Cattoor Livestock is the contractor doing the
Diamonds Complex Wild Horse Roundup in Nevada
for the Ely, Elko, and Battle Mountain BLM.
Laura Leigh was not out on the roundup the first
week but blogged about the gather from reports
from Deniz Bolbol who was at the gather site. I
felt that some of Laura's statement were
misleading and voiced my concerns to Laura. She
said if I would write down my concerns she would
put them on her blog. I sent Laura the following
letter. Sue Cattoor
January 24, 2013
Dear Laura,
You and
I
had a
conversation at our trap site yesterday and
I mentioned I had some concerns about things
you had mentioned on your January 22, 2013
blog concerning the Diamond Complex wild
horse roundup. You said that if I would put
those concerns in writing you would put them
on your blog. This letter is to address my
concerns.
You
insinuate in your report that because of the
Court ruling in the Owyhee Complex Federal
Court case that gather operations are now
different than what you have been observing
on other previous gathers in Nevada. Quote
"Observers report that the operation (to
date) has gone in a slower fashion.
That handling and removal
(with the exception of one run) have been
paced better and done with more care than
observations at recent BLM operations in
Nevada." And later quote" WHE is encouraged
by some of the reports so far: The trap
appears to be moving more often (the trap
going to horses instead of horses going to
the trap greater and greater distances), the
pace of loading and sorting is not rushed,
the pace of animals coming to the trap
appears more controlled.
You and your readers need to
remember that our organization Cattoor
Livestock Roundup, Inc is the contractor
conducting this roundup. And that you
yourself have not observed any of our
roundups for at least a year and a half. The
last one of our roundups that you attended
was the Kiger gather in Oregon in July of 20
11. We are not doing anything different on
this gather than we do on any of our
gathers. We are not doing things different
because of your court case. What your
observers are reporting is how we have
always operated and how we will continue to
operate.
Also you say you are still
concerned about temperatures. Your blog
refers to a
-5
degree
temperature and your statement insinuates
horses may have been captured at below zero
temperatures. They were not. Our helicopter
pilot and the BLM COR have thermometers. All
of our pick ups as well as the BLM vehicles,
the LEO vehicles, the PAO vehicles, and the
observer's vehicles all have thermometers.
But remember the vehicle temperatures don't
change once you stop moving and the
temperatures are different in each one even
at the same time and the same place. Our
policy is to carefully warm up our
helicopters because cold weather is hard on
them. Then we start herding animals when the
temperature is zero or above. We have done
this for over 37 years and have seen no
ill
affects on the animals from winter time
gathers.
I would like to make one
other point concerning your statement that
the trap appears to be moving more often. We
always try to put the trap as close to the
animals as possible and we always try to
consider the terrain, ground condition, and
the condition of the animals.
In
an
area such as this with good access this is
easy to do. But sometimes this is not always
possible. In some areas such as the
Winnemucca part of the Owyhee Complex that
you just attended the access is very
limited. The wild horses must be herded out
to where a trap can be built.
I appreciate your letting
Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc address these
concerns on your blog.
Sincerely,
Sue Cattoor, Secretary
Cattoor Livestock Roundup, Inc.
Link to copy of the original letter.
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