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Thinking of all our AWHC supporters this Thanksgiving

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

On this Thanksgiving holiday — from all of us here at the American Wild Horse Campaign — I want to send my heartfelt thanks to you for your support and dedication to protecting America’s wild horses and burros.

You have helped us accomplish some pretty amazing things this year, and for that, we are so grateful.

Supporters like you helped us expose the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) as a pipeline to slaughter for “truckloads” of wild horses and burros. Our investigation led to a front-page New York Times exposé, which elevated this devastating issue to the national level.

Your support provided our field team with the resources and equipment necessary to successfully implement the world’s largest PZP fertility control program for wild horses on Nevada’s Virginia Range. This groundbreaking program is proving that there is a better way to manage wild horses and burros besides brutally rounding them up with helicopters.

And guess what? It’s working. This year, we reduced the foaling rate by more than 40% as compared to 2020. These incredible results armed our Government Relations team with the statistics and evidence necessary to secure $11 million in funding towards a comprehensive, humane fertility control vaccine program as part of the BLM’s 2022 Fiscal Year budget.

Your efforts helped us defeat SJR3 — a resolution that called for the removal of close to 40,000 wild horses and burros from their homes in Nevada. And your generosity helped us support the rescues of innocent foals on the Virginia Range, like Hazel, and victims of the AIP including 12 BLM-branded burros from an Oklahoma kill pen and 10 unhandled mustangs from a kill pen in Colorado.

As 2021 comes to a close, we are grateful for your advocacy, your financial support, and your passion and dedication to protecting the wild horses and burros we all cherish. Many battles lie before us in the new year as we work toward a better future for these magnificent animals, but with you on our side, we know we will prevail.

All of us at AWHC wish you and your loved ones (human and non-human) a very happy and restful Thanksgiving holiday.

Warmly,
Suzanne

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

P.S. Giving Tuesday is less than 1 week away! If you’d like to help kickstart our #GivingTuesday efforts, every gift made now through Tuesday will be matched up to $40,000! You can donate here to double your impact for wild horses and burros in 2022!

Announcing our biggest Giving Tuesday goal EVER!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Giving Tuesday is just around the corner — and I’m excited to announce that this year, we’ve set our biggest fundraising goal ever. This Giving Tuesday, we’re aiming to raise $75,000 so we have the resources necessary to fuel our work in the field, in courts, and on the Hill in 2022. 

You see, Giving Tuesday is our most critical fundraising day of the entire year. And, this year is even more significant because a generous donor and AWHC supporter, Lin Coonan, has offered to match all donations this Giving Tuesday up to $40,000!

But, there’s a catch → In order to unlock this very special double match, we need to kickstart our Giving Tuesday fundraising and raise $35,000 before this Sunday at midnight! Will you make a donation right now to help us unlock this critical match and DOUBLE your impact this Giving Tuesday?

UNLOCK THE MATCH →

So much is at stake in 2022. RIGHT NOW, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Fiscal Year 2022 budget includes a proposed increase in funding that can be used toward wild horse and burro roundups and removals.

While this might seem disastrous, there’s still hope. The BLM just appointed their newest director, and we’re using every resource at our disposal to fight for meaningful change for wild horses and burros with this new transition in leadership. But timing is of the essence — we must act now.

Will you make a donation right now to help unlock our Giving Tuesday 2x Match so that we can DOUBLE our impact for wild horses in 2022?

UNLOCK THE MATCH →

Thanks for your help, 

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

This Week’s eNews: TAKE ACTION to protect global burro populations!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We wanted to share some recent updates about roundups, happy endings for rescued burros, and two actions you can take to help protect both wild horses and burros and global burro populations!

Help Ensure Congress’ Final Spending Bill Includes Funding for Fertility Control!

Recently, the Senate Appropriations Committee joined the House in allocating $11 million of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s Wild Horse and Burro Program budget towards a comprehensive fertility control vaccine program for wild horses.

This was a huge victory, but our work is not over! Congress must now negotiate a final Fiscal Year 2022 spending bill, and we need your help to ensure that it includes this $11 million of dedicated funding for fertility control vaccines. This is a critical step toward curtailing the brutal helicopter roundups that are so costly to American taxpayers and the wild horses and burros we love.

TAKE ACTION

Help Stop the Donkey Skin Trade!

Each year, millions of donkeys are brutally slaughtered for the production of ejiao (eh-gee-yow), medicinal gelatin that is made from boiling the skins of these animals. The U.S. is the third largest importer of ejiao in the world. The donkey skin trade is now decimating global populations as well as harming the impoverished global communities that rely on them for survival.

Luckily, the Ejiao Act was recently introduced in Congress to ban the knowing sale or transportation of ejiao in all interstate or foreign trade. We need to speak up for all donkeys — including our federally protected wild burros! Please take a moment to ask your Representative to co-sponsor the Ejiao Act!

TAKE ACTION

Devil’s Garden Roundup Wrap-Up

The U.S. Forest Service ended its controversial roundup of wild horses from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in California’s Modoc National Forest in October, resulting in the permanent removal of 506 horses. During the month-long operation, five horses died — a tragic fact that was unknown to the public until AWHC persisted in getting the information from the Forest Service.

In our most recent blog, AWHC looks at this disturbing situation and the Forest Service’s continued lack of transparency and intransigence in refusing to implement humane fertility control. Read the in-depth piece below.

READ MORE

 

Two Burros and Their Forever Home


Photo by Carol Lollis for the Daily Hampshire Gazette

Recently, AWHC’s Program Specialist Mary Koncel welcomed two adorable rescued burros, Huck and Puck, to her home in Massachusetts! Huck and Puck had a long journey, from the deserts of Nevada, to being adopted through the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program, to a kill pen in Oklahoma, to finally getting the happy ending they deserve in Massachusetts! Read their story below.

READ MORE

Thanks for taking action!

— AWHC Team

 

Tell the BLM’s new Director to prioritize wild horse protections

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently confirmed its newest Director, Tracy Stone-Manning. We welcome Director Stone-Manning, as she comes in at a pivotal moment for the BLM.

With the New York Times report earlier this year, fueled by research conducted by AWHC, we revealed the wild horse-to-slaughter pipeline that has come to exist as a result of the BLM’s failed Adoption Incentive Program (AIP). Since the report, members of the public and Congress have called for reforms and an end to the program.

Today, we’re taking things a step further. With new leadership, the BLM has the opportunity to reform the programs that have failed America’s wild horses and burros for the last fifty years.

We welcome Director Stone-Manning, but we also call for necessary reforms to the BLM’s mismanaged Wild Horse & Burro Program. Join us in calling for these important reforms to protect wild horses and burros. >>

TAKE ACTION

Right now, thousands of wild horses are being rounded up across 3.4 million acres of land in Wyoming. And for Fiscal Year 2022, the House and Senate appropriations committees gave the BLM a budget increase towards their helicopter roundup programs. Change for America’s wild horses and burros is dire and needed now.

We’re calling on Director Stone-Manning to:

  • Put an end to the cash-incentive Adoption Incentive Program that’s sending truckloads of wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline.
  • Redirect resources away from inhumane and costly roundups toward scientific, on-range management with fertility control vaccines that allow horses to stay in the wild where they belong.
  • Address the bias in resource allocation for commercial livestock grazing within wild horse and burro habitats.
  • Bring accountability and compliance to roundups by requiring cameras on helicopters, traps, and holding pens during roundups.
  • Provide meaningful public observation of roundup operations.
  • Strengthen the agency’s Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program guidelines and make them enforceable.

Will you join us in calling on Director Stone-Manning to enact these necessary reforms for America’s wild horses and burros today?

TAKE ACTION

Thank you for your continued support of wild horses and burros.

American Wild Horse Campaign

What a night!!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

To everyone who attended our annual Stay Wild virtual fundraiser last night, I wanted to say thank you so much for your generosity and compassion. The support we received will surely help us continue to save the lives of America’s wild horses and burros.

We set a goal to raise $180,000 through last night’s event, and I’m excited to share that so far, we have raised a total of $150,016. While this is a major achievement, we still have a few areas where your support is greatly needed! Can you help us hit our $180,000 goal before midnight tonight?

We set a goal last night to raise $11,000 towards our Field Programs. $11,000 helps us administer 367 doses of the PZP fertility control vaccine to wild mares in Nevada and keeps our field team supplied for two months on the Virginia Range! 

Help us humanely manage wild horse populations and keep wild horses in the wild where they belong by contributing toward our $11,000 goal today!

DONATE TO OUR FIELD PROGRAMS

We also set a goal to raise $10,000 for our Legal Fund. $10,000 provides us the necessary resources to fuel our next lawsuit — and we have a few in the pipeline! 

Just this year, we’ve filed suit against the disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), stopped the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from performing dangerous surgical sterilization procedures on wild mares, and we’re working on a rulemaking petition with a prestigious university to strengthen and make the BLM’s Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program enforceable!

Right now, we are $2,860 of the way to our $10,000 goal — can you chip in now to fuel our Legal Fund?

DONATE TO OUR LEGAL FUND

We also set a very important goal to raise $25,000 towards our Rescue Fund, and while we have successfully secured $11,910 towards our rescue efforts, we still have a ways to go if we want to hit our goal! 

This may seem like a big goal, but every $8,000 helps us bail approximately 10 wild horses and burros from kill pens and every $500 helps us provide the necessary medical supplies to care for and treat orphaned and injured foals on Nevada’s Virginia Range. Will you help us hit our $25,000 goal so we can fuel our rescue efforts?

DONATE TO OUR RESCUE FUND

Last night’s journey through the history of America’s wild horse and burro protection movement was truly something to remember. From Wild Horse Annie’s fight to protect these cherished icons in the ‘70s to the work we’re doing today — we’re so grateful to have you along for the ride with us.

From musical guest performances to sobering behind-the-scenes footage of the atrocities of the AIP and our fight to terminate it, I won’t be forgetting last night anytime soon.

To our sponsors and silent auction participants, to our staff and board, to the amazing talent and our wonderful host committee: thank you … we couldn’t have done it without you! THANK YOU also to everyone who attended and donated — you made this year’s Stay Wild one for the books!

Now let’s keep the good work going!!

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director 
American Wild Horse Campaign

P.S. Our Silent Auction is still live until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. If you haven’t yet had a chance to bid on one of these very special items, you can do so at the link here! 

A big win for wild horses in Congress

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Earlier this week we shared an exciting win with you. On Tuesday, the Senate Appropriations Committee released their fiscal year 2022 bill for the Department of the Interior.

In this bill, $11 million was reallocated away from the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) roundup funds towards implementing “a robust and humane fertility control strategy of reversible immunocontraceptive vaccines” for America’s wild horses.

While we have some other objections to the bill’s allocated funding for the BLM, this is a big step in the right direction for America’s wild horses and burros.  

We’re grateful for the help of AWHC supporters who contacted their members of Congress and advocated on the behalf of wild horses and burros. Your help provided our Government Relations team with the necessary support to work with Congress to get a meaningful funding provision passed.

Meredith, your help up to this point has been critical. Will you stand with us once again today and make a donation to fuel our Government Relations efforts?

DONATE

This $11 million in funding is crucial in furthering protections for America’s wild horses and burros. The Senate Appropriations Committee took a historic step towards reforming the Wild Horse and Burro Program by including this language. While there is still more work to do, this provision will help keep wild horses in the wild, where they belong!

Our team is working around the clock to make sure this fertility control language is included in the final spending bill. Will you make a donation today to fuel our Government Relations work so that we can continue to create meaningful change for America’s wild horses in Congress?

DONATE

Thanks for your support,

AWHC Team

BREAKING: The Wyoming Checkerboard Roundup has begun. Here’s what we’re doing >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The largest roundup in history has officially begun. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) helicopters have descended on five Herd Management Areas (HMAs) in the Wyoming Checkerboard, and are targeting 4,000 wild horses for capture.

The roundup is SO massive that it is scheduled to continue through February of 2022. Approximately 3,555 wild horses will be permanently removed from 3.4 million acres of land. Given the mortality rate associated with roundups, at least 50 horses are expected to die as a result of the months-long helicopter stampede.

The survivors — wild animals who roam 10-20 miles a day — will be confined in feedlot pens that provide just 700 square feet of space per horse. Many will be adopted through the BLM’s cash incentive program that’s sending “truckloads” of wild horses into the slaughter pipeline, according to the New York Times. The “lucky ones” who escape this grim fate will never experience freedom or family again.

All for what? Livestock special interests have lobbied for decades for the removal of these wild horses so that their cattle can graze on our public lands. Now, the lives of thousands of Wyoming’s wild horses hang in the balance as the BLM begins this devastating roundup that will cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

We’re fighting back against the BLM’s efforts. That’s why we just launched our campaign, Keep WY Wyld. Earlier this week, we started a national petition in partnership with the Animal Welfare Institute to demand a halt to these roundups. Now, we’re announcing the next steps of our campaign >>

We’re launching advertisements, putting up billboards, and hosting a virtual rally to draw attention to the issue as we fight back against this roundup. We’re pulling out all the stops to protect Wyoming’s wild horses. Can you make a donation today to fuel our work?

DONATE

This roundup is just a precursor to the pending BLM plan to eradicate horses entirely from most of the HMAs in this area. If successful, this action would result in the loss of 52% of the state’s wild horse habitat.

We refuse to allow that to happen. So we’re using every resource at our disposal to fight for the rights of Wyoming’s wild horses. The livestock industry is well-funded and we expect them to fight back.

Will you help us as we launch our Keep WY Wyld campaign to protect Wyoming’s wild horses with a donation today? Your support helps us have the resources necessary to make this important work possible.

DONATE

Thanks for your support,

— AWHC Team
#KeepWYWyld

Webinar Invite: Asking you to take action for Wyoming’s wild horses

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Starting this week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will launch the largest wild horse roundup in history.

Will you join AWHC team members for a webinar on Tuesday, October 12th at 5PM PST to learn more about the proposed roundup and how you can speak up for the Wyoming wild horses?

On the call (8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST), you will:

  • Learn about the planned roundup including background and history on the special interests that play a role in why this roundup is happening;
  • Hear more about our national campaign, Keep WY Wyld and our plan to fight back for the horses of the Wyoming Checkerboard;
  • Get inspired and learn more about how you can help in our fight to protect these wild horses!

Roughly 4,397 wild horses living in five herd management areas across the Wyoming Checkerboard will be rounded up as part of this action, so it’s critical that supporters like you join us in this fight. The proposed roundup will reduce the wild horse population across these areas to just 1,550 wild horses — leaving just 1 horse for every 2,217 acres of land.

We hope you’ll join us to hear more about our national campaign and get inspired to join the fight to protect these cherished icons.

Register here for our October 12 campaign kickoff call!

REGISTER NOW

Thanks for helping us Keep WY Wyld,

— Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

$30 today helps us save wild horses for years to come

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Did you know that a gift of $30 today will help us keep wild horses wild for years to come? How? It costs just $30 to vaccinate a single mare annually with Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP) — a scientifically-proven fertility control vaccine.

On Nevada’s Virginia Range, we operate the world’s largest humane fertility control program for wild horses. Earlier this year, we celebrated our two-year anniversary of this historic program! Our work on the Virginia Range provides scientific evidence to the public that THERE IS a humane way to manage wild horses that doesn’t require mass roundups, crowded holding pens, or dangerous sterilization surgeries.

We’re asking: Today, on September 30th, will you make a gift of $30 or more to fund our PZP program and help us manage wild horse populations using tried and true fertility control measures?

$30.00 >> HELPS 1 HORSE

$60.00 >> HELPS 2 HORSES

$150.00 >> HELPS 5 HORSES

$300.00 >> HELPS 10 HORSES

DONATE OTHER >>

The success of our PZP program in Nevada has been critical in our fight to protect wild horses. And the continued operation of this program helps us to provide lawmakers, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the rest of the public with cold, hard, scientific evidence that supports the legitimacy and efficacy of this humane population management tool.

Today is the last day of the BLM’s FY 2021 roundup season. Since this time last year, over 17,917 wild horses and burros have been brutally chased by helicopters and taken to holding facilities, costing these innocent animals their families and their freedom.

PZP is a much more sustainable and humane option to keep wild horses in the wild where they belong. Today, on September 30th, will you help us to continue the success of our PZP program with a donation of $30 or more?

$30.00 >> HELPS 1 HORSE

$60.00 >> HELPS 2 HORSES

$150.00 >> HELPS 5 HORSES

$300.00 >> HELPS 10 HORSES

DONATE OTHER >>

Thank you for your support in the fight to protect America’s wild horses, Meredith.

— AWHC Team

We haven’t heard from you in a while!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

It’s been a while since we’ve heard from you.

The fight to keep wild horses and burros free on our public lands is more urgent than ever.

  • Congress is considering an appropriations bill that could pave the way for the Bureau of Land Management’s forced roundup of 90,000 wild horses and burros from public lands over the next five years. This is the first installment of the BLM’s multi-billion dollar proposal to cull wild horse populations back to extinction levels, a plan that will push the program off the fiscal cliff and could result in the mass slaughter of America’s national icons.
  • The BLM’s cruel and inhumane summer assault on wild horses is already underway across the West as of July 1. Helicopter roundups in the sweltering desert heat involve tiny, vulnerable foals who risk being literally run to death after miles-long helicopter chases. The BLM plans to round up and remove more than 5,000 federally-protected wild horses and burros from public lands by September.

If there was ever a time that wild horses and burros needed your support, now is that time.

Learn more about AWHC’s efforts to protect our wild horses and burros, and how you can get involved.

We hope to hear from you soon, and that you are ready to get back in the fight to defend these national treasures,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director

Please read: FY 2021 Roundup Season in Review

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

In just a few short days, the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 roundup season will come to a close and the FY 2022 season will begin. Since last September, 17,917 wild horses and burros have been brutally chased by helicopters and most have been shipped to overburdened holding facilities.

The BLM’s aggressive roundup schedule will result in the highest number of wild horses and burros ever maintained in the BLM’s holding facilities.

We mourn for all of the wild horses and burros who have lost their freedom and their families. The silver lining to this upsetting news, however, is that public opposition to this cruel and costly program has never been greater.

Just this month, Colorado Governor Jared Polis spoke up passionately against a BLM roundup in his state, the National Sierra Club called on Interior Secretary Haaland to remove livestock from wild horse habitats, and the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) sent a letter to Secretary Haaland demanding that the BLM stop scapegoating wild horses for environmental damage caused by private livestock grazing.

Together, we are stronger than ever — and we promise to continue our work to protect the rights and freedom of America’s wild horses and burros.

If you’re with us in the continued fight for our cherished wild horses and burros, will you make a donation to fuel the American Wild Horse Campaign’s work today?

DONATE

Your contributions make our advocacy for humane and scientific management practices possible. Your funding also allows AWHC to continue to hold the BLM accountable for the animal welfare abuses committed during helicopter roundups.

Earlier this month, we asked for your help to fight back against an especially brutal roundup in the Sand Wash Basin in Colorado, where tiny foals were being stampeded with helicopters and several were left alone to fend for themselves in the wild after their mothers were captured. And you stepped up.

In just 24 hours, supporters like you generated over 10,000 emails and calls demanding a halt to the roundup. The public pressure and the Governor’s intervention worked. The roundup was halted early and 150 wild horses who were targeted for removal remained free!

Change will happen, if we continue to work together. 

If you’re with us in the fight to protect these cherished animals and preserve their freedom on our public lands, will you make a donation to fuel our work today?

DONATE

Thank you for your support,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE >> Watch our mini-documentary on wild burros!!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE: Check out our mini-documentary in partnership with Dr. Erick Lundgren on ground-breaking research surrounding America’s wild burros!

WATCH HERE >>

Several months ago, we sent you an update on some scientific developments that advance our knowledge of wild horses and burros. Today, we wanted to tell you more about one of these specific discoveries:

Wild burros don’t often get as much attention as our wild horses do — even though both species have the same rich history. Often labeled as an “invasive species,” wild burros face constant threats like roundups and removals from the public lands they call home. And, Erica, fewer than 15,000 burros are estimated to remain on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands across the U.S. today. 

New research, however, has shown that wild burros provide a significant benefit to desert ecosystems. These magnificent animals browse and graze on our public lands, and incredibly, they dig wells, which provide sources of water for other wildlife in the area!

One of the main arguments for the removal of wild burros is that they are an “invasive species” — destructive to the lands they roam. This research provides critical evidence that wild burros actually help — instead of hurt — the ecosystems in which they live.

We partnered with researcher, Dr. Erick Lundgren, on a mini-documentary about this innovative work, because increasing public awareness around wild burros is one of the ways we can help to protect these cherished animals!

WATCH & DONATE >>

We’re pleased to support ongoing, cutting-edge scientific research that advances our knowledge of wild horses and burros and their importance to ecosystems while establishing conclusively that there is a more effective and humane way to manage mustangs and burros in the wild rather than by cruelly rounding them up and incarcerating them for life.

If you’re with us in the fight to protect these cherished icons, consider watching our mini-documentary and making a donation today so we can continue to follow the science and protect America’s wild horses and burros!

WATCH & DONATE >>

— AWHC Research Team

TELL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: Become a Co-sponsor of the SAFE Act >>

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We have some breaking news to share and actions for you to take this week to protect our magnificent wild horses and burros. Remember: You are the driving force for change. Together we can keep wild horses wild! Read on and see how you can help to protect these cherished animals. >>

Safe Act Introduced in the Senate

Yesterday, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators reintroduced the Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act to ban the slaughter of American horses both domestic and wild. The bill’s sponsors include Senators Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI).

Each year, thousands of American horses, both domestic and wild, are shipped across the border to slaughter plants in Canada and Mexico. The SAFE Act would permanently prevent horse slaughter plants from opening in the U.S. and prohibit the export of American horses for slaughter for human consumption abroad.

It’s critical that we pass this bill, especially given the number of federally-protected wild horses and burros being sent into the slaughter pipeline through the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Adoption Incentive Program. Please take action now requesting that your U.S. Senators and your U.S. Representative cosponsor the SAFE Act to end horse slaughter once and for all!

TAKE ACTION

 

Say Whoa to Giant Wild Horse Feedlot in Nevada

The BLM is charging ahead with its accelerated roundup plan, which if not reined in — will triple the number of wild horses and burros in holding facilities over the next five years! To accommodate this influx, the agency is expanding its holding capacity.

The latest proposal is for a 100-acre feedlot to warehouse 4,000 wild horses and burros in Nevada in cramped pens that will provide just 750 square feet of space per animal. The cost? Upwards of 7.3 million tax dollars annually. That’s 23 times more for one holding facility than the BLM spends program-wide on fertility control each year to humanely manage wild horse populations on the range. Insanity! Submit your comments before Sept. 17 to stand with AWHC against this costly and cruel plan. >>

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS

 

Some Good News for Your Wednesday:

Sierra Club weighs in for wild horses: The 3.8 million-member Sierra Club, citing severe bias against wild horses in resource allocation on public lands, sent a letter last week to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, calling for an “initiation of the processes necessary to end all cattle/sheep grazing on all horse occupied BLM Herd Management Area lands.”

The letter noted that “management should prioritize keeping horses on designated HMA lands within ecological parameters that maintain or promote continued progress towards a TNEB [Thriving Natural Ecological Balance].”

This is in keeping with the Sierra Club’s new national wild horse policy as well as a growing chorus of environmental organizations speaking out against the scapegoating of wild horses for environmental damage caused by livestock. Also this month, the Sierra Club Colorado Chapter and the Western Watersheds Project called for a halt to the Sand Wash Basin wild horse roundup in Colorado, calling for removal of sheep from the HMA instead. More info here. >>

More AIP horses rescued from slaughter auctions: AWHC’s investigation into the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program continues to identify wild horses and burros sent through this cash incentive program to kill pens across the country. Along with documenting these animals and sending the evidence to the BLM and the Interior Department, we are helping to rescue victims of the AIP.

Last week, AWHC’s Rescue Fund paid the bail to save three beautiful AIP mustangs, including a two year old, and one adorable burro from a notorious kill pen in Oklahoma. Now they are safely housed at an Evanescent Mustang Rescue and Sanctuary foster, where they will decompress, gain some weight, and be available for adoption! Four more lives were saved and that is reason for celebration!

Thanks for all you continue to do to protect wild horses and burros.

— AWHC Team

The Sand Wash Basin round up has come to an end

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) wild horse roundup in the Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area (HMA) has come to an end. Thanks to your voices, and the efforts of Governor Jared Polis. First Gentleman Marlon Reis, and Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse, the roundup was called early within the HMA, and 150 more magnificent Sand Wash basin wild horses remain free. This leaves more than 300 wild horses in the HMA, instead of the BLM’s target post-roundup population of just 163.

10,000 calls and emails in 24 hours. That’s what you did, upping the political ante and providing the public pressure necessary to back up Governor Polis’ work to implement more humane wild horse management practices in his state.

In his public statement, Governor Polis cited the “public outpouring” that demonstrated “how much people care for the well-being of these iconic Colorado animals.”

Together, we made important progress for wild horses in Colorado this month. Now it’s time to take the next step by calling on Congress to conduct an oversight hearing of the BLM’s costly and cruel wild horse and burro roundup program. Click here to take action now!

TAKE ACTION NOW >>
Photo by: Carol Walker

While we cheer for the 150 wild horses were spared capture via helicopter stampede and the 52 captured wild horses (25 mares and 24 stallions released to the Sand Wash HMA and 3 relocated to the Spring Creek Basin HMA), our hearts break for the 479 wild horses who were not so lucky.

They have been shipped to the BLM holding corrals at the state prison in Canyon City amidst mounting concerns about conditions there. These horses face an uncertain future, either warehoused for years in BLM feedlots or adopted through the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program that’s sending truckloads of horses into the slaughter pipeline. The Sand Wash Basin helicopter operation left a trail of destruction and a litany of animal welfare violations, including tiny foals left alone without their mothers on the range. But know one thing: as the abuses mount, so too does the public outrage and the number of political leaders willing to step up to rein in the BLM. 

Will you help us shine a light on what’s happening by emailing your member of Congress and urging them to support an oversight hearing into the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro program today?

The key ingredient to fighting back — and winning – is YOU. So on behalf of our whole team – and the wild horses and burros we all love — thank you for what you accomplished for the Sand Wash Basin wild horses.

Truly. You are the last line of defense for these cherished animals, and they need you to keep fighting for them. 

With Gratitude,
The AWHC Team

enough is enough

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Since the beginning of the month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been conducting a brutal helicopter roundup of the Sand Wash Basin wild horses of Colorado. We’ve had observers on-site every day to document the roundup and to hold the BLM accountable for any wrongdoings as the operation draws to a close.

I’m saddened and angered to share with you that we received news on Wednesday that a 6-month old foal was left orphaned on the range after Tuesday’s operation and found the next morning alone near the trap site.

The BLM euthanized the foal, claiming he had “difficulties in movement and coordination” and called his death “non-gather related.” But the symptoms this foal was exhibiting are closely associated with “capture shock” — a condition caused by extreme exertion or stress, and results in tragedy for far too many young foals who are literally run to death.

If the death of this innocent, young colt wasn’t bad enough, this was the fifth foal left alone on the range to fend for themselves after their mothers were captured in helicopter stampedes at Sand Wash Basin. When will enough be enough? 

We document these horrible tragedies because the BLM must be held responsible for their cruel and antiquated practices. And I promise you — every. single. day. we are fighting back.

We continue to send field representatives out to the range to bear witness and to document the helicopter roundups. We use their reports to get information out immediately to political leaders and the media about the atrocities being committed against wild horses by our own government.

We’re fighting every court battle where we have legal grounds to hold the BLM accountable for its actions. And we’re working with legislators at the state and federal level to advocate for these cherished animals and pass legislation that furthers wild horse and burro protections.

We’re fighting every day to protect wild horses and burros, but it’s a fight we can’t win without your support. If you’re with us in the fight to save the lives of America’s wild horses and burros and make helicopter roundups a thing of the past, can you make a donation to fuel our work today?

DONATE

We’re so grateful for your continued support — thank you.

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

Today is the last day to speak up for the Sand Wash Basin wild horses >> ACT NOW!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

One day. That’s all the time the Sand Wash Basin horses have left. On September 1st, the helicopters will descend on little Desiree and her herd. One day. That’s how long we have to speak up for them.


Photo by: WilsonAxpe Photography

Please take one minute now to:

  1. Send a message to the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management and follow up with calls.
  2. Post this graphic to the following pages. (Note: some of these pages might not allow you to post directly, but you can leave a comment with the image!)
  3. Send automated Tweets to decision makers.

Thank you for speaking up for Colorado’s wild horses! 

— AWHC Rapid Response Team

Colorado wild horses need your voice RIGHT NOW!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Right now the Sand Wash Basin wild horses in Colorado need YOU to be their voice. This iconic herd is currently in the BLM’s crosshairs and the emergency roundup will begin in just two days, on September 1st.

The BLM’s decision to deploy helicopters in the Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area (HMA) is driven by the claim that the drought is so extreme that 733 wild horses must be permanently removed, BUT on the ground, recent rains have filled watering holes and rejuvenated vegetation growth. Most importantly, the wild horses remain in good body condition.

In short, there is no drought emergency in the HMA to justify displacing nearly 90% of the herd by stampeding and capturing them in a helicopter roundup that will rob hundreds of horses of their freedom and families, and cost many their lives.

Time is short, so please take action NOW to ask the BLM to halt the roundup, drop the emergency designation, and work collaboratively with stakeholders to develop a humane long-term management plan to protect the Sand Wash herd.

 

TAKE ACTION

 

Thanks for your support,

AWHC Rapid Response

CO-02: we need your help!!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

On behalf of the American Wild Horse Campaign and our Government Relations team, I wanted to say thank you. Your continued support helps us keep up our legislative fight to protect the rights of America’s wild horses and burros. Just this year, your support helped us to secure $11 million for fertility control funding in the U.S. House!

Unfortunately, over the last few months especially — the freedom of these cherished animals has faced constant threats. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to conduct brutal helicopter roundups of federally-protected wild horses.

And this year, more horses will be in government holding than ever before. There are already over 50,000 wild horses and burros that have been stockpiled in government holding at the expense of taxpayers, and by the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30) this number will skyrocket to at least 60,000. 

Thankfully, we have some members of Congress who stand alongside us in our fight to protect wild horses and burros!

Your U.S. Representative Joe Neguse has always been a steadfast advocate for wild horse and burro protection, and he and several other members of Congress have advocated for alternatives to cruel roundups, including Appropriations legislation that would ensure that a significant portion of funding for the Wild Horse and Burro Program would go to:

  • The implementation of humane birth control;
  • Prioritization of public-private partnerships with nonprofit organizations;
  • A permanent ban on barbaric mare surgical sterilization;
  • And a requirement that the BLM evaluate and report on formerly zeroed-out wild horse areas for relocating horses as an alternative to holding facilities.

Rep. Neguse is also in a prominent position, as the Chair of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands for the House Natural Resources Committee, with influence over bills that could impact wild horses and burros. 

Will you contact Rep. Neguse right now to thank him for his leadership to protect wild horses? Ask him to do all he can to fight for these cherished animals today!

CONTACT REP. NEGUSE

Thank you for your support,

Holly Gann Bice
Director of Government Relations
American Wild Horse Campaign

Footage of the Onaqui herd release … you won’t want to miss it

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

A few weeks ago, I, along with several other AWHC representatives, had the opportunity to attend the release of 123 of the 435 wild horses captured during the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) roundup in the Onaqui Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) in Utah the month prior.

While our hearts break for the 312 who will never see freedom again, we want to pause and recognize the significance of the return of these beloved wild horses — including 58 mares, 60 stallions, and 5 foals — to their home on our public lands. This brings the population in the Onaqui HMA to approximately 210 horses — the high end of the “appropriate” management level (AML). This is a departure from BLM policy, which generally aims to reduce horse and burro populations to low AMLs.

Watching these horses released to freedom was exhilarating, especially after seeing so many wild horses lose their freedom over the last decade. It is a memory I will cherish for a lifetime. Kimerlee Curyl, noted wild horse photographer and AWHC spokesperson, was with me on that day and recorded some footage that I want to share with you: 

The release wasn’t perfect. Three mares scheduled to be returned to the range became sick in the holding pens and died. A fourth mare is recovering in a BLM holding pen. One mare released to the range was observed to be sick and was euthanized hours after being freed. The BLM has yet to release the cause of the illness. Other released horses are being monitored for potential sickness. As soon as AWHC receives more information, we’ll be sure to let you know.

It’s important to remember that these tragedies are not the fault of any individual BLM employees, all of whom tried their best to ensure the safety of the horses. Instead, they are the inevitable outcome of a system that relies on capturing and penning these iconic wild animals instead of protecting them and managing them humanely in the wild.

AWHC fought hard against the Onaqui roundup and we continue to oppose helicopter roundups as a means of population control. But we were able to find common ground with the BLM on the return of some of the captured horses to the wild. 

The BLM allowed AWHC to designate a representative to be onsite at the trap during the roundup to identify horses and we were proud to partner with the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation (OCF) to get this job done. AWHC, OCF, and the Wild Horses of America Foundation also provided recommendations to the BLM on criteria for returning horses to the range based on genetic viability, social bonds, and the welfare of the more senior horses in the herd. This input was considered by the BLM when making the final release decisions.

Most importantly, BLM Utah has committed to working with us and others to ensure that this is the last helicopter roundup that will ever take place in the Onaqui Herd Management Area. 

We take the BLM at its word and will work with our partners and the agency to make this goal a reality. 

Over 300 of the Onaqui horses remain in BLM holding facilities and will be placed up for adoption and sale in an online auction beginning October 12. It’s our job to speak up for the wild horses of this cherished herd along with the thousands of other wild horses and burros that are rounded up year after year and we invite you to join us.

If you’re with us in the fight for freedom for America’s wild horses and burros, will you make a donation to AWHC to fuel our work today?

DONATE

Thank you,

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

P.S. Check out our blog documenting the event for more information and footage of the Onaqui release!

What we’re doing to protect wild horses and burros

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Because of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) use of outdated and unproductive wild horse and burro “management” practices, nearly 60,000 wild horses and burros will be stockpiled in government holding pens and pastures before the end of this fiscal year (Sept. 30). This is the highest number of wild horses and burros ever maintained in the BLM’s holding facilities. 

There’s only one place the BLM’s roundup and stockpile system of managing wild horses is heading — it’s the mass slaughter of these cherished animals. Here at AWHC, we are doing everything possible to keep wild horses and burros wild and prevent this horrific outcome. Can you make a donation to the American Wild Horse Campaign today to help us continue our fight in the field, in courts, and on the Hill to protect wild horses and burros?

In the Field
We are not just demanding change, we’re proving that a better way is possible. AWHC’s highly successful fertility control program on the Virginia Range in Nevada has reduced the foaling rate in this historic mustang herd by over 50% in just over two years. The program is proving that humane fertility control is a viable alternative to costly and cruel helicopter roundups and removals — even in large wild horse populations in a large habitat area. 

Meanwhile, we continue to send observers to document most helicopter roundups taking place so that the public knows what is happening to our wild horses and burros in these remote areas of the West. We also hold the BLM accountable for the animal welfare violations we commonly see, such as stampeding horses in extreme temperatures, chasing horses in a manner that causes foals to be left behind (then roped and brought in), and capturing too many horses at once in too-small of pens, resulting in traumatic injuries such as broken legs and necks.

Our field work is building a powerful case for change that’s being noticed at the highest levels of Congress and the Administration. 

In Court
Our legal team works around the clock to defend wild horses and burros from government actions that violate federal laws and harm these cherished animals. Just this year, we filed suit against the BLM for the continued operation of the failed Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) that is sending far too many of our cherished wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline.

Currently, the BLM’s AIP program is an end-run around the Congressional ban on slaughtering wild horses and burros. We’ve documented scores of cases in which adopters are pocketing the $1,000 incentive payments then flipping horses or burros to kill pens as soon as the money clears their bank accounts. Our work even led to an explosive, front-page New York Times report on the program! Yet to date, the BLM has failed to conduct an independent investigation of the AIP or take meaningful steps to address the problem. So, we filed suit against the agency to ensure that this tax-subsidized slaughter program is shut down.

On the Hill
Our Government Relations (GR) team works in collaboration with other advocacy groups and members of Congress to ensure further legislative protections for wild horses and burros. Right now, our team is working to secure language in the Senate Interior Appropriations bill that would allocate $11 million of the BLM’s budget to implement a humane, reversible fertility control program to manage wild horses and burros in the wild. 

We’re also urging Congress to direct the BLM to implement on-range management strategies, such as relocating wild horses and burros to other suitable Herd Management Areas (HMAs) to reduce removals and keep these animals on the range where they belong. Earlier this year, we worked with members of the House of Representatives to get similar language passed in the House Interior Appropriations bill, and if this language is secured on the Senate side, it will be a historic legislative win for wild horses and burros! We also advocated hard for a provision in the INVEST Act to ban the transportation of equines to slaughter.

But it’s not just our GR team who is putting in the work! Part of our legislative fight is mobilizing AWHC’s grassroots army to contact the BLM, Forest Service, and Congress when wild horses and burros need help the most. It is because of your support that we are able to achieve significant wins, such as the $11 million for fertility control funding in the U.S. House!

There is so much at stake for wild horses and burros. That’s why we’re fighting back in every way possible to protect the rights and lives of these cherished animals. 

Can you make a donation right now to help us continue our fight in the field, in courts, and on the Hill to protect wild horses and burros?

DONATE

Thank you,

AWHC Team

 

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