Sheriff and District Attorney Examine Allegations Against BLM Care in Nevada Mustang Facility

Sources: AP/Martin Griffith, Cloud Foundation, MyNews4/Andrew Del Greco, BLM reports

5-30-10. An AP wire article reports that the Reno Sheriff's department has followed up on complaints by wild horse advocates that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM} has not provided adequate medical care for the thousands of mustangs it has rounded up in the last several months. The Sheriff has turned his findings over the District Attorney's office for further evaluation.

The horses are being held in a facility near Fallon, NV. Currently there are 1900 animals at the Fallon facility, plus more at another location, and there is only one veterinarian to take care of the animal's needs.

While some of the horses have regained some of the weight they lost during the stress of the round-up, other animals have not recovered and over 80 of them have died. A number of the mares in the bands brought together at the facility were pregnant and have suffered miscarriages, some of the foals born have not survived, and several stallions have been reported injured or dead.

The weekly BLM update for this Friday, May 28, reported 4 horses dead or euthanized, bringing the total to date of 94. This total exceeds the expected 1% of horse deaths the BLM anticipates in round-ups - at this point 5% of the animals have died.

Another local reporter, Andrew Del Greco, went to the BLM facility and spoke to neighbors. While he was not actually inside the facility, which offers limited scheduled tours but not unrestricted public access, he reported that the animals looked to have enough food and that youngsters from the neighborhood noticed nothing wrong.

The Assistant District Attormey has told reporters that he takes any reports of animal abuse or cruelty very seriously and will examine the allegations thoroughly before deciding what course to pursue.