Opinion by Debbie Coffey

Sarah Thompson, who started a blog a few years ago, and then in December 2019 became a “Social Media Authenticity Analyst” at Lead Stories, just wrote an article titled “Fact Check:  BLM Did NOT Release a Plan to Annihilate America’s Wild Horse And Burro Herds”

Unfortunately, Thompson seems to NOT have fact checked her own article, which is filled with omissions and errors.  And, how does this uninformed person, call a real expert a “HOAX?”

While citing an article by Carol Walker on wildhoofbeats.com, Thompson states that Carol Walker “serves as the Director of Field Documentation for the non-profit Wild Horse Freedom Federation.”

FACT:  Carol Walker has not been the Director of Field Documentation for Wild Horse Freedom Federation since early November, 2019, and has not been listed on Wild Horse Freedom Federation’s Board of Directors on their website since that date.

Thompson then goes on to claim that BLM’s plan “to ‘annihilate”’ the herds is a claim not supported by facts.”

FACT:  Almost every wild horse advocacy organization in the U.S. (with experts who have been researching and following every aspect of wild horse & burro issues for many years) has spoken out against this BLM plan.

American Wild Horse Campaign wrote this:  Breaking It Down:  BLM’s Path to Destruction for America’s Wild Herds 

And this:  Q & A On the Dangerous Plan for Wild Horses & Burros

The Cloud Foundation wrote this:  The BLM’s Billion Dollar Disaster Plan

In fact, dozens of advocacy groups have spoken out against a very similar “path forward” plan.

It certainly seems that this “Fact Checker” did not do much research before “fact checking” or writing her opinion.

Thompson only cites sentences from the BLM’s plan, and obviously has an extremely narrow knowledge of this topic.  Thompson seems to have blinders on since her only source of “fact checking” is what the BLM wrote.

Many members of the public know that in 2016, the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Advisory Board urged the BLM to euthanize all of the wild horses in holding facilities.  Many members of the public, who have been researching all aspects of wild horses and studying genetic analysis reports, also realize that the BLM’s plans for removal and sterilizations WILL annihilate America’s wild horse herds.

Thompson, from Vevay, Indiana, is listed as the President of American Heritage Carriage Company, but this does not qualify her as an expert on wild horses.

Lead Stories claims to be “an innovative fact checking and debunking website” but with Thompson’s article, it seems that their “fact checking” has set an extremely low bar.  In my opinion, Thompson’s article deserves the “hoax alert” and Lead Stories has, unfortunately, promoted disinformation.