Group Protests Mass Removal of Utah's Wild Horses

April 5, 2019

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4 News) - Hundreds of horse advocates gathered from across the country at the Bureau of Land Management state office in Salt Lake City on Friday. They came together to protest the mass removal of the Onaqui wild horses, a herd known for being Utah’s most iconic and frequently visited, located on public lands near Tooele.

Protesters expressed concern over the BLM's plans to round up and remove over 400 wild horses as early as July. “We are hoping the BLM will agree with us that we are managing wild horses humanely through birth control out in the field so it doesn't cost the taxpayer any money because these roundups are cruel, unsustainable, and unnecessary,” said Simone Netherlands, president of the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group.

Officials report that more than 500 wild horses currently inhabit over 240,000 acres of designated public land outside of Tooele.

Originally posted by ABC 4