Halftime in Federal Government vs. Wild Horses

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-02-12 09:00:00 UTC
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The Calico Mountains wild horse roundup ended a week ago.

Here are the stats:

  • 1,922 Horses rounded up by helicopter stampede and captured

  • 39 Dead horses, so far

  • 20-30 Pregnant mares who spontaneously aborted

  • 600 Estimated horses remaining in the mountain.

Wait a sec ... Didn't the Bureau of Land Management originally estimate that there were over 3,000 Calico horses? So, this supposedly devastating overpopulation that justified the whole quagmire was almost 20 percent smaller than they thought?

After crashing through the wild horse population of northwest Nevada, the BLM had plans to move in on the Eagle Herd in the eastern part of the state. Nine thousand public comments later, the Eagle Roundup has been postponed. In scrapping their mid-February gather date, the BLM said, "There is not adequate time to safely conduct the proposed Eagle Herd Management Area gather prior to the beginning of the foaling season."

Although they had tried to claim that spontaneous abortions in the Calico herd were due to alleged malnutrition, maybe they checked in with equine vets who informed them that "nutritional deficiencies have not been associated with abortion in mares." Stress — say from being chased by a roaring helicopter and then shipped to a holding facility away from home and family — is a much more likely factor.

While the remaining horses get a break, In Defense of Animals continues to fight against the BLM's poorly managed and poorly justified roundups. The next hearing for IDA's federal lawsuit is scheduled for April.

Photo credit: BLM

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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