BLM Holds Workshop on Wild Horse Comfort
Posted: Jul 30, 2013 4:52 PM EDT Updated: Aug 07, 2013 1:30 AM EDT
The debate continued on Tuesday, over how wild horses and burros are being treated at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Palomino Valley holding facility.
Wild horse advocates claim the animals are suffering in the heat, while the BLM insists everything is ok.
“This BLM facility is denying that the horses need any shade,” says horse advocate Jetara Sehart. “They’re providing only one water trough per sixty horses.”
Advocates say the horses are in danger, especially when temperatures climb into the triple digits. The facility’s manager, however, told us there have been no heat-related deaths and the animals are taken care of.
“Healthy, adult animals that are not compromised, not sick or injured in any way, are capable of handling this heat,” says Jeb Beck.
Beck says pictures have surfaced showing the horses lying down on the ground which is a normal part of their sleep cycle. But advocates aren’t buying it.
“We are really concerned about how many foles have died in this heat wave,” says Sehart.
After meeting at the holding facility, the BLM and wild horse advocates came together again for a public meeting. BLM officials heard from concerned residents who want to see changes.
“Instead of having just the three minute per person public comment period, we’re actually having some more engaged brain-storming sessions,” says Debbie Collins with the BLM.
We spoke with a man who worked for the BLM for seven years and is now a wild horse advocate. He told us the agency needs to listen to the public and take action.
“But historically what they’ve done is they ask the questions, ignore the answers and do what they planned to do in the very first place,” says Greg Hendricks.
The BLM says it will take feedback from the public meeting into consideration and decide in the next two weeks whether changes need to be made.
Written by Adam Rasmussen