On March 18, with no notice to anyone, the Cody, WY office of the Bureau of Land Management rounded up via helicopter a herd of horses, some with new foals, on public lands in northern Wyoming. Of the 41 horses rounded up, 37 were turned over to the WY Livestock Board, and within hours were trucked by the WY Dept. of Agriculture to Canada to a holding facility for the Bouvry Slaughterhouse. According to WY Statute, Title 11, Chapter 24 "Estray horses rounded up must be held for not more than 10 days before going to auction". Enquiries to the BLM were told that these horses would be held at the Worland Livestock Auction for 10 days and then sold. The BLM totally disregarded this WY Statute.
When the BLM was questioned as to why the horses had been rounded up, they responded that some WY residents were complaining that the horses were trespassing on their land, and that the horses were a threat to public safety because vehicles had killed 2 horses. Upon further investigation it was found that one horse had been hit by a train 6 - 8 years ago, and the second had been hit by a private vehicle 5 years ago. Jack Mononi, Supervisory Rangeland Management Specialist for the Cody BLM stated that if the agency did not spend the Federal money by the end of March, the funds would no longer be available.
Offers were made to the Bouvry Exports Shelby facility to purchase the horses for more than the going rate, but after refusing to acknowledge that the horses were there, an employee of the facility told the caller that "these horses were rounded up and removed for slaughter and that is where they are going".
Only 4 tiny foals, one only 3 weeks old, remain of the original herd; ripped from their mother's sides. These actions by the BLM are unconscionable. According to the BLM's own website, a special email and phone number exist to report wild horses or burros being treated inhumanely or sold to slaughter (wildhorse@blm.gov or 866-468-7826). The BLM's own website also states that they do not sell wild horses to slaughter. The BLM totally disregarded their own rules and procedures.
Please sign my petition to hold the BLM accountable for this egregious act, and to prevent more of America's wild horses from being sold to slaughter. And urge your representatives to pass the SAFE Act to prohibit horses from being transported out of the country to slaughter. Thank you!
