Today, we’re launching a new effort to convince Congress to maintain the longstanding prohibition on the destruction and slaughter of healthy wild horses and burros. We’ve called. We’ve emailed. Now, let’s send a personal video message about why we’re fighting to protect these national icons.
With our new video tool you can easily record a short video that will be sent directly to your members of Congress. I just recorded mine — watch it now and then record your own.
We know you’ll have plenty to say but a few points we hope you’ll include:
Congress must maintain the longstanding prohibition on destroying healthy wild horses and burros and oppose any effort that would open the door to slaughter.
80% of Americans oppose the slaughter of America’s wild horses.
The PZP birth control vaccine is a scientifically-proven, low-cost alternative that can used to humanely manage wild populations and maintain their wild free-romaning behaviors.
So record your own video now. It’s really easy. It’ll take just a few minutes of your time. And it will help us cut through the clutter in Washington and be heard on this critical issue.
We’re a week away from critical votes. The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is expected to mark up its spending bill next week, with full committee votes the week after. Since the House lifted the longstanding prohibition on the destruction of healthy wild horses and burros in its spending bill, it’s critical that the Senate maintain these protections. These votes will likely determine what the final budget language is — and the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses literally hang in the balance.
When we meet with Senate offices and ask them what makes a difference, they always tell us to keep up the calls and emails. They REALLY matter. Our opponents have the money and power but we have the people. Keep it up.
Tell them: Maintain longstanding prohibitions on the destruction of healthy wild horses. Oppose any spending bill that would allow for the killing or sale for slaughter of healthy wild horses.
The roundup underway right now in Wyoming is a stark reminder of how important these votes are. Images of wild horses chased relentlessly by helicopter, driven into barbed wire, captured, and separated from their families are heartbreaking. Even worse is the thought that every one of the nearly 2,000 wild horses captured could be killed if the Congress does not reject the BLM’s request to destroy them and sell them for brutal slaughter.
With our movement battling on so many fronts, I wanted to send around a quick update:
U.S. Senate Vote Coming Soon
The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee is now expected to mark up its spending bill next week, with full committee consideration of the legislation the week after. Since the House passed a spending bill that lifts the longstanding prohibition on the destruction of healthy wild horses and burros, it’s critical that the Senate maintain these protections. These votes will likely determine what the final budget language is — and the lives of tens of thousands of wild horses literally hang in the balance.
If Congress fails to protect wild horses, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has said it would like to “dispose” of so-called excess wild horses and burros by killing them. So it’s no surprise the agency is already rounding up wild horses with renewed gusto. BLM-contracted helicopters have returned once again to the Wyoming Checkerboard, where 46 wild horses were captured and removed from their homes on the range yesterday. The roundup will continue until 1,500 wild horses lose their freedom and their families. Other roundups pending in Wyoming and Nevada will remove 10,000 more wild horses from the range.
Several weeks ago, we exposed what we dubbed the Salt Lake City Slaughter Summit. Pro-slaughter politicians, bureaucrats and lobbyists gathered in Salt Lake City, excluding members of the humane management community. Despite their spin claiming a scientific and humane approach, the truth came out this week: A survey released by summit organizers shows that 99 percent of participants support eating horses. Of the top six “highly-supported options” for how to address horse and burro issues, three involved eating horses, one involved killing horses, and two involved selling horses to be killed. Protecting wild horses didn’t make the cut. What a sham.
With key U.S. Senate votes coming soon, roundups increasing, and our opponents pulling out all the stops, our movement is activating on all fronts. We’ve gathered more than 300,000 petitions signatures, we’re holding meetings with key members in DC and in home offices, our latest round of billboards are live, and we’re planning new advertisements to be released soon.
Our opponents have a lot of power and a lot of money. But we have the opinion of the American people and an incredible movement behind us. Together, we can win this.
The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee will mark up the Interior Department budget as early as next week. As part of this process, they will decide whether wild horses keep or lose their protections from mass killing and slaughter. It the vote goes the wrong way, as many 92,000 of these cherished and innocent animals could be killed.
We need you to call your Senators right now and kindly ask them to tell the Appropriations Committee to ensure that 2018 Interior Department spending legislation INCLUDES prohibitions on the destruction of healthy wild horses and their sale for slaughter.
The bill reported out of Committee will form the basis for negotiations on final budget adopted in December. So, even though the budget is unlikely to be confirmed until December, next week’s debate could very well be the deciding factor in whether America’s wild horses roam free or are destroyed.
The U.S. Senate appropriations committee is voting as early as next week on whether to continue protections for wild horses. The final vote could be used in December’s budget package and lead to the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses.
This is no time to rest. Tomorrow we’re launching a new billboard right outside the airport in Las Vegas. Nevada voters, political leaders and tourists will see our message loud and clear: #NoHorseSlaughter. Since Nevada has over half the nation’s wild horses living within its borders, it’s important to know where its Senators stand.
This comes on the heels of our petition drop last week — when we delivered more than 300,000 petition signatures to Sen. Heller’s Las Vegas office. We were there with nine boxes of signatures, and the local media was there to report on our movement in action.
Tomorrow, we’re also launching a billboard in Phoenix. But with votes expected as early as next week, we’re hoping to expand our advertising and grassroots pressure.Please donate now, and we’ll be in touch with you in the next 48 hours with other ways you can help during this critical stretch.
Last week, President Trump reached a deal with Congress to provide a short-term, 3-month budget extension.
Good or bad news for horses? The answer is neither. The final votes to allow or stop slaughter are now delayed until early-December.
This delay does NOT mean we can let up between now and then. The Administration is still pushing for a policy of mass slaughter of America’s wild horses. The appropriations debates in Congress are ongoing. Given the House bill’s inclusion of horse slaughter language, it is absolutely critical that the Senate produce a bill that protects horses from mass killing and slaughter. Then we’ll have a fighting chance of prevailing when the House and Senate negotiate final spending legislation.
The Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee could vote on the Interior spending bill as early as next week.So NOW is the time to contact your Senators to weigh in to protect wild horses and burros!
Tell them to OPPOSE any 2018 spending legislation that would allow for the killing or sale for slaughter of healthy wild horses and burros.
Let’s keep up the pressure. Our petition has more than 300,000 signatures, and today we’re delivering it to Senator Dean Heller’s office in Las Vegas. We’re placing stories in publications across the country, and our team is in Washington D.C. meeting with legislators. You can support us right now by following up your call with an email to your Senators.
Keep it up!
-Suzanne Roy
P.S. We’re now also facing the reality of a longer campaign. Our hope is to sustain the same size and intensity of our campaign through the December votes. Your donations are needed to help us do it. Please contribute now.
Last night, the House Rules Committee defied the overwhelming will of the American people and voted to block an amendment to stop the slaughter of America’s wild horses.
Our team is tracking every possible legislative path forward. In short — it’s complicated. We could block this in the U.S. Senate, or the entire appropriations process could be abandoned for what’s called a “continuing resolution.” Trust that we’ll be tracking every possibility, and activating our movement to pressure Congress to the right targets and at the right moments.
The House Rules Committee sided with the BLM and the special interests, defying sound science and the will of 80% of Americans who oppose the slaughter of America’s wild horses. But we do want to thank our champions who stood with us in the fight, including Rep. Dina Titus for her leadership in offering this amendment, Reps. Peter King and Carlos Curbelo for adding bipartisan support, Rep. Michalle Lujan Grisham for her steadfast opposition to horse slaughter, and Rep. Jared Polis who persisted as our opponents tried to bury the vote.
While this setback stings, our broader efforts are gaining momentum. We’re meeting with swing legislators on the Hill, getting more and more press attention, and launching ad and advocacy campaigns in swing states. We can win this.
With all the political hurdles and jargon, let’s not lose sight of what we’re protecting.
Last week, I had the privilege of visiting the Onaqui range in Utah. Beautiful, majestic and healthy bands roaming the American countryside. Animals that roam on a tiny fraction of public lands. Animals that should be protected, not destroyed.
I visited the Onaqui range a day after the Utah pro-slaughter summit “delegation” visited. It was a carefully orchestrated sham, using their “field visit” to justify the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses. Our opponents claim wild horses are starving and suffering.
The reality: healthy horses. Look at the pictures yourself. There is no crisis on our public lands. There are healthy, wild horses thriving on the countryside. Horses that could be safely, economically, and humanely managed with fertility control.
Our government should be protecting these animals, not plotting how to eliminate them.
As September begins, there will be lots of talk about continuing resolutions, committee votes, and legislative markup. But let’s not forget what it all boils down to: the protection of America’s symbol of freedom.
Thank you for being with us,
Suzanne Roy
P.S. Your donation will fund active programs now that pressure lawmakers, educate influencers, and expand our grassroots movement. Please donate — we NEED your support.
It’s the last week of the summer congressional recess. And it’s looking increasingly likely that the fate of America’s wild horses and burros will come down to the actions of the United States Senate.
That’s why NOW is the time to call both of your U.S. Senators.
Don’t know the phone number for your Senator? Call the switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected.
Tell them:
“I’m [name] and a constituent of Sen. xx. I urge him/her to vote to ensure that any 2018 Interior Department spending legislation maintains the prohibitions against killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling them for slaughter. 80% of Americans oppose killing these national icons, please stand with us by protecting these national icons from mass killing and slaughter.”
When you’re done, you can click here to follow-up with an email to both of your Senators.
All our hard work is paying off. Last week, we exposed the sham pro-slaughter summit in Utah, we hand delivered over 300,000 petition signatures to a key swing vote in Congress, and new, bipartisan legislation was introduced to maintain the ban on killing healthy horses.
When this summer began, things looked bleak. It appeared the White House and Congress were about to do the unthinkable — open the door to the killing of nearly 100,000 healthy horses and burros. We now have a real chance to stop this, and to protect America’s majestic icons of freedom.
We cannot let up. Call, call, call. Email, email, email. Keep up the great work. You’re making a real difference.
Thank you,
Grace Kuhn
P.S. If you are able, also please consider a donation. We’re pulling out all the stops right now and every dollar helps.
Last week, we traveled to Utah to document the first roundup of wild horses this season. Contrary to the claim perpetuated by the BLM, politicians and ranchers that mustangs are starving on the range, our video shows healthy wild horses being captured and it has reached over 1 million people.
Critics maintain Utah mustang meeting a secretive ‘slaughter summit’
Utah State University hosts wild horse summit, but excludes key advocates and the public
State & Federal managers discuss fate of wild horses, with media and advocates locked out
And yesterday, a bipartisan amendment was introduced in the House Representatives by Representatives Dina Titus (D-NV), Peter King (R-NY) and Jared Polis (D-CO) to reverse the deadly Stewart Amendment and restore the prohibition on killing healthy, federally-protected wild horses and burros.
Our goal this summer has been to keep the pressure on, expose our opponents’ real agenda, and set the table for September, which we expect will be the deciding month for our movement and for the future of wild horses and burros in this country.
We’re off to a strong start. But we need you to keep up the pressure. So keep emailing, calling, donating, and sharing. We will win this fight!
Thank you for being a part of our #NoRecessForHorses Summer of Action. Our goal has been to keep the pressure every day on legislators while they’re back home to make it clear: the American people will not stand for the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses. Our own polling shows 80% of Americans are with us.
Have you spoken to your Representative yet? If not, its not too late to be heard. Here’s what you can do:
If they are, please attend and ask them if they are committed to stoping any attempts towards the slaughter, euthanasia, or destruction of healthy wild horses. If they answer, make sure to let us know: contact@americanwildhorsecampaign.org.
If you don’t know where your member stands on this issue, now’s the time to find out. And if they’re supporting slaughter, now is the time to change their mind! Votes are expected in September that may decide the fate of American wild horses. So keep up the pressure! #NoHorseSlaughter #NoRecessForHorses!
They have arrived. Today, the “wild horse summit” kicks off in Salt Lake City, bringing together pro-slaughter “wildlife managers” and livestock special interests to lay the roadmap for the killing of America’s healthy wild horses. They’re banking on the pro-slaughter federal legislation passing.
As you can imagine, we were not invited. But we’re heading to Salt Lake City anyways. Thanks to your help, our billboard is up, our digital ads are running, and we’re planning a press conference and grassroots mobilization.
This week’s summit is a pro-slaughter sham. People with actual experience implementing humane management solutions are being deliberately excluded. Peer-reviewed science documenting the success of humane fertility control as an alternative to roundup and slaughter is being censored.
But thanks to your help, we’re not going to let federal officials and politicians hear only their one-sided, pro-slaughter message.
Thank you for everything. Let’s keep it up!
— Grace Kuhn, American Wild Horse Campaign
P.S. We still need donations to help support our efforts this week in Salt Lake City and around the country.
You did it. In less than a week, you blew past our goal of $10,000 to put a billboard up in Salt Lake City during the pro-slaughter “Wild Horse Summit.” Thanks to your help, the billboard goes up tomorrow morning as legislators and pro-slaughter “wildlife managers” arrive in Utah. (We’ll post pictures of the live billboard on our Facebook page early this week.)
We’ve now raised nearly $20,000 and if we can raise another $10,000, we can add billboards in Phoenix, Reno, and Las Vegas — targeting some of the key votes that could decide the fate of wild horses in our country.
The summit this week in Salt Lake City is a sham. The gathering will bring together pro-slaughter “wildlife managers” and other special interests to lay the roadmap for the killing of America’s healthy wild horses. They’re banking on the pro-slaughter legislation passing.
We were not invited. People with actual experience implementing humane management solutions are being deliberately excluded. Peer-reviewed science documenting the success of humane fertility control as an alternative to roundup and slaughter is being censored.
But we’re not going to let federal officials and politicians hear only their one-sided, pro-slaughter message. Our billboard goes up on Monday, we’re saturating the event and hotel with mobile and digital ads, and on Wednesday we’re working with our coalition partner, The Cloud Foundation, and convening a press conference to raise attention to our (correct) side of the story.
We will not let undecided legislators and the media get taken for a ride.
This has to be our strategy nationwide. Our opponents are running aggressive campaigns to get their way. They’re convening summits, holding dinners, and lobbying. They’re banking on the hope that we won’t be as aggressive or as savvy. They’re wrong.
Our opponents are trying to pull a fast one on us. They’re taking Utah public money to convene a “Wild Horse Summit” in Salt Lake City next week. The gathering will attract pro-slaughter “wildlife managers” and other pro-ranching special interests to lay the roadmap to begin the killing of America’s healthy wild horses. The Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, is expected to attend.
We were not invited. People with actual experience implementing humane management solutions are being deliberately excluded. Peer-reviewed science documenting the success of humane fertility control as an alternative to roundup and slaughter is being censored.
We have just 48 hours to raise $10,000 to fund this billboard, social media ads and media campaign to fight back.
Our opponents are trying to cook up every slanted argument they can: they claim the healthy horses are dying on the range and should be euthanized (not true). They claim they’re overrunning our public lands (even though horses are on only 17% of BLM rangeland). And they claim killing is the only way to manage the population (despite the sound science of proven birth control methods).
We need to get the facts out there. Our team will be working with the media to correct the facts, and we’ll be running digital and outdoor ads in Salt Lake City to make it clear how the American public feels about slaughter.
We need your help to do this. With Congress currently considering pro-slaughter legislation, we cannot let this Salt Lake City pro-slaughter dog-and-pony show take place without us fighting back.
With Congress going home for its August recess and the legislative future on horse slaughter still unclear, we asked you what our movement should do this month: sit tight OR keep up the pressure. Your response was clear: give them hell. Make it clear the American people will not stand for the destruction or slaughter of America’s wild horses.
So today we’re launching our #NoRecessForHorses Summer of Action. In the next three weeks, we’ll be visiting congressional offices, holding local events, activating supporters, putting up billboards, and, in short, making ourselves very, very loud.
We need every signature we can get. We’ll be hand-delivering the petition to key congressional offices, inviting the press and our local supporters to join.
Our opponents would love nothing more than if this issue stays quiet. They’ve seen the polling — they know 80% of Americans oppose horse slaughter. They want to confuse the issue, rename the word “slaughter” to something else, and hope we sit on the sidelines as they try to pass this terrible, cruel policy.
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 slaughter, now is the time to change their mind. Votes are expected in September that may decide the fate of American wild horses.
Take action right now while your member of Congress is home for August recess:
If they are, please attend and ask them if they will stop any attempts towards the slaughter, euthanasia, or destruction of healthy wild horses. If they answer, make sure to let us know their answer: contact@americanwildhorsecampaign.org.
2) No town hall? Call your member’s district (not Washington D.C.) officeand ask them if you can schedule a meeting with your congressperson or legislative aide. You can find the number for your congressperson here. And you can look up talking points here. Be sure to email us if you schedule a meeting!
In the next two months, Congress will decide whether to allow horse slaughter factories to reopen in the United States and whether to give the Bureau of Land Management license to kill up to 92,000 wild horses in holding facilities and on the range. Last week, the House Appropriations Committee passed an Interior Department spending bill that removed the prohibition on killing healthy wild horses and burros. While this is a setback, we have a much better chance of stopping this lethal legislation in the Senate… but only if your Senators hear from you. Please don’t wait to give America’s horses a voice – call Congress today!
The Senate Committee on Appropriations voted July 20 in favor of an amendment offered by Sens. Tom Udall (D-NM) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), to defund the USDA’s inspection of horse slaughter, a renewal of what was effectively a ban on the practice.
Today’s vote for the Udall-Graham Amendment means the Fiscal Year 2018 Appropriations Bill may move forward with language limiting USDA action in the inspection of animals, facilities or products associated with horse slaughter. On July 12, however, the House Appropriations Committee voted against a similar amendment that would defund USDA inspection of horse slaughter, setting the stage for possible negotiations on the final spending bill.
Horse slaughter plants in the United States were closed in 2007 when funding for USDA inspection was halted through the appropriations approval process. Horse slaughter inspections will remain unfunded through September 30, 2017, when the current fiscal year will end. Further information will be available when approval for the FY18 Appropriations are finalized.
The American Horse Council has not taken a position on horse slaughter as the equine industry remains divided on this issue. Please contact the American Horse Council for further information.
Our team just got bad news out of the U.S. House Appropriations markup: the committee just voted to add a pro-slaughter amendment, acceding to the barbaric request of the Interior Department to kill these majestic animals.
The members of this committee rejected the will of 80% of Americans who do not want slaughter; they rejected the science that shows these animals can be managed with humane birth control; and they rejected every major animal welfare organization who condemned the cruelty of this slaughter policy.
They should be ashamed. But this fight is not over!
We can still stop this horse slaughter provision before a vote by the full House of Representatives or in the U.S. Senate. We need your help.
The amendment, which passed on a voice vote, allows for the wholesale destruction of healthy wild horses and burros that the BLM deems “unadoptable” or “overpopulated.” The committee knew just how unpopular their stance was — that’s why they replaced “slaughter” with “destruction.” But it’s same barbaric policy with different words.
Over the past few days, we’ve launched an unprecedented campaign to try to save America’s wild horses, including a TV ad buy in four key markets and the release of new polling showing 80% of Americans favor continuing anti-slaughter protections for wild horses.
Why the urgent push? Tomorrow, the full House Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on the new Interior Department budget — and we are told our opponents will attempt to add language to authorize the mass slaughter of America’s wild horses.
The fate of America’s wild horses may come down to your Congressperson. Will you contact he/she right now?
1) Call Your Rep at202-225-3121 and say: side with 80% of Americans — #NoHorseSlaughter, no way!
2) Click the icons below and Tweet and/or Facebook to your Representative.
We’ll keep you updated as the votes unfold. This is one of the most critical weeks we have ever had in the fight to protect wild horses and prevent what could be one of the largest mass slaughter’s of wild animals in our history.
Thank you for being with us,
Suzanne Roy
American Wild Horse Campaign
P.S. Please also consider an emergency donation to help us continue our Virginia TV ad buy.
