Day 1 of Modoc Wild Horse Roundup: 66 Captured Amid Controversial Plans

Alturas, CA (October 11, 2018)… The first day of the U.S. Forest Service's wild horse roundup in the Modoc National Forest near Alturas concluded with 66 horses captured and no reported deaths. This event has sparked significant concern due to plans to sell hundreds of these horses for slaughter.

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) released photos from the roundup, taken by field representative and photographer Steve Paige. These images provide the first glimpses of captured wild horses whose fate remains uncertain, as the Forest Service plans to sell them by the truckload for $1 each without limitation on slaughter.

The photographs also reveal the Forest Service's new holding corrals in the Modoc Forest, showcasing a sprawling network of feedlot pens similar to those seen at livestock slaughter auctions. Unlike typical BLM roundups, the Forest Service did not provide a public observation area to view the helicopters driving horses into trap pens.

“These magnificent California wild horses are state and national treasures, and the federal government must follow the will of the people by protecting and humanely managing them,” said Suzanne Roy, AWHC Executive Director. “The plan to sell hundreds of them by the truckload for $1 each, including for slaughter, is a gross violation of the public trust, the intent of Congress, and the State of California, which has banned the cruel practice of horse slaughter for two decades.”

The Forest Service plans to round up 1,000 wild horses from the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest.

• Approximately 700 of the younger captured mustangs will be sent to a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facility in Susanville, California, where they will be offered for adoption.
• About 300 captured horses over age 10 will be sent to the new holding pens in the forest, where they will be offered with a limitation on slaughter for 30 days. After this period, horses not sold will be offered without limitation on slaughter, by the truckload for $1 each.

AWHC is also raising alarms over the fate of horses sent to the BLM facility who are not adopted after one year, which is likely to be the majority based on BLM adoption statistics. The Forest Service has indicated its intention to sell these horses as well, placing hundreds more in danger of slaughter.

To prevent the sales program from becoming a laundering operation, AWHC is demanding a system of accountability to trace the whereabouts of each horse.

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is a national wild horse advocacy organization endorsed by a coalition of more than 60 horse advocacy, public interest, and conservation organizations. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.