LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – At least 31 horses are dead as a gather by the federal government has entered its third week during summer temperatures reaching an estimated 95 degrees.
At least eight horses died as a direct result of the operation while the remaining 23 were euthanized due to what government workers deemed as “pre-existing conditions,” according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Two horses died of a broken neck, including a one-year-old mare while two others died during transport on a truck and trailer after their capture, the BLM reported.
The gathering began at the “Blue Wing Complex,” located 65 miles northeast of Reno in Pershing County, on July 8 and is expected to last approximately 30 days, according to BLM. The agency plans to gather 1,373 wild horses and 365 burros because it claims the land, estimated to be 2,283,300 acres, only has room for 333 to 555 horses and 55 to 90 burros.
“The area is also utilized by domestic livestock and numerous wildlife species,” the agency stated on its website.
Critics have argued that the government is appeasing ranchers for their cattle and that the gathers are inhumane.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Rep. Steven Cohen (D-TN) asked BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning to pause the East Pershing Complex gather operation in January after 20 deaths were reported in less than a month.
In a letter, they stated it “has further demonstrated persisting faults in BLM’s wild horse strategy.”
Titus and Cohen also expressed concerns about BLM’s Tentative Wild Horse and Burro Gather and Fertility Control Schedule which includes gathering nearly 21,000 horses compared to the nearly 7,000 scheduled for roundups in 2023.
The plan for the new fiscal year included roundups throughout New Mexico, Nevada, Wyoming, California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
Titus and Cohen also criticized the use of helicopters.
Some wild horse advocates have pushed for fertility control, including with the use of darts. The BLM’s website made no reference to fertility control being used for the Blue Wing complex gather.
Wild horses captured during the gather are brought to a corral where they can then be adopted or sold, according to the BLM.
Titus introduced a bill in 2022 to ban the use of helicopters. In May of 2023, the “Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act” was introduced into Congress marking the first step of the legislative process. The following month, it was referred to the Subcommittee on Federal Lands.
Nevada has the largest population of wild horses.
Video from the Nevada-based group “Wild Horse Education” which advocates for better treatment of the animals showed helicopters being used during the Blue Wing Complex gather.
