Pneumonia strikes young horses at BLM facility

As you read this article by M. Harmony, remember that the Indian Lakes facility is a privately operated facility and is closed to most public viewing except for invited professionals. This facility is being paid for by our tax dollars, though the public has no access and there is no verification of the treatment and conditions of the facility.

-- Lisa Griffith

Pneumonia is claiming the lives of young wild horses in BLM custody

These young foals were captured from the New Pass/Ravenswood Herd Management Area in Nevada on January 13th, 2011. They are among the horses sent to the Indian Lakes Road facility where the pneumonia outbreak is occurring.

Photo: BLM

February 10th, 2011 12:22 am ET

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Behind the closed doors of the BLM's Indian Lakes Road holding facility near Fallon, Nevada, pneumonia is suddenly claiming an alarming number of wild horses. During the week ending February 4th, 12 horses perished in the short-term holding pens known as "Broken Arrow"; eight of them were yearling victims of "secondary pneumonia." Upper respiratory disease has been rampant among the young horses confined at Broken Arrow since last June, and now it's attacking the latest arrivals, whose immune systems are at their most vulnerable.

These were otherwise healthy horses who were recently stampeded off their expansive ranges and captured in the dead of winter, as part of the just-concluded Eagle and Callaghan Complex roundups in Nevada. A total of 850 wild horses from these roundups were shipped directly to the Indian Lakes Road feedlot. According to the BLM's own reports, at least 37 of them are now dead, with 32 of these fatalities having occurred in the six weeks since the beginning of the year.

In a repeat of the pattern that emerged at the same facility after last year's Calico Complex roundup, other horses are starting to die or be "euthanized" as a result of what the BLM's veterinarian characterizes as "hyperlipemia," a condition of metabolic and liver failure caused by the extreme stress of the helicopter chase, entrapment, and ongoing captivity. Four of the horses who died at Indian Lakes Road in recent weeks were deemed to have perished from this roundup-related condition.

The BLM and its contractors like to pat themselves on the back by citing artificially deflated "gather mortality rates" in the vicinity of 1%. Indeed, in its press release announcing the conclusion of the Callaghan Complex roundup earlier this week, the BLM boasted that the gather-related mortality rate was .8%. But that's deceptive. The true cost in equine lives is much, much higher than that. It's dishonest to count only the horses whose lives were cut short at a trap site. The ones who fall in their wake are victims, too.

Antelope Roundup Day One- Making a Break for It

X-posting from:

Antelope Day 1- Breaking For Freedom

This dramatic sequence of photos taken by journalist Laura Leigh yesterday show an incredible break for freedom by a young horse being driven into the trap pens by contractors for the Bureau of Land Management. The sequence is about 17 photos and hopefully it conveys the efforts this horse made. The photos of the horse once he has found his freedom are particularly poignant as his herd is still captive. His body is caked in sweat from the entire ordeal and yesterdays temperatures only reached to freezing point.

More reports later from the roundup and the holding corrals

State Ban on Horse Slaughter Possible in Massachusetts

MA Residents: Call State Senators to Co-Sponsor Horse Slaughter Ban

Posted Jan 20, 2011 by lauraallen

• Horse Slaughter

Massachusetts state Sen. Stephen Brewer plans to introduce and sponsor the attached bill, Senate Docket 228, to ban horse slaughter for human consumption in Massachusetts.

The bill was drafted by Equine Welfare Alliance and Animal Law Coalition working with the Massachusetts state chapter of Americans Against Horse Slaughter.

If you are a Massachusetts resident, please contact your state senator whom you can find by going to this site: http://www.malegislature.gov/people/findmylegislator Ask your state senator to co-sponsor the bill to ban horse slaughter by contacting Sen. Brewer's aide, Alicia Bandy at Alicia.Bandy@masenate.gov or Phone: 617-722-1540/Fax: 617-722-1078. Do not contact Ms. Bandy yourself; have your state senator contact her. She only wants to hear from state senators interested in co-sponsoring the ban. The deadline for obtaining co-sponsors is Feb. 4, 2011! So there is no time to waste.

While a ban on horse slaughter for human consumption in Massachusetts will not end the slaughter of American horses elsewhere, it will certainly protect horses in Massachusetts and prevent sale and shipment of horses from Massachusetts for slaughter for human consumption. The bill would also prevent buyers from shipping horses for slaughter through the commonwealth. More than anything, this bill will send a message to Congress and the President that Massachusetts supports a federal ban on this arcane and cruel practice of horse slaughter.

Talking Points:

1. Horses are our companions and pets; they helped build this country and still work in the military and law enforcement and, provide entertainment in horse racing, shows and other sports and exhibitions. Horses are not raised for food in the U.S.

2. The slaughter of horses simply cannot be made humane: Dr. Lester Friedlander, DVM & former Chief USDA Inspector, told Congress in 2008 that the captive bolt used to slaughter horses is simply not effective. Horses, in particular, are very sensitive about anything coming towards their heads and cannot be restrained as required for effective stunning. Dr. Friedlander stated, "These animals regain consciousness 30 seconds after being struck, they are fully aware they are being vivisected." The Government Accountability Office and dozens of veterinarians and other witnesses have confirmed that ineffective stunning is common and animals are conscious during slaughter.

3. The FDA does not regulate American horsemeat as food because there is no market for it in the U.S. and most importantly, horsemeat is dangerous, if not deadly, for humans to consume. Horses are given all manner of drugs, steroids, de-wormers and ointments throughout their lives. Horses are not tracked and typically may have several owners. A kill buyer has no idea of the veterinary or drug history of a horse taken to slaughter, and many of the most dangerous drugs have no or a very long withdrawal period. A typical drug given routinely to horses like aspirin, Bute, is a carcinogen and can cause aplastic anemia in humans. Bute is banned in all food producing animals and there is no withdrawal period.

4. The availability of slaughter actually increases the numbers of excess horses on the market. Slaughter creates a salvage or secondary market that encourages overbreeding. Banning slaughter would reduce the number of excess horses. Slaughter is not "an alternative" for so called unwanted horses or horses in need. Slaughter is a for profit industry driven by a demand for horsemeat, and has nothing to do with the numbers of excess or unwanted horses. Slaughter actually encourages overbreeding and adds to the problem of horses in need. The USDA has confirmed more than 92% of horses that end up at slaughter are healthy; they are not unwanted, neglected or abused. Horses are in need right now because of the economy and, in fact, slaughter is still available which is further proof that lack of slaughter does not result in excess or unwanted horses. Just the opposite!

Attachment	Size
Mass.horse slaughter ban.1.2011.pdf

A list of the dead

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Why Are We Paying to Kill Our Wild Horses?

photo by Cat Kindsfather

Dear Readers,
Here's a list of 18 wild horses that BLM admits have died at the Indian Lakes wild horse corrals in Fallon, Nevada in just two weeks. Press and public are locked out of Indian Lakes, which is located on a private ranch.

• 9 month old colt was euthanized for a broken leg
• 10 yr died due to spinal/neck injury
• 2 yr died due to spinal/neck injury
• died due to spinal/neck injury
• 10 month old colt was euthanized (down and unable to stand on its own)
• 10 month old colt was euthanized (down and unable to stand on its own)
• 15 yr died reason unknown
• 20 yr died due to spinal/neck injury
• 25 yr was euthanized (down on truck upon arrival body condition 2)
• 2 yr old died due to colic
• Unbranded foal born at facility was euthanized due to club foot
• 2886 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot
• 2876 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot
• 2849 1 yr old euthanized due to club foot
• 2 yr old found dead death cause unknown
• 2 yr old euthanized due to double cryptorchid
• weaned foal died due to upper respiratory infection
• 2457 weaned foal died due to upper respiratory infection

Euthanized is the term used here, but most horses are shot.
To met, these look like round-up and transportation injuries and the odds of 3 mustangs surviving for one year in the wild with "club feet" so debilitating that BLM destroyed them, is hard to believe.

We are paying for this.

Best, Terri

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