The Bureau of Land Management is under fire once again from wild horse advocates.
One group fighting for the protection of the horses is blaming the BLM for the recent deaths of two wild horses in Cold Creek.
The president of the America's Wild Horse Advocates organization has sent a letter to the BLM condemning the agency for the deaths of the two horses in what she calls a "death trap."
However, the BLM maintains it did everything it could to save them.
As president of America's Wild Horse Advocates, Billie Young is passionate about the wild horses that thrive in Southern Nevada. "I don't believe we've done right by them," Young stated.
She said it broke her heart last month to learn two horses died a week apart, one mare and a four-month-old filly, after getting stuck in two different mudholes. The holes were once ponds and a source of water for wild horses in Cold Creek.
"It's needless. It is absolutely needless. It didn't have to happen," Young said.
Young is pointing fingers at the Bureau of Land Management for the horses' deaths.
She told Eyewitness News, "Somebody needs to take a lead in correcting this matter, and as lead agency, the Bureau of Land Management has a responsibility to ensure those animals are not set up to die. And unfortunately, nobody has taken that lead to this point."
Juan Palma is the field manager for the Las Vegas field office of the Bureau of Land Management. He says horses are a living symbol of the American West.
Palma maintains that even though the ponds are not under the jurisdiction of the BLM, they did not ignore one suffering animal.
"We did take the last one out, and we did take it to the veterinarian. We tried to save it. We did everything in our power to save that young horse," Palma stated.
He also added that despite their efforts, it may have been too late to do anything. "The fact that these horses went inside the pond and stayed in the water leads us to believe that there might have been something wrong with those wild horses," he said, including the possibility they ate something harmful.
However, Young believes what happened amounts to animal abuse. "They were slow to react, and ultimately both animals died," she said.
Eyewitness News showed a copy of the letter to the BLM. The agency hasn't officially received it yet, but Palma said he's planning on addressing those responsible for maintaining the ponds in Cold Creek. He said one is controlled by Clark County, and the U.S. Forest Service controls the other.
The horses still have access to the ponds, but horse advocates say their lives are at risk.
Email your comments to Reporter Aaron Drawhorn.
Billie Young, president of America's Wild Horse Advocates
Juan Palma, field manager for BLM's Las Vegas field office
