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Wild Horse and Burro 2020

Wild Horse and Burro articles from 2020

BREAKING: We worked with the New York Times to investigate the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We have breaking news.

Over the last several months, the American Wild Horse Campaign — with assistance from Evanescent Mustang Rescue, Skydog Ranch and Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary — has been conducting an investigation into the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), leading to today’s New York Times report exposing this federal program as a subsidized pipeline to slaughter for federally-protected wild horses and burros.

The BLM’s AIP pays individuals $1,000 to adopt a wild, unhandled horse or burro. As AWHC predicted when the program was implemented in 2019, the initiative has been a disaster for these animals. It is now clear that the BLM is laundering horses to slaughter through the AIP and evading the long-standing Congressional slaughter ban. 

This program is a predictable result of the BLM’s inhumane and costly mass roundup program and the agency’s efforts to empty holding pens to make room for the tens of thousands of horses and burros targeted for removal over the next five years.

Our investigation, as affirmed by the New York Times, has documented:

  • Wild horses and burros are being sent to slaughter through the AIP.
  • Adopters are collecting the payments then sending horses to livestock auctions known as “kill pens” where they are purchased by kill buyers and shipped across the border for slaughter.
  • Adopters are routinely violating their BLM adoption contracts, which they sign under penalty of perjury, prohibiting the sale of these animals directly or indirectly to slaughter.
  • Groups of related individuals are evading the four-horse adoption limit by adopting multiple horses each using the same location on their applications, then collecting as much as $30,000 in AIP payments and sales of the horses at kill pens.
  • The AIP additionally has resulted in severe neglect and abuse of horses and burros by adopters unqualified or uninterested in providing adequate care.

 

  • The AIP should not be allowed to continue. The BLM must stop rounding up wild horses and burros and start managing them humanely in the wild. Thousands of America’s iconic wild horses and burros are at risk and need your voice.

    Please take these three actions to make change for them right now:

    1. Sign our petition demanding an end to the AIP and to mass roundups that send too many wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline.
    2. Share the New York Times article on social media.
    3. Call & write Congress to demand the AIP program be terminated. You can leave a message over the weekend.

    Thank you for speaking up for our wild horses and burros at this critical time!

    AWHC Team

Strong, Resilient & Fierce

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We’re still shy of our EOY matching goal… just hours left to make your tax-deductible gift and double your impact.

As I watch the clock wind down on this tumultuous and difficult year, I’m reflecting on the gratitude I feel for our amazing community of supporters, and the generous spirit and compassion of each one of you. 

The American Wild Horse symbolizes strength and resilience, the qualities our country needs right now. We enter the New Year united in our love for wild horses and burros and committed to our fight to save them.

We have an ambitious agenda for 2021, and that’s why meeting our end-of-year matching goal so important. We only have hours left.

Just today, 20 more wild horses were rounded up by helicopter from their home on our public lands in Nevada. The thought of them alone – separated from their families, trapped and terrified breaks my heart and makes me even more resolute in our work to stop this cruelty from happening.

The 90,000 wild horses and burros who remain free are counting on me, they’re counting on you, and they’re counting on us as a community to keep fighting for them.

So, let’s go into 2021 strong, resilient and fierce – like wild horses and burros – to make real change for these animals we cherish.

We have only a few hours left to meet our goal. We can do this!

On behalf of our whole team, we wish you and your families a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Gratefully,

Suzanne

These faces. It’s why we do it.

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

These heartbreaking photos taken by our photographer yesterday at the Fish Creek HMA roundup in Nevada illustrate why our work to protect mustangs and burros is so important.

As I write this, our observer is in the field documenting yet another roundup of innocent wild horses who were living free with their families just days before Christmas. Now, they cling together in temporary pens awaiting shipment to a BLM holding facility and an uncertain future.

With your help today, we’re working to MAKE ROUNDUPS A THING OF THE PAST.

  • In the field, we’re showing that humane management of wild horses with birth control is possible.
  • In court, we’re defending wild horses from livestock industry demands for mass removals from public lands, and we’re fighting to stop brutal sterilization surgeries on wild mares.
  • In Congress, we’re gaining more and more allies committed to protecting wild horses and burros and reforming the BLM’s outdated and inhumane management practices.

We know we’re asking for a lot during this last week of the year. It’s because the stakes are so high.

At this very moment, our wild horses and burros face an existential threat: the BLM’s plan to decimate wild herds by removing 90,000 of these magnificent animals from our public lands over the next five years.

Our work in 2021 could not be more important and we need your support to make it happen. We’re just HOURS away from the opportunity to unlock $125,000 before we close the books on 2020. I’m asking personally…are you able to pitch in ANY amount right now to help us unlock our biggest matching donation opportunity ever?

hank you for your generosity, compassion and support. Together, we can keep America’s majestic wild horses and burros wild!

Suzanne

PS — Do you know of anyone else in your life who loves wild horses? Every dollar raised today before our EOY deadline matters more than ever. Please forward this email, and share this EOY match appeal on Facebook to help us reach our last and most ambitious goal of the year!

UPDATE: One day left

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

UPDATE — We’re nearly 25% of the way to our $125,000 End of Year goal we have to hit in order for all donations to be matched. We only have 24 hours before our EOY match goal deadline, and before you lose this amazing opportunity to more than double your donation impact.

Before we ask — for one of the very last times this year — for you to make a donation to our largest match opportunity EVER, we wanted to give you a glimpse of one way your donation will be used.

AWHC operates the world’s largest humane management program for wild horses and burros. The cornerstone of this highly successful program is the remote darting of wild mares with the scientifically proven fertility vaccine known as ‘PZP’. No need for roundups, expensive and crowded holding corrals, or risky sterilization surgeries. And do you know how much it costs for a single mare’s annual PZP vaccine?

$30

$30 today — on the 30th of December, one day before our LAST fundraising deadline of the year — is all it takes to keep a wild horse wild and show that brutal roundups and invasive surgical sterilization are not necessary to humanely manage wild herds.

Compare that to the $48,000 the Bureau of Land Management spends on the roundup, removal and long-term holding of a single horse. PZP is worth every dollar saved to keep wild horses living free with their families.

Can you give $30 on the 30th to help us fund our PZP program and hit our $125,000 match? We cannot afford to miss this goal. Your donation fuels our fight so we can take bigger, better, and bolder steps to defend and protect wild horses in 2021 and beyond.

Thank you!

—AWHC

It truly takes a village. We’re grateful for our “herd.”

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Here at AWHC, we’re feeling the holiday spirit and that’s because of you.

Our incredible AWHC community is the greatest gift of all this season, and with it we have accomplished some of the most historic and unprecedented achievements in wild horse advocacy ever. Together, with our growing community of more than 700,000 wild horses defenders, we are showing that nothing is impossible when we speak as one.

We’ve talked a lot about our progress on the range, in Congress and in the courts, but today we want to share the stories of some of the precious lives we’ve helped to save by working together this year.

Our community is made up of everyday people coming together from all walks of life united to protect wild horses and burros. Time and again, you’ve shown up to help wild horses and burros. You’re always there when they need a helping hand.

We have a lot of work ahead of us — both to hit our fundraising targets before our EOY deadline this year, and to prepare for the challenges of the year ahead. However, we wanted to take a moment right now to celebrate our “herd” — YOU are the reason for the success of our work.

For the lives you’ve helped us save this year, thank you. There’s nothing we can’t achieve when we come together.

American Wild Horse Campaign

Let’s end this year on a high note!

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

We have a truly game changing opportunity before us in these last few days of the year, but we’re going to need your help to make it happen:

The Opportunity: A generous donor has just pledged to match every single donation made up to $125,000 before the end of the year. This represents the largest matching gift in AWHC history — and we can put it toward sprinting right into next year’s important work, if we can meet this one condition before midnight on the 31st.

The Condition: Together, we need to raise $125,000 in grassroots donations to unlock this generous matching gift. Our wild horses are counting on us.

We have a chance to exceed 2019’s end-of-year fundraising total and gallop past our $75,000 Giving Tuesday goal, but in order for that to happen, we need everyone to pitch in and work together to take full advantage of this amazing generosity.

Opportunities like this don’t come often. Can we count on you to donate toward our biggest-ever EOY fundraising drive TODAY so we can start 2021 in the strongest position to make a difference for wild horses?

 

If you have saved your payment information with FastAction, your contribution will go through immediately on clicking a link.

Together, we’ve made tremendous progress this year. We made history with the first wild horse protection legislation introduced in Congress in more than a decade. We obtained the support of over five dozen members of Congress in the fight against brutal surgeries for wild mares. We have broken all records with our groundbreaking fertility control program for mustangs in Nevada, which is setting a worldwide standard. And perhaps most importantly, the momentum you created with HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of phone calls, emails, and letter-writing has grown our scrappy horse-loving grassroots movement into the powerhouse it is today.

We also have significant challenges to overcome in 2021: with 90,000 wild horses and burros in the crosshairs for removal within the next 5 years if we don’t keep up this work. We need to pull out all the stops, Meredith.

That’s why unlocking the full $125,000 in matching funds for our End of Year goal is so important. We can’t hit this goal without you — Donate any amount TODAY for your donation to be matched and help us unlock the full gift to continue our fight in 2021.

Let’s end the year with our best fundraising effort EVER!

Thank you for your support,

American Wild Horse Campaign

It’s Giving Tuesday… can you help?

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

As we kick off #GivingTuesday, I have a personal request.

A very generous donor has offered to match all donations up to $50,000 made today, which means your contribution — of any amount — is more important than ever.

Today is our most critical fundraising day of the entire year. We’ll rely on funds raised today to fuel our programs, staff, field equipment, lobbying and legal work into next year when the stakes could not be higher.

What we raise today, determines the strength of our work tomorrow, Meredith. So — for the love of our wild horses and burros — I’m asking personally if you’ll make a gift of any amount right now to ensure your donation has more impact than ever before.

Your donation today will be put to work, immediately — we have no time to lose. 2021 is gearing up to be a pivotal year for our wild horses and burros and we cannot afford to take our foot off the gas for even one day.

When you make a donation to support AWHC, here’s where your money is going in 2021:

  • Education and Advocacy — Often, we’re the only observers onsite at federal wild horse and burro roundups. We’re showing the world what our government is doing to these national icons, and we’re building the grassroots army necessary to finally win the battle for their protection.
  • In The Wild Management — Our humane fertility control program for Nevada’s Virginia Range mustangs continues to break all records as the largest humane wild horse management program in the world. Our team in Nevada is showing that humane management works and is leading the charge to make roundups and slaughter a relic of the past.
  • Legislation — We’re developing increasing numbers of champions from both sides of the aisle in Congress to speak up for wild horses and burros. Thanks to our work, dozens of Senators and Congresspeople have spoken out against cruel surgical sterilization and in favor of humane management, and the House passed a historic amendment to require funding for fertility control as an alternative to cruel and costly roundups.
  • Litigation — AWHC and the coalitions of animal welfare groups we’ve formed have won over 90% of the cases we file. We’ve filed multiple lawsuits and successfully brought about a federal injunction to halt the surgical sterilization of mares in Oregon, and we’re prepared to take legal action again to protect wild mares in Utah from this same cruel plan.

Today represents an incredible opportunity, not only to double your impact, but also to become a member of the AWHC family and the movement we’re building. Together, we will defend America’s wild horses and burros and ensure they remain wild and free. Donate today.

Thank you,

Suzanne

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

This is HUGE! ALL donations will be matched through tomorrow

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

We know these are challenging times and for many of us the holidays are not the same this year.

But now, more than ever, we’re reminded that we’re all in this together. We can’t think of a better, more passionate, or more generous community to be in this with; that’s why we’re SO excited to share this amazing news with you:

Right now — on the eve of Giving Tuesday — a generous donor has stepped up in a huge way and pledged to match ALL AWHC donations up to $50,000 made between now and midnight tomorrow.

THIS is the most impactful donation you can make to jumpstart our work going into 2021, and power the fight to preserve and protect America’s magnificent wild horses and burros. Make a $35 gift today and horses get DOUBLE your donation! Help unlock this incredible gift and reach our critical #GivingTuesday fundraising goal! →

We won’t sugarcoat it: wild horses and burros are facing unprecedented threats to their very existence on our western public lands. But at the same time, we are truly making unprecedented progress. In Congress, we’re gaining increasing support from both sides of the aisle speaking up for wild horse and burro protection. In the field, we’re proving without a shadow of a doubt that humane wild horse management works. And every single day, new supporters just like yourself are joining the cause and growing our voice.

Now we must carry this work into 2021!

Our wild horses and burros don’t have corporate lobbyists and PACs to advocate on their behalf. They have us: Together, we give them a voice and we give them a fighting chance.

We will never stop fighting. Your donation helps us lobby for legislation to prevent the slaughter of horses, and powers our legal team to make roundups a thing of the past. It gives our team the resources and tools it needs to document roundups and our volunteers the equipment necessary to dart horses with fertility control to prove there is an ethical, cost-effective way to manage wild horses that doesn’t include inhumane roundups and slaughter.

Can we count on you to make a matched donation now? Every dollar gets us closer to securing this game-changing $50,000 gift. Give now and DOUBLE your impact:

With deep gratitude,

American Wild Horse Campaign

Here’s a way to shop on #CyberMonday AND save wild horses! (see how) Inbox

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

If you’re anything like us, you’re checking out great #CyberMonday deals and getting a jump-start on your holiday shopping.

Did you know that whether you’re shopping for holiday gifts or regular items on Amazon, you can help keep wild horses wild, Erica? By using our nonprofit link (here!), a portion of your purchases will go toward our work to ensure wild horses and burros Stay Wild.

This small and quick action will really make an impact! As of November 2020, AmazonSmile has distributed over $200 million to charities across the United States. So, be sure to choose AWHC on AmazonSmile and shop away!

And if you haven’t checked it out yet, you can find everything from calendars to coffee, clothing and prints to make the perfect gift for the animal lover in your life (or, just treat yourself!). Go wild with your gift-giving this year and a portion of the proceeds will go toward the fight to keep wild horses and burros wild!

Thank you,

American Wild Horse Campaign

 

Galloping towards a major deadline

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

It’s that time again: The holiday season is just around the corner which means we’re just ONE WEEK from #GivingTuesday, one of the single most important days for charitable giving in the United States, and for us at AWHC.

I won’t lie, our ability to hit our annual fundraising goal — and successfully execute the programs, lawsuits and lobbying our wild horses and burros rely on each year — depends on a successful, and impactful, #GivingTuesday this year.

But I’m not asking you for a donation today. I will next week and I REALLY hope you can chip in when it’s time. Today, I’m asking you to use your powerful voice. Will you speak up for wild horses in need before the holiday giving season is upon us, and we lose the attention of those in charge of managing our national icons?

Here Are Two Actions You Can Take in Under 5 Minutes, Right Now:

1. Co-Sign This Bi-Partisan Anti-Surgical Sterilization Letter to the BLM:

A veterinarian manually reaching into a mare’s abdominal cavity via the vaginal canal, blindly locating the ovaries, severing them with a rod and chain device, and pulling them out is NOT the answer.

Even the National Academy of Sciences advised that this BLM-favored procedure is “inadvisable for field application” due to the possibility of bleeding and infection. That’s why we’ve filed multiple lawsuits — and secured a federal injunction — to STOP the BLM from galloping ahead with this inhumane surgery on wild mares.

Speak up today: Co-sign this letter to Interior Secretary Bernhardt to let him know Congress AND the public are demanding humane treatment of America’s wild horses and burros.

2. Let your Senators Know: There’s a Better Way

After celebrating the historic passage of an amendment in the House of Representatives that would require the BLM to spend $11 million implementing humane PZP fertility control programs, we hoped the Senate would follow suit. Instead, its draft funding bill not only does not earmark funds for humane fertility control, it actually increases funding by $14.2 million for the roundup and warehousing of wild horses and burros in mass feedlot-like holding facilities.

We know there’s a better way, but we have to speak up and demand it from our leaders in Congress. Already this week hundreds of us have been making calls, sending emails, and forwarding these actions to our friends and family. Let’s keep up the pressure:

1. Email your Senators and Congressperson right now at this link,

…forward this email to your friends, AND

2. Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your two Senators and one Representative. You will likely be asked to leave a message. Simply say,

“I’m [Name] from [City/Town] and as Congress works on a final FY21 spending bill, I’m calling to ask that you please do all you can to ensure that $11 million in funding to implement PZP fertility control is retained in the final spending package. PZP is a humane way for BLM to manage wild horses and an alternative to cruel roundups. Thank you.”

We have big fights ahead that will not come easy, or cheap.

Next week we will be announcing an exciting, ambitious #GivingTuesday goal to match the ambition of our fights ahead in 2021. I very much look forward to telling you about it, and am grateful for your voice today and every day

Together, we are unstoppable,

Suzanne Roy
American Wild Horse Campaign

TAKE ACTION: Get the Senate back on track

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

You’ll remember the joy we felt just months ago when — after months of lobbying, thousands of calls and emails and ads — the U.S. House of Representatives passed a game-changing amendment requiring the BLM to spend $11 million to implement humane PZP fertility control programs as a step toward ending cruel and costly wild horse roundups.

We had high hopes that the Senate would follow suit, but it’s currently headed in the wrong direction and we need to urge an immediate course correction. The draft funding bill released by the Senate Appropriations Committee not only does not earmark funds for humane fertility control, it actually increases funding by $14.2 million for the roundup and warehousing of wild horses and burros in massive feedlot-like holding facilities.

We still have time to get things back on track: The Senate can still fund fertility control in its final bill and House leadership can negotiate in committee to keep its bipartisan wild horse protection amendment in the final bill. None of this will happen unless you reach out to your Senators and Congressperson today!

Urgent: Contact Congress TODAY

Please Contact Your Two Senators and One Representative Today:

  1. Call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your two Senators and one Representative. You will likely be asked to leave a message. Simply say,

“I’m [Name] from [City/Town] and as Congress works on a final FY21 spending bill, I’m calling to ask that you please do all you can to ensure that $11 million in funding to implement PZP fertility control is retained in the final spending package. PZP is a humane way for BLM to manage wild horses and an alternative to cruel roundups. Thank you.”

  1. Personalize and send the email at this link to your Senators and Representative.

We know that there’s a better, more scientific, and more humane way to manage wild horse populations. We’ve proven it time and time again. Now we need to reach out to our federal legislators TODAY and urge them to do everything they can to ensure the humane management of our wild horses.

This bipartisan measure would represent a powerful step toward ending the current costly and cruel practice of rounding these animals up with helicopters and incarcerating them in holding pens for life. Will you speak up today?

We are on the cusp of a giant breakthrough in the fight to protect our nation’s wild horses and burros. Now let’s keep the momentum going.

Thank you for taking action!

Suzanne Roy
Executive Director
American Wild Horse Campaign

 

Wild horses > this horse race

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

The ongoing political horse race has the entire country on edge, but regardless of the outcome of this election, you can count on our commitment to protecting the horses that matter:

Our majestic wild horses and burros will always embody the true, enduring spirit of America. They remind us every day of all that’s wild, free and beautiful about our country… and that’s worth holding on to.

No matter the administration or final composition of legislatures, we’ve got our work cut out for us: The past year has seen a terrifying onslaught of BLM- and Big Ag- backed measures that place our wild horses in peril. From the unprecedented roundup numbers and the continued plan to use barbaric surgical sterilization procedures on wild mares, to selling horses off for $1 in California — our wild horses need our help.

Our wild horses and burros can count on us to show up and fight for their protection and freedom regardless of who is in the White House, the Senate or any other position of leadership. We will continue to work with whomever it takes to make that a reality.

And we can’t do that without you.

The next days, weeks and months are sure to be chaotic and politically charged, but regardless of what happens, we must keep our eyes on the horizon and keep our work in the courts, on Capitol Hill and in the field focused on our mission: Doing everything in our collective power to keep our wild horses and burros safe, wild and free.

Right now — as we make plans and gear up for a new year, what may be a new Administration, and new opportunities to work to protect our wild horses and burros, we rely heavily on our ability to budget and forecast into the future. Recurring monthly gifts — from as little as $5 a month — are one of the most helpful and important ways we keep our programs sustainable and strong. Will you become a monthly donor today?

Thank you and stay strong during this unsettling time.

With hope and determination,

American Wild Horse Campaign

 

My view from the field

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

You’ve seen and heard a lot about this year’s brutal wild horse and burro roundups from us — but have you ever wondered what it would be like to observe one for yourself?
I used to, and that’s why I headed out to Utah to the Sulphur HMA. I wanted to observe for myself, but more importantly, I wanted to share the experience with you to give the full picture of exactly what we’re fighting to end — and why.
Watching this video isn’t easy. But it’s important to understand what’s at stake — and why we’re calling for a moratorium on roundups and an investigation into the BLM’s rampant animal welfare violations and failure to implement fertility control as a humane alternative to brutal roundups. I’m personally asking that, after you watch the video, you consider chipping in $15 to our Roundup Fund so we can put an end to these brutal practices as quickly as possible.

Please note: this video contains upsetting images of violence against wild horses.

AWHC’s roundup program — observing, documenting, reporting and holding BLM accountable — is a top priority for us. Often, we’re the ONLY ones in the field speaking up for those who cannot.
The freedoms, lives, health and well-being of the iconic wild horse and burro herds we love so dearly depend on our continued vigilance and effort, and we won’t let them down. Are you with me?
Watch our video first to see what a day at a roundup entails, and then please chip in to help us keep up this important work.

Thank you,

Brieanah Schwartz

We’ve NEVER seen a roundup like this

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

The Red Desert Complex roundup is set to break all the wrong records.

The majestic wild horses and burros who call 705,500 acres of public land in the Red Desert Area of southern Wyoming home are firmly in the BLM’s crosshairs, now running in fear instead of free.

Five herds — and more than 2,400 wild horses – are, as of this week, being brutally chased down, separated, terrorized and rounded up in the largest wild horse helicopter roundup in the program’s history.

We must speak up, show up, and take action, Meredith. Will you sign and then share our emergency petition — now at 13,000 individual voices — demanding an immediate moratorium on roundups and a Congressional investigation into the BLM’s rampant animal welfare violations and failure to heed Congress’ directives to implement fertility control as a humane alternative to brutal roundups?

Photos by Lynn Hanson for AWHC

We’re doing EVERYTHING in our power to intervene when and where we can to protect our wild horses. In the field, in the courts, on Capitol Hill and online with emails like this and the launch of nationwide petitions and ads shared and seen by tens of thousands of people.

We’re also demanding that Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt retract the wild horse policy decisions made during the unlawful tenure of William Perry Pendley as head of the BLM. These include a shocking plan to round up 90,000 wild horses and burros over the next five years — virtually every one of these animals living free today — and efforts to codify the agency’s ability to subject wild horses to dangerous and invasive sterilization surgeries and sell them without limitation on slaughter.

Progress cannot come soon enough for our imperiled wild horses and burros but it IS being made, every day, by people like you. By all of us.

The BLM’s plan to roundup approximately 2,400 wild horses from the Antelope Hills, Crooks Mountain, Green Mountain, Lost Creek, and Stewart Creek Herd Management Areas (HMAs) is a stark reminder of who this public agency is working for. It’s not the American people, who overwhelmingly support wild horse protection. It’s the livestock industry: At the same time as BLM helicopters bear down on the wild horses in these five iconic Wyoming herds that have called the Red Desert Complex home for CENTURIES, the agency is permitting 20,995 privately-owned sheep and 9,753 cows to graze in this same public lands habitat.

The BLM plans to reduce the wild horse population to the “Appropriate” Management Level (AML) of just 480-724 within the complex, leaving just 1 horse per every 1,500+ acres. Three of the HMAs will have just 65 or fewer horses remaining when the roundup is over.

On the heels of the most aggressive roundup season we’ve ever seen, we can’t let this continue.

Please. Sign the petition – share it with your friends and family — and then donate any amount you can spare to our Roundup Fund that ensures we can keep up this fight for as long as these horrific roundups continue.

For the love of wild horses —

The whole team at AWHC

 

URGENT: Save mares from surgical sterilization

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

We recently learned some truly shocking news, and we’re emailing you now so together we can take swift, collective action to protect Utah’s wild mares before it’s too late.

Against public and congressional opinion, common sense, science, and multiple lawsuits and federal injunctions, the BLM is planning to move ahead with implementing the barbaric surgical procedure, ovariectomy via colpotomy, on wild mares, this time targeting the federally-protected wild horse herds of Utah’s Confusion Herd Management Area (HMA), 90 miles northwest of Delta.

This marks the FOURTH time the agency has tried to get this cruel procedure off the ground, at the urging of the livestock industry. We’ve been fighting this tooth and nail from day one – with legal efforts, congressional pressure and modeling safer, more scientific alternatives for sterilization. We cannot give up now.

Will you join me in taking action TODAY to speak out against this unconscionable – and unpopular – move? Ask your Senators and Representative to stop the BLM from performing this brutal and dangerous procedure on wild mares.

It’s unacceptable for the BLM to once again attempt to proceed with this gruesome sterilization procedure that involves a veterinarian cutting into a mare’s vaginal wall, placing a hand and arm through the vagina in the abdominal cavity, manually (and blindly) locating the ovaries before severing and removing them with a rod-like chain tool called an ecraseur. It’s not only cruel and inhumane, it’s also an unnecessary waste of our taxpayer dollars, particularly when a more cost-effective and humane control alternative exists with the PZP birth control vaccine. In fact it’s ready RIGHT NOW to deploy on the range.

We already have champions in Congress speaking up against this abuse. Last summer, Senator Cory Booker spearheaded a sign-on letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt, expressing concerns over the proposed surgical sterilization experiments planned by the agency. Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) quickly followed suit in the House and sent a bipartisan letter to the Secretary signed by 30 members.

AWHC — backed by tens of thousands of supporters like you — worked with Congress and partners this year to win a historic legislative victory in the House of Representative with the passage of an amendment that would direct at least $11 million of its annual operating budget for its Wild Horse and Burro Program to implementation of the humane and proven PZP vaccine. We have momentum on our side and we know we can stop this — we’ve done it before — but it’s going to take all of us speaking up right now.

Will you join us?
Grace Kuhn
Communications Director
American Wild Horses Campaign

Last night was unforgettable

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Last night’s third annual — and first time virtual — STAY WILD benefit event for wild horses and burros was truly a night to remember. We rocked out, we laughed, we cried, we cheered, we celebrated … and today we’re straight back to work because our wild horses need, and deserve, us now more than ever.

While I’m still energized from the excitement of last night, I just found out we’re JUST short of closing-out some of our critical “Fund a Need” campaigns that our wild horses and burros rely on all year. We’re SO close to meeting these important goals, and — with your help right now — we can check-off the rest of these urgent wild horse needs by the end of the weekend:

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I have some very exciting news: We have received generous matching gifts from AWHC totalling $15,000 that we have until MIDNIGHT on Sunday to reach. Many thanks to long-time AWHC supporters Jennifer and Hec Leeds-Delgado and our AWHC board member Bill Hake and his wife Laurie for jump-starting our effort to meet our Fund-A-Need goal.

We have 48 hours to double our impact, and fully fund these critical programs.

From the dart guns we use to carry out our world class PZP fertility control program, to the camera and video equipment we use to document each roundup, to the legal funds we need to continue to defend wild horses and burros in court — we are SO close to being able to meet the needs of our wild horse protection programs around the West. Can you help?

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Our journey across the American West last night provided a stunning — and never before seen — visual preview of our work to prevent the decimation of the wild horses and burros we hold so close to our hearts. From amazing musical guest performances to a sobering behind-the-scenes film premiere of what it’s really like to attend a wild horse roundup, I won’t be forgetting last night anytime soon. If you weren’t able to attend, you can experience this magical evening for yourself by watching this just-uploaded video!

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 our very first virtual event a huge success. Now let’s keep up the good work!

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Thank you to our Generous Sponsors: Montgomery Creek Ranch, Giant Steps, Freedom Reigns, Lin Yeiser Coonan, Gilbert L. Purcell & Roxanne Sheridan Purcell, Patrice & Alex Ghanayem, Chantecaille, JRS, Ed and Ashley Brown

LAST CHANCE: Get your Stay Wild Tickets NOW

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

DON’T MISS THIS LAST CHANCE TO STAY WILD TONIGHT!!

It’s here! Our Annual Stay Wild Benefit is TONIGHT and we would absolutely love for you — and your friends, and family — to join us before it’s too late.

We, along with our very special guests, like Lukas Nelson and LP have been hard at work putting together a VERY special night to remember and you won’t want to miss it.

Your ticket to Stay Wild will bring you across the West to see our programs in action and meet real wild horses living free, while entertaining you along the way with fantastic musical performances, celebrity appearances and insights from wild horse advocates in America — we’re SO excited to kick off October on such a high note!

Can you join us tonight?

WHEN: Oct 1, 2020, Pre-Show with DJ Amara: 4:45 PM, PDT, Main Event: 5:00 – 6:00 PM PDT

WHERE: Online — you can even join us in your PJs!

WHY: To raise funds for AWHC and our ongoing work to Keep Wild Horses Wild

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We hope to celebrate with you tonight.

— Team AWHC

PS — Can’t make it? That’s OK, you can still support wild horses tonight — and gain something wonderful for yourself! — by checking out our truly amazing silent auction. Don’t just take it from us… see for yourself by watching this message from our special guest this evening:

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Thank you to our Generous Sponsors: Montgomery Creek Ranch, Giant Steps, Freedom Reigns, Lin Yeiser Coonan, Gilbert L. Purcell & Roxanne Sheridan Purcell, Patrice & Alex Ghanayem, Chantecaille, JRS, Ed and Ashley Brown

NEWS: Wild horses could really use your help

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

News & Alerts

A Heart-Wrenching Scene at the Diamond Complex HMA

Earlier this week, our team set out to observe yet another devastating roundup, this one at the Diamond Complex in Nevada, where the BLM plans to roundup 1,225 innocent wild horses, permanently removing 1,165 of them from their home on the range. In just one day, we watched as 126 horses lost their freedom, and three lost their lives.

The scenes were both heart-wrenching, and unacceptable. At AWHC, we pride ourselves for our ability to document these roundups in order to keep the BLM accountable, but as lovers of wild horses, watching scenes like the one captured in the video below never gets easier. Nonetheless, we know how important BEING THERE, and bear witness to this heart-wrenching mistreatment of our wild horses and burros. We will never stop showing up, and doing everything in our power to keep them wild and free.

If you have a minute, please take the time to watch this video, chip in any amount you are able to afford today to our Roundup Fund, and share this with your friends. We can’t keep letting the BLM get away with this violence and need to make ourselves seen and heard.

Please note: this link contains upsetting images of violence against wild horses.

Tell the Forest Service to STOP Roundups Amid Red Flag Fire Warnings

What they’re doing right now is completely unconscionable.

Last week, we contacted you about the ongoing reckless management practices being carried out against the Devil’s Garden wild horse population in California’s Modoc National Forest. As if selling and shipping horses to whoever will buy them for just $1 — — with no oversight, or safeguards in place –isn’t bad enough, it gets worse…

Right now, in the middle of record-breaking heat and wildfires, in unhealthy air quality conditions and while under a red flag fire warning, Modoc National Forest officials are STILL using helicopters to run down and round up desperate wild horses, as they are forced to run for miles struggle to breathe in the smoky conditions.

Already, 195 horses have been rounded up since last week, and it’s only going to get worse for these imperiled horses and their foals unless we speak up RIGHT NOW and demand an end to the Forest Service’s brutal treatment of California’s wild horses. Will you join me and sign the petition demanding an immediate STOP to roundups during unsafe wildfire conditions?

This latest — and most egregious practice — joins a LONG and growing list of completely reckless management practices carried out by Modoc National Forest leadership that more than 10,000 of us have spoken up against sending letters, making calls and sharing on social media — including:

  • Selling horses for $1 apiece, with no agency-wide system to vet potential buyers and lax policies such as allowing one individual to purchase up to 24 horses a day;
  • Providing free – or heavily subsidized – transportation to private individuals who purchase large numbers of horses using in part, federal funding;
  • Allowing Modoc staff to make their own determinations on to whom to sell horses and which buyers are eligible for free transportation based on a “case by case basis.”

We can’t sit back and let this gross disregard for the welfare of our wild horses go uncontested, or continue under the radar.

Will you speak out NOW by signing this petition to demand that the Forest Service cancel the roundup due to these unsafe wildfire conditions and work instead to manage the Devil’s Garden wild horses humanely in the wild?

> SIGN THE PETITION <<<

AWHC Announces Annual Stay Wild Event on Oct. 1

In case you missed our announcement last week, we wanted to take this opportunity to express our excitement for our annual Stay Wild Event on Oct. 1! We decided to bring the wildness right to your screen with a creative twist to a virtual event that you won’t want to miss.

This year, we’ll bring talented performers, influencers, and top wild horse advocates in America into your homes for an exceptional evening of charity and entertainment. We really hope that you’ll be able to join us.

WHEN: Oct 1, 2020, Pre-Show: 4:45 PM, PDT, Main Event: 5:00 – 6:00 PM PDT

WHERE: Virtual

WHY: To raise funds for AWHC and our ongoing work to Keep Wild Horses Wild

We hope you stay safe and well this weekend and as always, thank you for your support in helping our wild horses stay free and wild!

– The AWHC Team

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