Update on Sheldon National Fish and Wildlife Refuge: The Final Roundup of Wild Horses

This week and last week mark the end of a living part of our history and culture, as the last wild horses are eradicated from the federal lands of the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Nevada. These are descendants of our nation’s War Horses; their ancestors fought our battles as cavalry remounts in battles through World War I. Pressure from hunting interests has led to the plan for eradication of these horses, who have been present on these remote and rugged lands since before the refuge was created in 1931.

Refuge officials and pro-hunting organizations are scapegoating wild horses for range damage, despite lack of scientific evidence and the very healthy condition of the range within Refuge lands since livestock grazing was eliminated in 1993.

Final Roundup at Sheldon

The final roundup of Sheldon’s remaining wild horses commenced on August 5th and is to continue for two weeks. Observers onsite report that the helicopter capture operation will likely be completed before that time.

Sheldon Refuge officials have historically failed to be transparent about their wild horse and burro roundups, and lack of transparency continues to mark the current operation.

Once again, daily numbers of horses removed, including gender and age breakdowns, are not available to the public. Observation on the range is limited, and access to holding facilities is not being provided. The FWS is declining to release the names and locations of the “adoption” contractors it will work with to place the estimated 420 wild horses targeted for removal from the range.

Slaughter Middleman

Over the years, the FWS has worked with “adoption contractors” who have sent Sheldon wild horses into the slaughter pipeline.

In 2013, Stan Palmer of J & S Associates in Pelahatchie, Mississippi, was the target of much scrutiny as an “adoption” contractor for the Sheldon horses. Even though Palmer could not account for the whereabouts of the majority of horses sent to him from Sheldon between 2010 and 2012, the FWS saw fit to send him 245 additional horses in 2013-2014. The FWS has paid Palmer over $1,000 per horse – or nearly $1 million since 2010 – to give away Sheldon horses in Mississippi.

Shortly after receiving a delivery of Sheldon horses in fall 2013, a Palmer employee posted on Facebook “free horses … your business what is done with them.” Within days, horses began leaving Palmer’s property by the truckload. Within a month, 190 horses went to five adopters; all allegedly for “bucking stock,” even though the Sheldon horses are not known for their ‘bucking’ abilities and the horses taken by these adopters were mostly old horses. Review of the “adoption” applications showed omissions and falsified information, such as incorrect telephone numbers and addresses. One application claimed that 33 horses were taken for “breeding,” yet every one of the horses listed was a gelding!

Under the terms of the adoption contract, Palmer was to make a “reasonable effort” to screen potential adopters to provide good, safe homes for these horses. A review of the adoption applications makes clear that no such effort was made and that horses were given away by the truckload “no questions asked,” as promised by Palmer’s employee in his Facebook post.

Despite this, Sheldon Project Manager John Kasbohm claimed that Palmer had placed horses in acceptable situations. He based this conclusion on a so-called investigation in which he failed to visually confirm or positively identify the whereabouts of a single of the 190 horses in question. Not one of the five “adopters” would allow Kasbohm to inspect the horses. Palmer’s promise to FWS to visit the adopters and take GPS and time-stamped photographs remains unfulfilled. Despite total lack of evidence, Kasbohm blithely informed a Senate oversight committee that the terms of the contract with Palmer had been fulfilled and that the horses were placed into good homes.

The fate of the 190 horses remains unknown. Of the rest, 13 died on Palmer’s property and he allegedly kept 41 horses.

Where Will the Last of the Sheldon Horses Go?

This year, the FWS informed the Senate committee that, upon “mutual” agreement, it cancelled its contract with Palmer. Even as the final horses are being rounded up off the refuge, the FWS is refusing to publicly disclose the names and locations of the contractors it will work with this year to place the horses.

The ancestors of the Sheldon horses died for our freedoms. They hold great historic and cultural significance. Yet the Sheldon Refuge has treated them as little more than pests, dumping them on middlemen who have laundered these noble horses into the slaughter pipeline.

For more information on the Sheldon horses, please click here.