Wild Mustang/Burro Campaigns

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: We've got a lot to share with you in this week's eNews, including: an inside look at a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adoption event, an opportunity to take action against the diastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), and the latest update on our groundbreaking fertility control program on Nevada's Virginia Range. Read on to learn more and speak up for our cherished wild herds! >> Help End the Cash Incentives for Wild Horse and Burro Adoption AWHC’s investigative team is continuing to monitor and track the consequences of the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), which pays individuals $1,000 to adopt a wild, unhandled horse or burro. In fact, since the start of February, we have identified over 30 BLM-branded wild horses and burros in slaughter auctions across the country. Unfortunately, we know that this is just the tip of the iceberg and many more are shipping directly across the border for slaughter. It’s time to end the cash incentives that are sending hundreds, if not thousands of our beloved wild mustangs and burros into the slaughter pipeline. ACT NOW Eyewitness Report: BLM Adoption Event in Florida Last weekend, AWHC volunteer Gail Clifton traveled to Okeechobee, Florida to attend and document a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adoption event. As part of our ongoing investigation into the agency’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) that is sending droves of mustangs and burros into the slaughter pipeline, we are ensuring the documentation of these events. Read more here → READ MORE Humane Wild Horse Management in the News The collaborative effort on Nevada’s Virginia Range for a cherished herd of mustangs is making headlines! At the beginning of the month, AWHC held a press conference to unveil the latest data from our volunteer-run fertility control program that is helping to stabilize the horses’ population as their habitat continues to be swallowed by development. Read about those results below! READ MORE Thanks for reading. And thank you for continuing to stand up for our cherished wild horses and burros! — AWHC Team ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: At the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC), we’re committed to securing the safety and freedom of wild horses and burros every way possible – working in the field, in federal court, and on Capitol Hill. As our team is gearing up for 2023, we wanted to share with you some of the major legislative victories we achieved in 2022! Last year, our government relations team worked tirelessly with U.S. House Natural Resources Committee staff to craft the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Protection Act of 2022, which was introduced in October. This historic piece of bipartisan legislation would restore protections for wild horses and burros that have been eroded over the past few decades. This bill would enact sweeping changes to the way the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) manage our wild herds. This includes putting an end to the disastrous cash incentives that are driving adopted wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline, prioritizing humane methods of population management like fertility control vaccine programs as an alternative to cruel helicopter roundups, and much more. The introduction of this historic bill was a huge victory – but now, our team is working to get it re-introduced in the new session of Congress. Can you make a donation today to help ensure we have the resources we need to keep our staff on the Hill and continue our legislative efforts to protect wild horses and burros? DONATE In addition to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Protection Act, we achieved another huge victory on Capitol Hill by securing language in the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations bill dedicating up to $11 million in funding specifically for humane fertility control as an alternative to inhumane helicopter roundups.  This proven and safe method of population management allows wild horses to stay in the wild where they belong. Our own PZP fertility control program on Nevada’s Virginia Range has reduced foaling rates by 62%. And hard-hitting data like this has helped us demonstrate to the public, Congress, and the BLM that there is a better way to manage our wild herds.  We wouldn’t have gotten these wins in Congress without your support, but we have to keep up the momentum. Can you make a donation today to help power our Government Relations team’s continued work on Capitol Hill to protect ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: Our Investigations Team works day in and day out to ensure that no stone is left unturned when it comes to uncovering the consequences of removing wild horses and burros from public lands and stockpiling them in Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding pens.  Every investigative report we write, every legal inquiry we pursue, and every Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request we file, reveals the same:  America’s wild herds are living peacefully on the public lands they call home → The BLM conducts brutal helicopter roundups to maintain pre-determined and unscientific population levels → Innocent horses and burros are crowded into government holding facilities plagued by disease outbreaks, or worse, are sent into the slaughter pipeline through the Adoption Incentive Program.  Using FOIA, our Investigations Team recently uncovered the deaths of 45 innocent burros held captive at the BLM’s Axtell holding pens in Utah. They are the latest known victims of this cruel and costly system. Rush a donation now to power our investigative work to expose and change the way these treasured animals are treated. → These burros were rounded up by BLM helicopters from Nevada’s Blue Wing Complex in August of last year. Within two months of their capture, 45 of these burros died. 

• 31 died due to hyperlipaemia, a preventable blood condition that occurs in burros who have suddenly stopped eating — most likely due to stress and an inability to adapt to confinement in this instance, according to a DVM and donkey specialist consulted by AWHC.
• 6 died from hemorrhaging after gelding, a routine and generally low-risk procedure.
• The remaining 7 died from causes listed as either: “old age,” “no teeth,” “colic,” or “other”.

These devastating casualties highlight the stress and danger wild, free-roaming animals face in BLM holding facilities, which are often overcrowded and understaffed. We can’t change what we don’t know about, so exposing these conditions is the first step towards better protections for wild horses and burros on and off the range. Our Investigations Team is determined to end this suffering, but we need supporters like you to help us move forward. Please make a donation of any amount you can — we can’t let these innocent animals die in the dark or in vain. POWER OUR WORK Thank you for choosing to be a part of this mission, Meredith. It ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: We have an urgent opportunity for you to speak up for the Teddy Roosevelt wild horses. Take action now to protect them! We just received word that tomorrow, Thursday, February 9, the North Dakota Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will meet to hear SCR 4014, a state resolution that urges the Secretary of the Interior and the Director of the National Park Service (NPS) to preserve this cherished wild horse herd.  As you know, the NPS is currently considering a management plan that would result in the severe reduction or total eradication of these mustangs. The Governor has already spoken out against this plan and the legislature is now following suit! Here’s where you can help: You can provide written and/or in-person testimony that will be considered for the record. In addition to including any personal stories you may have about the horses and their importance, here are some talking points that you might consider when sending in your testimony in support of SCR 4014:

1. Wild horses are integral to the scenery, native wildlife, and wilderness qualities of the Park – the landscape that inspired President Theordore Roosevelt and still inspires visitors today.
2. The horses in the Park are descendants of the original Badland horses with historical lineages that trace all the way back to the horses surrendered by Sitting Bull in the late 1800s.
3. The Teddy Roosevelt horses are North Dakota’s only wild horse herd and should be protected as such.
4. The Teddy Roosevelt herd must be kept at at a minimum of 150 horses in order to ensure a genetically viable herd.
5. SCR 4014 will help support ecotourism and business development in North Dakota by protecting the horses.
6. SCR 4014 is consistent with the wishes of 80 percent of Americans who want wild horses protected.
7. If the horses are removed, I will not spend tourism dollars in the state.
8. Vote YES on SCR 4014 to support humane, scientifically recommended methods of managing these wild horses on the public lands they call home.

SUBMIT YOUR TESTIMONY Thank you for speaking up for wild horses,  The AWHC Team ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: We've got a lot to share with you in this week's eNews, including: an opportunity to speak up for the the McCullough Peaks wild horse herd in Wyoming, an update on our battle to protect the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses in North Dakota, and the latest blog from volunteer Deb Sutherland on what's been going on with some of our favorite stallions on Nevada's Virginia Range. Read on to learn more and speak up for our cherished wild herds! >> ACT NOW: McCullough Peaks Wild Stallion, Washakie’s Herd is in Danger Photo by Sandy Sisti Meet Washakie, a famed wild stallion who lives in the McCullough Peaks Herd Management Area (HMA) outside of Cody, Wyoming. Earlier this month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) unveiled a plan to remove more than half of his herd in the fall. Please take a moment to read about Washakie and what would be lost if we don’t take action. TAKE ACTION Teddy Roosevelt Wild Horses Garner Political Support The public comment period may have officially ended, but the battle to protect the Theodore Roosevelt wild horses in North Dakota continues. Advocates fighting for this historic herd are garnering support from state legislators and other officials as they make their case for saving these wild horses. Read more about the growing movement to protect this historic wild horse herd. READ MORE New Beginnings on Nevada’s Virginia Range Photo by Deb Sutherland It's a new year on Nevada's Virginia Range, which brings new beginnings for many of the wild horse bands that call the range home, including well-known stallions Will and Shaggy’s band.⁠ Take a moment to read the latest blog from volunteer Deb Sutherland, and don’t forget to sign up for the Pinto Post while you’re at it! READ MORE Thanks for reading. And thank you for continuing to stand up for our cherished wild horses and burros! — AWHC Team ...
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