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Other ways you can support wild horse conservation

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

From signing petitions to powering our work through contributions, folks like you are the backbone of the wild horse conservation movement. Every letter signed and every dollar raised takes us one step closer to achieving the future we are fighting to build for America’s wild herds.

But we know there are many of you who would like to do even more to support our iconic wild horses and burros. So today, we’re going to tell you about other ways you can help!

Planned gifts like wills and trusts are some of the best ways to help the charities you support long after your lifetime. By including a Legacy Gift to AWHC in your will, you can become a lasting part of our work to realize transformative change and lifelong freedom for America’s wild horses and burros. Please learn more about making a Legacy Gift here.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE A LEGACY GIFT

Donating long-term appreciated securities like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds is a great way to support our work to keep these majestic animals wild — and compared to cash, you may be able to automatically increase your gift and your tax donation. Please learn more about donating long-term appreciated securities here.

LEARN MORE ABOUT STOCKS & BONDS

Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) provide an immediate tax benefit to you and allow you to grant funds to the charities of your choosing, like AWHC! Please learn more about setting up a DAF here.

LEARN MORE ABOUT DONOR-ADVISED FUNDS

And finally, you can purchase American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) merch from one of our partners and a portion of the proceeds will go directly toward the fight to keep wild horses wild! Click here to shop with our partners and check out all of the other different things you can do to help further wild horse and burro protection!

SHOP OUR PARTNERS

Thank you!

Team AWHC

Working on the Hill to free horses on the range

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Today — and every day — our team is fighting to secure the freedom and safety of wild horses and burros across the West. Halfway through the year, we’re thrilled to celebrate the tremendous strides we’ve made for our wild herds. That includes our work on Capitol Hill, where Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have banded together to call for reforms to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel and costly Wild Horse and Burro Program.

POWER OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS WORK 

 Photo: WilsonAxpe PhotoAdvocacy

The appropriations process is one of the best ways to advocate for change and is crucial for holding the BLM accountable. By determining how federal funds are allocated, Congress can ensure the BLM prioritizes humane in-the-wild management over cruel helicopter roundups.

And this year, thanks to the unwavering support from advocates like you, 77 representatives have called for humane wild horse management in the Fiscal Year 2025 House Appropriations legislation.

But our work doesn’t stop there. We are also actively supporting other critical legislation to further the cause of wild horses and burro conservation. These bills include:

  • Ejiao Act: This legislation aims to ban the import and sale of ejiao, a gelatin made from donkey hides, which is contributing to the decline of donkey populations worldwide.
  • Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023-24: This legislation seeks to end the BLM’s inhumane helicopter roundups.

Just this March, we led a nationwide Day of Action supporting the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023-24 (H.R. 3656). This Day of Action led to over 20,000 letters sent to Congress in support of this important legislation.

POWER OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS WORK

Our government relations efforts also involved building essential relationships in Congress. We regularly meet with legislators to provide them with timely updates and show them how they can support wild horses. Your generosity enables us to maintain these vital connections and ensure that wild horses and burros remain a legislative priority.

Our triumphs in Congress would be impossible without the tireless support of advocates like you who have signed thousands of letters to elected officials and fueled our cause with financial contributions. 

POWER OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS WORK

Unfortunately, while immense progress has been made, the fight is far from over. In fact, as summer heats up, helicopter roundups are about to take off across the West.

That’s why we need your help to continue to advocate for a better way in Congress and work to pass wild horse friendly legislation so, together, we can create lasting change for our beloved mustangs and burros. Will you donate $25, $50, or whatever you are able to give right now to help fuel our legislative efforts to protect America’s wild mustangs and burros?

POWER OUR GOVERNMENT RELATIONS WORK 

Your advocacy does not go unnoticed. Thanks for all you do!

Onward,

Team AWHC

Action Needed to Protect Montgomery Pass Wild Horses!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Montgomery Pass wild horses, also known as the Mono Lake horses, urgently need your help! These magnificent creatures roam the California/Nevada border and are an essential part of the region’s ecosystems and natural heritage. However, their future is at risk due to a proposed plan by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the United States Forest Service (USFS) to round up all the horses who live outside of the artificially-drawn boundaries of the Montgomery Pass Wild Horse Territory (MPWHT).

TAKE ACTION

In 1988, the federal government set an Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 138 to 230 animals, but the AML has not been revisited for 36 years. A recent census in 2024 estimated the herd at 699 wild horses, many of whom live outside the designated territory.

Now, the BLM and USFS plan to round up and remove all “excess” wild horses outside the territory. This approach ignores critical scientific findings and humane management practices. Take action to ensure a better future for these wild horses!

TAKE ACTION

Instead of conducting a costly and cruel helicopter roundup, the BLM and USFS must:

  1.  Relocate the horses: According to binding USFS regulations, the agency must consider humanely bait trapping and relocating the removed wild horses. In this case, the USFS should relocate the Montgomery Pass horses within the Territory’s borders and address the ecological conditions that are causing them to leave their designated habitat. If that is not possible, the USFS should evaluate other federal lands where the horses could be relocated.
  2. Reevaluate the AML: Conduct a thorough reassessment of the AML using new and updated scientific data to ensure it reflects the current ecological reality.
  3. Develop a management plan that incorporates science: Integrate the findings of the 25-year study on mountain lion predation in the Territory into all future management decisions. This study provides invaluable insights into natural population control mechanisms that should be considered for re-establishing natural predation to manage the herd’s population. Other emerging science regarding the beneficial role these horses play in the environment must be incorporated as well.
  4. Abandon Helicopter Roundups: Stop rounding up wild horses with helicopters. This method is inhumane and causes undue stress and injury to the animals. If animals must be removed, the BLM and USFS should utilize bait traps and conduct incremental removals of smaller numbers to allow wild horses to be responsibly placed into private care.
  5. Implement Fertility Control: Utilize humane, scientifically studied, and reversible fertility control initiatives to humanely manage the herd, without resorting to removals.
  6. Evaluate Livestock Grazing Impacts: Assess and disclose the extent of livestock grazing within and around the Territory and its impact on the area’s land health. Incorporate this understanding into all management decisions.

Can you take a moment and join our collective herd of advocates and take action for the Montgomery Pass Wild Horses?

TAKE ACTION

Thank you for your advocacy,

Team AWHC

A powerful story of stallion fatherhood

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Happy Father’s Day!

Have you ever thought about the fact that America’s wild herds are simply made up of tight-knit families? These families are led by a lead mare and a band stallion. Most of us envision band stallions as dominant, aggressive leaders. And that’s true. Stallions are constantly prepared to protect their genetic lineage by whatever means necessary. But behind that fiercely protective demeanor, stallions are also nurturing and attentive fathers.

Give to Protect Wild Horse Families

This is Black Hawk. He has been roaming Nevada’s Virginia Range with his family for more than 17 years. 

Black Hawk is the oldest surviving son of Bodie Braveheart and Midnight Mama, who raised him to be a powerful leader and a devoted father. Black Hawk’s family began when he united with his first mare, Maxey. Together, they have built a band in the canyon, which, today, includes their youngest son, Bryson.

Around two or three years of age, it’s customary for stallions to leave the band they grew up in. For example, Black Hawk’s son Starry Night ran off with a herd of “bachelors” at age 2 but returned after a few months. Though it wouldn’t be unusual for a stallion to be shunned from the herd he left, Black Hawk welcomed his son warmly back into the fold until Starry Night was ready to set out on his own for good.

As Black Hawk climbs up in age, another of his sons, Shadow Dancer, has stuck with the band and shouldered a growing amount of responsibility for protecting his family.

Give to Protect Wild Horse Families

It’s common to see strong aggression between the two males during the fight for dominance between the two males when herd leadership transitions from one stallion to another. Yet, a few months ago, volunteers on the Virginia Range were privileged to witness the ceremonious transfer of power from Black Hawk to his son Shadow Dancer. As Shadow Dancer assumed his role as band leader, there was no fighting, no chaos — only peace and mutual respect.

We watched in awe as Maxey and Bryson remained by Black Hawk’s side, and the family bid Shadow Dancer and his mares — Chacha, Moma Socks, Maryjo Thinstar, and Chachie — farewell. In Black Hawk’s eyes was a look of relief, as if he knew the time had come for a younger stallion to take over.

In Black Hawk’s family line, love and respect are traits handed down from grandfather to father to son.

The work we do every day is aimed at protecting and conserving wild bands like the Black Hawk’s, who have called Nevada’s Virginia Range home for generations. This Father’s Day, will you chip in a few dollars to help fuel our mission for stallions like Black Hawk? 

Give to Protect Wild Horse Families

We appreciate you. Happy Father’s Day!

Team AWHC

In just a few weeks, summer helicopter roundups will begin in full force

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

In just a few weeks, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will begin its summer roundup campaign. Over the coming months, thousands of wild horses and burros, including newly born foals, will be subjected to dangerous helicopter roundups across the West. Families will be broken apart, thousands of innocent animals will lose their freedom forever, and many will be seriously injured or worse, killed.

HELP US PREPARE

The first of these roundups will take place at Wyoming’s North Lander Complex where the BLM will round up a jaw-dropping 2,766 wild horses from their homes. To make matters worse, the agency has authorized the gelding (castration) of up to 95% of captured and returned stallions at North Lander, as well as the implementation of unproven Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) in returned mares and the widespread use of the unstudied vaccine Gonacon.

Our team is fighting every day to bring an end to the BLM’s cruel and costly helicopter roundups – but until we can stop this practice for good, we must do everything we can to hold the agency accountable for what it’s doing to our wild herds. That’s why we send observers to document as many of these roundups as possible. We must show the world what is happening to our wild horse and burros.

Your support enables us to send our observation teams to the most remote corners of the West, where the BLM conducts many of these brutal operations, to ensure no animal welfare violation goes unrecorded. With just a few weeks left before the start of summer roundups, will you make a contribution today to help us hold the BLM accountable for this summer’s roundups?

FUEL OUR OBSERVATION FUND

We don’t just document these animal welfare violations, we compile our observers’ photos and videos to draw a clear pattern of cruelty against wild horses and burros. We then provide this evidence to change-makers in Congress, as well as use it for legal action when possible.

That’s why we need to ensure we have enough funds to send our observers into the field. Without them, the BLM’s actions will continue to be shrouded in secrecy. Please help us sustain our roundup observation program and help us hold the BLM accountable with a donation today.

DONATE NOW

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Conservation

June E-News Update

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

This week’s E-news is full of actions you can take to protect wild horses, updates on a recently introduced bill that could put more mustangs and burros in danger of slaughter, and a touching tribute to the well-lived life of American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) board member Dr. Joan DeVanzo.

Two Actions You Can Take for Wild Horses Right Now

1. Protect the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horses
Have you taken action for the Little Book Cliffs wild horses? If not, now’s the time to do so! There are only four days to add your name to AWHC’s public comments calling for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to collaborate with local groups, like Friends of the Mustangs, to expand the Little Book Cliffs humane in-the-wild fertility control programs rather than round up this historic herd. Take action for the Little Book Cliffs Herd!

TAKE ACTION

2. Speak up for the North Lander Wild Horses
Wyoming’s North Lander Complex wild horses need your help! In just a few weeks, the BLM is set to begin the largest wild horse roundup of the summer season, removing over 2,700 North Lander wild horses from the wild and returning up to 40. Even worse, the BLM has left the door open to castrating up to 95% of the returned stallions as well as the implementation of unproven Intrauterine Devices (IUDs) in returned mares and the widespread use of the unstudied vaccine Gonacon. Call on the BLM to abandon its use of permanent sterilization in the North Lander herd!

TAKE ACTION

New Bill Could Put More Wild Horses in Danger of Slaughter

A recently introduced bill, H.R.8541 – the Wild Horse Integrity and Slaughter Prevention Act, would reduce the title waiting period to six months (from one year) for all adopted horses and burros. This increases the risk of abuse and/or the likelihood that the adopter will resell or “flip” their mustang or burro for profit. Read more about AWHC’s opposition to this bill in its current form.

READ MORE

Remembering Dr. Joan DeVanzo, AWHC’s board member

Earlier this year, Joan, an esteemed member of the AWHC Board of Directors, passed away after a valiant battle with cancer. AWHC’s executive director attended her Celebration of Life last month. For two hours, more than 100 of Joan’s friends, family, and colleagues gathered to honor her memory and celebrate her many accomplishments. Read more about her legacy for wild horses and beyond.

Remembering Joan

Ushering the issue of wild horse conservation into the mainstream

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

In recent years, wild horse conservation is gaining more and more attention – in part thanks to American Wild Horse Conservation’s (AWHC) efforts to raise awareness about the issues facing our nation’s mustangs and burros.

If we’ve learned one thing as an organization, it’s that once people become aware of the plight of wild horses and burros, they are upset and motivated to take action to protect them.

FUEL OUR AWARENESS EFFORTS

That’s why we’ve been seriously ramping up our awareness efforts over the past several years. In the last month alone, we’ve placed and been included in 12 impactful stories in the media highlighting the dangers facing wild horses and burros, including the inhumane use of helicopters for roundups, the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) slaughter pipeline — which is threatening the lives of hundreds of wild horses and burros — and more:

We’re translating this awareness into direct action for our wild herds.

Recently, we centered our efforts around three major focuses of our work:

  • Ending the AIP cash incentive: we mobilized our supporters to call for an end to the AIP, leading to 10,000 actions taken within 24 hours;
  • Increasing roundup transparency: We spearheaded a campaign resulting in over 50,000 total letter submissions calling on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to install cameras on helicopters used for roundups;
  • And ending the donkey skin trade in the US: we called on our advocates to ask their representatives to cosponsor the Ejiao Act, resulting in over 31,000 total letters in support of this important bill.

Awareness is the key to bringing about the change our wild horses and burros desperately need. The BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program holding system is nearing its breaking point, with more than 64,000 horses in captivity and roundup season less than a month away. Time is of the essence as we work to spread the word about more humane alternatives to protect our wild horses in the wild, where they belong. Will you help continue powering AWHC’s awareness work as we fight to keep wild horses and burros wild, Meredith?

DONATE

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Conservation

TAKE ACTION: Tell the BLM to re-evaluate its plans to round up the Little Book Cliffs wild horses!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Colorado’s iconic Little Book Cliffs wild horses need your help.

Photo: © PhotoAdvocacy

The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range spans approximately 36,000 acres and is home to a beautiful herd of roughly 211 horses. But this September, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning to remove 120 wild horses from this historic herd, potentially cutting the population in half.

The BLM set an unscientific appropriate management level (AML) of just 90-150 horses for Little Book Cliffs, which could threaten the genetic viability of the herd in the long term. The plan calls for further roundups over a multiyear period following the initial helicopter roundup to achieve the federal AML target and allows for the use of Intrauterine Devices (IUDs).

This herd’s population has been managed through a humane PZP fertility control program for over twenty years, the last six without roundups, until the current proposal was introduced. This planned roundup is not only cruel and a danger to the lives of hundreds of innocent horses, but it’s also completely unnecessary.

Little Book Cliffs is an opportunity to prioritize humane PZP fertility control as the new model for wild horse conservation, consistent with the intent of SB23-275 – The Colorado Wild Horse Project – which was signed into law by Governor Jared Polis at Little Book Cliffs a year ago.

There is still time to voice opposition to the roundup of the Little Book Cliffs wild horses. Please join us in speaking out against the BLM’s proposed plan by signing onto our public comments calling on the agency to reconsider its plans to round up the herd and instead focus on expanding the humane fertility control program that has already been successful!

Take Action

The Colorado Wild Horse Working Group and the $1.5m funds allocated by the state to improve wild horse conservation provide us a chance to supplement and build on local efforts, not see them swept aside by costly and inhumane federal helicopter roundups.

Please take a moment to join us in standing up for the Little Book Cliffs wild horses by signing onto our public comments urging collaboration on, and the continuation of, humane fertility control programs in this herd.

Take Action

Thank you,

Team AWHC

Help Us Keep Burros Free and Wild

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

As the sun sets on Burro Awareness Month, we want to take a moment and reflect on the extraordinary impact we’ve made together this month. Thanks to your unwavering support, we’ve raised awareness in the media and Congress about the plight of the West’s incredible wild burros and built a solid foundation for the future of burro advocacy.

Chip in to Support Wild Burros

We started the month off celebrating World Donkey Day. We called upon our collective herd of wild burro advocates to ask their representatives to cosponsor the Ejiao Act. Your voices were heard—in just one day over 7,000 letters poured into Congress, advocating for the protection of burros and their domestic donkey counterparts. To date, over 31,000 advocates have called on their Members of Congress to support the Ejiao Act! This incredible show of support brings us closer to securing a future where burros are safe from exploitation. Will you take your support one step further and donate to ensure we can continue our lifesaving work?

Fuel our Work for Wild Burros

This Burro Awareness Month, we spent time educating the public about wild burros and their benefit to the ecosystems they inhabit. Research shows, that they dig for water and they create water holes that benefit other wildlife, particularly in arid environments. Their presence is crucial for maintaining the balance and health of their habitats and sustaining hundreds of plant and animal species.

Despite these benefits, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to regard wild burros as invasive pests, leading to mass roundups that fracture fragile populations, harm individuals, and shatter their social bonds. In the coming months, the BLM plans to chase over 1,100 wild burros with helicopters, permanently removing them from their families and homes. We need your help documenting these roundups to continue to educate Congress and the public about this mistreatment of federally protected animals. To mark the end of Burro Awareness Month, will you help ensure we have the funds to document the upcoming roundups?

Every dollar you give helps us to advocate for stronger protective laws, conduct field research, document the lives of wild burros, and educate the public about the importance of burros in our ecosystems. Can you chip in and support the movement?

With gratitude,

Team AWHC

Introducing Baldy, Laney and Rain Storm

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Allow us to introduce you to Baldy, Laney, and Rain Storm. These three beautiful mares represent three generations of wild horses. Baldy is Laney’s mom and Laney is Rain Storm’s mom! Thanks to American Wild Horse Conservation’s fertility control program, all three live and free on Nevada’s Virginia Range.

Chip in to Support Wild Mares

The VR fertility control program uses the PZP vaccine, delivered remotely by darting to wild mares. For the past five years, this innovative approach to herd management has allowed these majestic horses to roam uninhibited by roundups, or the threat of slaughter.

As you may have heard, the success of this program was affirmed by a peer-reviewed study, which examined the viability of humane fertility control in herds like the one. Even with a herd the size of this one — more than 3,000 horses — the PZP vaccine has proven safe, humane, and effective.

Chip in to Support Wild Mares

We are laser-focused on our mission to end the Bureau of Land Management’s inhumane roundup and stockpile cycle and instead focus on humane, in-the-wild conservation initiatives. This study, published in March of this year, shows Congress, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the American public that there is a better way to protect mares like Baldy, Laney, and Rain Storm.

“Our hope is that this study provides impetus to the growing calls for reform of the federal wild horse management program, which relies on costly helicopter roundups, the unsustainable removal of wild horses, and confinement of these animals in tax-funded holding facilities.”
– Nicole Hayes, AWHC conservation scientist 

It costs just $30 to fund a single dose of the fertility control vaccine. This is a small price to preserve a life of freedom and dignity for horses like Baldy, Laney, and Rainstorm. On this 30th of May, can you chip in $30 to help us continue this vital program?

We are proud to lead the way in wild horse conservation through hands-on, humane programs like this. But we cannot do it without you. Your donation today can make an immediate difference for our wild herds.

Thank you for your dedication to keeping wild horses wild.

Onward,

American Wild Horse Conservation

6 things you should know about wild burros…

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Did you know that wild burros can recognize each other’s brays from a mile away? Or that burros can outrun a coyote in a high-speed chase? These quirky, resilient creatures are full of surprises. And they’re not just hoofing around in the desert — they’re helping to shape our natural landscapes!

Chip in to Protect America’s Wild Burros

Before the sun officially sets on Burro Awareness Month, here are six things you should know about these unique animals: 

  • A donkey never forgets. No really — burros have an impressive memory! They can recognize locations and other donkeys they haven’t encountered for a quarter of a century.
  • Burros put on a brave face. Burros use stoicism as a survival tactic. Putting up a strong, healthy front helps them avoid becoming prey in the wild, but it doesn’t mean they don’t feel pain or discomfort!
  • Donkeys are digestion machines. Their bodies use 95% of the food they consume!
  • Burro babies aren’t born for a YEAR! A burro’s gestation period is anywhere from 11 to 14.5 months. Like many animals, foals are most often born at night.
  • Burros are ecosystem engineers! They dig wells in arid deserts, providing essential water sources for native wildlife! Burros even create beautiful desert oases!
  • The blind burro buddy system: Blind donkeys typically bond with one who can see to serve as a guide. Speaking of eyesight, did you know donkeys can see all four feet at the same time?
Chip in to Protect America’s Wild Burros

Burros may not show pain, but the mistreatment they’ve endured at the hands of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is cruel and inhumane. We’re not stopping our fight to protect these incredible, resilient creatures. Will you help fuel our work with a quick donation to the American Wild Horse Conservation? 

Thank you,

Team AWHC

The reality of what our wild herds face in BLM holding corrals

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Our team at American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) works day in and day out to uncover the truth about the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) wild horse and burro removal and stockpile program. 

Recently, our representatives attended the Winnemucca Holding Facility in Nevada where over 2,000 wild horses are confined in holding. There, they witnessed disturbing conditions, including a notable lack of shelter and windbreaks, leaving the animals exposed to weather. 

They also noted that the pens appeared too small to accommodate the number of horses they held, leading to overcrowding and competition for resources, especially water.

But most shocking of all, while touring the facility our representative saw what appeared to be a severely injured, possibly dead, or dying foal lying amongst the other animals in the pen. 

This is the dark reality of what awaits America’s wild horses and burros post-roundup. But sadly, this is not an isolated incident. 

BLM records obtained by our Investigations Team through a Freedom of Information Act request revealed that 23 horses were euthanized or died at this same facility within a 24-day window in 2023.All deaths were attributed to suspected botulism poisoning. Additionally, just last month our Investigations Team also exposed that 9% of the captured horse population died at another Nevada holding corral in Fallon, Nev. 

With 64,000 of these iconic animals in BLM holding facilities across the country, exposing these conditions is vital to our mission to secure protections for wild horses and burros on and off the range. 

We are determined to end this suffering, but we need supporters like you to help us move forward. If you can, please chip in to support our investigations work so we can continue to raise awareness about the unacceptable conditions of BLM holding facilities.

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Conservation

eNews Update

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

This week’s edition of e-news is packed with exciting updates, concerning developments, and insightful perspectives on our mission to protect America’s wild horses and burros.

Good News: AWHC Renews Cooperative Agreement to Continue Groundbreaking Humane Mgt Program

Last month, AWHC and the Nevada Department of Agriculture signed a non-exclusive agreement to implement a humane fertility control program for the Virginia Range free-roaming horse population for the sixth year in a row. This program is the world’s largest of its kind and was the basis of a recent, peer-reviewed scientific study, affirming the viability of large-scale fertility control programs. Read the announcement.

Read More

AWHC in the News: New report finds success in wild horse adoption program, critics disagree

The Reno Gazette Journal recently interviewed AWHC team member, Amelia Perrin, about a new report that endorses the Bureau of Land Management’s Adoption Incentive Program. AWHC blasted the report and its recommendation to increase the cash incentives that are sending droves of wild horses into the slaughter pipeline, stating it was just an “endorsement of the expansion of a fundamentally broken management system.” Read the article for more.

Read More

Opinion: Wild horse roundups are cruel and deadly. And the deaths don’t stop when helicopters land

In a recent opinion piece, AWHC’s Nevada state director, Tracy Wilson, criticizes the Bureau of Land Management’s wild horse roundups as cruel and deadly. The article emphasizes the high mortality rates at holding facilities, such as the Fallon Off-Range Corral, where nearly 9% of horses died within a year, and offers humane solutions that would keep wild horses in the wild, where they belong. Read the full piece.

Read the Article

SIGN ON: Tell the BLM to END the AIP cash incentive, not increase it >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

You may have seen that, this week, the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) released a report praising the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) controversial Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which pays individuals $1,000 per animal to adopt up to four wild horses and burros a year. Unfortunately, this report not only ignores the consequences of the AIP, but it calls for increasing the cash incentive payments that are sending thousands of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline. Further, this report supports the status quo of roundups and removals and minimizes the importance of scientific, affordable, and publicly acceptable wild horse conservation solutions.

We know the AIP has been a disaster and using this report to justify the continuation of the program would mean more beloved wild horses and burros in the slaughter pipeline. Will you take a moment to protect wild horses and burros from slaughter by calling on the BLM to abandon the cash incentives, not increase them?

TAKE ACTION

Since 2020, the BLM has rounded up over 50,000 wild horses and burros and adopted out a mere 15,000 through the AIP. During the same timeframe, our Investigations Team has identified over 2,100 BLM-branded wild horses and burros in kill pens. This is just a fraction of the true total since most kill pens don’t publicly advertise these animals before shipping them to slaughter.

Cash incentives are not a solution for addressing the animal welfare crisis created by the BLM’s roundup and removal program. It’s indisputable that the continuation of the cash incentives is placing the 64,000 wild horses and burros in the BLM’s holding system at risk of slaughter. We MUST speak up on behalf of these animals and stop this slaughter pipeline! Please join us in urging the BLM to end the cash incentives for the AIP.

TAKE ACTION

Our investigation – which resulted in a 2021 groundbreaking front-page exposé in the New York Times – identified over a dozen groups of related individuals that have been defrauding taxpayers out of thousands of dollars by adopting multiple rounds of AIP animals and then sending them to kill pens once the cash incentives clear their bank accounts. In some cases, these nefarious adopters go back just days after being awarded title to adopt their next round of animals.

Unfortunately, this crisis has only gotten worse since our investigation began, as the BLM continues to round up more and more mustangs and burros every year. In fact, the influx of AIP wild horses and burros into slaughter auctions has far exceeded the capacity of rescue organizations trying to save them.

END THE AIP CASH INCENTIVE

But, it’s vital that the BLM end the AIP cash incentive, not increase it. Instead of handing out cash payments, the BLM should offer a noncash veterinary voucher to support responsible adopters and offset the initial care of adopted wild horses and burros. But to make that happen, we need to raise our collective voices and demand the change these innocent animals desperately need.

Please take a moment to send a letter to the Director of the BLM and urge them to stop the cash incentives and instead, offer a veterinary voucher to incentivize responsible mustang and burro adoptions!

Thank you,

Team AWHC

How we’re fighting for burros

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Wild burros are faced with significant threats to their freedom and safety as a result of misguided federal policy that prioritizes cruel roundups instead of humane in-the-wild management.

We focus much of our efforts on fighting for wild horses, and we are just as staunch in our commitment to advocating for our beloved burros! And what better time to double down on our burro advocacy than during Burro Awareness Month?

GIVE TO HELP US ADVOCATE FOR BURROS

One of the most important ways we’re fighting back for burros is on Capitol Hill. We’re advocating for several important bills that would reform the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel and costly Wild Horse and Burro Program, like the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023-2024 introduced by Representative Dina Titus (D-NV)). This important piece of legislation would ban the use of helicopters in federal wild horse and burro roundups. Thanks to our advocacy efforts, over 20,000 individuals have written to their Members of Congress asking them to cosponsor the bill.

We’re also advocating for the passage of the Ejiao Act, a bill that would prohibit the transportation, sale, and purchase of donkeys or donkey hides for the purpose of producing ejiao – a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins. Experts estimate that the global demand for donkey skins is approximately 4.8 million hides per year. As a result, the donkey skin trade is decimating global donkey populations. Passing this legislation could help save untold numbers of donkeys and burros from slaughter for their skins. Our advocacy work has generated over 50,000 letters sent in support of the Ejiao Act!

AWHC is leading the charge and thanks to our herd of advocates, Congress is hearing our collective calls for the humane conservation of America’s wild horses and burros!

POWER OUR ADVOCACY WORK FOR BURROS

Beyond our legislative efforts, we’re also defending burros in court, particularly against the BLM’s disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which has resulted in droves of wild burros being funneled into the slaughter pipeline in recent years.

The AIP was meant to increase the number of untrained wild horses and burros adopted out by offering financial incentives to adopters. However, less than two years after the program began, AWHC began receiving reports from rescue groups about an influx of BLM-branded wild horses and burros to known kill pens. Our team has identified and aided in the rescue of several groups of AIP burros, including a group of 22 burros and another group of 11 burros that were all dumped at kill pens together. 

To combat this extremely worrying trend, AWHC filed suit against the alleged illegal implementation of the AIP and is taking the BLM on court right now to put a stop to the program.

FUEL OUR FIGHT FOR BURROS

These are just a few of the ways we’re fighting for the freedom and safety of wild burros across the country. In honor of Burro Awareness Month, will you chip in to support our work to protect America’s wild burros?

Thank you,

Team AWHC

WATCH: Scientific research details the positive impacts wild burros have on their ecology

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Wild burros are amazing animals who play important roles in the desert ecosystems they inhabit. However, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) entire approach to managing wild burros is colored by the belief that they are invasive and therefore destructive. This unscientific bias obscures the environmental benefits of wild burros and drives the BLM’s policy of maintaining unnaturally low population levels through large-scale roundups and removals from the range.

Science, however, is painting a different picture of wild burros as ecosystem engineers contributing to the biodiversity of plant and animal life. Our team recently spoke with leading burro researcher and internationally recognized ecologist Erick Lundgren to discuss the findings from his studies of wild burros in the American Southwest.

Click here to watch this fascinating interview with Dr. Lundgren!

WATCH

We must protect wild burros with humane conservation solutions, not cruel helicopter roundups. Sadly, over 1,000 of these amazing animals are scheduled to be removed from their homes on the range in BLM roundups over the next five months.

We know there’s a better way. That’s why we must continue to raise awareness about the plight of wild burros and the science that shows their benefits to their ecosystems. To learn more, watch this insightful interview with Dr. Lundgren!

WATCH

Thank you,

Team AWHC

A Victory for North Dakota Wild Horses

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Have you heard the incredible news out of North Dakota? Thanks to a strong showing of public support from wild horse advocates, the Three Affiliated Tribes, state leaders, and Congressional representatives — North Dakota’s only wild horse herd will be allowed to continue living in the only home it has known for centuries. 

GIVE TO HELP US ADVOCATE FOR WILD HORSES

The National Park Service recently announced it will abandon plans to severely reduce or completely remove the Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) horse herd. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is one of the only parks in America where visitors can catch a glimpse of free-roaming horses.

Photo courtesy of Sandy Sisti

When we heard about the plans to eradicate the Teddy Roosevelt wild horses, we knew we had to join the elected leaders and wild horse organizations fighting back. So, AWHC submitted public comments, launched awareness-raising billboards, and mobilized over 20,000 members of the public to speak up for the preservation of this historic herd. Strong showings of support, like this one, are key to enacting lasting policy reform in both the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

The future of America’s wild herds depends on our ability to advocate for them on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the field. Can you donate today and help sustain our lifesaving efforts?

POWER OUR WORK

Together, we can secure a future of humane management and fair treatment for these historic animals.

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Conservation

SIGN ON: Join our demand for transparency at BLM Roundups!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Thanks in part to AWHC’s public awareness campaigns, a growing number of Americans are speaking out against the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) cruel helicopter roundup and removal cycle. Despite this growing outrage, the agency continues to conduct these operations – oftentimes in some of the most remote corners of the West and away from the public eye.


Photo of the January 2024 roundup at Black Mountain by Darlene Smith

While we send observers to document as many of these roundups as possible, the BLM and its contractors enact restrictions on public observation, including placing our observers over a mile away from the trap. This often results in a significant lack of transparency during the roundups.

That’s why we are continuing to call on the BLM to require camera installations on all helicopters and wranglers used during roundups and at the trap sites of these operations. Will you join us and help ensure transparency and accountability for any violations during BLM helicopter roundups?

SIGN ON →

The roundups of the Black Mountain Herd Management Area (HMA) burros in Arizona over the past few years are prime examples of why these cameras are so desperately needed.

This HMA spans an impressive 1.1 million acres and encompasses public, state, tribal, and private lands in Mohave County, AZ. The BLM estimated the current population of the Black Mountain HMA to be nearly over 800 burros, making it one of the most genetically diverse wild burros herds left in the American Southwest.

Unfortunately, this herd has been repeatedly targeted for removal by the BLM and has suffered tremendously as a result.

Photo of the January 2024 roundup at Black Mountain by Darlene Smith

The agency targeted hundreds of burros for removal from the HMA this year in an attempt to reduce the population to an arbitrary Appropriate Management Level (AML) of just 478 burros. While the BLM did not meet its target, many burros were captured and removed from their homes, and one burro was even euthanized for a pre-existing condition.

This herd was also targeted in a particularly brutal roundup in 2022. AWHC had observers on the ground to document the operation, but it wasn’t until after the roundup had concluded that it was uncovered that the BLM granted its contractors permission to use electric cattle prods on several animals while loading them onto trailers. 

According to the agency’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program Assessment, BLM contractor’s staff treated burros in an abusive and inhumane manner, including “aggressively hitting and jabbing the paddle into the sides and sensitive areas of burros.” 

The contractor faced little to no repercussions for their actions, and without this report, the mistreatment of these burros would remain unknown. But Meredith, if there were cameras on helicopters and at trap sites, the public could hold the BLM accountable for the the cruelty inflicted upon these animals.

AWHC is fighting hard to put an end to helicopter roundups through our work on Capitol Hill, in the courts, and in the field. But until we can stop them for good, there is only one way to guarantee that no BLM abuse goes undocumented. Will you call on the BLM to mandate camera installations on all helicopters and at trap sites used for roundups?

ACT NOW

Thank you,

Team AWHC

ICYMI: Our investigations team helped uncover hundreds of deaths at this BLM facility

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

In case you missed it, last month the American Wild Horse Conservation’s investigations team unveiled Bureau of Land Management (BLM) records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. These records revealed a deeply disturbing trend at the Indian Lakes Off-Range Corral in Nevada.

In 2023 alone, 267 wild horses died in captivity at this federal holding facility. These deaths — many of them unexplained — represent a staggering 9% mortality rate for just one year.

HELP US CONTINUE RAISING AWARENESS

Here’s some of what our team uncovered through the FOIA records: 

  • 30 horses were euthanized by the BLM for non-life-threatening conditions such as eye abnormalities.
  • 49 horses died from traumatic injuries resulting in broken bones.
  • More than 100 horses were “found dead in their pens” for reasons described as “Unknown/Undiagnosed.”

Our commitment to changing the BLM’s inhumane treatment of wild horses and burros doesn’t end with just uncovering the truth. So, we took our findings to the media because if we know one thing, it’s that Americans are outraged and want to take action when they learn what’s happening to our wild horses and burros.

Based on AWHC’s findings, both the Las Vegas Sun and 8NewsNow published articles exposing the dark side of the Fallon holding facility.  Thanks to our awareness-building media outreach, we are driving real policy change and governmental accountability.

In fact, Representative Dina Titus said it best in the Las Vegas Sun article:

“This is completely unacceptable treatment of these icons of the West, and I remain committed to ending the mass captivity of wild horses in Nevada.” 

Meredith, our important work is powered by wild horse and burro allies like you. Your donations enable us to take action to reveal the truth about what is happening to American wild horses and burros and then drive reform through public awareness and congressional action. Can you chip in a contribution today to power this vital work?

POWER OUR WORK

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Conservation

From our family to yours, Happy Mother’s Day!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

From everyone at the American Wild Horse Conservation team, Happy Mother’s Day!

Today we’re celebrating the mothers who work tirelessly to provide for their young ones – both human and equine. Mothers are the backbone of our families. Their nurturing spirit ushers new life into this world, and many of us wouldn’t be who we are today without the love and guidance they have provided us. 

And since May is also Burro Awareness Month, we’re going to celebrate this Mother’s Day by telling you a sweet story about a beloved burro duo at the Hickison Summit Burro Range Herd Management Area (HMA) in Nevada. Meet Gunga and Misa!

Misa and Gunga

Misa and her foal Gunga have a bond like no other. Gunga almost never leaves his mother’s side. He learns all he can about life in the wild from her, like how to find water sources and dig for groundwater. As a young foal, Gunga loves to play and is curious about anything and everything.  

Misa nurtures his curious (and sometimes mischievous!) spirit. She is fearless in her role as his protector, teacher, and role model – standing ever vigilant for threats to his safety, whether human or animal. Her steadfastness allows him to have the peaceful and playful life that a baby animal should have.

Like many of the motherly figures in our lives, Misa’s strength and commitment to her little one continue to inspire us and strengthen our resolve to fight for a better future for all of America’s wild herds. 

So to Misa, and all the strong, wonderful moms out there who nurture and care for their families like her — Happy Mother’s Day!!!

Thank you,

Team AWHC

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