ACTION ALERT: Letters to the Editor of Denver Post Needed

The following update is from the American Wild Horse Preservation Project

With the massive roundup of 1,400 wild horses underway in Oregon, and last month’s revelation that the Bureau of Land Management had illegally sold nearly 1,800 wild horses for slaughter, now is the time to hold the BLM accountable for its mismanagement and inhumane treatment of our wild horses and burros.

Here is a link to the guest commentary that was written by Suzanne Roy entitled “Wild Horses Need More Humane Management” and published on 11/14/15.

What You Can Do 

Please send a letter to the editor thanking the Denver Post for publishing our Guest Opinion and supporting our call for reform of the federal wild horse management program.

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1. Use this Sample Letter as a Starting Point

Dear Editor,

Thank you for publishing Sunday’s Guest Commentary, “Wild Horses Need More Humane Management.” 

America must do a better job caring for its wild horses. The recent news that 2,000 horses were illegally sent to slaughter in Mexico is just one example.

Currently the Bureau of Land Management spends nearly $80 million annually to roundup up wild horses from Western public lands and warehouse them in government holding facilities. 

Two years ago, the National Academy of Sciences advised BLM to use a proven fertility control vaccine as an alternative to removing horses from the range. But the government has largely ignored this advice.

That must change. We don’t need more horror stories about horse slaughter.

In Colorado, we are privileged to have several magnificent, federally-protected wild horse herds. We must use proven and humane methods to manage our wild horses and preserve them for future generations to enjoy.

2. Personalize Your Letter by Choosing From These Talking Points 

• The horse slaughter scandal is an egregious example how our current system isn’t working.
• Congress bans the sale of horses for slaughter. The BLM broke this rule.
• Thousands of horses are rounded up each year in the West. More than 50,000 are in holding pens and that number grows each year. Adoptions don’t come close to finding homes for horses that have been removed from their land.
• A roundup is currently underway in Oregon will remove 1.400 wild horses from public lands in that state so ranchers can graze more cattle on the public lands there. The roundup will cost American taxpayers nearly $60 million for the helicopter roundup and lifetime warehousing of horses that are not adopted.
• The fertility control vaccine PZP is a humane, scientifically proven and cost-effective way to safely and humanely manage wild horse populations. It prevents pregnancies in mares for up to two years and wears off if horses aren’t re-vaccinated. It doesn’t harm horses or the surrounding environment.
• PZP is used in more than 30 U.S. horse management areas, including three in Colorado.  But its use should be more widespread in order to reduce and, hopefully end, roundups.
• In a 2013 report, the National Academy of Sciences advocated more widespread use of fertility control to manage wild horses on federal land.
• Some in BLM resist fertility control in favor of the unworkable status quo. This failure to move forward harms horses, is unsustainable and could ultimately lead to an overturning of the policies that prevent legal horse export and slaughter.
• BLM spends less than 1 percent of its $80 million budget on fertility control, while over 70 percent is spent on rounding up and warehousing horses.
• According to an ASPCA poll, 80 percent of the American public opposes horse slaughter.
• According to an American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign poll, 72 percent of the American public supports protecting wild horses on federal lands.
• It’s time for BLM to end this unworkable system and ensure that horses are treated, and managed, humanely.

3. Send Your Letter to the Denver Post 

openforum@denverpost.com

Include: YOUR NAME, EMAIL, PHONE, HOME ADDRESS (newspapers generally only publish the name of your city, but need this additional information to verify the letter is yours.)

Be sure: Your letter is 150 words or less.

Thank you for speaking up for wild horses!

Suzanne & the AWHPC Team

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