Bureau of Land Management (BLM) personnel, the Utah State Veterinarian, and a veterinarian from the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) have reviewed conditions at a wild horse holding facility in Utah after a Colorado-based wild horse advocacy group released a video alleging that horses at the facility were being kept in unsanitary conditions.

The BLM is tasked with managing more than 33,000 free-roaming wild horses and burros that reside on ranges in Western states. The agency also manages another 40,000 horses placed in long- or short-term holding facilities after the animals have been removed from the range during periodic roundups.

Written and video reports prepared by wild horse advocate Lisa Friday in March and released by the Cloud Foundation earlier this month, allege that the animals residing at the Salt Lake Regional Wild Horse and Burro Center in Herriman, Utah, were being kept in muddy, urine-soaked pens, and that some horses experienced difficulty moving through the muck. According to the report, the animals had access to "good supplies" of food and water.

Mitch Snow, spokesman for the BLM office in Utah, said the investigative team visited the facility this week and have filed a full report including recommendations for changes there