Utah resident and actress Katherine Heigl will hold a rally with several animal advocacy organizations to protest a Bureau of Land Management roundup of the Onaqui Wild Horse Herd.
The wild herd, located 40 miles southwest of Salt Lake City, is overseen by the BLM, which tries to maintain the population at 121 to 210 horses. The current population is estimated to be at 450. From July 11 to July 22, the BLM plans to use a helicopter to gather 400 horses, with 296 to be removed to manage overpopulation. Having too many horses on the land is “damaging to the long-term health of wild horse herds, other wildlife and the land on which they all depend,” according to the agency.
The horses are descended from equines turned loose by explorers hundreds of years ago.
Animal Wellness Action, an animal cruelty fighting organization based in Washington, D.C., said in a press release that the mass helicopter roundup “will send 80 percent of the herd to an uncertain future.”
A rally against the roundup will be held on July 2 at 10 a.m. at the south steps of the Utah State Capitol and will feature Heigl and Center for a Humane Economy, and other animal advocates, according to a press release from Animal Wellness Action.
The protest comes after animal advocacy nonprofit Friends of Animals filed a preliminary injunction against the BLM on June 14 to prohibit the roundup. The BLM stated in an email that they “do not comment on pending litigation as a general practice.”
According to the BLM’s website, animals removed from public rangelands are offered to the public for adoption and unadopted animals are cared for on open pastures for the rest of their lives. However, a report from The New York Times found that the Bureau’s Adoption Incentive Program led some horses to slaughterhouses after being “adopted.”
The BLM website states that during helicopter roundups, “helicopters start the horses moving in the right direction and then back off sometimes one-quarter to one-half mile from the animals to let them travel at their own pace,” with horses moved more rapidly when the herd needs to be turned or as they reach the capture site. Helicopter pilots are better able to keep mares and foals together than horseback riders, according to the BLM, with pilots able to more effectively move the animals around barriers like ravines or roads.
Heigl, who is known for her role in the television show “Grey’s Anatomy,” is co-founder of the animal welfare nonprofit Jason Debus Heigl Foundation. Heigl, who lives in Summit County and keeps horses at a ranch in Kamas Valley, joined the campaign advocating for the Onaqui herd last month, according to an article from the Associated Press detailing her involvement.
“With their historic place on the public lands of Utah, the Onaqui horses are living treasures that contribute to the beauty of the Great Basin Desert, as well as the economic vitality of nearby communities,” Heigl said in a release. “Instead of cruel helicopter roundups, I call on the Bureau of Land Management to leave the Onaqui horses on the land, manage them humanely with fertility control, and limit livestock grazing to protect the ecosystem.”
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