This opinion piece was written and submitted by Amelia Perrin, Communications Associate, American Wild Horse Campaign. 

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• After a month’s hiatus, the largest roundup in history resumed in the White Mountain/Little Colorado Herd Management Areas (HMAs)
• The first day of this operation saw the deaths of four federally protected wild horses. One horse broke its back during the operation, the other three were classified as chronic/pre-existing and included a broken leg, a club foot, and a swayback.
• The contractor for the final portion of this roundup is Sampson Livestock.
• In the White Mountain/Little Colorado HMAs, the BLM plans on capturing 1,040 wild horses and permanently removing 881. The remaining 159 will receive either an immunocontraceptive vaccine or be administered untested IUDs.
• The ongoing roundup aims to capture over 4,000 wild horses and will permanently remove over 3,500 from the 3.4  million acres of land called the Wyoming Checkerboard. 
• AWHC has observers onsight who reported that public observation continues to be minimal with observers being placed a mile and a half away from the trap site with no visibility into the trap itself. This means that observers cannot see the most dangerous portion of the helicopter stampede when the horses are packed together in a small space and panic ensues when they realize there is no escape.

The American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.

In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.