PROTECT MUSTANGS PRESS RELEASE
Brought in from home on the range—mustang is killed for being old
RENO (November 23, 2011)—Wild horse advocate and photographer, Cat Kindsfather, attended the first day of the Calico roundup near Gerlach, Nevada—in the land of Burning Man—on November 19. She witnessed an exhausted older palomino mare, she named Old Gold, come into the trap after being chased by the helicopter for more than one hour. She took pictures of the terrified horses in the trap pen fleeing from the whips with plastic tied on them and documented the incident in which the wild horse was slammed into the trap corral and must have been injured. This week, Protect Mustangs learned the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) euthanized the mare on November 21st and claim it was a “non-gather related” death. The advocacy group believes it is a roundup-related death and needs to be counted as such. Protect mustangs wants America’s indigenous wild horses to remain wild and free on their legally designated ranges. They believe wild horses and burros must be treated humanely—not chased for miles in freezing temperatures putting them at risk of getting pneumonia and not terrorizing them using whips with plastic ends to move them around in crammed trap pens resulting in trauma.
“So many wild horses die because of roundups yet the BLM does not count the deaths accurately,” explains Anne Novak, Executive Director of the California-based Protect Mustangs. “Congress hears that there is only a 1% death rate at ‘gathers’. We want transparency and accountability for all the deaths at roundups. If a horse is chased by a helicopter for miles and miles, then while in a trap pen terrified with plastic tied on to whips, slammed into a metal panel, next shoved into a trailer and transported to another holding facility and is put down a day or two afterwards—it is related to the roundup. If Old Gold had not been rounded up, I bet she would be alive today.”
Kindsfather’s photos document the last moments of freedom for Old Gold. She also captured the horses’ terror in the trap pen and the mare’s agony against the fence.
“She made it all the way in after being chased by the helicopter but was exhausted,’ states Kindsfather. “In the trap pen, the group of horses were scared by the wrangler using a whip with a plastic bag tied on to it. The horses panicked, ran into the mare and piled up against her—smashing her into the fence. In an already terrifying situation, he continued to use the whip to get the mare up on her feet.”
“The mare could have tied up (had severe muscle spasms) after being chased for miles in the freezing weather and then forced into a crammed pen where she was not walking around enough for her muscles to cool down properly,” says Kerry Becklund, wild horse advocate with Protect Mustangs. “Advocates need to see the mustangs when they are brought in but we are kept away. It’s clear from looking at the photos that the mare was in distress and the whips aggravated her fear. She did not deserve to be put down after surviving this ordeal—she deserved to live.”
Protect Mustangs firmly believes that BLM should not have the right to stampede in an older horse and then kill her because she is old—with an old horse’s body condition and worn teeth. The wild horse was surviving on the range as a wild animal does and was holding the wisdom of the herd.
“Once the BLM brings in a wild horse it is their responsibility to care for the horse,” states Novak. “We want to know how much the contractor is paid to bring in an older horse who would be put down because it was old. When does the contractor get paid for the horse—once the horse is in the trap pen or later when she is in temporary holding? Old Gold was put down in temporary holding.”
Protect Mustangs is circulating a petition to stop the roundup. The advocacy group wants to end fiscal irresponsibility seen in roundups without accurate head-counts and without proving the horses thwart the thriving natural ecological balance. Nothing is science-based yet Congress gave more than 75 million dollars to the Wild Horse and Burro Program mostly for roundups and warehousing. Today 40,000 captured American wild horses live in long-term holding at huge taxpayer expense.
“I’m sure some kindhearted person would have adopted the mare to give her a good life despite any lack of body condition,” shares Kindsfather. “It’s too soon to be doing another Calico roundup. The wild horses should remain free—our living gems in a treasured landscape.”
Protect Mustangs is a California-based non-profit whose mission is to inform the public about the mustang crisis, protect America’s wild horses on the range and help those who lost their freedom.
Media Contacts:
Anne Novak, 415-531-8454 Anne@ProtectMustangs.org
Kerry Becklund, 510-502-1913, Kerry@ProtectMustangs.org
Photos, video and interviews available upon request.
Links of interest:
BLM Death Report: http://on.doi.gov/vttLwA
Protect Mustangs’ Petition to Stop Calico Roundup: http://chn.ge/rBoej7
CBS: Stampede to Oblivion: http://bit.ly/tAopv7
Protect Mustangs on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/uDF5JP
Protect Mustangs on Web: http://www.ProtectMustangs.org
Project Mustangs interview on KPFA Evening News: http://bit.ly/rssRl5
Tuesday's Horse 
I see many similarities between how the men at the BLM facilities treat the mares and senior horses and how men in this Americian culture treat young women and senior women. They are putting wild mares in holding pens probably for the rest of their lives just because they are not tame enough to suit them. They use force and violence aka whips to force them to go where the mare’s instinct says “this truck is not safe”. They shoot the old wise ones because its too much trouble to feed them a softer diet because teeth may be worn down. The capture and torture of these beautiful wild, untamed creatures is a metaphor on our own plight as women in the face of violence, and a lack of respect for life.
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Remember what they said at the Advisory Board Meeting? “We really love these horses”
I am so angry about this–they get away with murder. Poor old horse–all her craft and experience wiped out — this BLM agency needs to be dis-membered. Death squad.
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Yes we know how BLM cares for Wild Horses, they don’t!
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As usual tje BLM lies and covers up thier horrific acts of cruelty. These roundups are against nature and the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971. The numbers of wild horses on the open range which was designated for them in the 1971 Act has been proven greatly over exagerated by BLM. There are more wild horses languishing in holding pens where BLM does not care for them propery. Thier hooves grow until they are crippled because they have no room to run which would naturally keep thier hooves at the proper length as in thier natural habitat. The horses are crippled because of thier lack of care of thier hooves and are then killed because they are “sick.” The BLM should be abolished – Not only do they not know how to manage the public land but they murder our national treasures – (the wild horses). The wild horses and burros have lived in and with nature for thousands of years and if left alone would live in and with nature for thousands more. The Wild Horse and Burro Act designated these Public lands for the horses and burros – not for domestic cattle and sheep ranchers or oil and gas companies. Get BLM out of the pockets and beds of the Ranchers, Oil and Gas Companies. Let nature take care of nature.
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