We recently reported that Sheryl Crow had contacted the Obama administration about halting the relocation of wild mustangs but the Bureau of Land Management. The plot thickens as more celebrities join the fray, and as advocated for the mustangs have sued the US Government: “In a complaint filed Nov. 23 in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C., international animal welfare agency In Defense of Animals and Nevada ecologist Craig Downer allege that the BLM’s use of helicopters during roundups cause trauma, injury, or death to some wild horses. They seek a permanent halt to gathers from the Calico Complex range.” More from TheHorse.com. For more reading, Wayne Pacelle, president of the Humane Society has written this interesting blog entry on the topic.
Today, it appears that these efforts to halt the relocation have had an impact. The US Bureau of Land Management delayed the roundup of wild mustangs in Nevada because of the law suit filed Monday and to allow time for other appeals. An attorney representing the plaintiffs said ”We are confident that the court will agree that America’s wild horses are protected by law from BLM’s plan to indiscriminately chase and stampede them into corrals for indeterminate warehousing away from their established habitat.” But, the BLM still plans to round up about 2,700 animals from the Calico Complex Herd Management Area near the Black Rock Desert north of Reno, Worley said, adding that the agency will issue its formal decision Tuesday. Read more from the NYT. Go eventing.
