Incident at Cañon City Is a Symptom Not a Cause

The investigation currently centers around the outbreak of an influenza virus and the vaccine protocols intended to prevent it, as discussed in the following report by CBS News in Denver.

The government has not provided a satisfactory explanation for the high mortality rate in the West Douglas horses compared to other animals at the facility.

But nobody’s asking why they aren’t living on their home range.

The problem is the way our public lands are managed, especially in areas set aside for wild horses.

Most of the food and water have been assigned to privately owned cattle and sheep.

With few resources remaining for the horses, most of them end up in off-range holding.

A blog post dated April 27 by the BLM describes that as nirvana.

Privately owned land formerly used for cattle grazing has been repurposed for wild horses and public lands designated for the horses are now used for cattle grazing, with expenses covered by the taxpayers.

It’s absolutely nuts. The aim of the wild horse and burro program is to minimize its impact on the grazing program.

Confine the ranchers to their base properties and let them pay the going rate to feed their animals. They’ve been insulated from the realities of a free market, at least on the cost side, for too long.

Can Anything Good Come from Cañon City Incident?

No, because it’s too far downstream to be of any use to the horses. It can’t change the conditions that forced them off the range in the first place.

Consider this example from the North Lander Complex:

Forage allocations before incident – 11.5% to horses, 88.5% to livestock
Forage allocations after incident – 11.5% to horses, 88.5% to livestock

The Proposed Action in the new resource enforcement plan will make the area a nirvana for the ranchers and its rightful inhabitants will end up in off-range holding.

More Deaths Reported at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals

Eight horses died over the past 24 hours, according to the April 29 update at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 102.

Figures reported previously have been revised due to an error in the initial count:

April 28 – 94 horses dead
April 27 – 84
April 26 – 66
April 25 – 56

The Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office posted an FAQ for Equine Influenza.

The sitrep has been updated with corrections in red.

RTF Pushes Montana Solution in Wake of Cañon City Deaths!

As stated in today’s news release on PR Newswire: “RTF has long advocated for the use of a readily available fertility control vaccine that if properly implemented can replace removals as the agency’s primary management tool and allow for the phasing out of long-term holding.”

Bold Prediction for Incident at Cañon City

The advocates will demand an end to the roundups and warehousing of wild horses in off-range corrals.

But they won’t call for an end to the removals.

Instead, they’ll insist that the government get rid of them with the Montana Solution, a business they plan to dominate while the pilots and wranglers sit on the sidelines.

Advocates are the Predators 11-30-21

Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup Day 3

The incident began on April 25. Gather stats through April 27:

Target: Burros
Type: Planned
Method: Helicopter
Captured: 55, up from 13 on Day 1
Average daily take: 18.3
Capture goal: 490
Removal goal: 490
Returned: None
Deaths: None
Shipped: 55, up from 13 on Day 1

The cumulative total includes 23 jacks, 27 jennies and five foals.

Youngsters represented 9% of the animals captured. Of the adults, 46% were jacks and 54% were jennies.

The location of the trap site was not provided.

Refer to Appendix B of the project documents for the location of gather activity relative to the park. The Western Watersheds map does not show Herd Areas.

Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup Map 04-29-22

Day 3 ended with no unaccounted-for animals.

The number of burros removed to date is 55.

Other statistics:

AML: Zero
Forage assigned to burros: None
Pre-gather population: Unknown
Forage liberated to date: 330 AUMs per year
Water liberated to date: 275 gallons per day
Forage assigned to livestock: Unknown
Burros displaced from area by permitted grazing: Unknown
True AML: Unknown
Stocking rate at new AML: Unknown
Burros displaced from area by drilling and mining: Ask the advocates

Foal-Free Friday, No Guilt Edition

On the Virginia Range with Western Horse Watchers.

The advocates love to criticize the government for its treatment of wild horses, while absolving themselves from any wrongdoing.

Horse-Free Friday 04-29-22

Another Black Mountain Roundup Announced

More wild burros will be removed from the HMA starting on May 2, according to today’s news release.

Helicopters will push the animals into the traps and public observation may be available on a limited basis.

The incident was planned and appears on page two of the latest schedule.

The capture and removal goals are 1,080 each but the announcement said that jennies receiving the Montana Solution in the Humane Society PZP experiment will be treated again and released, and those in the control group will receive an initial dose, followed presumably by return to their home range.

Therefore, the removal goal should be less than the capture goal.

The HMA covers about one million acres in northwestern Arizona and has an AML of 478, for an aimed-at stocking rate of 0.5 burros per thousand acres.

The current population is thought to be around 3,000.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing, with 72% of the authorized forage assigned to livestock, neglecting wildlife.

That resource would support an additional 1,222 burros, for a True AML of 1,700.

Sadly, the current population exceeds that value.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Florence.

A link to the gather stats and daily reports was not provided.

Burros were removed from the HMA in 2020, 2021 and early 2022 with bait traps.

The old mining town of Oatman, known for its furry panhandlers, is in the HMA.

UPDATE: Gather page found, not listed with other Arizona roundups.

Death Toll Still Climbing at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals

Ten horses have died in the past 24 hours, according to the April 28 update at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 95.

The veterinarian’s report has been posted for public review. The first death related to the illness may have occurred on April 18.

Today’s news release attributes the deaths to an equine influenza virus that has largely affected the horses captured from West Douglas last August.

Sand Wash Horses Better Off at Cañon City?

Last November CBS News in Denver tried to convince us that they were better off in the corrals, but now they’re suggesting they might be better off on the range.

Sinbad HMA Overpopulated?

How can it be overpopulated with 328 wild burros when the BLM authorizes privately owned livestock equivalent to 922 burros in the same area, on top of the 70 animals allowed by plan?

RELATED: Sinbad Roundup Announced.

Meeker Mustang Makeover Rejects Sand Wash Horses

A story dated April 27 by Steamboat Pilot & Today said horses removed from the HMA and held at Cañon City will not be delivered to trainers due to the unidentified illness that’s killed 85 over the last five days.

Horses from other areas will arrive at the Rio Blanco County Fairgrounds today.

Western Horse Watchers suspects that all of the animals at the facility are now unadoptable and may be viewed as a health risk no matter where they’re sent.

The annual training event is organized and operated by ranching interests.

Sinbad Roundup Announced

The BLM will remove wild burros from public lands in and around the HMA starting on April 30.

Helicopters will push the animals into the traps, according to the news release, and the incident will be open to public observation.

The capture goal is 300 and the removal goal is 260. Jennies returned to the range may be treated with GonaCon.

The roundup was planned and appears on page two of the latest schedule.

The 70 burros allowed by plan, equivalent to 35 wild horses, require 420 AUMs per year. The HMA covers 99,241 total acres, for an equivalent stocking rate of 0.4 wild horses per thousand acres. The target rate across all HMAs is one wild horse per thousand acres.

The current population is thought to be 328.

The HMA is subject to permitted grazing. The overlapping allotments offer 14,919 AUMs per year on 266,757 public acres, for an average forage density of 55.9 AUMs per year per thousand acres, 13 times higher than the forage density for burros.

The forage assigned to livestock would support 9.3 wild burros per thousand acres, on top of the 0.4 wild burros per thousand acres allowed by plan.

The True AML would be 9.7 × 99.241 = 962. The current population is well within this range, so there are no excess animals.

The roundup has one goal: To protect the public-lands ranchers.

Captured animals will be taken to the off-range corrals in Axtell.

Gather stats and daily reports will be posted to this page.

RELATED: Sinbad Decision Announced.

UPDATE: The stocking rate allowed by plan is 0.7 burros per thousand acres, 0.4 is an equivalent rate for horses. The forage assigned to livestock would support 9.3 wild burros per thousand acres, on top of the 0.7 animals per thousand acres allowed by plan, so the True AML would be (9.3 + 0.7) × 99.241 = 992, not 962.

More Horses Dead at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals

Eighteen horses have died since yesterday, according to an update at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 85.

The cause of the illness was not disclosed.

Set Them Free

One of my favorite photos from the Carson City rally on April 23.

The caption does not say “Get rid of us,” as the advocates would have it.

If the ranchers were confined to their base properties and expected to pay market rates to feed their animals, you could open the gates and set them free. Several times over!

Virginia Range Darting Program Dwarfs Losses at Cañon City

The numbers will likely go higher but the inmates and staff at a horse training facility in Colorado can’t match the damage inflicted on the herd by the advocates in Nevada.

As noted yesterday, the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and its army of volunteers have pumped nearly 6,000 doses of PZP into the mares over the last three years, with somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 lives denied over the same period.

A member of the CAAWH board told CBS News in a story yesterday that “If there weren’t roundups we wouldn’t have the consignment and we wouldn’t have this contagion so the bigger picture this could have been avoided,” a reference to the Montana Solution and the group’s raison d’être.

No more roundups, no more off-range holding and no more horses.

Move over Cañon City, the advocates will not be outdone.

Can Anything Good Come from Motorized Equipment Hearing?

No, because it’s focused on the wrong things.

Consider this example from the North Lander Complex:

Forage allocations before hearing – 11.5% to horses, 88.5% to livestock
Forage allocations after hearing – 11.5% to horses, 88.5% to livestock

A suite of tools will be needed to make this a reality for the ranchers and the Proposed Action in the new resource enforcement plan promises to do exactly that.

Motorized Equipment Hearing 04-26-22

Death Valley Auxiliary Roundup in Progress

The incident began yesterday, according to the gather page, with 13 burros captured, 13 shipped and no deaths.

The location of the trap site was not specified.

Death Toll Rising at Cañon City Off-Range Corrals

Ten more horses died today, according to a statement at the Colorado HMA page, bringing the total to 67.

Veterinarians Trying to Identify Cañon City Illness

BLM posting updates to this page.

Lab tests in progress. No new deaths reported.

Horses showing signs of illness have been isolated from the population.

Some of the horses captured last August in the West Douglas roundup were tested for equine infectious anemia and were separated from other animals at the corrals until they were cleared of any infections.