of Death ( be sure and check out the video )
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=11979541#

Calico horse losing his freedom; Eagle horses spared for now. Photo Credit: Elyse Gardner

After receiving 9,000 public comments, the BLM announced yesterday that it is postponing the roundup of nearly 500 horses living in the Eagle Herd Management area in eastern Nevada.The announcement came just three days after IDA’s attorneys notified the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that they would sue to stop the helicopter stampede and capture, which had been scheduled to begin February 15.

Despite issuing an Environmental Assessment detailing a capture plan scheduled for mid-February, the BLM now states “there is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area (HMA) gather prior to the beginning of foaling season.” The agency states that it is currently seeking a solution for 50 horses who have wandered outside the Eagle HMA.

The decision comes days after the BLM ended the Calico roundup, in which, to date, 39 wild horses have lost their lives and an additional 20-30 pregnant mares spontaneously aborted.

Last month, the BLM also postponed the roundup of 200 horses in the Confusion Mountains HMA in Utah. IDA’s federal lawsuit challenging challenging the legality of BLM roundups and long-term holding facilities continues in federal court, with a hearing scheduled in late April.

Read IDA’s full news release here.

On the heels of a news report indicating that Freedom, the proud stallion who escaped the BLM’s trap pens, may have been recaptured, comes the news that two more horses have died as a result of the Calico roundup. One, a colt, who should have been cavorting in the hills with his mother, someday having a chance at being a proud band stallion, was instead terrorized and stampeded by helicopter so long and hard that his little hooves were bruised to the point of sloughing off.  He died in the cold, in pain and alone in the BLM holding pens.

Another foal at BLM Fallon feedlot where Calico horses are being held.

According to the BLM, the little colt, stampeded for miles at top speeds from the only home he had ever known, forcefully separated from his mother and other family members, confined in trap pens, crammed onto trailers loaded with other terrorized horses, trucked four to five hours to the BLM holding facility at Fallon — suffered for two weeks before the BLM “euthanized” him (likely by rifle) and sold his body to a rendering plant.

The vet report below confirms that his death is a direct result of the roundup:

January 22, 2010

Black Rock East

History and Report on Sloughed Hoof Foal

This foal was received at the Indian Lakes contract holding facility from the Calico complex gather around 1/6/2010. He was fed and watered for a day and when noticed to be lame was removed from the general population and placed in a hospital pen. On 1/8/2010 this horse was treated with phenylbutazone (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and penicillin (an antibiotic) for presumptive sole bruising and abscesses. No abscesses were noted at this time but there was some foot swelling suggesting hoof trauma. During the next 5 days the colt which was nine months old was fed and watered in the hospital pen and observed for body condition and lameness. He was retreated on 1/13/2010 with phenylbutazoneand penicillin. Sole abscesses and potential hoof sloughs were noted. Both hind feet were flushed with betadine (an antiseptic) and bandaged with gauze, antibiotic ointment and tape. The colt was slightly improved after treatment but over the next couple of days spent more and more time lying down. On 1/18/2010 the 2 hind feet were examined again. Multiple hoof sloughs were noted and the foal was euthanized for humane reasons. The cause of these hoof abscesses/sloughs was most likely hoof trauma from the gather operations. (Emphasis added.)

Richard Sanford DVM

NV #565

Also dead is a mare who went down in the trucks transporting frightened horses between their Calico homeland and the Fallon holding facility. No help was given to this mare on the four to five hour journey; she died shortly after arriving at this newest BLM feedlot.

At the same time it announced these latest fatalities, the BLM also revealed that it was treating 20-25 additional horses for injuries and lameness suffered in the roundup, where helicopters are chasing horses for up to ten miles or more over treacherous terrain at full gallop speeds.

If a person were to chase a horse with a truck so long, hard and fast that his hooves were bruised and damaged, that person would be put in jail on animal cruelty charges. If a private citizen were to transport a horse from one barn to another in a trailer where the horse went down, was afforded no assistance, and died, that citizen could be brought up on charges of neglect. But the BLM considers this blatant cruelty an acceptable side result of its capture operations, which it claims are done in the best interest of the horses!

Clearly the vast majority of American citizens find this treatment of our nation’s beloved wild horses unacceptable. Amidst growing public outrage, the BLM’s days of business as usual may be coming to an end.
Please do your part in stopping this cruelty by taking action here and here.

IDA, in collaboration with The Cloud Foundation and other organizations held a rally for wild horses and burros on January 21 in Sacramento, CA. Despite the cold and rainy weather, we had a great turnout of about 35 people. We had local folks from Sacramento and the Placerville area as well as people from the San Francisco Bay Area, a lady all the way from Monterey, and Craig Downer, author and wildlife specialist from Nevada. We gathered on the capitol steps under canopies with signs and large, beautiful pictures of horses running free. Some of the media that came out was Sacramento radio station KFBK 1530 and one from the Sacramento TV station KCRA 3.

We congregated inside the capitol for a press conference at noon and listened to experts express their passionate pleas to stop the round ups. Tawnee Preisner from NorCal Equine Rescue spoke of the reality that many of these magnificent animals will in up in slaughterhouses. Wildlife ecologist, biologist and author Craig Downer, who has been a humane observer of the round ups in Nevada, told the story of Freedom, a beautiful black stallion, and his escape from his captors. Freedom was determined to escape and jumped a six foot fence just to be caught in a second barbed wire fence. He somehow stomped out of the wire and galloped to the mountains. The observers, with tears in their eyes, cheered him on.

Click Here for more information on what you can do for Wild Horses.

Photo Credit: Cattoor Livestock Roundups

The BLM is reporting that a total of four horses have now died at the Indian Rivers Road holding facility in Fallon, to which the Calico horses are trucked after being stampeded into capture pens near their homeland.  The agency is attributing three deaths to “dietary feed change” and “failure to adjust in change in feed” and not reporting the cause of death for the other mare.

This brings the death toll for the Calico roundup to seven.  Meanwhile, BLM contractor Sue Cattoor reports 122 more horses were caught on Saturday, January 16, when public observers were allowed to observe the helicopter stampede and capture for just one hour and 40 minutes of a ten hour day.

The unofficial total for the Calico roundup since December 28 is just under 1,000 horses. We are awaiting the BLM’s official capture count this week.

This video was taken on Saturday by IDA’s observer Deniz Bolbol.  Kept at a distance, Deniz could hear the ominous thundering noise of the helicopter on the far side of the mountain, which obscured her view of the stampede.

When the horses came into view, several bands were being herded together by two helicopters into capture pens.  On the video you will see one horse who evaded the helicopters path and remained free.  When his horse comrades were stampeded into the traps, Deniz could hear the horse on the ridge call to them. They called back. She believes the back and forth calls occurred four or five times before the horse ran off to freedom, leaving his band behind. One can never know for certain what the horses were communicating, but Deniz felt that the captured horses were letting their friend know that they were trapped and urging him to run on and leave them behind.

Deniz reports witnessing the helicopters descend within a few feet of the horses, nearly touching them. Horses arrived in the pens covered in sweat despite the cool temperatures, meaning that they had been run great distances at swift speeds. Even after an hour in the trap pens, the horses remained sweaty.

This photo taken from video shot by Deniz Bolbol, shows just how close the helicopters get to the horses when stampeding them into traps.

Elyse Gardner, another horse advocate and public observer reported that Thursday’s roundup brought the cruelty of the Calico capture sharply into focus.  Although the observers are being kept at a distance, Elyse reported seeing the horses valiantly fighting capture, charging back toward the helicopters trying to run back to the hills.  Elyse reports one particularly heartbreaking scene where a stallion, loaded into a trailer packed with other horses, managed to turn himself around to look out at the hills as he was driven off, never to see his homeland or his family again.

It is a tough job to observe this brutality first-hand, a job that is made more difficult by the BLM’s restrictions, which prevent observers from witnessing the full activities of the BLM’s contractors as they stampede horses from ranges afar into trap pens situated on private lands.
Before the Calico roundup even ends, the next BLM offensive will begin . . . — a roundup of 550 horses in the Eagle Herd Management Area in eastern Nevada, scheduled to start in Mid-February. Public comments to oppose this roundup by January 27. Take action here.

More on this roundup and the proposed capture of 1,200 horses in the Antelope Complex also in Eastern Nevada soon.

Steam escaping from sweaty horses run in the cold at Calico. Photo Credit : BLM

The BLM is reporting that a mare was found dead over the weekend in the holding pens at the Fallon facility. The veterinarian is attributing the death of the horse, who was from the Black Rock East HMA to “dietary feed change.”

Meanwhile weather grounded the capture helicopter on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

Calico capture stats as of Monday: 547 gathered, 518 shipped to Fallon, 24 at gather corrals, 4 deaths, 1 escaped back to freedom.

UPDATE FROM BLM

On Thursday, January 7, the BLM killed another mare claiming “poor body condition.”  What the BLM claims is an “act of mercy” likely involved chasing this elder horse by helicopter for several miles at full gallop speed into the capture pens before determining that she was too old to withstand the transition to a captive life and therefore had to be  ”euthanized” her by rifle.

It is unknown if this mare’s condition was documented with video or photos; the condition of the foal and mare who were killed last week were not photo-documented, leaving only the word of the BLM as evidence of what happened to these victims.
For updated number of BLM Calico captives click here.

A wild horse in Utah saved . . . for now

This just in: The BLM has postponed the roundup of 200 horses living in the Confusion Mountains in Utah, after the agency and the Obama Administration received thousands of emails from IDA supporters yesterday. Here’s the scoop, from IDA’s Director of Research, Eric Kleiman:

This afternoon, I spoke with Eric Reid, the Wild Horse and Burro specialist at the BLM’s Filmore, Utah field office. He confirmed that the Confusions roundup had been postponed; said he had just received an email today from the Washington office that handles the gather schedule, saying it is being removed from the schedule.

The BLM had planned to conduct this roundup without public comment and no documentation to document the capture. Further, BLM failed to do any current environmental assessment of the impacts of the action, which would have left behind only 70-100 horses in the 235,000-acres public land complex.

Eric continues:

Reid said that the BLM would now be doing an Environmental Assessment and would now be giving the public the opportunity to comment.  He expects the EA to be posted around May 2010. The May EA will include updated census information and other unspecified new data.

He said that once he receives clearance, there will be a brief blurb on the Utah BLM site regarding reasons why the roundup was postponed.  He said the postponement should be reflected in an updated national roundup schedule but he didn’t know where on the BLM site that was.

Clearly our letters, calls and emails are having a difference! The Utah horses have been spared . . . at least for now, giving us more time to organize. The more we shine the public spotlight on the BLM’s actions, the less this agency can get away with business as usual.
Let’s keep it up!

Other updates:

Wendy Mallick joins protesters in L.A.

Protesters line street in Los Angeles

An estimated 120 people took to the streets of Los Angeles yesterday to defend America’s wild horses and call on Senator Diane Feinstein for help in saving these icons of the West. The colorful rally featuring actor Wendy Malick, IDA, The Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom and other members of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign coalition, helped draw attention to the plight of the wild horses of the Calico Mountain Complex in Nevada, who are currently under siege by the BLM.

The event is just one of many being organized across the country, demonstrating the growing outrage of American citizens over the Obama Administration’s assault on wild horses.  We must keep up the pressure and not waste a moment in our fight to help the wild horses.

Calico update

As of yesterday, the BLM has captured 424 Calico horses, well on their way to the goal of permanently removing 2,500 of these beautiful animals from their homes in the Calico Mountains Complex.
For more info on the Calico horses see this new video by Humanity through Education :