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Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program

The FY23 roundup season has begun >> Act NOW to protect wild horses and burros

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Any day now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will announce the wild horse and burro herds it is targeting for roundup and removal in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23). These helicopter roundups are brutal and traumatizing operations that often result in injury or death.

But the danger does not end there. Once these animals are captured, they become one of the nearly 64,000 wild horses and burros held in the BLM’s holding system — a system that is at its breaking point.

Just this year, the BLM conducted assessments of some of its facilities and Meredith, the results were shocking. On the heels of the deadliest disease outbreak in BLM holding facility history, these assessments showed underfeeding, lack of basic care, and poorly maintained facilities that put animals at a higher risk for injury.

AWHC is taking action to address this crisis and break the silence surrounding the beginning of the BLM’s next roundup season. But we cannot do it alone! Here are three actions you can take NOW to help us change this broken system and support the safety and freedom of our cherished wild horses and burros in FY23:

1) DEMAND BLM ACCOUNTABILITY ON CAWP VIOLATIONS
The BLM has its own assessment standards for holding facilities called the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP). Even with this program in place, many holding facilities have been found in violation of these standards. Send a message to the Department of the Interior to demand the BLM actively enforce its own CAWP standards. →

SEND A MESSAGE

2) SUPPORT THE WILD HORSE AND BURRO PROTECTION ACT 
One of our wild horse champions in Congress, Representative Dina Titus (D-NV) introduced legislation this year that would take a stand against the brutality of the BLM’s helicopter roundups: The Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act (H.R. 6635). This bill would ban the use of helicopters for capture once and for all. Send a message to your representatives in Congress letting them know you support this legislation and ask them to sign on as a cosponsor. →

SEND A MESSAGE

3) CALL ON THE BLM TO MANDATE CAMERA INSTALLATIONS 
Often wild horses and burros are chased for miles before our field representatives see them. And even when the helicopter comes into view, the BLM places the observers as far as a mile away from the operation, making it nearly impossible to really see what’s happening. We’re fighting for the passage of Rep. Titus’ legislation to ban the use of helicopters, but so long as these roundups continue, we’re advocating for the installation of cameras on all helicopters used for these operations! Mandating helicopter cameras to record and document roundups will help the public hold the BLM accountable and establish a record of activities most Americans never see. Send a message to the BLM to advocate for camera installations on helicopters. →

SEND A MESSAGE

There is a better way to manage wild horses and burros and brutal helicopter roundups are not it. Thanks for taking action. 

— AWHC Team

What happens to wild horses after they have been captured?

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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign:

Helicopter roundups are dangerous and expensive operations that result in horses being traumatized, separated from their families, and injured or killed. But the cruelty doesn’t end with helicopter roundups — once captured, wild horses are corralled in overburdened Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding facilities, where they face even more inhumane treatment.

ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEM

The BLM has guidelines for holding facilities that are part of its Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program (CAWP). These guidelines include ensuring captured animals receive basic care such as access to food and water, vaccinations, and well-constructed facilities to minimize injuries.

Our Investigations Team has long had concerns about the BLM’s care of wild horses and burros in these holding pens, and unfortunately, our concerns were validated when the BLM finally began to evaluate its facilities using CAWP standards this year.

Here’s what it found: Vaccinations were not given in a timely manner, facilities were understaffed, not all animals had simultaneous access to food and water, facility maintenance and upkeep had fallen by the wayside, horses were found in poor body condition, and little attention was paid to proper biosecurity measures.

These findings are incredibly concerning with nearly 64,000 animals confined in facilities across the country. Even worse, 2022 saw the deadliest disease outbreak in BLM history in its Cañon City holding pens, which claimed the lives of nearly 150 unvaccinated wild horses who had been in the “care” of the agency for 9 months.

This system is at a breaking point, which is why we’re calling on you to take action and demand that the Department of the Interior address these CAWP violations and commit to keeping captured wild horses and burros safe. Will you take action now, and speak up for these innocent animals?

DEMAND ACTION

Thousands of wild horses and burros are locked up in these overburdened and unsafe facilities right now → and American taxpayers are footing the bill. This is an outdated and expensive cycle that desperately needs enhanced accountability measures and stronger enforcement from the BLM.

As the roundups continue, more and more wild horses and burros are going to be piled into this network of overcrowded and under-resourced holding facilities. It’s a crisis that’s only going to worsen as time goes on — unless we choose to act here and now and demand that the BLM rigorously and consistently enforce its own CAWP standards.

Will you take action now and demand that the Department of the Interior take up this issue and ensure wild horses are safe after they are captured?

TAKE ACTION NOW

Thanks for acting on behalf of wild horses and burros, Meredith.

— AWHC Team