Sunshine Man galloped off for 35 minutes before the shooting.
The iconic palomino stallion died in the same open lands he had roamed for years but seemed unfamiliar to him in his last desperate moments. The dust from the helicopter kicking up behind him, the roar of the blades falling incessantly—it was enough to make him run away as fast as he could despite the leg he'd broken in half trying to regain his freedom. His pursuers eventually tired of the chase and a fight brought him down with a rifle.
Sunshine Man was one of them 21 wild horses were killed at the behest of the Bureau of Land Management during a 2023 gathering in Nevada. And 2024 looks set to be even bloodier, as the organization is trying to record 20,000 horses until September. At least 11 horses died in a single gathering in northern Nevada on June 29. Few people know that wild horses are being driven to near extinction by inhumane concentrations perpetrated by the federal government and funded by taxpayers. If we don't do something to end this antiquated, barbaric practice, wild horses will disappear forever.
A few years ago, my film crew and I embarked on what would become a five-year journey across the American West to capture footage of wild horses for a film I was directing — an adaptation of Anna Sewell's classic, Black beauty. I have been a horse person since my youth. but it was on this journey, into the heart of the wilderness, that I first encountered the enduring magic and astonishing beauty of these sacred symbols of American freedom.
I also experienced the chilling conspiracy that threatened to wipe them out for good in the cruelest way imaginable.
In accordance with Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 — which established federal protections for wild horses — the Bureau of Land Management is authorized to remove “surplus” animals to protect the health of the area.
For decades, the BLM has impounded thousands of wild horses and burrows, arguing that wild horse overpopulation is causing land degradation or that the horses are at risk of starvation. But a landmark 2013 study conducted by the independent National Academy of Sciences found that the Bureau's own justifications for the removal of wild horses and burrows are not supported by science.
The awful truth is that wild horses are used as scapegoats for the multi-billion dollar livestock industry.
Numerous independent studies and experts agree that livestock grazing, not wild horses, is the primary cause of degradation of public lands. ONE resolution 2022 of the Office their own data found that the animals outnumber wild horses and burros on public lands by more than 125:1. Livestock grazing is identified as a “significant cause” of land degradation in 72 percent of areas that do not meet rangeland health standards.
However, thousands of wild horses are still subject to violent capture. In 2023, more than 5,000 wild horses and burros were removed from public lands, at a cost taxpayers about $160 million.
I witnessed these horrific gatherings firsthand during the filming of my documentary, Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West.
The BLM uses helicopters to chase wild horses — including pregnant mares, older horses and foals no more than a day old — for miles, sometimes in extreme heat, over grueling and dangerous terrain to the point of injury, exhaustion and death. More gruesome injuries occur as terrified horses are forced into “trap sites” – tightly fenced areas in the area where horses collide in melee, sometimes breaking their legs or necks as they try to escape.
The BLM repeatedly denied my film crew and reporters from the Associated Press access to the traps where deaths and injuries often occur. When we were finally allowed access, we documented the appalling conditions. We saw pain and terror in the eyes of the horses as the blood ran down their faces. I will never forget the sound of their screams as they were separated from their families.
The BLM insists that helicopter captures are humane – but there is nothing humane about using a helicopter to hunt a highly intelligent, federally protected animal to death. This is abuse.
What is more infuriating is that the government is spending millions of taxpayer dollars to hire roundup contractors, awarding one contractor, the Cattoor Livestock Roundup Company, almost 29 million dollars single.
Even if a horse survives capture, there's no telling what awaits it. A lucky few are adopted in shelters. About 60,000 incarcerated in detention facilities, often in squalid conditions, at a cost to taxpayers $78 million annually. And many more are auctioned off to kill buyers, who ship them to Canada or Mexico for slaughter because the practice is illegal in the United States.
The Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023 would help end this brutality by banning the use of helicopters and other aircraft in captures to prevent unnecessary cruelty, injury and death. But in order to preserve the natural wonder and beauty of our nation for future generations and to ensure that no other horse endures what the Sunshine Man did, rounding up wild horses and killing them for the profits of billion dollar ranching companies we must to end permanently.
This battle can really feel like David vs. Goliath at times – and the livestock industry has billions of dollars to spend on lobbying. However, wild horses are not silent. Exactly the opposite. I was in awe of the thousands of kids who participated in the “I Stand With Wild Horses” campaign, contacting their lawmakers in an effort to save America's last wild horses. These young voices give me hope.
To quote Anna Sewell Black beauty, “if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop and do nothing, we become partners in guilt.” Congress can no longer share in the guilt. It's time to stand with wild horses.
Ashley Avis is a Hollywood director and founder of the Wild Beauty Foundation, best known for writing and directing Disney's Black Beauty and the upcoming City of Angels for Warner Brothers.
from our partners at https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/government-eradicating-wild-horses-america-1235057417/