Last year the Bureau of Livestock Multiplication gave High Desert Strategies, sometimes referred to as Shaney and the Riflemen, $468,033 to expand their pest control efforts in the lawful homes of wild horses.
The HMAs appear in the first part of the latest schedule for nonmotorized removal.
The pests, of course, are the cherished wild horses.
Their homes lie within grazing allotments, the birthright of the ranchers.
The riflemen run livestock on said allotments.
The pesticide of choice is GonaCon Equine.
Like most darting programs, there is no accountability to the public.
We don’t know if they’re darting mares or stallions. The product works on both.
We don’t know if they’re applying one dose or two.
We don’t know the interval between doses, which the EPA changed from a minimum of 30 days to 90 days in a 2017 labeling amendment.
We don’t know anything about genetic viability, the number of viable mares and the size of the breeding populations.
We don’t know about changes in death rates and herd demographics.
We don’t know if they’re using the proper PPE.
We don’t know their names.
We don’t know if they’re certified applicators.
The Directions for Use say “It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.”
We know the agency used the pesticide unlawfully at Red Rock, Reveille and Clan Alpine, so why shouldn’t the pattern carry over in Oregon?
GonaCon was used in other roundups over the past two years but it’s not clear from the daily reports if two doses were applied and the interval between them.
RELATED: BLM Awards $1 Million for Wild Horse Protection?
Western Horse Watchers Association 