Legal Letter: Halt the McCullough Peaks Roundup
On Friday, January 26, 2024, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) sent a legal letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) with an urgent appeal to halt the ongoing McCullough Peaks bait trap roundup. This roundup, which began on November 1, 2023, and is set to run through March 2024, raises major concerns for the genetic diversity of the herds, their population numbers, and the impact of a winter gather on foals and elders.
The Environmental Assessment for this roundup states that peak foaling season begins February 1st and that the BLM must avoid wild horse roundups six weeks before the start of this time when young, fragile foals are just being born. Despite this directive and young foals on the ground, the McCullough Peaks bait trap roundup is continuing.
Just last week, on January 22nd, a yearling named Kat Ballou was rounded up with her mom and 10 other wild horses. The BLM staff decided to release Keota and five other horses, separating Kat Ballou and her mother. She and three other young horses were kept overnight in temporary holding. Sometime between the departure of BLM staff and the following morning, tragedy struck. Kat Ballou was found dead in the pen, having succumbed to a traumatic head injury. It is believed that she died while trying to escape and reunite with her mother.
The BLM's decision to separate young horses from their mothers, and then leave them unattended overnight, demonstrates a callous disregard for the well-being of these innocent animals. This treatment of wild horses is unconscionable and unacceptable, and our letter demands that the BLM stop this roundup to spare more foals from enduring the same fate.
Read our letter:
