Wild horse roundups continue as federal judge refuses to grant temporary restraining order
by Sabrina Golmassian
In an emergency hearing on Thursday, a federal judge in Carson City refused to grant a temporary restraining order to prevent the U.S. Bureau of Land Management from continuing its helicopter roundup of wild horses in the Owyhee Complex in Northern Nevada, the Associated Press reports.
The court was persuaded by a recent Bureau of Land Management (BLM) report which concludes the Tuscarora roundups are necessary to prevent the herds from dying of dehydration. Those seeking the court order wanted the roundups suspended until August when foaling season has completely ended.
12 horses died of dehydration in BLM corrals
Saturday's roundup caused controversy and was suspended after 12 horses died in their temporary on-site corrals from “complications related to water starvation/dehydration or subsequent water intoxication,” according to a report found on the agency's website. Four horses were found dead in their pens on the morning of July 11, and others were euthanized after they failed to respond to treatment. A five-year-old mare was also euthanized after fracturing a leg in the temporary corrals.
A separate BLM report found on the agency's website concludes that 500 horses from two herds—the Star Ridge group and the Dry Creek group—are still in imminent danger of dehydration if the roundups don't continue, in part because the horses are not leading themselves to the available natural water sources.
“The Star Ridge group is located around a dry reservoir and making no attempt to move to the nearest water source located approximately 10 miles away at the South Fork Owyhee River,” states the BLM report. “The animals are considered at risk of dying from complications of water starvation/dehydration. While some of the Dry Creek group has recently watered, the BLM remains concerned and will continue to monitor the group.”
BLM installed emergency water troughs
According to the report, the agency recently installed six emergency water troughs containing 30,000 gallons of water in the Owyhee Complex, which is reportedly 2.5 times over population capacity. But despite the emergency provisions, poor road conditions and limited access to the area make providing a consistent water source untenable, the report says. The use of a helicopter “to gently and slowly guide the animals toward the water with the hope that they will drink” will enable the roundup to continue after the horses have drunk.
The report quotes Ron Wenker, BLM Nevada State Director saying, “[The] goal is to gather these animals within four to five days after stabilizing their immediate water starved condition.”
The BLM plans include gathering a total of 1,200 horses from the area.
Wild horse advocates call for roundups to halt during foaling season
Plaintiff and advocate Linda Leigh of the Cloud Foundation and Herdwatch argued that the BLM should halt the roundups until mid-August, when foaling season is over, so that pregnant horses and young foals are not compromised, according to their website, saying the need for the immediate roundup is “based on contractor availability not humane treatment of wild horses—especially foals, some of whom may be only weeks or days old.”
A press release from the group addresses the Calico roundup disaster, where more than forty horses died. Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation, is quoted as saying “more foals may have their feet literally run off because they are too young to be chased by helicopter over sharp, volcanic terrain for miles in the hottest month of the year. At least two foals died a horrible death like this in the Calico roundup. Didn’t BLM learn anything from Calico?”
Roundup area should not be closed to public viewing, say advocates
Advocates also question why the 42 square mile roundup area has been temporarily closed, barring the public from viewing. Madeline Pickens, a wealthy advocate and wife of oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, together with a coalition of advocacy groups calling themselves the Wild Horse Coalition, addressed an open letter to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, reading:
“Restricting public access to the BLM wild horse operations, including a small number of staged opportunities at roundups, is clearly intended to curtail public scrutiny of this BLM program. The action will prevent citizens from knowing what their government is doing with regard to management of our nation’s wild horses and burros.”
The BLM plans on rounding up a total of 6,000 horses in the next few months. A lawsuit to stop the second largest capture of nearly 2,000 horses from the Twin Peaks Herd Management Area north of Susanville, California was filed in Sacramento on Friday.
