Living and working with the horses of the Virginia Range

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Deb — a longtime wild horse photographer and volunteer documenter for the American Wild Horse Campaign’s (AWHC) fertility control program in Nevada. This Giving Tuesday, I’d like to tell you about the important work AWHC is doing and why you should consider making a 2X Matched donation today as part of their biggest fundraising day of the year.

HAVE YOUR GIFT DOUBLED → DONATE NOW!

I found my love for photographing wild horses about twelve years ago when a band of beautiful mustangs wandered through my neighborhood in Nevada. My family and I live at the base of the Virginia Range, and once I noticed these majestic animals, I started following them to the canyon to photograph them. Ever since then, I’ve been in awe.

So when I first learned the plight of the wild horses and burros living on our public lands, I was appalled. They have lived peacefully in the wild for hundreds of years, but special interests who want to graze their private cattle for cheap on federal lands have gotten in the way of their freedom.

When AWHC asked me to be a documenter for their PZP fertility control program on the Virginia Range, I was thrilled! While the Virginia Range mustangs do not have federal protections, I knew working with AWHC on this groundbreaking program would provethere’s a better way to manage wild horses and now I utilize my passion for photographing wild horses to help them.

For almost 4 years, AWHC has managed the PZP program on the Virginia Range. This program is the first of its kind, and over the last few years, it’s helped reduce foaling rates by 62% — proving to the public, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Congress that there is a better, more humane, AND more cost-effective way to manage wild horses than brutal helicopter roundups and removals.

Seeing these horses roam freely and safely truly warms my heart, but this successful program would not be possible without the support of people like you. You fuel our lifesaving and historic efforts to manage wild horses humanely, Meredith. 

It costs just $30 to dart a mare with the PZP fertility control vaccine, so Meredith, I’m here to ask: Will you make a 2x Matched donation of $30 or more before midnight tonight to power the continued success and expansion of our PZP programs so that we can keep wild horses and burros living wild and free where they belong?

$30 becomes → $60

$60 becomes → $120

$150 becomes → $300

$300 becomes → $600

$500 becomes → $1,000

Thank you,

Deb Sutherland
AWHC Volunteer