Cruel or necessary? The true cost of wild horse roundups

Cross-posted from NBC News, by Lisa Myers & Michael Austin, 5/14/2013

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DELTA, Utah -- The mustangs run with a spirit that makes them legendary here in the West. On a bitter cold morning, they descend from the Swasey mountains of central Utah and gallop for miles across the plains. Stallions and mares, beautiful and strong, guiding their young.

It’s an enthralling scene, but also one that infuriates many Americans. Thundering choppers overhead are driving the wild horses, many that appear terrified, toward a trap. For most, these are their final moments living wild and free. Continue reading>>

Contraceptive may help curb wild horse herds

Cross-posted from the ABQ Journal, 5/12/2013

A nonprofit organization that advocates for the protection and preservation of free-roaming horses in Placitas has asked the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for assistance in addressing public safety concerns arising from the animals straying on the roads.

Wild Horse Observers Association president Patience O’Dowd recently emailed BLM officials and the U.S. Secretary of the Interior offering to assist with administering a contraceptive to curb the growth of the horse population, and to remove and relocate “the horses at risk of high speed impact” on the roads. Continue reading>>

Gov't can't find room for America's wild horses

Cross-posted from the Centre Daily Times/McClachty Washington Bureau, 5/9/2013

WASHINGTON — Wild horses, descended from the steeds of Spanish explorers, Native Americans, U.S. cavalry and ranch strays, are being offered for auction this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, as part of a desperate effort by a federal government that can’t figure out what to do with them.

The Interior Department, in roundups that outraged wild horse advocates, has taken nearly 50,000 wild horses off their Western rangelands and paid private ranchers to put them in corrals and pastures, largely in Kansas and Oklahoma. More of America’s wild horses are now in holding facilities than roaming the wild. Continue reading>>

Colorado Sheriff opens wild horse investigation

Cross-posted from the Colorado Springs Gazette, 5/8/2013

After months of false starts, state authorities have opened a formal criminal investigation into Tom Davis, a southern Colorado wild horse buyer who admitted to breaking state laws while shipping hundreds of federally protected wild horses to an unknown fate out of state.

Last week, the Conejos County Sheriff's Office opened the investigation at the request of state brand commissioner Chris Whitney, who said Davis, of La Jara, admitted to the commissioner that he broke brand laws. Continue reading>>

Senate passes resolution supporting wild horses

NVCalico 2012Running Cross-posted from KRNV-Reno, AP. 4/18/2013

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Nevada Senate has passed a resolution expressing support for wild horses and burros.

Senate Joint Resolution 1 recognizes wild horses as living symbols of American Western heritage, as well as natural resources and cultural assets.

SJR1 also expresses support for wild horse and burro eco-sanctuaries, something supporters say could encourage rural tourism in the state.

Only Sens. Debbie Smith of Sparks and Ben Kieckhefer (KEE'-keh-fer) of Reno voted against the resolution.

It now goes to the Assembly.

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