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WILD HORSE ROUNDUPS
CATTOOR
LIVESTOCK ROUNDUP, INC.
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News:
AIRPLANE HARASSES WILD HORSES AND PUTS
HELICOPTER PILOT, WRANGLERS, BLM, AND OBSERVERS
IN DANGER DURING SPRING CREEK, COLORADO WILD
HORSE GATHER.
On September 16, 2011 Cattoor Livestock
Roundup, Inc was doing a wild horse gather in
Southwestern Colorado in Spring Creek which is
located in Disappointment Valley. There were
many observers and several protesters present
that day. A viewing area had been chosen up on
the hill above the trap and temporary holding
site. The helicopter did not start herding the
wild horses until afternoon because of a
mechanical problem that had to be addressed. A
small airplane had circled the area several
times during the morning hours. The helicopter
was bringing in the second band of wild horses
when this airplane suddenly appeared and flying
very low above the helicopter followed it all
the way up the wings of the trap. Dave Cattoor
was down on the wings with the Judas horse and
told the pilot that the airplane was just above
him and to stay very low and then to land as
soon as he could safely do so. That is what the
pilot did. The airplane made another circle and
flew down very low beside the helicopter on the
ground and then flew low over the observers on
the hill and at the entrance gate. There was a
photographer hanging out of the window of the
plane taking video or pictures.
Dave and Troy Cattoor and the pilot then met
with the BLM COR and PI’s overseeing the gather
operation and when it appeared the airplane has
left the area they decided to put the helicopter
back in the air and bring in another band of
wild horses. The pilot had just picked up
another band not very far from the trap when the
airplane suddenly showed up again. Someone there
at the gather observation site had contact with
the airplane and was telling him when and where
the helicopter was. This time the airplane again
flew very close to and parallel with the
helicopter. The photographer was still hanging
out the window taking pictures. As the
helicopter brought the wild horses close to the
wings of the trap the airplane moved ahead and
turned the wild horses in front of the
helicopter causing them to go up the hill. The
airplane pilot was harassing the wild horses and
trying to turn them out of the wings of the
trap. He was once aging very close to the
helicopter putting the pilot in danger. Dave
again told the helicopter pilot to land as soon
as he could. When the helicopter was safely on
the ground we shut down for the day.
We reported this incident to the FAA and they
are doing an investigation of the pilot. The
observers working with this pilot are just as
guilty and really do not care about the wild
horses. They only care about themselves, getting
close up pictures no matter what, and their own
notoriety. Our pilots do everything they can to
herd the wild horse to the trap as humanely as
possible. They should not be put in this kind of
a dangerous situation.. Nor should the wild
horses be subjected to this extra stress. Our
wranglers, the BLM personnel and the other
observers should not have been put in this kind
of danger either. The actions of this pilot and
these other individuals was very irresponsible.
This only gives the good advocates and others a
bad name, which is sad because most of the
public coming out to observe the roundups are
really good people who just care about the wild
horses.
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Club Footed Wild Horses in Wyoming
We just finished the roundups in White Mountain
and Little Colorado in Western Wyoming. During
this roundup ten wild horses were humanely
euthanized. Three were badly crippled with
pre-existing injuries but seven were club
footed. These club feet are a genetic defect and
the horses have a hard time traveling to feed
and water. These two pictures are of one pinto
stud horse with club feet from White Mountain.

Retraction letter from Maureen Harmonay
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Wild
horse roundups are necessary to maintain
healthy herds of wild horses and burros
out on the range. Herd numbers must be
regulated by the U. S. Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) so that each animal on
the range has
plenty of food and water. BLM managed
lands are multiple use - this means
livestock, wild horse, burro, and
wildlife numbers must be managed to help
assure food and water for everything and
to minimize impact on the environment.
Our
business at Cattoor Livestock Roundup
Company is to help capture, process, and
transport wild horses, burros, and wild
cattle in the most humane way possible.
We have been contracting wild
horse roundups for the Bureau of Land
Management (and other agencies) since 1975.
We have humanely captured over 150,000 wild
horses, wild burros, and wild cattle during
these years.
Over the years, we have
purchased and built equipment, developed
techniques, and learned the best methods to
assure the safety of the animals. We employ
experienced helicopter pilots and wranglers
that really care about the animals. All of
this minimizes the stress on the animals
during wild horse roundups.
At this
time, several wild horse interest groups are
trying to get helicopter wild horse roundups
stopped. The purpose of this web site is to
have the full facts about the purpose and
the practice of roundups available for
anyone who reads them. We do work with wild
animals. When we do wild horse roundups
injuries can occur. But, the injuries are
minimal and usually not life threatening and
our death loss is less than .01%. When you
balance that with natural death loss on the
open range and the possible loss of life
caused by drought, disease, and overcrowding
of the range, you will be able to judge for
yourself the necessity and humanity of these
roundups.
Many myths in wild horse
management debate, by BLM Director Bob
Abbey
Please
continue to our
Wild Horse Information Page to see
questions and answers about wild horse
roundups. If you have a question, please
send it to us. If it is of general
interest, it will be added to this page.
Below are links to videos
of two recent wildhorse roundups by Cattoor
Livestock showing the methods and care that
we use.
YouTube Video #1 of a recent Cattoor Wild
Horse Gather
Cattoor Gather Video #2
We invite
you to contact us, ask questions, and get
the facts.
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