67 Horses killed by outbreak of mysterious highly contagious disease in America

67 horses have died following an outbreak of a mysterious contagious disease in America.

The outbreak reportedly began on Saturday, 23, April with the Bureau of Land Management releasing a statement on Monday, 25, April: “Wild horses at the Wild Horse facility in Canon City have been infected with an unknown yet highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease. The BLM is working with local, state and federal officials to determine the exact cause of death.”

Since the announcement at least 67 horses have died from the disease at the Wild Horse facility in Canon City, Colorado. “There are 2,550 horses at the facility”, officials stated. “It’s under a voluntary quarantine.”

“It’s extraordinary damage that’s being done to a piece of American heritage here,” stated Scott Wilson, a board member of the American Wild Horse Campaign and a wildlife photographer, in a report by CBS.

“If there weren’t roundups, we wouldn’t have the consignment and we wouldn’t have this contagion so the bigger picture this could have been avoided some sort of investigation is required into what on earth is going on,” stated Wilson.

Animal rights activists have also voiced their concern on the developing situation: “It is unacceptable that the agency charged by federal law to protect and care for these animals can’t even keep them healthy,” Scott Beckstead, director of campaigns for the Center for a Humane Economy, said in the statement. “And it points to the larger problem of this agency’s focus on mass roundups to accommodate more commercial livestock, rather than being responsible stewards of our wild herds and the lands they live on.”

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