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.
I have to say that this is probably the hardest update I have ever had to write. For over a year we have been working with a rescue in Naples Idaho. Everything was great for about a year, until it was not, and then it was beyond horrible and the devastation was heartbreaking. There is no worse feeling than knowing you have spent so much time and money and worked so hard to make sure a horse is safe and then you find out something like this. So we picked up all of ours who are not being held for evidence in the court case.
Matt and I had been to the rescue in question numerous times and the horses were all fat and happy. There was lush pasture and we wanted to live there. The horses were all doing well and we received updates via photos and videos. We also shared our visits and how awesome things were.
We visited the horses remaining in Idaho as “evidence”. Although it was beyond heartbreaking, they are under great veterinary care and the lady providing them with the care while the case gets under way is like a ferocious mama bear and I so relate to that. So now the healing starts… (immediately for the horses, and hopefully some day for our hearts.)
As I write this, we have 8 horses in our trailer (7 that we are bringing back to the rescue), 1 whose frantic Mom is on her way to get her, and Mel is babysitting the 9 “slaughter babies” we were in the middle of picking up.
So while we are waiting for the final paperwork to bring our horses home, Little Man Gypsum was enjoying all the attention. He is doing well and our vet is very hopeful is leg will heal well. He had been our newest “critical care orphan”.
As I went out to check the wild horses I noticed a miracle. The horses had been abnormally agitated last night, and the answer lay on the floor. There in the midst of 24 wild horse hooves lay a teeny tiny little foal. HOPE was perfectly formed and I couldn’t believe she was alive.
Her mama had “done her job”, and had nothing left to give. She showed no interest in her beautiful baby, although by some miracle she had kept her from getting squashed on the trailer floor. She watched as Matt picked up Hope and brought her to me. (there was an amazing amount of stress and work to make that happen lol). Her mama is emaciated and has no bag. It is absolutely amazing that she had a healthy baby. SO Far, Hope seems very healthy and has had her Colostrum and is receiving critical care. She is feisty and bouncy and hanging out with Gypsum.
What happened to this rescue really made me stop and think. It is terrifying how everything could be so “good”, and then someone just stops caring or even feeding the critters. I don’t understand how you can hurt any animal. It is beyond heartbreaking. It really makes you want to hang up the towel and walk away.
Then comes HOPE. God gave us a huge blessing in the midst of despair and chaos. So we have something even more to fight for.
But the reality is that we are bringing 7 more horses to the rescue that need special feed and care and some of the slaughter babies. We are needing funds to do Coggins and Health Certs so we can bring the 9 babies, and now we have 2 additional orphan foals, ages a week plus and 8 or 9 hours old who are really enjoying their milk.
At this point we are beyond grateful that it appears that the “weanlings” we were standing by to pick up, are going to be held (to my understanding) through the winter so they can be adopted. Thanking God for that one.
Some of the 9 babies will be placed on the way home, thanks to folks having prepped to help the weanlings.
Thank you for ALL THE LOVE AND SUPPORT – Especially during hard times like these. As always, we will do everything we can to make sure the horses have good homes. Although it doesn’t change anything for the horses, there were lots of folks who believed in that rescue, and we are all shocked and horrified. When I found out about the situation, Ted Bundy flashed in my mind. We lived in fear for many a year as he poached women at our lake. He is a perfect example. Someone everyone trusted; well liked and oh so personable. Who knew a monster hid inside.
But there is never a rest. This teeny tiny little one needs the critical care we specialize in, so back to work we go. She is the start of the healing and of looking forward to better times. As of now we are waiting on paperwork so we can get back to Yakima and get the babies ready. Thank you for making this happen.
Oh yeah – and a great big thank you to Willis Lamm for helping us plan our approach to safely getting this baby out of a trailer filled with so many anxious hooves. So many times in what we do the Large Animal Rescue training comes in to play. The chances of getting a baby out of a trailer filled with stressed out wild horses without her getting stepped on are not really high. But with God’s grace and the training we have had (and the luxury of having Willis to help us come up with a viable plan), it all worked out in the parking lot. (Not always my favorite place to move wild horses about.)
“CAM” feeding Gypsum his bottle.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
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.
Meet “Nya”, our latest “critical” orphan. We picked her up on Tuesday in Fernley, NV. I have to say she might win the contest for “worst physical condition” since Honeybandit. She is an absolute love, but starved to the point where she could have organ damage.
However, she is improving a teeny tiny bit every day. She did not leave the nursery or her air conditioner for the first several days, and is fighting some sort of internal issue. She has a cough and is here fighting for a chance to survive, thanks to Anne Hall and Anna Orchard, who pulled her in the nick of time.
Her temperature was all over the place, including a fever of 103+ when she came in to a low temp of 97. But we are watching her like a hawk and what we are seeing so far is positive. She needs lots of prayers and special groceries obviously.
We placed 9 of the 15 orphans we had, and then received an emergency call to pick up up 2 4-year old mares, prior to picking up Nya.
The wonderful news is that we have a place for ALL 14 of the stallions at a friend’s in Idaho who helps us adopt out these precious kids. She is ready and waiting for the 14, after they are gelded.
We are going through about $1000 worth of hay every week and a half, so unfortunately the boys are trying to eat all of the gelding funds.(Could they have a master plan? lol). But we have an appointment with the vet on Tuesday and we will geld as many as we have funds for. The minimum charge will be $200 per horse, (and a few of them are pretty big so they may take more meds.) So if we were fortunate and had enough funds to fully cover all 14, it would be a minimum of $2800, just for the gelding.
But the great part about that is once they are gelded we get to take them to their new place. This will be a huge and very much needed reduction in our hay bill. It is also imperative that we get these boys where they are going as I am already on standby for another group of mustangs who will be headed straight to slaughter.
I will keep y’all posted when I know more, but right now we do not have enough funds to save more while we feed these kids. So once again (as always), the decision will be out of my hands as far as how many we can save.
So far, y’all have pulled a miracle every time and we have not lost one. But again, these boys need to get gelded and off of our books so we have space to put additional rescued kids in.
So we went from 39 horses down to 30, but had the emergency call for Nya and the other two 4 year olds, so back up to 34 :( As usual, we are trying to make sure we place the horses as safely and quickly as we can. It is so much work feeding and taking care of nearly 40 horses with just myself and my hubby when he is here. So I can promise you we will never ever “hoard horses” lol.
If you can help us get these kids gelded and safely transported to their new homes, it will give us a chance to save some or all of the next batch that we are currently standing by for.
Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang has now joined forces with WIN (Wild Horses in Need). We will be operating under their 501c3 (ein number shown below) while we continue our rescue efforts.
We still work with LRTC, but per Willis Lamm, “You guys have really outgrown our operation and hopefully by reorganizing under WIN, you will be able to perform at the next higher level.”. So although logistically it worked out better for all involved for us to join up with WIN, we didn’t grow that much on purpose lol. This started out with us just providing critical care for orphan foals. But God has sent us all over the place and apparently His plan was bigger than mine. (Mine involved time off, but apparently I don’t really need that.)
The only difference this change brings is that any donations made from Sept 1, 2017 onward will be filed under our new tax id number. All donations are still tax deductible and so very much appreciated.
Below are two of our orphans who are now 4 years old. Due to a death in the family and the loss of the family home, we went and picked them up. Pistol has an injury to her leg from a roll of fencing that a worker inadvertently left in the field, but we are hopeful everything will turn out well.
So as always, there is never a dull moment. Thank you everyone who is part of our Chilly Pepper family. You are so appreciated and you make this happen. We truly appreciate each and every penny donated as they all add up to provide life saving feed and medicine for these kids.
God bless and thank you for helping us help these beautiful souls. Please share and if you cannot help with the gelding please spread the word. the sooner they are placed, the sooner we save on our hay bill and will be ready to save more lives.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
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.
Blue is a young mustang gelding out of Nevada who came to AAE after Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund and Virginia Range Wild Horse Sanctuary asked for assistance with this handsome guy. He had a large mass over his rear fetlock/pastern area, and was unhalterable when he arrived at AAE.
He made great progress getting ready for his initial veterinary evaluation (exam, radiographs, and biopsy) resulted in a positive outlook. The bone in his fetlock area looked good and a biopsy confirmed the growth to be granulation tissue (proud flesh). However, due to the size of the mass, healing was expected to take considerable time.
We started working on gentling and desensitizing Blue to get him comfortable with his legs being handled for post-surgical care (treatment and bandaging). However, he experienced a set back with what we initially thought was a reaction to something (e.g. fly spray, a weed, a bite, or some other toxin) and required additional diagnostics, treatment and healing before we could move forward with surgery.
Blue made great strides with accepting humans and allowing his leg to be handled. Understandably, he was very sensitive with anything near the “blob”. His surgery was successfully completed on Wednesday, August 23. Due to the size, nature, and location of the surgery, he will need long term bandaging and care for best healing results. We are anticipating needing lots of bandaging materials, post-op care, and likely the use of sedation in early visits to ensure safe handling.
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.
Meet Walker, a Yakama stallion saved from slaughter. As you can see, he is in desperate need of groceries.He is in the worst shape of the 7 we picked up, but they are all in extremely poor condition. However, when you think of his alternate destination, slaughter would have been his destiny.
We have some great news on the baby front. We have 5 scheduled adoptions for babies heading to their new homes in California. This will help our “milk load” tremendously, and leave only 10 orphans vs. the 15 we have now.
We also have potential homes for 7 of the younger stallions, AFTER they are gelded. Right now we really need to raise funds to accomplish that. Then they will be off the Chilly Pepper books for good. :)
Until we geld and place more horses, I have to say “no”, to anything but babies, and that is a horrific thought. We also had a lady who was trying to sponsor the gelding of these 14 stallions, but her funding fell through.
So we have been taking some serious hits in the financial area, but I know that God will provide as this is His rescue.
Our little man Sky seems to be heading towards darkness, as he is losing much of his vision. We are not sure how much he has lost so far, but he is obviously having severe problems. We suspected as much weeks ago, but he has unfortunately proven it to be a certainty. We just don’t know if he will keep any of his sight. But he is a sweetheart.
When we picked up the last batch of horses, we had some pledges for substantial donations. Of course you never count the money before you have it, but you cannot help but consider the possibility of what can be done with it. We have amazing and very reliable folks who donate, but life does happen. Whether it is a change of heart, financial situation, or other life emergency, plans do change. Unfortunately some of the donations promised in regards to the stallions and the orphans did not arrive.
I received a note stating something to the effect of living in an “emergency” all the time is not good. I have to say I totally agree. However, that being said, Chilly Pepper is not a “normal” rescue. We DO NOT ever search out horses to save. By that I mean we do not attend auctions, go to kill pens etc. to try and save horses. Every single horse we save comes via an emergency phone call, and yes, the highest percentages are true emergencies.
When I get the call for the Yakama horses, I am the ONLY one getting that call. If I say no, I cannot get them, they go straight to slaughter. They do not go to auction and have a chance to get bid on. They are considered “organic” and are in great demand due to the lack of drugs. So that is always an emergency as I have hours at the most to say yes or no to saving them, and then have to be on the road, usually in a matter of hours.
The first 3 months of this year that we spent in South Dakota were part of one of those “emergencies”. I was the only one who was available and qualified to safely sort the 800+ horses at ISPMB. In reality, there are very few folks with those skills, and I had to step up for those horses. One of the rescues who were thinking about getting involved told Elaine “we need more than just a girl to sort those horses”. But the old, crippled girl “got ‘er done”, with the help of her half crippled hubby and some other folks. So we pretty much do what God puts in front of us, and it is usually always at the last minute and somewhat crazy.
Folks talk about our “organization” and it always makes me smile. We are part of LRTC, our parent 501c3, but when it comes to raising money and doing what we do, “Matt and I” are it. Chilly Pepper is myself, and my hubby along side of me. What makes it great is the extended family, who are you, the folks reading this email. So again, THANK YOU for helping.
I am hoping we can raise funds asap to get these stallions gelded and moved out of here. Right now we are going through hay like water and once they are gelded we have potential homes for at least 7 of them.
So please help if you can. It will cost roughly $300 +/- for gelding, vaccinations and prepping them for their new homes. We really would like to get them settled soon, so any help you can give is much appreciated.
The babies are all improving (except for Sky’s vision), so once again YOU DID IT! You have made it possible to save so many lives, but the mission isn’t finished until they are safely placed and transported to their new homes.
Thank you for helping us rehab and re-home these stallions. As you can see from Walker’s picture, he has been through more than any horse should go through.
Thank you for being part of the Chilly Pepper family and saving so many lives!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
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.
ABOVE – one of our newest critical kids, “Little Riata”, who is in extremely rough shape.
She is another starvation case with a severe injury to her back leg. She and Tesla’s Full Moon (another orphan from NV) were delivered to CPMM two days ago. Little Riata will also need veterinary care as well as special feed to give her a chance at survival.
Travis (my son) and I are back on the road and picking up the stock trailer, 7 stallions and 4 orphans.We are driving the “back up”, a 2003 Ford who has also been living at the shop. The good news is that she has another year under her “used truck” warranty, so hopefully she will be a reliable “band aid”. We will also be needing 6 new tires for her today, prior to hooking up the trailer and loading our precious cargo. (Approx estimate $1500).
Matt is busy working on other projects so everyone is busy as usual.
Princess Felina is hanging in there, but having issues gaining weight. At one point it appeared she was just “too tired”, and I was afraid we would lose her than night, but with lots of prayers she pulled through. The vet said her blood work is ok, she is just a starvation case. It is going to take lots of time and money to get her healthy.
We had to have Doc out to lance a huge abscess on Kahlua that just “showed up”. Doc thought maybe there are pieces of whatever caused her injury that are moving about. It was extremely gross but a life saving procedure. She is hanging in there and also on medication.
Unfortunately circumstances dictated that Trav and I run up here asap to get the trailer and the 11 horses, but we have a wonderful “horsey” family who is staying at the ranch caring for the kids until we get back. It kills me to leave the babies even for a couple of days but we simply have to do what is necessary and the babies should be fine until we get back.
At this point we will have a total of 15 orphans (including the 4 we are picking up), the injured yearling, 14 stallions who need to be gelded asap so we can find them homes and 15 others, including the blind, special needs and others soon to be ready for adoption.
We need to purchase about $5,000 worth of hay for the next couple of months and we are going through milk pellets and “baby feed” at an amazing rate. Each baby is a minimum of $300 per month just for the basic milk needs. Luckily some of them are bigger and will be leaving the “milk zone” within the next couple of months. But we are looking at about $5000 for milk pellets, grain, hay etc. This does not include the vet bills.
Doc will be coming out as soon as we get home to evaluate our newest little girl. We are looking at a purchase of about $3000 – $4000 + as we will be bringing home a special chute for the wild horses.
Gelding is more expensive with wild horses, especially when you have less than professional equipment. It is extremely dangerous for your Veterinarian and it also creates undue stress for the stallions. We are looking at about $250 just for the gelding per stallion and at 14, that comes out to about$3500, plus vaccines and worming.
The stallions have to be gelded in order to place them, so that is an urgent matter.
Ideally every rescue handling wild horses has a tilt squeeze (and the bigger, well financed rescues all have them). The horses are squeezed in a very well padded chute where they become calm and it is much less stressful to do vet work etc.
Having a squeeze means it is much safer for your Doc and the horses need less drugs. They are much calmer and about a 100 times less likely to break a leg or rear up and hit their heads or break their necks.
You can also tilt them and do the hoofers of the wild kids in a safe environment. However, the price for the “good equipment” lol is about $35,000, so being able to get a set up that is still about 70% safer than what we are currently using for the horses (and safer for the folks handling them) for $3,000 – $ 4,000 is definitely a win/win for everyone.
So this is what is happening at Chilly Pepper right now and what we need help with.
Again, we cannot thank you enough for all the lives you are saving. None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for everyone in our “Chilly Pepper Family”. Together we are saving lots of lives, and for each and every horse, it is literally their whole world. As always, I am behind on individual thank you’s, but they are slowly coming. Thank you for your patience on this issue.
I am praying the phone stops ringing, and we have a chance to breathe. But for now we need to get these kids ready for their new homes.
THANK YOU AGAIN! for saving these lives. Y’all rock!
As you can see below, Tia and Princess Felina are very relaxed and both are improving thanks to y’all.
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
This week only…Get your limited edition #ImWithTheBand T-shirt…and support our work!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of our limited-edition #ImWithTheBand T-shirts inspired by a beautiful image of Wyoming wild horses by renowned photographer, Kimerlee Curyl! For the next six days, our friends at FLOAT will donate $8 for every shirt sold to the American Wild Horse Campaign.
Please visit www.float.org and SHOP today – there are lots of fun colors and styles to choose from! This is a great way to support our work to protect America’s wild horsesand look fabulous! Don’t miss this opportunity!
Hi ya’ll, We have a little emergency at Chilly Pepper.
Matt is up delivering the 5 mares in Northern Idaho, and the transmission in the Chevy just froze. He nearly wrecked, but thanks to our Angels was able to keep enough control not to. There have been absolutely no issues with the transmission, so I guess this was an all or nothing, and now we have nothing.
However, we are looking at a minimum of $7,000+ for a new transmission. You always have to wonder – do I put more money into an old truck?
Well, we have zero money in the budget to purchase a new one, and she is running perfectly. The transmission has over 270,000 miles on her which isn’t too bad. So when you compare $7000 – $8000 vs $30,000+ for an unknown vehicle it seems to make sense to go with what you know.
__
So unfortunately I have to throw this out there and see if anyone wants to help us stay on the road and keep getting these horses where they need to go.
This was my personal truck that I paid for out of my pocket, but she has been dedicated 100% for rescue use for years now. Nearly 200,000 of those miles are rescue, so she has worked really hard.
Please SHARE far and wide if you can. Thank You! *
Please SHARE far and wide if you can. Thank You! *
The reason I am thanking God is that no one was injured and Matt and the horses are ok. Once again a less than optimal incident and yet no injuries to us or anyone else.
▪ I can say that I am truly sorry that I need to put out this update. * But he is literally stuck once again. Thanking God for US Rider insurance :)
I can say that I am truly sorry that I need to put out this update. * But he is literally stuck once again. Thanking God for US Rider insurance :)
THANK YOU for being part of this amazing journey and for saving so many horses lives. We so appreciate you and THANK YOU for being part of the Chilly Pepper – Miracle Mustang Family.
GOD BLESS!
If you want to help You can go to You Caring – to help us keep saving lives..
The following is from 
