Mysterious Wild Horse Deaths Skyrocket at BLM Holding Facility
Photo: Wild Horses at another BLM holding facility, this one in Rock Springs, WY
For Immediate Release
Contact: Lisa Friday (804) 389-8218
Colorado Organization Calls for Moratorium on Wild Horse Roundups as Dozens of Mustangs Die Mysteriously in Government Holding Facilities
CAÑON CITY, CO (April 27, 2022) – Today, the Cloud Foundation (TCF), a national nonprofit dedicated to protecting America’s wild horses and burros, is calling for a moratorium on wild horse and burro roundups. The moratorium should remain in place until the yet-unidentified deadly disease that has already killed over 85 wild horses at the Canon City, CO BLM holding facility is under control and there is a medical protocol to treat and prevent its spread. BLM Officials state that necropsies are underway at Colorado State University to determine the fast-killing disease that has taken the lives of dozens of Colorado’s wild horses. These horses were rounded up last fall by helicopter, losing their families and their freedom, only to die under mysterious circumstances.
According to the recorded BLM information line, most of the horses affected were removed from the West Douglas, CO Herd Area, but the Canon City holding facility houses wild horses captured in a roundup from the popular Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area – a roundup that sparked massive public outrage and intervention from Colorado Governor Jared Polis, First Gentleman Marlon Reis, and Congressman Joe Neguse.
“Wild horses are dying from a disease spreading at a BLM holding facility,” states Lisa Friday, Director of Communications for The Cloud Foundation. “Roundups should not resume in July unless the causes of these deaths are known and actions are taken to ensure further suffering and death will not occur.”
“BLM claims the public cannot see the horses because the facility is a federal prison. This has not been a reason to restrict public access in the past.” states Ginger Kathrens, filmmaker and Board Director of the Cloud Foundation. “The public has been allowed entry in the past on regularly scheduled dates. I was even given permission to film on several occasions. So, why are we being stonewalled now? BLM’s lack of transparency is breeding suspicion. . . causing us to worry about the horses and how they are being cared for.”
TCF is calling on the BLM to implement a moratorium on all future roundups immediately to ensure that wild horses are kept safe from this highly contagious deadly disease which could easily come from transport vehicles or other vectors not yet identified.
The Cloud Foundation (TCF), a 501(c)3 non-profit, has been at the forefront of wild horse advocacy since its inception in 2005. TCF was founded by Emmy award-winning filmmaker Ginger Kathrens, creator of three acclaimed PBS Nature series documentaries that followed the wild stallion Cloud throughout his life. Dedicated to the protection and preservation of wild horses and burros on our public lands, The Cloud Foundation advocates for protecting natural wild equid behaviors, repatriation of wild horses to zeroed-out Herd Areas, and for equal allocation of forage within Congressionally designated Herd Areas.
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