An unexpected tragdey occurred in Canon City, Coroloda the past few weeks. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) program created a facility where dozens of wild horses are kept to make sure their population stays in check. Typically everything at the facility is normal - but in the past few weeks, the large animals have been sadly passing away one by one. The mysterious epidemic has led veterinarians to be confused as they are not sure what caused the unfortunate series of events. Here's what they know so far.
Although it has sparked controversial opinions in the past, the BLM rounded up around 2,500 wild horses from West Douglas by the Colorado-Utah border in the fall of last year. The organization brought the horses to the facility, where they were expected to receive thousands more of the stallions. But perhaps placing all the wild animals in one place led to this catastrophe...
"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, some sort of investigation is required into what on earth is going on," explained Scott Wilson, who is one of the board members of the American Wild Horse Campaign and also a wildlife photographer. Wilson said, "It's extraordinary damage that's being done to a piece of American heritage here. This is 57 unnecessary deaths." But after last Saturday, that number rose after 10 more horses were taken too early - making a total of 67 deaths.
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According to the program, there are currently not just federal animal doctors on site but also independent ones working tirelessly to understand what diagnoses the horses had. In a statement released by the BLM, they noted, “We are working with local, state and federal officials to determine what is impacting horses in the facility and how we can respond as effectively as possible.” The facility is under a “voluntary quarantine” at this time as they try to figure out what mystery illness caused these horses to pass away. While no answers have yet been found the incident has sparked many animal activists to bash the holding facility as it is “cramped, crowded and stressful” and “the perfect environment for infectious pathogens to propagate and spread.” Stay tuned while this story develops.
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