Shocking video shows wild horses being tied up and dragged through the sand by contractors hired to remove the animals from public land in Nevada.
Imagery obtained by Wild horse education shows one of the animals being towed by an ATV. Another clip shows a helicopter nearly colliding with a herd as they try to avoid it.
The disturbing videos come during the East Pershing Wild Horse Gather, an initiative launched Dec. 28 by the Bureau of Land Management.
The agency is trying to remove 2,875 wild horses from public lands to ‘prevent unnecessary or unnecessary degradation’ and ‘restoration of a flourishing natural ecological balance and a relationship with multiple uses.’
However, critics argue that the government is acting in the interests of profiteers. The group contracted to remove horses has also been accused of animal welfare violations.
On January 29, the BLM reported that in just one month, 24 wild horses had died and 2,048 had been captured.
Shocking video shows a wild horse being dragged behind an ATV as part of the federal government’s efforts to remove them from public lands
Another clip shows a helicopter nearly colliding with a herd of frenzied horses
The Bureau of Land Management wants to remove 2,875 wild horses from public lands to ‘restore a thriving natural ecological balance and relationship with multiple uses’
On January 24, Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Steven Cohen (D-TN) wrote a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning, imploring her to pause the gathering operation at the East Pershing Complex.
“This plan calls for a vast expansion in the number of wild horses and burros that will be rounded up across the West,” the letter said.
“It violates Congressional guidelines regarding this program, and we urge BLM to reconsider the scope of these collection operations.”
Titus and Cohen also raised concerns about rounding up nearly 21,000 horses, compared to the nearly 7,000 scheduled for roundups last year.
“Tripling the number of animals collected in the coming months violates BLM’s directive to humanely capture and place for adoption free-ranging horses and burros,” they wrote.
‘This is further exacerbated by the use of helicopters which regularly create frightening and deadly situations for horses and donkeys.’
Titus introduced a bill in 2022 to ban the use of helicopters, titled the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act.
The bill was introduced in Congress in May 2023 and referred to the Federal Lands Subcommittee the following month.
Contrary to the wishes of animal rights activists, no wild horses at the East Pershing Wild Horse Gather will be treated with fertility control.
Roundups are expected to expand to other states in the coming year, including New Mexico, Wyoming, California, Arizona, Utah and Colorado.
However, their methodology has been extensively criticized by lawyers and lawmakers alike. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) has introduced a bill in 2022 to ban the use of helicopters
Cohen and Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) wrote a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning, imploring her to halt the collection operation at the East Pershing Complex in Nevada
After they are captured, the BLM says the horses will be adopted or sold
Speaking to Dailymail.com, Laura Leigh, president and founder of Wild Horse Education, criticized the BLM for failing to create welfare policies.
Rather, she explained, the agency created an internal standard “where they literally police themselves.”
“It’s clearly not working,” Leigh said. ‘It doesn’t work with area management. It does not operate beyond the scope of the adoption program that still leaves horses vulnerable to slaughter. And it definitely doesn’t work during the raid.’
The adoption program in question allows for a transfer of ownership, causing horses to lose the rights guaranteed to them under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.
‘It’s actually a subsidy. People get $1,000 to adopt a horse and get a title within a year,” Leigh explains. “And after they get that title, a lot of them still end up in the slaughter pipeline.”
The BLM also offers a sales program that makes older horses especially vulnerable.
“Nearly 2,000 horses were sold last year for $5 to $25, with an immediate transfer of title,” Leigh said. “That’s something no one is talking about because it’s predominantly older horses, not younger horses, that go through the adoption program.”
She attributed the legal loophole to a policy shift that began in 2004, when former Montana Sen. Conrad Burns introduced the Burns Amendment in that year’s budget bill. This created provisions for a transfer of ownership.
“So before that, a wild horse was considered a wild horse for its entire life, and the protections that meant it couldn’t be sent to slaughter continued throughout the horse’s life,” Leigh said.
“Once that title is transferred, a wild horse loses all its legal protections and becomes a pet.”
However, proponents argue that the operation meets the wishes of ranchers – with the agency’s previous acting director, William Perry Pendley, characterizing the horses as an “existential threat” to rangelands.
Sampson Livestock LLC, the company contracted to carry out the roundups, has been criticized for violating animal welfare, including through the “unnecessary and inhumane use of excessive force.”
According to the BLM, 24 wild horses died and 2,048 had been captured as of January 29 – two dozen killed in a month
Under Sampson’s watch, a semi-truck overturned in October, killing seven horses (not pictured)
Opponents suggest the mustering operation is being conducted for the benefit of ranchers, and the BLM itself has argued that excessive horse numbers are damaging rangelands.
In addition to farmers, Leigh argues the operation is in the best interests of private property owners.
“We tend to focus on livestock,” she said. “But we forget about the fences and the energy transmission lines and all that other stuff. We forget recreation. That also pushes all the wild things into smaller and smaller spaces.’
The BLM saw an increase in raids under its former acting director, William Perry Pendley, who served during the Trump administration.
Pendley characterized wild horses as an “existential threat” to rangelands – a point disputed by environmentalists, who argue that cattle are far more common on the land than horses.
Shayne Sampson of Sampson Livestock LLC received $1.16 million from the BLM last year to conduct roundups, according to USAspending.gov.
The American Wild Horse Campaign, an advocacy group, claims the contractor has a troubling past.
Under Sampson’s watch, a semi-truck carrying 39 wild horses overturned in October 2023. The animals were captured as part of the Roberts Mountain Complex operation and were taken to a holding facility in Utah at the time of the accident.
Three horses were killed and four were euthanized due to the extent of their injuries. Many of the surviving animals suffered wounds and bruises.
According to the advocacy group, the contractor has a record of animal welfare violations, including a case where a foal was tied up and violently thrown to the ground in an “unnecessary and inhumane use of excessive force.”
Other complaints include the overuse of an electric prod in a previous roundup and several cases of horses dying from broken necks after colliding with fall panels.
“Roundups need to stop until we have enforceable wellness policies, period,” Leigh said. “We see the same thing year after year and they keep making excuses.”
Wild Horse Education began litigation in 2009 to gain a humane handling policy, halting numerous roundups.
The group has since taken the BLM to court. The most recent lawsuit was filed in July and is moving through the court system.