Misguided and Reckless
The “Path Forward for Management of BLM’s Wild Horses and Burros” 10 Years to AML plan was secretly 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 — these groups include pro horse slaughter groups such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the American Farm Bureau Federation, and The Public Lands Council. Click here to view the full list of this disturbing coalition.
Decimation of Wild Horse HerdsThe 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 — 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 rounding up 15,000 – 20,000 horses and burros annually for as many as ten years and for placement of these horses in government-funded holding facilities, perhaps in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Utah (on top of the 50,000 horses already in holding facilities). |
|
At Risk for Slaughter
They’ve called for a step-up of “growth suppression programs,” specifically targeting the individual horses and burros remaining after gathers in order to make sterilization or fertility control more practical.
If mass round-ups occur, it creates conditions for accelerated reproduction and survivorship. That’s why it’s considered a best practice to treat 80 percent of remaining mares with a contraceptive vaccine, If fertility control strategies are not applied, herds may rebound in short order and, in a few years, the population may bounce back to pre-gather levels. There’s no evidence that this plan contains the necessary resources and resolve to conduct a contraception plan on the scale required to achieve the stated objectives.
Oppose the 10 Years to AML planIf allowed to be implemented, The Path Forward; 10 Years to AML plan will decimate wild horse herds throughout the American West - bringing them to the brink of extinction.
Please take action by calling your members of Congress and tell them you don't want your tax dollars allocated to fund the plan. Instead, Congress should mandate The Bureau of Land Management to administer PZP, a safe and efficacious fertility control method. In addition, it's imperative that we reduce the number of livestock grazing on wild horse Herd Management Areas, which are causing severe damage to ecosystems on public lands.
|
