UPDATE: Join Governor Polis in standing up for Colorado’s wild horses!
The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the deadly infectious disease outbreak occurring at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Cañon City facility in Colorado — and keeping you updated along the way.
By now, the Equine Influenza Virus (EIV) has killed at least 144 horses at the facility since April 23.
Yesterday, Colorado Governor Jared Polis took necessary action when he released a statement calling for a halt to the Piceance wild horse roundup planned for this summer while an investigation into the BLM’s Cañon City facility and the welfare of it’s warehoused horses is conducted.
| “We have long advocated for the health, safety, and wellbeing of Colorado’s wild horses, and will continue to do so as we seek a humane future for our mustangs.” – Gov. Jared Polis. |
AWHC is incredibly grateful to Governor Polis for his leadership in protecting these iconic animals, but we need more elected officials to speak up on their behalf! Can you lend these horses your voice and call on your members of Congress to demand an investigation into the BLM’s holding corrals?
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EIV — a virus that is routinely vaccinated against in the equine world — is included in the BLM’s vaccine regiment for captured animals. And yet, all of the 144 deceased wild horses were either unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated against EIV, despite being rounded up late last summer and in the BLM’s care for nearly 10 months.
The crisis only confirms what we already know — our beloved wild horses are safest in the wild. Rounding up horses and confining them in cramped pens where they are susceptible to deadly diseases like EIV is unacceptable, especially when there is humane, scientifically-proven birth control readily available as an alternative to removals.
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Thank you for standing up for Colorado’s wild horses,
– AWHC Team