RENO, Nev. (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management says 22 wild horses have died so far in a government roundup in northern Nevada.
BLM officials say three mustangs have died at the roundup site in the Calico Mountain Complex and 19 have died at a holding facility for the horses.
Horse advocates say the BLM’s roundup methods are “brutal” and violate the intent of a 1971 law Congress enacted to protect the horses.
BLM officials say less than half of 1 percent of the horses gathered in such roundups die and they go out of their way to minimize the risk. But this time, about 1.7 percent of the more 1,300 horses gathered have died.
The government’s goal is to relocate about 2,500 horses. Officials say the roundup is necessary because there are too many horses on the rangeland.
