Wild Horse Freedom Federation issues THE TRUTH to share Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents and information with the public. Be sure to subscribe HERE to Wild Horse Freedom Federation, so that you can receive email alerts.



THE TRUTH #28 – Many wild horse foals died at the BLM’s Bruneau off-range facility in Idaho, and the BLM tried to cover it up.

The Bureau of Land Management’s off-range facility in Bruneau, Idaho, is a feedlot. The contractor for this facility is the J.R. Simplot Company, one of the largest public lands welfare ranching operations in the U.S.

593 wild mares from the Wyoming “Checkerboard” roundup were sent to the BLM’s Bruneau off-range facility.

FOIA records indicate that 101 stillborn fetuses + 34 foal deaths = 135 wild horse foals died at this facility in Bruneau. (If these were all foals from the 593 Wyoming mares, this would mean that over 22% of the foals were lost.) On top of this, 48 mares died in the Bruneau from 9/26/17 – 9/26/18. Many of these were noted as “found dead in pen” from “Undiagnosed/Unknown” reasons.

Based on these FOIA records:

Besides the reported deaths of 34 foals, there are reports for the STILLBORN FETUSES :

there were 42 stillborn fetuses 10/19/17 – 11/8/17 (21 days)

there were 26 stillborn fetuses 11/9/17 – 11/29/17 (21 days)

there were 19 stillborn fetuses 11/30/17 – 1/9/18 (41 days)

2 stillborn fetuses – one n 1/11/18 and one on 2/5/18

1 stillborn fetus 3/8/18

5 stillborn fetuses 3/25/18 – 4/8/18 (15 days)

6 stillborn fetuses 4/11/18 – 5/9/18 (29 days)

Emails also revealed that instead of reporting these numbers to the public, even when asked directly, BLM employees told the public that they’d need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to find out the information.

1) The BLM’s FOIAs are “backlogged” so it takes a very long time to get the requested records.

2) The BLM was deliberately making it difficult for the public to find out the facts,

3) A BLM employee can just pick up the phone and call (or email) another BLM employee to the get information.

4) BLM employees can likely access much information themselves from the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro System (WHBPS) database (referred to as PS in one of the emails). All of the records/data from the Wild Horse & Burro Program are in the WHBPS database.

5) Why should the public have to file a FOIA to get a question answered?

6) It is burdensome for most members of the public to file a FOIA request, so this is a way that the BLM discourages them from obtaining information.

See FOIA documents below (Click on each page to enlarge):

A list of the deaths at the Bruneau, Idaho facility 9/26/17 – 9/26/18, and Tracking Logs for Stillborn Fetuses and Foals that are Dead at Birth:

You can see the rest of the FOIA documents, including emails and veterinary reports, HERE.

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Read all of THE TRUTH and see other FOIA documentation HERE.

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