Newsdate: Fri, 9 Dec 2011 - 12:15 pm
Location: RENO, Nevada

The on-going controversy between wild horse advocates and the Bureau of Land Management about whether or not helicopter gathers are humane has garnered much attention since theTriple B gather in Nevada removed 1,269 wild horses between July 2 and August 30, 2011.

According to the BLM, the objective of the gather was to bring the wild horse population to an appropriate and sustainable management level, consistent with BLM’s mandate to maintain healthy public lands and to manage the public lands for multiple use.

During this gather, BLM Nevada also claimed it made significant efforts to make the gather accessible to the public, providing a high level of transparency so that all aspects of the gather could be observed by members of the public.

As a result of access by the public, a number of areas of concern were addressed:

1. BLM needs to review and update Standard Operating Procedures, contract provisions, procedures and guidelines for gather operations to ensure clarity of management expectations on what is appropriate and what is inappropriate.
2.  BLM needs to provide continuous training to all gather participants, in order to manage and implement the ICS system and new process expectations outlined above.
3. Guidelines for helicopter operations should be issued to prohibit helicopters from making contact with any wild horses or burros during a gather. Guidelines should also be developed for the capture of small groups and single horses, as to when, when not and how much time should be expended guiding them to the trap site. Exact guidelines for helicopter operations are problematic and exceptions will always come into play, given the challenge of wild horse gathers and the lack of clear guidelines for the use of helicopters in wild horse gathers or for operations involving other wildlife, where many of the same challenges apply.
4. BLM should develop training on appropriate wild horse handling and corral management at trap sites and holding pens to make the handling of wild horses more efficient and less stressful on the horses. This training should include BLM and contractor staff.
5. A system for tracking incidents, from the use of electrical prods to roping to injuries or reports of animal welfare concerns, should be developed to provide data on the BLM’s handling of wild horses. The review team believes this will demonstrate that issues like the specific incidents at the Triple B gather are the exception, not the rule. A tracking system like this will further the BLM’s effort to improve wild horse welfare during gathers.
6. The use of electric prods should only occur after the approval of the COTR unless an animal’s health or immediate safety is in jeopardy. As a general principle, electric prods are not used routinely on wild horses or burros, except when animal or human safety is in jeopardy or as a last resort. The BLM should develop a policy that directs specific use of electric prods and identifies the types of circumstances when they should or should not be used. All uses of a hotshot should be documented as to the rationale and outcome.
7. Horses should be roped only after approval by the COTR. Any roping or tying of a horse should be followed up by an onsite veterinarian examination. A roping/tying protocol should be developed by the BLM for all gathers. All roping incidents should be documented as to the rationale and outcome.
8. Horses on the ground should never be dragged by their head or neck. The BLM should investigate and implement alternative methods of moving horses that are on the ground, including use of horse “rescue straps” or sliding boards to protect horses that must be moved while on the ground. All necessary incidences where a horse is dragged should be documented as to the rationale and outcome, including a veterinarian report.
9. Selected footage from this and other gathers should be used to train and to re-enforce appropriate handling techniques and proper trap, loading and holding facility for BLM and contractor staff. Wild horses should never be kicked, struck in the face, or be struck by trailer gates as a means of encouraging animals to load into trailers.
10. Wet mares and foals should be paired up as quickly as possible, usually within 4 hours of capture. Water for foals should also be provided within 4 hours of capture or even sooner if young foals are being handled.
11. Prepare better video documentation of gathers to provide a more useful record, and make the best use of technology to improve transparency and provide a record to improve future gather operations. Importantly, BLM documentation should be indexed and archived. BLM staff should be equipped with cameras and/or binoculars comparable to what can be expected from media and public observers.

The review team and outside animal welfare experts noted specific instances of inappropriate, aggressive handling and operational procedures in some of the videos reviewed, including the following incidents:

• A helicopter operating too close to single horses.
• A helicopter pursuing small groups or single horses too long.
• Excessive and inappropriate use of electric prod, based on the opinions of the animal welfare experts' review of the videos.
• Excessive use of wild rags as whips, especially around the head
• Kicking, slamming of gates, pinning in gates, twisting of tails during horse loading processes.

In conjunction with experiences during the gather and following responses from the BLM, Laura Leigh who is the founder of Wild Horse Education and is Vice President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation filed a law suit asking that roundups be postponed until a policy of procedures can be agreed to by the BLM and contractors doing the roundups.

A ruling is expected soon from Judge McKibben.