Editor,
Where are all the wild horse advocacy groups? Why are they ignoring the wild horses this winter?
Why aren’t they putting their money to action and saving these poor starving horses?
Where is the National Mustang Association, American Wild Horse Campaign and Wild Horse Education?
Do these groups really care about the welfare of wild horses?
If you read their press releases, blogs or social media posts, you would think they would do anything to save the horses and ensure their well-being. According to these groups, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an awful caretaker, inhumane, and out to endanger and eradicate every last horse on public lands.
This winter has been a long and rough one for wild horses and wildlife in Nevada and Utah.
Many wild horses are looking for forage through the deep snow, only to find sagebrush of little nutritional value.
I have seen horses pawing around sagebrush plants trying to find something to eat, but only find woody stalks of sagebrush. In some areas, sagebrush plants have been eaten down to nearly nothing, only the main woody trunk remains.
The horses are stripping bark off the juniper trees in some areas. The horses are skin and bones with little energy.
They are jealous of the carnivorous coyotes who they watch nibbling on a jackrabbit once in a while.
Who is caring for these poor wild horses? Perhaps the Wild Horse Education group needs to update their curriculum to provide accurate information and educate themselves.
The wild horse “advocacy” groups pledged $20,000 reward money for information leading to the conviction of whoever shot and killed 5 horses in November 2021 in Jakes Valley, Nevada (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/25-000-reward-offered-in-case-of-slaughtered-wild-horses/ar-AA16KhRa).
The groups publish press releases along with BLM offering rewards to find the shooter and hold them accountable.
The reality is the groups offer reward money so BLM will publish a press release naming them as donors in hopes the public will have sympathy and donate to their organization and raise money to keep them in business.
The groups don’t really care about the well-being of the wild horses. They only care about the well-being of their paychecks, and play on the public’s heart-strings to gain more followers and donations.
If these groups really cared about the wild horses, they would be working side-by-side with BLM or on their own to save the horses from dying and starving as a result of this harsh winter.
They fail to post photos or videos of the wild horses suffering from natural conditions, but have hours and hours of video, engage in litigation, and post long blogs blaming BLM for inhumane treatment.
If they really cared, they would be doing something. I know having enough money to live, eat and enjoy life is essential, but deceiving the public to receive payment for a fake cause is unethical.
It is time to hold these non-profit deceptive groups accountable. Put their (and donors) money where their mouth is!
Cody Coombs
Ely, Nevada
