this is the same argument being used nowadays by the BLM to force ranchers to cull cattle below numbers required to maintain water rights. Gophers destroy more rangeland annually than wild horses ever could.
Wild means hard to control, so a few horses getting broken legs happens.
. No doubt when you run any rangestock hard, the chances of them stepping in a gopher hole and breaking their leg is pretty high. But there's no legitimate purpose in running panicked rangestock to the point of exhaustion. If people become desensitized to animal atrocities, they can become desensitized to human atrocities.
The BLM has stated most wild horse fatalities during takings are caused by broken necks, head trauma and castrations. Only 1-1/2 percent of the BLM's wild horse program budget is actually spent on "population suppression". Tying tubes in mares and vasectomies in colts who are then returned to the wild to live normal lives would go a long way towards controlling populations without the need for inhumane takings, where broken legs, gashed faces, and broken necks are considered acceptable collateral damage, or for maintaining a caged herd of 50,000 animals with little to no chances of mainstreaming.
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Culling wild horses to protect the rangeland and the BLM taking owned cattle such as Bundy’s are different episodes. The rights of owners have to be observed. Wild horses have no owners.
Culling leading to slaughter or sales to new owners should be the main management step. Catch & release after castration or fixing mares is costly and should be done only on wild horses for special reasons, not as rangeland protection.