Photo by Wild Horse Education of a stallion called, Sunshine, before he was killed during a Bureau of Land Management roundup in Nevada.

Taxpayer Funded Animal Cruelty Exposed!

UNITED STATES, July 16, 2023/EINPresswire.com/ -- Horse advocates across the nation were horrified by the agonizing death of a Palomino stallion recklessly pursued by taxpayer-paid employees and contractors after he fractured a leg escaping from a fenced in area called a “trap” in one of the multi-million dollar helicopter round ups of wild horses by a federal agency.

The stallion was called Sunshine.

Advocates for Wild Equines (A*W*E*), a national grassroots advocacy group, expressed disbelief and outrage at how the Bureau of Land Management mishandled the stallion’s escape last week during a round up. Video of the stallion trying to run on three legs went on for more than a half hour before he was shot during the incident in Northeastern Nevada on June 13th.

“Both legal and legislative action must be taken to stop this blatant disregard for the Wild and Free-Roaming Wild Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policy, both of which were designed to protect wild Equines from cruelty.” said Lorna Torrey-Palermo, founder of A*W*E*

“Helicopter roundups cause death, suffering, and trauma for the equines and interruption of the ecosystem for many species,” Torrey-Palermo said. “Round ups in general do nothing to protect or manage the land.” The BLM continues to “put more taxpayer dollars into the hands of (helicopter) contractors with no incentive for them to provide humane treatment."

The contractor used on this roundup, and many other roundups has made more than $31 million with 524 contracts since 2008, according to USA Spending. This same contractor was indicted by the US Government and plead guilty to two counts of Conspiracy to sell wild horses to slaughter and using his aircraft to capture wild horses. He was fined $510, with one year of supervised probation. He was allowed to continue to make millions off of taxpayers and continue to cause death after death. Is this what we want to be funding as taxpayers? The public deserves to know!

Wild Horse Education has begun legal action to ask that policy and regulations be enforced. There must be accountability for abuse during round ups.

In January, 2022, a similar horrific incident in the Pancake Complex shocked advocates and the public. Video captured a colt who broke a leg running from a helicopter while continuing to be pursued and pressured to keep moving. The colt was eventually shot.

Wild Horse Education took both videos, including the new one in the Antelope Complex. Laura Leigh, the group’s founder, said the stallion was “a ray of sunshine in a sea of hardship.”

“We are heart broken and livid at the same time,” she wrote on the organization’s web page.

A*W*E* called for a three-pronged action in response to the stallion’s death:

-- An investigation by law enforcement authorities into the BLM’s handling of the stallion’s escape.
-- Support for a legal fund established by Wild Horse Education to suspend the round ups for multiple reasons including the ongoing heat wave.
-- Passage of a law in Congress to ban helicopter round ups. HR 3656 was reintroduced this session by Rep. Dina Titus, D- Nevada.

Please consider a donation to WHE’s fund to obtain justice for Sunshine and other wild horses killed in the round ups. In the current round up, eight horses including Sunshine have already died.

WHE has retained legal representation and is already pursuing legal action through the courts to stop the abuse of horses at the Antelope Complex roundup.

Gail Bumsted
Advocates For Wild Equines Lobby Coalition
+1 717-329-8035
coreteam@advocatesforwildequines.com

Sunshine’s Final Moments

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