​U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN), a longtime member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, today led a letter to House Leadership requesting it retain his Interior and Environment appropriations amendment requiring the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to utilize $11 million in funding for humane, reversible fertility control for tens of thousands of wild horses and burros under the BLM’s protection. The letter reads in part: 

“We write to urge your continued support for the humane and sustainable management of wild horses and burros on our public lands. To that end, we request dedicated funding in any final spending package for the implementation of humane, proven and reversible fertility control, namely the porcine zona pellucida (PZP) immunocontraceptive vaccine by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We are pleased this amendment to support this effort was adopted by voice vote in the House of Representatives as part of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Interior and Environment Appropriations bill.”  CLICK HERE to read the entire letter. 

In addition to Rep. Cohen, 21 Congress members co-signed today’s letter including; U.S. Representatives Vern Buchanan, Salud Carbajal, Gerald E. Connolly, Peter DeFazio, Ted Deutch, Brian Fitzpatrick, Raúl M. Grijalva, Deb Haaland, Alcee L. Hastings, John Katko, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Ted W. Lieu, Carolyn B. Maloney, Joe Neguse, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Jan Schakowsky, David Schweikert, Adam Smith and Dina Titus.

Last July the U.S. House passed Cohen's amendment which would require the Bureau of Land Management's FY21 budget to utilize $11 million of its Wild Horse and Burro Program budget to implement PZP humane, reversible fertility control to manage wild horse populations. There was only one U.S. House member who vocalized opposition to the amendment: Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), who is a leading architect and signatory of the nefarious, "10 Years to AML, Path Forward" plan. CLICK HERE for more info on Stewart's attempt to block funding for PZP. 

​While the Chinese government has announced a temporary ban on the trade of wild animals and the closure of all wildlife markets across the country, donkey skins continue to be exported to the country at a high rate.

“Over the last decade, there’s been a large increase in demand for Ejiao within medicinal and beauty products and this has had a devastating knock-on effect for global donkey populations,” Brooke’s veterinary adviser, Laura Skippen, says. Kenya has been hit the hardest, but it is a crisis across the continent. Conditions within the legal donkey skin trade still regularly contravene the international OIE standards for humane slaughter and transport of animals.

The illegal trade poses even greater welfare risks with donkeys transported for days without food or water. Methods of illegal slaughter are completely inhumane and also pose huge human health risks, with donkey carcasses not being disposed of correctly, which is a public health concern.

The trade of donkey skins has been linked to the spread of disease before.
​
In early 2019, equine influenza affected donkeys across seven West African countries, with up to 62,000 animals dying in Niger alone. The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) suggested the outbreak may have been a consequence of the unregulated global movement and trading of donkeys for their skins. Brooke has also voiced fears for the spread of zoonotic diseases such as anthrax – which can pass between animals and humans.

Some countries, such as Senegal and Uganda, have responded by banning the export of donkey skins, but others, including Kenya, have kept the trade legal, meaning donkeys are being smuggled from neighbouring countries such as Ethiopia and Tanzania. All this is leading to a sharp decline in donkey populations and a catastrophic effect on communities.

Source: Horsetalk

The letter is directed to Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.), chair and ranking member respectively of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies; and Reps. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) and David Joyce (R-Ohio), the chair and ranking member respectively of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

CLICK HERE to read the letter.

The House and Senate versions of the Interior-Environment appropriations bill – which are currently being reconciled – each include funding for an untested pilot project that calls for a dramatic increase in round-ups and removals. The House bill provides $6 million in additional funding for the program while the Senate bill provides $35 million, and each bill includes report language calling for a total removal of 130,000 horses over the next decade.

As the authors point out, “That plan has never been presented for consideration in the authorizing committees of jurisdiction, would triple the number of horses and burros in holding, and could cost taxpayers billions.” They also note concerns that the House and Senate report language “opens the door to surgical sterilization procedures” that face opposition “by many stakeholders, including veterinarians.”

The authors urge appropriators to take three steps in a final conference version of the funding bill:
​

• Limit new funding for the pilot program to the $6 million contained in the House bill;
• Clarify report language so new funding can be used solely on implementing the Porcine Zone Pellucida fertility control vaccine; and
• Clarify report language to ensure it prohibits use of any appropriated funds to conduct surgical sterilization procedures.

In addition to Grijalva, the letter is signed by Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), who chairs the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands; and by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Dina Titus (D-Nev.), Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) and Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.).