ROUNDUP ALERT: Swasey Mountain Horses Need Your Help

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Amidst the hottest months of summer, a series of helicopter roundups have officially begun in Wyoming, Nevada — and, now, Utah. American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is on the ground documenting these brutalities as they unfold. We’ve set an ambitious goal to raise $15,000 by the end of the month to ramp up advocacy efforts in Wyoming, Nevada, and Utah, where roundups are taking place. Will you chip in to help us reach this goal?

The BLM’s latest roundup initiative hit the ground (and skies) a week ago, targeting 134,000 acres of public land in Utah called the Swasey Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA). This federally sanctioned operation aims to slash Swasey Mountain’s wild herd population by 46%. In fact, in the past seven days alone, 189 wild horses have been captured at Swasey Mountain. That number includes 33 foals — many of them subjected to dangerous levels of stress by helicopter roundups that often separate mares from their young.

As of the latest reports (updated on July 25) here’s what we know:

• 2,577 wild horses have been captured in North Lander, Wyoming.
• 1,429 wild horses and burros have been captured in Blue Wing, Nevada.
• 189 wild horses have been captured in Swasey Mountain, Utah.
• 720 foals have been captured.
• 48 animals have died, often euthanized for non-fatal deformities.

Together, these three operations have already cost taxpayers more than $1.2 million in field operations costs alone and that number is on track to rise steadily for the next two months. All told, the expensive, inhumane BLM roundup enterprise is expected to cost American taxpayers up to $154 million and target more than 10,000 wild horses on the public lands they have roamed for generations.

The exorbitant price tag — plus the moral cost of using unscientific management tactics to rip foals from their families — equals the cost of freedom lost for America’s federally protected wild herds. We MUST intervene to whatever extent our funding allows to protect America’s iconic wild horses and burros. Will you donate to help us reach our $15,000 goal before the end of July? 

As you can see, we need all hands on deck to ground the BLM helicopters and secure the humane conservation of our nation’s federally protected horses and burros. Thank you for being an ally in our ongoing fight to protect America’s iconic wild herds from eradication. Your advocacy never goes unnoticed.

Onward,

American Wild Horse Conservation