Wild horses need your help!

The fate of America's wild horses and burros is in jeopardy, and we need your help. On July 18, 2020, a terrified horse lost her life after suffering a broken neck during a roundup conducted by BLM in Utah. She crashed into the pen while being cruelly chased by a helicopter, and instead of being immediately humanely euthanized, the Bureau of Land Management dragged her away with chains — many more have been killed since.

Last year, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a plan showing the intent to conduct massive roundups such as this and subject many to barbaric surgical sterilization. This plan is a prescription for horse slaughter and was a direct follow up to a similar plan promoted by the Humane Society Legislative Fund, ASPCA, and National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA). NCBA's enthusiasm for the plan is telling, given that it has been leading the push to reopen horse slaughter plants in the U.S.

The BLM plan, which calls for the mass roundup of 20,000-30,000 yearly, is predicated on hysteria. The reality is, there are far more cattle and sheep on our public lands than wild horses and burros. This is an attempt to further imbalance the ratio by eradicating populations of wild horses and burros so that beef cattle can eat away even more at our public lands in the West.

This misguided plan puts horses at significant risk of slaughter. Already, 50,000 horses have been rounded up and being held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and if the plan is implemented, it will only swell the population of captive horses even further. NCBA and other big agriculture interests will then argue — as some lawmakers already have — that there is a fiscal and population crisis and push for the shipment of these animals to slaughter. We must speak out against this atrocity.

Instead of relying on inhumane roundups, BLM should implement PZP — a fertility control vaccine that is far more humane and cost-effective than removing hoses from the range. The only barrier? BLM won't use it.

Send an email to your legislators by filling out the form below. When you're finished, don't forget to follow up with a phone call! Call (202) 225-3121. This is the Capitol Switchboard — just give your zip code and ask to be transferred to your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators. When the staffer answers the phone, you can say, "Hi, I'm a constituent, and I'm calling to ask that you direct the Bureau of Land Management to use PZP birth control to humanely manage wild horse populations, and support funding to implement PZP humane, reversible fertility control. Please include this specific provision in the year-end spending bill."

Urge your legislators to protect wild horses and burros!

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