Wild Mustang/Burro Campaigns

The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: News & Alerts We have great news! The House Rules Committee just voted to move our Wild Horse Amendment on to the House Floor for a vote, which will take place as early as this afternoon. This is huge! It marks the first time in years that we’ve had a floor vote on a wild horse protection measure, and, even better, it has a very good chance of passing! And there’s more good news…  Representative Joe Neguse at (202) 225-2161 was one of 12 co-sponsors who supported this important amendment! We've listed out their numbers below so you can call and thank them at your convenience today:

• Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN): 202-225-3265
• Raul Grijalva (D-AZ): 202-225-2435
• David Schweikert (R-AZ): 202-225-219
• Joe Neguse (D-CO): 202-225-2161
• Jan Schakowsky (D-IL): 202-225-2111
• David Price (D-NC): 202-225-1784
• Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV): 202-225-5965
• Peter King (R-NY) 202-225-7896
• John Katko (R-NY) 202-225-3701
• Deb Haaland (D-NM) 202-225-6316
• Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) 202-225-4276
• Ben McAdams (D-UT): 202-225-3011

The amendment would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to spend $11 million to implement humane fertility control and begin to move away from brutal helicopter roundups, like the one that claimed the life of a young mare in a horrific accident this week in Utah. Your calls and emails have made a big difference, and that's why it's important to thank your Representative for standing up for America’s wild horses and burros! — AWHC Team Donate ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: News & Alerts We urgently need your help today. The abject cruelty of the BLM’s roundup program was on full display this past weekend at a roundup in the Swasey HMA in Utah when a wild mare, chased by a helicopter, crashed into the panels of a trap pen, broke her neck and was dragged away with chains. BLM claimed she died instantly, but our observer and his photographs tell a different story. The heartless treatment of our federally-protected mustangs by the agency charged with protecting them is nothing new.But now we have the opportunity to begin to address it. U.S Reps. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz, Dina Titus, D-Nev., Joe Neguse, D-Colo., Jan Schakowski D-Ill., and Brian Fitzpatrick R-Penn., are sponsoring an amendment that would dedicate funding to protect America’s cherished wild horses and burros. It would require the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to spend at least $11 million to implement humane PZP fertility control as an alternative to cruel roundup and removal of wild horses from public lands. It’s an effort to rein in the BLM’s cruel, costly and ineffective wild horse roundup and incarceration program and require the agency to implement humane birth control to humanely manage wild horse and burro populations in the wild. Here is where we need your help. The Rules Committee will be deciding later today whether to allow the amendment to come to the floor for a vote later this week. This is huge! Please drop what you are doing right now to help wild horses and burros. One call and one click WILL make a difference! 1. Call the Capitol Switchboard today to be directed to your Representative: 202) 225-3121. You can say: “My name is [NAME] calling from [CITY] and I would like to request that Rep. [NAME] co-sponsor Amendment 6 to HB 7608. This amendment would dedicate funding to protect wild horses and burros, requiring the Bureau of Land Management to spend funds on humane fertility control. I also request that you contact the Rules Committee to ask them to advance the amendment to the floor by ruling it in order. Thank you.” 2. Follow up the call with an email by clicking here. Thank you for helping us with this urgent request. We’ll keep you posted on the outcome! -The AWHC Team Donate ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: This week marks the halfway point of summer, the third week of roundup season, and the end of foaling season with many baby foals taking their first steps on wild ranges across the Western United States. We’re working around the clock to make sure those first steps are free, but our wild horses still have a long road ahead. We’re like to share some small, but meaningful, actions you can take this weekend that will go a long way in helping us keep up the fight for our beloved wild horses and burros: TAKE ACTION: Tell the BLM to Humanely Manage Utah’s Wild Horses!Deadline July 27. TAKE ACTION now:The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released a 10-year roundup plan for the mustangs that live within the Confusion Herd Management Area (HMA). The BLM estimates that just 551 wild horses live on the roughly 235,000 acres of public lands approximately 30 miles north from Garrison, Utah. However, the BLM wants to reduce the population to just 70 horses. That’s one horse for every 3,350 acres! At the same time, the BLM authorizes approximately 10,400 cattle and sheep to graze in four grazing allotments within the HMA. Under the Proposed Action, the BLM plans to:

• Reduce the Confusion wild horse population by 87% through the permanent removal of 481 wild horses
• Apply untested, inhumane surgical sterilization procedures on mares released back to the HMA; including the brutal ovariectomy via colpotomy method
• Geld a portion of the stallions making them non-reproducing and destroying their natural behaviors

Please weigh in today against this destructive management plan, which threatens the welfare of individual wild horses and the long-term viability of this herd. UPDATE: Last Week in Congress…A quick update about last week’s House Appropriations Committee hearing: We were disappointed when the Committee voted to move the Interior spending bill on to the full House for a vote without the amendment to rein in BLM wild horse roundups, or prohibit the cruel surgical sterilization of wild horses. The news is not all bad, however: The bill passed out of Committee continues the ban on slaughtering wild horses and burros under the jurisdiction of the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, and rejects the Administration’s request for a budget increase of $13.5 million on top of the $102 million appropriated last year. We will have many opportunities over the ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: For 15 long days now, America’s iconic wild horses have been under attack. The scenes we’ve witnessed already are truly heartbreaking: America’s wild horses chased down by helicopters for miles in the scorching summer heat. Frantic mares separated from their terrified foals, roughly captured, and held for several hours without any food. Photos taken by our field rep on July 4. He nicknamed the brave mare “Lady Liberty” and her terrified foal, “Baby Sam,” after witnessing the heartbreaking scene of their separation and capture at the Range Creek roundup. AS WE WRITE, our field representative is onsite at the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM's) roundup at the Swasey Herd Management Area in Utah, which began today. It's the second assault on Utah’s wild horses this month. Right now, BLM helicopters are stampeding wild horses, including tiny foals, driving them into traps and forever robbing these majestic mustangs of their freedom. Our wild horses and burros are in for a long, cruel summer as the BLM rounds up and removes MORE THAN 5,000 of them from public lands in Utah, Colorado and Nevada by the end of September. And the agency is already laying the groundwork to extend these roundups into the fall and next year. We must take action to protect them, Erica. Our representative is in the field right now — observing, documenting, bearing witness to this heartbreak. Our staff and legal team are ready to challenge any attempt to block public observation and hold the BLM accountable for any abuses that violate the agency’s own animal welfare guidelines. We’re doing everything we can to protect our iconic wild horses and their tiny, precious and terrified foals. Can you help us? Let’s take a quick look at the situation on the ground so far this roundup season:

• TODAY, BLM helicopters descended on the Swasey Herd Management area in Utah. The goal? To round up and permanently remove 550 horses and reduce the population to just 100 horses on public lands where over 12,000 sheep graze each year.
• On July 1, the BLM began the roundup and removal of wild horses from the Range Creek HMA. The first several days of the operation were closed to public viewing as the trap site was located on private lands and the property owner refused permission, but our field representative was there to document and observe the roundup scenes as soon as permitted. You can READ ...
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The following is from the American Wild Horse Campaign: News & Alerts We wanted give you a quick update about this morning’s hearing in Congress. Unfortunately, the House Appropriations Committee voted to move the Interior spending bill on to the full House for a vote without the amendment to rein in BLM wild horse roundups. We’re disappointed that the Committee turned its back on requests made by senior appropriator Marcy Captor (D-OH) and House Natural Resource Committee Chair Raúl Grijlava to require the BLM to implement humane fertility control and to ban brutal surgical sterilization procedures on wild horses and burros. The news is not all bad, however: The bill passed out of Committee does continue the ban on slaughtering wild horses and burros under the jurisdiction of the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service, and it rejected the Administration’s request for a budget increase of $13.5 million on top of the $102 million appropriated last year. The report accompanying the bill indicates that the Committee believes that the BLM's plan for wild horse management lacks sufficient detail and suggests that members will be working with the Senate on satisfactory language. This presents another opportunity for AWHC and our supporters to hold Congress’ feet to the fire regarding the need to force the BLM to reform its unsustainable and inhumane wild horse and burro roundup program. The upshot is: Stay ready — they’ll be more opportunities soon to make our voices heard! — The AWHC Team *Original email below* Tomorrow, the House Appropriations Committee will vote on the FY 2021 Interior Appropriations bill. This bill will fund the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wild Horse and Burro Program and determine whether limits are placed on the agency’s mass roundup plan for America’s mustangs. You are in a unique position to influence this legislation because your Representative and/or Senator is on the Appropriations Committee that will vote on this bill. We have one day — TODAY — to push Congress to add critical language to the bill before it’s too late.  If passed in its current form, the bill would allocate $102.6 million for the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program. This is a 27% increase over 2019 budget levels.Several key members of Congress have requested that language be included in this bill to require the BLM to implement PZP fertility control to humanely manage wild horses and burros in the wild and to ...
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