There’s a lot at stake for wild horses in Washington this week as the Senate unveils its FY2020 Interior Appropriations bill at a subcommittee hearing tomorrow. The legislation could have huge ramifications for mustangs and burros.
The bill could include funding to implement the dangerous cattlemen’s plan for our wild horses, which includes accelerated roundups, cruel surgical sterilization, and tripling the number of horses in holding — making slaughter more likely in the long run. If the bill doesn’t prohibit the Forest Service from selling horses for slaughter, all wild horses under Forest Service jurisdiction, including California’s Devil’s Garden mustangs, will be at grave risk.
Here’s what American Wild Horse Campaign is doing to defend wild horses.
We lobby. On the Hill, our experienced legislative team is fighting every day to convince legislators to secure real and humane solutions that protect these national icons.
We lead grassroots campaigns to make sure your voices are heard. In 2017, we beat back the existential threat of mass slaughter. With your support, we’ll prevail again.
We defend in the courtroom. Our lawsuits have defeated rancher attempts to force mass roundups and BLM plans to eradicate wild horses from designated habitat. We’re currently in court simultaneously fighting the Forest Service’s slaughter plans and the BLM’s plans to perform barbaric sterilization surgeries on wild mares.
We can keep this vital work going – but only with your help. The lives of tens of thousands of mustangs and burros depend on your support.
Thank you for your steadfast support for AWHC and our beloved mustangs and burros
The BLM is accepting public comments on a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) that will affect a small herd of wild horses living in the Four Mile Herd Management Area in southwestern Idaho, near the Oregon border for the next 10-20 years. Among the management options under consideration for wild horses in the Four Mile mustangs are surgical removal of ovaries in mares and castration of stallions, vasectomy, PZP, GonaCon, skewed sex ratios, and the creation of non-reproducing herds. Now is the time to weigh in for humane and proven management options like PZP fertility control, and rejection of dangerous methods, like surgical sterilization and sex-ratio skewing, that will destroy the horses’ wild free roaming behaviors and social organization. Please take one moment to take action below.
The BLM is well into its summer/fall roundup season, aiming to remove 3,565 federally-protected wild horses from public lands through the fall. This month has seen three roundups conducted simultaneously in three different states — including one targeting the nation’s most high profile wild horse herd. AWHC has been onsite at all three roundups and you can read our reports from the field by clicking below.
Thanks to all the members of our herd who galloped to action last week to let the Senate know that the so-called Path Forward for wild horses — being pushed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, ASPCA, HSUS and Return to Freedom — will be a giant step back for these cherished national icons. Together we made our position known, loud and clear. Read more about the successful mini campaign below!
Tell Your Senators to Make History! Push PAST Act Over the Finish Line!
Before breaking for the August recess, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted the Sen. Joseph Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act of 2019 (H.R. 693) by a vote of 333 to 96. In the wake of this historic vote, the horse industry is focusing efforts on the Senate, where there is an opportunity to gain a “super-majority” of cosponsors for the senate version of the bill (S. 1007), championed by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mark Warner (D-VA). During August, AHC members sent 200 letters to the Senate urging support for this important bill. You can put even more horsepower in the PAST Act by sending a letter to your senators today!
Right now, the Senate is considering partial funding for a plan that, if approved, could mean the beginning of the end for free-roaming horses and burros. The plan, ill-conceived and full of dangerously vague language, is hidden within the Interior budget bill and it’s on track to be negotiated in September.
What is this plan? It’s a ten year attack on wild horse populations, and nothing short of a surrender of the decades-long fight for fair treatment, humane management, and preservation of our nation’s wild horse and burro herds.
The plan is billed as a compromise between the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, other livestock lobbying groups, and the Humane Society of the U.S. (HSUS), the ASPCA and Return to Freedom, but there’s nothing in it for wild horses.
In fact, it calls for the roundup of 130,000 wild horses and burros over the next decade – more than exist today on the range. This will triple the number of wild horses and burros incarcerated at taxpayer expense, at a cost of close to $1 billion over the next decade, without any guarantee of long-term funding to ensure safety from slaughter for these cherished animals.
And there’s more. Herd numbers will diminish beyond minimum viable populations, gruesome sterilization experiments for wild mares will remain on the table, and herds left on public lands will be manipulated with unnatural sex ratios that will wreak havoc on social organization and dynamics.
We’ve seen the power Americans have to affect change at a national level. We must band together to demand an absolute NO to this disastrous plan.
Tell Your Senators to Make History! Push PAST Act Over the Finish Line!
Before breaking for the August recess, the U.S. House of Representatives adopted the Sen. Joseph Tydings Memorial Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act of 2019 (H.R. 693) by a vote of 333 to 96. In the wake of this historic vote, the horse industry is focusing efforts on the Senate, where there is an opportunity to gain a “super-majority” of cosponsors for the senate version of the bill (S. 1007), championed by Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mark Warner (D-VA).
Broomfield, Colo. – As Colorado’s livestock communities continue to manage a significant vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) outbreak affecting 20 counties across the state, misinformation about the virus is being shared on social media channels and traditional media outlets. The initial source of the inaccurate reporting, comparing VSV to a “rabies-like” virus, was an Associated Press article that was reposted by a number of media outlets. The article has since been corrected.
“It is highly misleading to say that vesicular stomatitis virus is a rabies-like virus. Both viruses belong to the same family, Rhabdoviridae, but that classification is based on viral structure alone,” said Maggie Baldwin, Epidemiology Traceability Veterinarian for the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA).”The two diseases have no similarities in transmission, clinical signs, or outcome.”
VSV is a virus from the genus Vesiculovirus. VSV is a viral disease that causes blisters and ulcers on the mouth, feet, ears, and udder of cattle, horses, and swine, and occasionally mules, donkeys, sheep, goats, llamas, and alpacas. The rabies virus is from the genus Lyssavirus. Rabies is a viral disease that affects the central nervous system of mammals and has an extremely high case fatality rate.
VSV is not considered a highly contagious virus, as it is spread primarily through insect vectors, and rarely through saliva or other contact. Please refer to the CDA VSV website for accurate information and resources.
CDA has confirmed cases of VSV in Adams, Alamosa, Arapahoe, Archuleta, Boulder, Broomfield, Conejos, Delta, Douglas, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, La Plata, Larimer, Mesa, Mineral, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Ouray, Pueblo, and Weld counties.
ALL VSV cases are important for the epidemiology and management of this outbreak and MUST be reported to the State Veterinarian’s Office at 303-869-9130, regardless if the owner and veterinarian decide to have their livestock tested or choose to manage as positive premises based on the presence of typical clinical signs without testing.The only cases that may be managed as suspect positive are equine cases located in counties that have confirmed cases.
Equine owners and livestock producers across the state are impacted by VSV; all livestock owners should carefully watch the case numbers and affected counties to gauge their level of risk and institute mitigation measures.
The total count of premises under quarantine for VSV by county is outlined in the table below. CDA’s Animal Health division is updating this table regularly with the latest data on its CDA VSV website.
The first case of VSV in Colorado was reported on July 3rd in Weld County by a field veterinarian from the State Veterinarian’s Office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture. An incursion of VSV-infected insect vectors is the likely source of infection. There are no USDA approved vaccines for VSV.
Vesicular Stomatitis Background
Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that primarily affects horses and cattle but occasionally swine, sheep, goats, llamas, and alpacas will show clinical signs. The transmission process of VSV is not completely understood, but includes insect vectors such as black flies, sand flies, and biting midges.
The incubation period ranges from 2-8 days. Clinical signs include vesicles, erosions, and sloughing of the skin on the muzzle, tongue, ears, teats, and coronary bands. Often excessive salivation is the first sign of disease, along with a reluctance to eat or drink. Lameness and weight loss may follow.
Humans may become infected when handling affected animals, but this is a rare event. To avoid human exposure, individuals should use personal protective measures when handling affected animals.
Tips for Livestock Owners
Strict fly control is an important factor to inhibit the transmission of the disease.
Avoid transferring feeding equipment, cleaning tools or health care equipment from other herds.
Colorado veterinarians and livestock owners should contact the state of destination when moving livestock interstate to ensure that all import requirements are met. Contact information for all state veterinarian offices is listed here.
Colorado fairs, livestock exhibitions, and rodeos may institute new entry requirements based on the extent and severity of the current VS outbreak. Certificates of veterinary inspection (CVIs or health certificates) issued within 2-5 days prior to an event can be beneficial in reducing risks. Be sure to stay informed of any new livestock event requirements. See the Vesicular Stomatitis Guidelines for Shows and Fairs.
Important Points for Veterinarians and Horse Owners
Any vesicular disease of livestock is reportable to the State Veterinarian’s Office in Colorado – to report call 303-869-9130. If after hours, the voice message will indicate which staff veterinarian on call.
Earlier this week, a federal court judge in California issued an order granting us the right to intervene in a lawsuit, filed by public lands ranchers, seeking the immediate round up and removal of 2,000 wild horses from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest.
At the same time, our attorney is in San Francisco today, participating in court-ordered negotiations with the U.S. Forest Service on a separate lawsuit, filed by AWHC and the Animal Legal Defense Fund, to stop the agency from selling Devil’s Garden horses for slaughter.
The Devil’s Garden Territory is home to one of California’s largest remaining wild horse populations. Yet under pressure from local ranching interests, the Forest Service seeks to reduce the wild horse population to 200 – 402 horses, while allowing over 3,700 cows and 2,900 sheep to graze the public lands there.
The situation that has been unfolding in Devil’s Garden — from the roundups to the proposal to sell the mustangs without limitation on slaughter — represents one of the more serious attacks on wild horses by the public lands ranching industry.
Enough is enough. We’re waging two separate legal battles to defend Devil’s Garden mustangs from this existential threat.
Where does your member of Congress stand on protecting wild horses? If you don’t know, now’s the time to find out. And if they’re supporting mass roundups and sterilization, it’s the time to change their minds. Your Representative and Senators are back home for the August recess and will be holding town halls and taking meetings – so now’s your chance to speak up for our wild horses and burros! Learn how at the link below.
Our wild horses and burros are often the subjects of inaccurate, misleading, agenda-driven reporting. A recent example is Jason G. Goldman’s “Feral Horse, Fierce Controversy” that was published in the July issue of Alta, a magazine that promises “a celebration and examination of all things about California.” If you shopped at Whole Foods in California this summer, you will have likely seen this cover story on the magazine prominently displayed in the check-out lines. It’s a biased, sensationalized piece far below the journalistic standards that Alta says it aspires to. Read our response below.
The U.S. Forest Service is proposing rules that will significantly weaken its regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) which requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed actions prior to making decisions. The Forest Service proposed rules would limit the opportunity for public input and make it easier for the agency to make decisions on proposed actions, like wild horse roundups, without analyzing the environmental impacts. Please read more and weigh in against the proposed rule change by clicking below.
The BLM is seeking public comments on a roundup and removal plan for the wild horses that live in the Range Creek HMA in Utah. The HMA includes 55,000 acres of public and private lands, on which the BLM has set a wild horse population limit (AML) of just 75-125 wild horses. The agency seeks to remove over 200 horses and reduce the population to the low AML of 75, a density of one horse per 733 acres! The BLM’s plan also includes the implementation of fertility control, including the use of unproven IUD’s, and the skewing of wild horse sex ratios to favor of males. Please weigh in today against yet another roundup and urge the BLM instead to implement proven humane and sustainable wild horse management tools.
A massive reorganization of the BLM that involves moving its headquarters to Grand Junction, CO and transferring most of its Washington, D.C. staff out west — combined with the Administration’s installment of a lawyer who advocates for the sell-off of federal lands in the top agency post — is raising concerns about the future of our public lands and the agency tasked with managing and conserving them. The developments forbode further dysfunction within the BLM, increased control by local and corporate interests over federal public lands policy, and a growing threat to the environment and wild horses and burros. Read more below.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Forest Service announced its plan to conduct another roundup of California wild horses from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest. At the same time, the agency released new census numbers showing far fewer mustangs actually live in the Forest than previously claimed by the ranching interests that have waged a propaganda campaign against the horses. The ultimate goal is the removal of most of these cherished California mustangs from the public lands that comprise the Modoc Forest. Read more below.
With the dust barely settled after the Triple B roundup last week, we’re headed to the Pine Nut wild horse roundup in Nevada on Monday.
As I write this, tens of thousands of wild horses stand in government holding facilities, and we wait with bated breath for the BLM’s decision on whether or not it will proceed with gruesome sterilization experiments on wild mares.
With tactical lawsuits, advocacy on the Hill, implementation of humane fertility control, and documentation in the wild, we continue with crucial actions to make roundups a thing of the past. That’s why, last week, we extended our fundraising goal to $100,000 to fight these cruel stampedes.
Here are some of the actions we take to end roundups:
With field representation and filmmakers on the ground at each roundup, we’re gathering footage for educational videos to share with the public and lawmakers.
On Capitol Hill, our legal team is educating key members of Congress to combat a dangerous plan to round up and remove up to 130,000 wild horses over the next 10 years. (That’s more than exist on the range today.)
With litigation funding, we’re building specific cases for roundup-related lawsuits — like our case to save wild horses near Caliente, Nevada where BLM is planning to remove 100% of the herds.
Donate today to take action with us. Your support is key as we continue asserting to stand as the last line of defense between our wild horses and burros and the corporate livestock industry that seeks their destruction.
It’s hard to fathom the shocking reality of roundups unless you’ve witnessed one. Helicopters stampeding terrified herds across public lands in the brutal summer heat. Foals separated from their mothers, often dropping to the ground due to exhaustion. Crowded pens pulsing with masses of wild horses, trapped within.
When the Triple B wild horse roundup concluded last week, 802 horses were captured. Fourteen wild horses died.
That’s why we work hard to keep representatives in the field — present for every roundup — so we can document the stampede and keep you informed, as gut-wrenching as it truly is.
Below are images and videos we captured of the recent Triple B roundup.
This documentation demonstrates greed and cruelty, a reality in which private ranchers and commercial interests dictate what happens to your wild horses roaming your public land.
Earlier this month, we set an ambitious fundraising goal of $50,000 to document the BLM’s roundup season, which began in Nevada’s Triple B Complex. That was before this week’s Senate hearing on the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program – a one-sided affair for cattle industry lobbyists, and not a single advocate for preserving America’s wild horses in the wild.
Thanks to you, we hit our $50,000 goal this week. The response from supporters like you has been an incredible boost during the hardest time of the year for wild horses. But to fight back against the stacked proceedings in the Senate – at the same time as the BLM’s terrifying and cruel roundups continue in the West – we’re now raising our goal to make sure everyone, from the American people to their elected leaders on Capitol Hill, sees how inhumane and unnecessary the BLM roundups really are.
Thanks to your support, we’ve been out at the Triple B roundup in Nevada these past few weeks — with heartbreaking photo and video evidence that will long outlast this roundup. Just over 800 horses lost their freedom at Triple B this month; 16 of them lost their lives. These include five tiny foals, one of whom was too weak to stand after withstanding a miles-long helicopter stampede and another who died of water toxicity, likely a result of the BLM’s failure to give the vulnerable baby electrolytes after an arduous run in summer heat left him stressed and dehydrated.
We’ll use this evidence for the battles ahead. This week’s Senate hearing wasn’t just about laying the groundwork for more roundups. The cattle industry lobbyists and BLM want money to surgically sterilize wild horses who remain in the wild, by castrating stallions and ripping out the ovaries of wild mares in dangerous and painful surgeries.
The cattle industry’s path forward leads to one place — mass destruction… of wild, free-roaming horses in the wild, and of those in captivity whose days will be numbered when the government funding to care for them runs out.
Six horses were in a kill pen in Oklahoma, one day away from shipping to slaughter, when AWHC supporters stepped in to save them. Yesterday, these lucky horses arrived in California, where they will spend the rest of their lives in a safe place.
The “Oklahoma Six” are four BLM mustangs and a quarter horse mare and foal – just three weeks old! Earlier this week, you helped us raise enough money to bail them out from the kill pen and transport them from Oklahoma to two of our great sanctuary partners in California.
Three of the mustangs are young and unhandled. One is a 2-year old filly who was in the BLM’s holding facility in Pauls Valley, OK less than three months ago. Their quick turnaround from wild and free on the range, to BLM holding pens, to the slaughter pipeline tells a cautionary tale about the ultimate fate of the thousands of federally protected mustangs that are rounded up and removed from our public lands each year.
Thank you to everyone who stepped up to save these horses and to Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang for transporting them safely from Oklahoma to California. Special big thanks as well to our board members Alicia Goetz and Ellie Price and their sanctuaries – Freedom Reigns and Montgomery Creek Ranch – for giving these six lucky horses a safe place to live out the rest of their lives.
If you are receiving this email, you are uniquely positioned to push back against a dangerous plan on Capitol Hill that threatens the future of wild horses.
Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee’s Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee will hold an “oversight” hearing on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wild Horse and Burro Program. Unfortunately, this hearing is completely stacked against wild horses and in favor of a plan that includes unprecedented mass roundups, surgical sterilization and stockpiling of mustangs in holding facilities.
When we fight back to protect wild horses, it makes a real difference. In a huge win for our grassroots movement, the Trump Administration just announced that it will not pursue lethal measures – such as euthanasia or selling wild horses for slaughter – to manage America’s wild horse populations.
We’ve battled for three years to stop Congress from authorizing the mass killing of wild horses and burros. As always, we are the last line of defense for these national icons. The Administration’s policy shift shows that when we stand firm, we win!
It’s time to savor this news, but we cannot rest, because the Administration continues to pursue inhumane sterilization methods – such as surgically removing the ovaries of mares – that not only place the health and safety of wild horses and burros at risk, but also will take the wild out of these wild animals by destroying their natural behaviors.
This victory gives us hope for the battles ahead – it proves that actions we take to stand up for wild horses and burros make a real difference in the lives of these cherished animals.
Broomfield, Colo. – The Colorado Department of Agriculture has additional confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VSV) in La Plata, Larimer, and Weld counties. The total count of premises under quarantine for VSV by county is outlined in the table below. CDA’s Animal Health division is updating this table with the latest data on its CDA VSV website.
As I write this, our field representative is out on Nevada public lands documenting the roundup of the wild horses living in the Triple B Complex. Roundup documentation is crucial work to hold the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) accountable for the devastating impacts of its inhumane management program to wild horses on our public lands.
These wild herds are at risk of being destroyed forever. The BLM’s 10-year plan for the Triple B and Antelope Complexes includes removing thousands of wild horses from public lands and castrating 50 percent of the stallions who remain in the wild, destroying their natural behaviors – the very essence of their wildness.
Here’s how we’re working to stop this cruelty: Last year we filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Nevada challenging the plan. Our case is currently with the Nevada Court of Appeals.
We’re also in the field to photograph, report, and monitor the situation on the ground. Our photos, videos, and reports hold the BLM accountable by informing the public and our elected leaders about the cruelty that is happening to America’s treasured horses on our public lands.
Vesicular Stomatitis Case Confirmed in Weld County, Colorado
Stay informed!
Stay informed and help us protect your rights as Horse Owners
Join or Renew your Colorado Horse Council membership online today!
Did you know you can renew membership or become a new member online at the Equine City Hall? Just Click Here!
Save the postage and the time, and renew today!
Horses in Weld County, Colorado test positive for vesicular stomatitis
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 5, 2019
Veterinarians and Livestock Owners Contact: Colorado State Veterinarian’s Office, 303-869-9130
Media Contact: Mary Peck, 303-869-9005, mary.peck@state.co.us
Broomfield, Colo. – Colorado has become the third state in the U.S. to have confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VSV). Previous positive cases of vesicular stomatitis in 2019 have been diagnosed in Kinney and Tom Green counties in Texas and in Sandoval County, New Mexico.
On July 3rd, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory reported positive test results on samples submitted from two horses in Weld County. The two horses reside on separate locations in Weld County and have been placed under quarantine. The initial Colorado disease investigation was completed by a field veterinarian from the State Veterinarian’s Office at the Colorado Department of Agriculture.
“Vesicular stomatitis can be painful for animals and costly to their owners,” said Colorado State Veterinarian, Dr. Keith Roehr. “The virus typically causes oral blisters and sores that can be painful causing difficulty in eating and drinking.”
The Weld County epidemiological investigation indicates an incursion of VSV-infected insect vectors is the likely source of infection. Biosecurity measures and vector mitigation have been instituted on both locations to reduce the potential spread of the virus. The animals are being monitored daily and the index premises will remain under state quarantine until at least 14 days from the onset of lesions in the last affected animal on the premises. There are no USDA approved vaccines for VSV.
Vesicular Stomatitis Background
Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that primarily affects horses and cattle, and occasionally swine, sheep, goats, llamas, and alpacas. The transmission process of VSV is not completely understood, but includes insect vectors such as black flies, sand flies, and biting midges.
The incubation period ranges from 2-8 days. Clinical signs include vesicles, erosions, and sloughing of the skin on the muzzle, tongue, teats, and coronary bands. Often excessive salivation is the first sign of disease, along with a reluctance to eat or drink. Lameness and weight loss may follow.
Humans may become infected when handling affected animals, but this is a rare event. To avoid human exposure, individuals should use personal protective measures when handling affected animals.
Tips for Livestock Owners
Strict fly control is an important factor to inhibit the transmission of the disease.
Avoid transferring feeding equipment, cleaning tools or health care equipment from other herds.
Colorado veterinarians and livestock owners should contact the state of destination when moving livestock interstate to ensure that all import requirements are met. Contact information for all state veterinarian offices is listed here.
Colorado fairs, livestock exhibitions, and rodeos may institute new entry requirements based on the extent and severity of the current VS outbreak. Certificates of veterinary inspection (CVIs or health certificates) issued within 2-5 days prior to an event can be beneficial in reducing risks. Be sure to stay informed of any new livestock event requirements. See the Vesicular Stomatitis Guidelines for Shows and Fairs.
Important Points for Veterinarians
Any vesicular disease of livestock is reportable to the State Veterinarian’s Office in Colorado – to report call 303-869-9130. If after hours, the voice message will indicate which staff veterinarian on call.
In just days, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will send helicopters into the Triple B Complex in eastern Nevada to capture and remove 800 wild horses from the public lands they call home. Over the next 10 years, the BLM plans to reduce the wild horses in this area to one mustang per every 4,800 acres while allowing intensive commercial livestock grazing to continue on the public lands designated as wild horse habitat.
July is the hardest month for wild horses in the American West. That’s when the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) begins its summer roundup season. It’s also the time of year when most bands have young foals and temperatures kick into the triple digits.
For hundreds of wild horses, July means the end of freedom. Families will be torn apart and chased for miles to the brink of exhaustion, then thrust into crowded pens where they’ll await a future in which the odds are stacked against them. And, this is just the beginning. Across the West, the roundups will continue through March.
Your support will help us hold the BLM accountable – and raise public awareness about what is happening to the wild horses and burros so many Americans cherish.
Our field observers are the eyes and ears for the public at roundups. We need resources to keep observers on the ground to document the cruelty that occurs at during these remote operations.
Our advocacy and policy programs address the underlying causes that perpetuate this inhumane and costly management practice.
Our fertility control programs provide a model for humane management that focuses on preventing large scale roundups in the future.
Our lawsuits challenge the BLM’s flagrant disregard of federal law protecting wild horses and the environment.
