Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RENO, Nev. (AP) -- A wild-horse advocacy group has released videotape of a Utah holding facility that it says shows mustangs living in unhealthy conditions.
I saw more than 10 horses in one pen alone trying to escape the quagmire, but their legs were suctioned deep into the mud.
–Lisa Friday
The Cloud Foundation said the video shot by activist Lisa Friday last month at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's Salt Lake Regional Wild Horse and Burro Center in Herriman, Utah, underscores the need for the agency to halt further roundups of the animals from the range in the West.
Among other things, the group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., said the video shows horses that were unable to move from a knee-deep mixture of mud, manure and urine.
"I saw more than 10 horses in one pen alone trying to escape the quagmire, but their legs were suctioned deep into the mud," Friday said, adding she also saw 30 horses laying down in mud the entire three hours she was at the facility.
We'll review the video and assess the need for any corrective action that may be appropriate.
–Celia Boddington
Bureau spokeswoman Celia Boddington said the agency is committed to the well-being of all wild horses.
"We'll review the video and assess the need for any corrective action that may be appropriate," she told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The Cloud Foundation is pressing Congress for an investigation of all the bureau's holding facilities and for rejection of the agency's request for $12 million to conduct further roundups.
Officials said the agency has a mandate under federal law to remove some horses to sustain the health of herds, rangelands and wildlife.
Under its program, the bureau removes thousands of horses from the range in the West and sends them to holding pens, where they are placed for adoption or sent to long-term corrals in the Midwest.
About 33,700 wild horses roam freely in 10 Western states, with about half the animals in Nevada. An additional 40,000 horses are cared for in government-funded holding facilities.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
