Public Alarmed at BLM’s Surprise Start to Castrate Mustangs as Death Toll Rises in Nevada Facility

THE CLOUD FOUNDATION

Media Contacts:                

Makendra Silverman 

Makendra@TheCloudFoundation.org 

Tel: 719-351-8187

Anne Novak

Anne@TheCloudFoundation.org

Tel: 415-531-8454

For Immediate Release

New report on equine stress released as Foundation denied access to view the captured Calico wild horses in Nevada 

Reno, NV (April 23, 2010)—Unexpected castrating of captured male mustangs, four years old and younger, by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) started behind closed doors on Friday, April 16th in the Fallon holding pens of Nevada. Many depressed horses with swollen scrotums have been observed. The public understood that the castration of the Calico wild horses would not occur until the In Defense of Animals court case was heard in May as there is a possibility of returning the wild horses to their protected public rangelands. For months, requests for daily monitoring by humane observers have been repetitively denied at the new private facility contracted by the BLM. Now a request to visit the feedlot-style facility by Executive Director of the Cloud Foundation and Emmy-Award winning filmmaker, Ginger Kathrens, has been denied as well. Outraged members of the public will hold protests in multiple cities because of the BLM’s lack of transparency and cruel roundups. The first rally is planned for Sunday, April 25th near Las Vegas at  Red Rocks Park from 12:00- 2:00 p.m.

“BLM seems determined to create a missing generation of mustangs” states Terri Farley, an award-winning children’s author and a plaintiff in the Calico case. “In their care, 86 horses have died, more than 40 mares have aborted their late term foals and now they’ve castrated an undisclosed number of young stallions.”  More