MISGUIDED AND RECKLESS
The “Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros” 10 Years to AML is an agenda created by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), Return To Freedom, and organizations that are well known to be hostile towards wild horses and burros — including pro horse slaughter groups such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American Farm Bureau, and the Public Lands Council. Click here to view the full list of of this disturbing coalition.
DECIMATION OF WILD HORSE HERDSCaving to the livestock industry, the main impetus of The Path Forward is to bring the population of wild horses on public lands to BLM's Appropriate Management Level (AML), which is only 27,000 animals — approximately the same number that was considered a threat to their extinction right before The Wild and Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 was passed into law.
To reach a population of 27,000 horses, these groups have called for massive roundups, aiming to remove as many as 20,000 horses and burros annually, but no call to reduce livestock grazing. This aggressive assault on wild horse herds will decimate Herd Management Areas throughout the West, all at the expense of the American taxpayer. |
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AT RISK FOR SLAUGHTER
Currently, there are approximately 50,000 wild horses being warehoused at BLM short and long term holding facilities, which costs nearly 50 million dollars annually. Adding an additional 20,000 horses into BLM's captivity program every year is financially untenable, jeopardizing the lives of the horses. Mass euthanasia and/or sending them eventually to slaughter is a real threat that should not be ignored. The Public Lands Council and the Farm Bureau have not changed their position about horse slaughter and they may very well use the presence of 100,000 horses in holding facilities to talk about how it’s eating up $200 million a year and argue that we must reduce the population through euthanasia or slaughter.
GELDING AND STERILIZATION
The Path Forward, 10 Years to AML agenda calls for a wide array of fertility control methods. In addition to the use of the safe and reversible vaccine, Porcine Zona Pellucida (PZP), the proposal also calls for permanent methods including gelding stallions and sterilizing mares. Taking the wild out of wild horses through invasive methods will tamper with natural herd dynamics. It also poses serious health risks, potentially resulting in fatal complications. One such method, ovariectomy via colpotomy, removes ovaries with a wire loop. This archaic technique, which isn't even used on domestic horses, could cause hemorrhaging, infections and sepsis.
OPPOSE THE PATH FORWARD PLANIf allowed to be implemented, the livestock industry's 10 Years to AML agenda will decimate wild horse herds throughout the American West -- bringing them to the brink of extinction.
Please take action by calling your U.S. Representative and two U.S. Senators. Tell them you don't want your tax dollars allocated to fund The Path Forward proposal. In addition, tell you lawmakers it's imperative that we reduce the number of cattle and sheep grazing on wild horse Herd Management Areas, which are causing severe damage to ecosystems on America's public lands.
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CLICK HERE for more information on the reckless “Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros” 10 Years to AML agenda.
