Last month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) went 30 miles out of Las Vegas to Cold Creek. Home to the last herd of wild mustangs in Southern Nevada. They rounded up 200 of the 400 estimated in the herd, saying the herd is in “Very Poor Condition” due to the drought. They euthanize 28 of those they deemed “poor prognosis for recovery”.
Debbie and I went out to Cold Creek yesterday to see what was left of the heard and to see if their reason for the roundup was valid. We were only able to find a couple of small groups of horses and they were as the BLM stated, in very poor condition.
Taxpayer Logic
So the horses are in poor condition, that is a fact. But does that mean they need to be rounded up and put into holding pens for the rest of their lives?? The BLM thinks so. If these horses follow in the footsteps of previous roundups, they will be shipped to crowded holding pens in the Midwest and kept there for years on the taxpayer dime. Some will be put up for adoption while others will be sold off to people who happen to own slaughterhouses in Mexico.
The alternative would be to leave them where they are, sterilize some of the stallions and drop hay into the area, as they have in the past. But the BLM claims that does more harm than good. Even if other government agencies do that exact same procedure to maintain and manage other herds of wildlife.
Not a Popular Idea
The people of Cold Creek and fans of the wild mustangs appreciate seeing the animals and have no issue with them where they are. They roam government land that has no other value. Those captured in the roundup will be fed back to health and the stallions sterilized. So why not just do that here and leave them to roam their natural habitat?
Maybe because there isn’t as much money to be made by BLM contractors if you keep the horses on government land? The BLM is administered and staffed by people chosen and favored by the cattlemen associations. There is big money to be made rounding up the horses and holding them in those crowded pens. Being paid by the horse means the more horses they can roundup, the bigger the government paycheck.
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