Bureau accused of scorched-earth policy in roundup - video
- شروع کننده موضوع ♘امیرحسین♞
- تاریخ شروع
reza eslahi
Member
The Cloud Foundation has accused the Bureau of Land Management of a "scorched earth" policy in the agency's Antelope Complex roundup in northeastern Nevada.
A helicopter repeatedly tries to get an aged mare into a holding pen, in this still from Ginger Kathrens' video (below). They eventually gave up and let her go.
The land adjoins the large runholding bought by wild horse advocate Madeleine Pickens, who hopes to turn it into a sanctuary for captive wild horses.
Cloud Foundation executive director Ginger Kathrens attended three days of the roundup last week.
Kathrens recorded events taking place in a just-released video. She filmed her first roundup in this same area in 1994 and she said the differences between then and now are striking.
In 1994, the bureau removed only horses five years and under that would be the most appropriate animals for its adoption programme.
Now, it is removing every animal they can catch, she says, even though its handout for observers say, "the BLM is gathering more wild horses than it is removing so it can apply fertility control and release the appropriate proportions of males to females to achieve a sex ratio that is 60 per cent males to females".
Kathrens maintained that was incorrect. "This is a scorched-earth removal of every wild horse they catch, even those over the age of 20 who are suffering terribly in dead-of-winter runs far in excess of 10 miles.
"The roundup crew is chasing horses down mountains miles away and across huge valleys, then the mustangs double back and are run over the same ground again by a helicopter pilot who appears to have no idea what he is doing," Kathrens says.
More than 2000 wild horses are targeted in the roundup, covering 1.3 million acres - an area far larger than the state of Rhode Island.
It is the largest scheduled roundup for 2011.
Kathrens condemned what she said was the harsh treatment of some horses.
"There was so much cruelty going on, it was hard to select what to edit for a two-minute clip," Kathrens said.
"Horses were run for what seemed forever, then driven into a narrow alleyway where gates were shut behind them.
"All the horses we saw were sweaty and many had no room to turn around.
"They were forced to stand crammed in one position for hours. Other mustangs were run into the alleyways and within five minutes - before they could even settle down - were loaded into a trailer and hauled over bumpy roads on their way to a temporary holding area."
A helicopter repeatedly tries to get an aged mare into a holding pen, in this still from Ginger Kathrens' video (below). They eventually gave up and let her go.
The land adjoins the large runholding bought by wild horse advocate Madeleine Pickens, who hopes to turn it into a sanctuary for captive wild horses.
Cloud Foundation executive director Ginger Kathrens attended three days of the roundup last week.
Kathrens recorded events taking place in a just-released video. She filmed her first roundup in this same area in 1994 and she said the differences between then and now are striking.
In 1994, the bureau removed only horses five years and under that would be the most appropriate animals for its adoption programme.
Now, it is removing every animal they can catch, she says, even though its handout for observers say, "the BLM is gathering more wild horses than it is removing so it can apply fertility control and release the appropriate proportions of males to females to achieve a sex ratio that is 60 per cent males to females".
Kathrens maintained that was incorrect. "This is a scorched-earth removal of every wild horse they catch, even those over the age of 20 who are suffering terribly in dead-of-winter runs far in excess of 10 miles.
"The roundup crew is chasing horses down mountains miles away and across huge valleys, then the mustangs double back and are run over the same ground again by a helicopter pilot who appears to have no idea what he is doing," Kathrens says.
More than 2000 wild horses are targeted in the roundup, covering 1.3 million acres - an area far larger than the state of Rhode Island.
It is the largest scheduled roundup for 2011.
Kathrens condemned what she said was the harsh treatment of some horses.
"There was so much cruelty going on, it was hard to select what to edit for a two-minute clip," Kathrens said.
"Horses were run for what seemed forever, then driven into a narrow alleyway where gates were shut behind them.
"All the horses we saw were sweaty and many had no room to turn around.
"They were forced to stand crammed in one position for hours. Other mustangs were run into the alleyways and within five minutes - before they could even settle down - were loaded into a trailer and hauled over bumpy roads on their way to a temporary holding area."