The deadline for Congress to finalize a government spending bill is December 7 – and some lawmakers are now trying to sneak changes into the bill that would remove protections for wild horses and burros from slaughter.
We have faced this threat numerous times in the past two years. At every critical moment, we have succeeded, but ONLY because this movement has mobilized. Don’t stop now.
Our opponents on both the Agriculture and Interior committees could make dangerous changes that could lead to horse slaughter for human consumption or cruel, untested sterilization experiments on mares.
The Hill calls these disputes “small-ball skirmishes” but we know they could be life or death for thousands of majestic creatures.
Thank you for making Giving Tuesday a success for wild horses. With your help, we hit our goal and unlocked our full $50,000 match!
The threats to wild horses have never been greater. But, with your help, 2018 has been one of our most successful years ever. Together, we succeeded in keeping slaughter prohibitions in the budget, protected wild mares from cruel sterilization procedures, and drew national attention to the cruel roundups across the West.
Thanks to your continued support, we’ll be able to keep up the fight wild horses and burros in the courtroom, in the halls of Congress, and in the field. In the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing all of the successes from the past year, and the fights still ahead.
Thank you for being with us as we continue to stand up for wild horses and burros.
-Team AWHC
PS – If you didn’t get a chance to donate yesterday, there’s still time to help make a difference! Click here to make a tax deductible donation to support America’s wild horses.
This year has been one of our most successful in history. We’ve beaten back attempts to strip slaughter protections from the budget, won injunctions against cruel sterilization experiments, and worked with legislators to strengthen protections for horses and public lands. We’ve sued the federal government to demand that they uphold the law, the intent of Congress and the will of the American people to protect our wild horses and burros on our public lands.
We’ve accomplished so much this year — and we must continue to build on our success. Today is Giving Tuesday, and a generous donors has stepped up to MATCH every gift we receive up to $50,000 from now until midnight. Can you chip in now and have your impact DOUBLED?
We have ambitious plans for next year — keeping up our fights for wild horses and burros in the courtroom, in the halls of Congress, and in the field. We must prevent the sale of horses for slaughter, protect them from cruel, inhumane roundups, and ensure that their home on our public lands is secure.
This year has been one of our most successful in history. We’ve beaten back attempts to strip slaughter protections from the budget, won injunctions against cruel sterilization experiments, and worked with legislators to strengthen protections for horses and public lands. We’ve sued the federal government to demand that they uphold the law, the intent of Congress and the will of the American people to protect our wild horses and burros on our public lands.
We’ve accomplished so much this year — and we must continue to build on our success. Today is Giving Tuesday, and a generous donors has stepped up to MATCH every gift we receive up to $50,000 from now until midnight. Can you chip in now and have your impact DOUBLED?
We have ambitious plans for next year — keeping up our fights for wild horses and burros in the courtroom, in the halls of Congress, and in the field. We must prevent the sale of horses for slaughter, protect them from cruel, inhumane roundups, and ensure that their home on our public lands is secure.
Our good friend and hugely talented photographer Kimerlee Curyl, is offering nine of her incredible images of America’s mustangs for sale with 30% of the proceeds going directly to AWHC! What’s more, from November 23 until November 30, use the code StayWild to get an additional 10% off of your purchase!
Did you know that Thanksgiving Coffee Company offers a coffee called Wild Groundsto help wild horses? It’s true! 10% of the proceeds go towards our work to keep wild horses wild! All the coffee is certified fair-trade from the farming co-ops the company has known and worked with for years. It’s all organic and shade-grown, which is vital for preserving precious jungle forest and providing bird habitat. And, they are a B corporation, which certifies their commitment to environmental and social justice.
Our 2019 calendar, American Wild, is currently available for pre-sale and features the stunning photography of amazing wild horse and burro photographers and AWHC friends! All proceeds will be used to fund our advocacy, litigation, field and rescue programs. Calendars start shipping November 28!
We wouldn’t be able to protect the wild horses and burros of America without supporters like you. That’s why this Thanksgiving, we wanted to share a very special thank you for making it all possible.
We’re so grateful for you and for the magnificent animals we are working so hard to protect.
We’ve got many challenges ahead – but with your help, we’ll continue to meet them to ensure that our wild horses and burros are running free on our public lands for our children and grandchildren to enjoy.
From all of us at the American Wild Horse Campaign, warmest wishes to you and your family for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.
The U.S. Department of the Interior is proposing to destroy thousands of public records including those related to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Progam. AWHC and other wild horse protection groups believe that many of these records are valuable to research and our advocacy and litigation work. Their destruction could significantly hamper our efforts to protect wild horses and burros. Please take action today.
Members of the AWHC team attended the Devil’s Garden wild horse sale and adoption event this weekend in Alturas, CA where 45 horses were placed. We have serious concerns about the safety and welfare of the horses in the pens in the Modoc National Forest under the management of the Modoc County Farm Bureau. While every person who took a horse appears to be a legitimate trainer or rescue, the remaining horses are far from safe, because in less than two months, the Forest Service plans to sell any horses for $1 a piece without limitation on slaughter. Read our firsthand account below.
Next week, the BLM helicopters will descend on the Silver King HMA in eastern Nevada, kicking off the winter roundup season. A total of 1,600 wild horses and burros have been targeted for removal over the next two months. Read on to find out what herds are being targeted.
Help Keep Wild Horses & Burros Wild with Our 2019 Calendar!
We are thrilled to announce the pre-sale of our 2019 calendar, American Wild, featuring the stunning photography of amazing wild horse and burro photographers and AWHC friends!
We wanted to let you know that we have just received word that the Bureau of Land Management is dropping the controversial experiments to surgically remove the ovaries of wild mares in Oregon in response to our collaborative lawsuit with The Cloud Foundation, the Animal Welfare Institute and photographer Carol Walker!
We now hope that the agency will reconsider all plans to conduct this inhumane research and focus instead on humane, scientifically recommended forms of population management, including PZP fertility control.
We couldn’t have entered into this lawsuit without your support. Thank you for standing with us and our wild horses and burros.
The Forest Service’s roundup of the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory is ending this week, with the permanent removal of over 900 horses from their federally-designated habitat on our public lands in the Modoc National Forest. To date, thirteen horses have died, including one foal. In addition, three mares have miscarried, likely due to the trauma of the roundup. Seven of the horses euthanized after showing symptoms of pigeon fever, a contagious but generally non-fatal bacterial infection. Despite the outbreak, the Forest Service plans to hold an adoption/sales event next weekend. And, the Forest Service still intends to sell older horses by the truckload for $1 a piece without limitation on slaughter after 60 days. See the latest update on the Devil’s Garden roundup and speak up for these iconic horses by clicking below.
Late last week, we won a preliminary injunction to halt the BLM’s planned barbaric spay experiments in Oregon. The action was part of a lawsuit filed by AWHC, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and The Cloud Foundation aimed at blocking the BLM from performing risky and inhumane sterilization surgeries on wild Oregon mares recently captured from the Warm Springs Herd Management Area. The had BLM planned to begin the experiments this week. Learn more by clicking below.
Last night’s election results changed the playing field for many issues, including the fight to protect wild horses and burros. The power shift in the House of Representatives makes it extremely unlikely that the Interior Department’s agenda of mass roundups, sterilization and slaughter will become reality, but making proactive change in a divided Congress is going to take real work. Meanwhile, developments in states may open the door to driving change at the local level. Read about some key election results that have implications for wild horses and burros by clicking below.
This morning a federal judge in Oregon granted our request for a preliminary injunction to stop the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from proceeding with controversial experiments to surgically remove the ovaries of wild mares in Oregon. The experiments were set to begin this month. Due to the experimental design, which requires conducting the procedure on pregnant mares, the injunction effectively means that the research may not proceed for a year, if at all.
It was the second time this week that our attorneys were in federal court fighting against the government’s war on wild horses. And it’s the second time in two years that our legal action has stopped the BLM from proceeding with these cruel surgeries.
We’re pleased that Judge Michael W. Mosman recognized the strong public interest in humane treatment and protection of wild horses and we’re grateful to our co-plaintiffs — The Cloud Foundation and its Executive Director Ginger Kathrens, the Animal Welfare Institute and photographer Carol Walker for joining us in this fight!
It’s time for the the BLM to reconsider its plans to conduct this inhumane research and focus instead on humane, scientifically recommended forms of population management, including PZP fertility control.
This is an important first step in the fight against inhumane surgical sterilization of our wild horses and burros. We will continue to keep you updated.
Have a good weekend, and thanks for standing with us!
In an effort to continue our education mission, AWHC sent candidates running for federal and statewide office in Nevada, California, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon a survey to determine their stance on protecting wild horses and burros, as well as population and land management. We’d like to thank those who responded to the survey for their time in answering the questions, and hope that you find this information useful.
AWHC is a non-partisan organization and support for wild horse and burro protection comes from both sides of the political aisle. We urge our supporters to vote next Tuesday and hope that all candidates elected will respect the will of the American people to protect our iconic wild horses and burros on our Western public lands.
On Wednesday, outside of the U.S. Forest Service headquarters in Vallejo, California, 75-100 advocates protested the inhumane and illegal planned roundup and sale of the Devil’s Garden wild horses.
Thank you to everyone who came out! This protest was a huge moment in this fight to save wild horses from slaughter – and it’s a fight we can win.
Here’s everything we’re doing right now to secure protections for these horses:
Legal: We teamed up with the Animal Legal Defense Fund to file a lawsuit last week to block the sale of wild horses without restrictions on slaughter. Our legal team has been successfully litigating over the Devils Garden wild horses for five years. We’re confident we can win this latest case to protect wild horses from slaughter – with the right resources. Support our legal efforts!
Legislative: We’re working with both federal and state legislators to put a halt to this crisis and enforce protections for these horses. Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) has been joined by 22 other members of the California legislature in opposing the Forest Service’s cruel plans, and Senator Dianne Feinstein is working to end this abuse by the Forest Service. Help us keep up the fight.
Long term: Before this crisis began, AWHC was working with the Forest Service on a plan to introduce a humane, scientific pilot program for sustainable population management. Our PZP birth control program has proven to be a successful range management solution everywhere it’s been tried. Support our efforts to bring long-term, humane management to wild horses across the country.
Placement: We’ve created a Devil’s Garden Placement Assistance Fund to help support safe placement of Devils Garden horses. Chip in today!
If the U.S. Forest Service gets away with selling wild horses for slaughter, it will set a horrific precedent that will open the floodgates to slaughter of thousands of federally protected mustangs.
We won’t let it happen – and with your help, we’ll win this fight.
Thanks for standing with us, and with the Devil’s Garden horses.
Today, we’re organizing a rally at the U.S. Forest Service Region 5 headquarters in Vallejo, California to protest the roundup of wild horses from the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory and the pending sale of captured horses for slaughter. Even if you can’t make it in person, we need your help to raise awareness for the issue online during our rally.
Support our protest against the sale of wild horses without limitation on slaughter by joining our virtual sit-in today.
We could be working toward humane and sustainable wild horse management – instead, we’re working around the clock to make sure these horses are not sold by the truckload for a $1 a piece. Supporters across the country have come forward to voice their support for saving these horses. We need that energy today.
Make your voice heard TODAY! Here’s how you can help:
“Save wild horses from slaughter! I oppose the U.S. Forest Service rounding up wild horses in California and selling them without limitation – where they could be sold by the truckload for $1 a piece to be butchered for horsemeat. #ProtectWildHorses
While we’re protesting at the Forest Service in Vallejo today, we’ll be counting on you to raise awareness of this issue online and across the country. If we all raise our voices, the Forest Service will have no choice but to change their plan of mass roundups, sale and slaughter.
Message, tweet, and share your support of America’s Wild Horses with the hashtag #ProtectWildHorses, and let’s tell the Forest Service we won’t stand for this government-sponsored cruelty.
Before the U.S. Forest Service announced its plan to sell captured Devil’s Garden wild horses without limitation on slaughter, AWHC was working with the agency on a plan to introduce a humane, scientific pilot program for sustainable population management.
In fact, we were (and remain) ready to implement a PZP birth control pilot program in the Garden, and to work with ranching permittees to explore compensation for retirement or reduced use of livestock grazing permits on the public lands in the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory.
It’s disappointing that the U.S. Forest Service has prioritized mass removal and sale for slaughter instead of taking a step toward humane and sustainable wild horse management. This is particularly true since their plan violates both the intent of Congress and the laws of California, which has banned the cruel practice of horse slaughter for two decades.
So now we have to fight back — and let them know that choosing slaughter over humane range management is unacceptable to the American public.
Here are the steps we’re taking to fight back against this cruel and illegal plan:
We’ve filed a lawsuit to block the sale of wild horses to kill buyers. Legal action is one of the most potent weapons in our arsenal — but it’s expensive. Chip in today to help us win this lawsuit.
We’re mobilizing our supporters from across California to attend our rally in Vallejo demanding that the Forest Service put a stop to this inhumane plan. Support our field efforts.
We’re working with allies in both the state legislature and the federal government — and we’ve already gotten huge support. State Senator Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) and 23 of his colleagues in the California Legislature have joined the fight, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein has made her voice heard. Help us keep lobbying our leaders for action.
We believe that we can win this fight — but only with your help. Thanks for standing with us.
Unbelievably, in less than 90 days, the U.S. Forest Service intends to offer federally-protected wild horses for sale without limitation on slaughter. The horses — who are being rounded up right now from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest near Alturas, California — will be sold by the trailerload for $1 a piece. Kill buyers will be allowed to purchase these wild horses and truck them across the border to Canadian slaughter plants, where these American icons will be butchered and turned into horsemeat for human consumption overseas.
The Forest Service’s roundup and slaughter plan is one of the most brazen acts of destruction we’ve seen this year. And all so that ranchers who hold grazing permits in the Forest can put MORE cattle on our public lands.
By now you’ve probably heard about the situation in California, as a thousand federally-protected wild horses are being rounded up from the Devil’s Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest. Hundreds of these iconic mustangs are in danger of being sold without limitation on slaughter. AWHC is working on numerous fronts to address this crisis – and our activism is working.
Here’s an update on the work we’re doing:
Federal – We’re working to close the technical loophole that the Forest Service is using to evade the Congressional prohibition on selling federally protected wild horses for slaughter. Our team also reached out to California Senator Dianne Feinstein about this situation and she immediately responded with a strongly worded letterto the Forest Service.
State – Under California law, the sale of horses for slaughter for human consumption is a felony. We worked with Assemblymember Todd Gloria (D-San Diego) to generate a sign on letterfrom 23 members of the California legislature opposing the Forest Service’s cruel plans. We’ve also asked the Attorney General to intervene to ensure that California’s law banning horse slaughter is enforced.
Legal – We’re teaming up with the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) and our legal team at Meyer Glitzenstein and Eubanks to take legal action to stop the Forest Service from selling the federally-protected wild horses without limitation on slaughter.
Public Support – We’ve generated thousands of phone calls and emails to the Forest Service and our media outreach has resulted in unprecedented local, state and national news coverage of the Forest Service’s cruel plan for our wild horses! Additionally, we have had observers onsite daily at the roundup to document, via photograph and video, the Forest Service’s treatment of these national icons.
We’re organizing a rally on October 24, 2018 at the U.S. Forest Service Region 5 headquarters in Vallejo, California.
Placement – We’re actively seeking options for placing larger numbers of Devil’s Garden horses who have been rounded up and are in need of safe forever homes.
Long-term Management – We’ve offered to partner with the Forest Service to implement a pilot fertility control program in the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory – at no cost to taxpayers — as a first step toward developing a long-term, humane management plan for California’s largest, most significant wild horse population. We’ve also offered to facilitate financial compensation of ranchers for retirement or reduced use of livestock grazing permits for public lands within the territory. These are win-win solutions that can and should be implemented.
Join our rally on October 24, 2018. We need a strong showing of support to demonstrate that Californians will not tolerate the federal government’s plan to send our state’s wild horses to slaughter.
Bottom line: Our activism is working. The Forest Service has already decided to extend the time during which horses will not be sold for slaughter. The horses aren’t safe yet, but we’ve got their attention and we must keep pushing!
Thank you for all of your support in saving the lives of these wild horses.
The U.S. Forest Service is planning to round up and remove 1,000 wild horses from California’s largest federally-protected habitat area – the 233,000-acre Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory in the Modoc National Forest near Alturas. Even worse, the Forest Service intends to sell captured horses age 10 and over “without limitation,” allowing kill buyers to purchase a truckload of 36 horses per week for slaughter! We can’t let this happen – especially in California, a state that has banned the cruel practice of horse slaughter (including export for slaughter) for two decades! The roundup starts as early as next week, so time is of the essence.
Late last week, AWHC, the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and The Cloud Foundation filed a motion for preliminary injunction to stop the BLM from performing risky and inhumane sterilization experiments on wild mares in Oregon. The BLM plans to begin the experiments — which involve a veterinarian placing his hand into a mare’s abdominal cavity via an incision in her vaginal wall, manually locating the ovaries, then twisting, severing and removing them by using a rod-like tool with a chain on the end — in early November. Check out our press release below, with more information on this critically important legal action.
On Tuesday, the BLM began the roundup and removal of wild horses from the Warm Spring Herd Management Area (HMA) in Oregon. The BLM intends to round up 100% of the wild horses and burros in the Warm Springs HMA (approximately 800) AND permanently remove 685 horses and burros from their homes on our public lands in this area. The agency wants to use 100 of the captured mares in the brutal sterilization experiments described above. Read our field observer’s reports from the roundup below.
Next week, the National BLM Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meets for the first time since the BLM delivered its disastrous and deadly report to Congress.
This board is supposed to represent stakeholders that include the public, science, wild horse advocacy, environmental and wildlife concerns. It’s time for its members to stop doing the bidding of the special interest livestock lobby, which continues to profit greatly from the BLM’s mustang roundup program. We need to be heard because the majority of Advisory Board members certainly aren’t representing the wishes of the American public. That was obvious when the board voted to recommend the mass destruction and sale for slaughter of the nearly 50,000 wild horses and burros in holding facilities. Only one member of this Advisory Board – our friend and colleague Ginger Kathrens, Executive Director of The Cloud Foundation – voted no.
Wanted to make sure you saw that we’re suing BLM. Can you chip in to support our efforts?
Today, we filed a lawsuit in Oregon to stop the BLM from conducting cruel and dangerous sterilization surgeries to remove the ovaries of wild mares.
The BLM’s plans violate the U.S. Constitution and three federal laws – and they pose a serious, dangerous threat to wild horses. Our suit asks for an immediate injunction to stop these experimental procedures from moving forward.
The experiments are gruesome and painful: a veterinarian inserts his arm into a mares’ abdominal cavity through an incision in the vaginal wall, manually locates the ovaries, then twists, severs and removes them using a rod like tool with a chain on the end. The procedure is outdated, inhumane and will subject the mares to life-threatening complications. The National Academy of Sciences itself warned the BLM that it is too risky for field application, but the BLM just ignored that warning.
We know the agency is bought off by special interests, which is why we must turn to the courts to stop this. We can win this case, and we’ve teamed up with our colleagues at The Cloud Foundation and Animal Welfare Institute to ensure that we do!
Starting next month, the BLM plans to start rounding up 100 percent of the wild horses in the Warm Springs Herd Management Area in southeastern Oregon. An estimated 685 horses will be permanently removed and another 100 mares will be surgically sterilized. Chip in now, before it’s too late for these mares.