The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
The new year is upon us, and with it, our fight to reform the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) costly and cruel roundup program continues. Throughout Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the BLM is planning to remove nearly 20,000 innocent wild horses and burros from the wild – double the number captured in FY 2023.
Entering 2024, our team stands ready for the challenges ahead — in the field, in court, and on Capitol Hill. We aim to set the conservation standard and ignite policy change to keep these majestic animals in the wild where they belong.
Here’s a glimpse of our key plans for 2024:
Field Operations
We are the boots on the ground, actively documenting mistreatment at the ongoing roundups. Right now, our observer is at the East Pershing Complex, recording shocking animal welfare violations that we are using to inform the public and Congress about the need for change. With nearly 30 wild horse and burro capture operations planned for this fiscal year, we will ensure these inhumane roundups do not occur behind closed doors. This work is critical for building the public opposition essential for real change.
Conservation Initiatives
We’re expanding and investing more in our keystone PZP fertility control program in Nevada’s Virginia Range and new initiatives in Nevada and Utah. The groundbreaking Fish Springs Land Conservancy Project is another focus, showcasing habitat preservation as a tool for protecting wild herds. These vital programs prove there is a better way to protect wild horses and burros and keep them wild.
Government Relations
Our Government Relations program continues to drive policy reform on Capitol Hill and at the state level. We are actively working to advance critical legislation, including the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act to ban the use of helicopters during roundups; the Ejiao Act to protect global donkey populations by banning the import of products containing Ejiao, which is made from boiled donkey hides; and the SAFE Act to ban horse slaughter in the U.S. and the export of horses from the U.S. for slaughter abroad.
Legal Battles
In court, we continue to defend wild horses from federal actions that violate the law. Currently, we’re litigating against the BLM over its plan to eradicate two iconic Wyoming wild horse populations. The lawsuit is the culmination of a more than a decade-long legal battle between AWHC and powerful ranching interests that seek to clear these public lands of wild horses to maximize commercial livestock grazing. We’re also challenging the disastrous implementation of the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which pays adopters $1,000 to take home wild horses or burros.
Investigations
In 2021, our groundbreaking investigation into the AIP and the slaughter pipeline it created inspired an explosive exposé on the front page of the New York Times. We continue to document fraud within this program that has placed so many innocent wild horses and burros at risk of brutal slaughter for human consumption overseas. We’re expanding our investigations to look at the true consequences of roundups and confinement on wild horses and burros, and we use our findings to educate Congress and support litigation to achieve reform.
Rescue
Through our Rescue Fund, we will fight to save as many of these innocent animals as possible with direct and capacity-building grants to rescue organizations.
Meredith, this is just a glimpse into our extensive 2024 plans! With your support, we will achieve our goals and uphold America’s promise of freedom to our magnificent wild horses and burros.
From my heart, I thank you for caring and for making this work possible.
Warmly,
Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign
