Horror of wild horse roundups comes into focus

Cross-posted from Equine Advocacy Examiner

Written by MAUREEN HARMONAY

Bad things are happening to the wild horses who are being chased and run ragged during the Antelope Complex roundup currently being conducted by the BLM in Nevada’s Great Basin. And now, thanks to photojournalist advocates Laura Leigh and Deniz Bolbol, the horror is beginning to come into better focus.

Yesterday, while scouting out the ever-moving site where the BLM sets up its traps, Ms. Leigh managed to capture some shocking photographs of the Sun J helicopter pilot mercilessly pursuing a single wild horse by virtually enveloping it within the skids of his chopper, seemingly just inches from the horse’s head. The cruelty inflicted on this horse would be a prosecutable offense if it were perpetrated by an ordinary citizen, but apparently because it was done under government auspices, it’s considered to be above the law.

Sun J rebuffed concerted efforts by Brooke Boone of News 4 in Reno to question them after their pilot literally ran an older mare into the ground last week. But, according to Ms. Boone’s story entitled, Is BLM Responsible for Animal Cruelty, “Sun J and the BLM may have to answer questions from the White Pines County Sheriff’s Office. They’re investigating if the helicopter pilot broke state law by either ‘overdriving’ or ‘overloading’ the horses.”

The BLM have admitted that three horses have died during this roundup, although the details of two have not been released.

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BLM Horses Held in Utah Prison

Cross-posted from HorseBack Magazine

HOUSTON (Horseback) – (Oct. 1, 2010) The federal Bureau of Land Management is holding wild horses captured during its “gathers” at a Utah state prison.

In a filing today in the ongoing first amendment case of Leigh vs. Salazar, it was revealed in court documents that the animals are being housed at the Central Utah Correctional Facility at Gunnison. The brief, an amendment to a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by Reno litigator Gordon Cowan did not state the number of horses being held.

Journalist and photographer Laura Leigh has sued the BLM because she was denied access afforded the New York Times, and the Las Vegas Sun. The suit is in the Reno court of Judge Larry Hicks.

The revelation that the horses were being held in a Utah prison came when she described in the documents following a truck to the site from the Nevada ghost town, Pioche, to attempt to “rescue” a horse for which she had found a home.

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Judge refuses to grant restraining order on wild horse roundup

No Justice for Mustangs or their Advocates in the Federal Courts

The Associated Press reports:

A federal judge has denied a request by animal rights advocates to halt roundups of wild horses after the federal government quietly gathered nearly 400 mustangs at a national wildlife refuge on the Nevada-Oregon line.

Grass Roots Horse, a mustang advocacy group, had sought a restraining order against ongoing roundups. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks on Monday denied its request for a temporary restraining order, but has not yet set a date to hear arguments in the case.

The group had amended their complaint Friday to include details of the latest roundup at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge last week. It alleged that their observer was harassed by the helicopter contractor and federal employees, and that the observer discovered a grave site strewn with the bones of horses killed during previous roundups.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service has created an avenue for horses to be gathered without public notice and without any accountability,” said Laura Leigh, a spokeswoman for Grass Roots Horse. “If they are doing nothing wrong, then why all the secrecy?” Read full report >>