Sometimes it feels like it will never end – the Bureau of Land Management seems determined to eradicate of our iconic wild horses and burros. At the Cloud Foundation, we know one thing: we can’t give up! If we don’t keep pushing back, the injustice & brutality will continue until it’s too late.
If we keep fighting for America’s wild horses & burros, we WILL prevail.
Please take a minute to oppose the roundup of 1,000 wild horses and 11 burros in western Nevada’s Surprise Complex. The BLM refuses to give wild horses their fair share on the public lands of the Surprise Complex, where they allocate 84% of the forage to private livestock. The BLM also threatens these mares with Gonacon, a fertility control that shrivels and destroys their ovaries, eliminating important natural hormone production that is the basis of natural wild behaviors. These BLM actions challenge the resilience and genetic diversity of wild herds, threatening their very existence.
YOUR VOICE MATTERS. Please speak up for the wild horses of Nevada now!
Protect the Wild in Wild Horses: Building a Fair, Humane Program
Last month we shared with you the good news that President Biden has nominated Congresswoman Deb Haaland (D-NM) to serve as Secretary for the Department of the Interior which oversees the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Rep. Haaland’s Senate nomination hearing is expected to begin in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted.
In the meantime, we wanted to outline the basic tenets necessary to fix the rigged system that has scapegoated and wrongly demonized wild horses and burros for decades. In the coming weeks and months we will deliver this message to Congress and the new Administration… and we will ask for your help to make sure they hear the message loud and clear. Below are three foundational issues that will repair the broken Wild Horse and Burro Program.
First, Protect Natural Wild Horse Behaviors. Natural, wild behaviors are the basis of the wondrous and complex social structure of America’s wild herds. Without these natural behaviors, our majestic wild mustangs become simply ungentled pasture horses. When protecting natural behaviors is a priority, fertility control methods such as gelding, ovariectomies, Gonacon (all of which destroy natural behaviors) cannot be used.
Second, Give Wild Horses and Burros Their Fair Share on Public Lands. Currently, livestock is given more than 80% of the forage on Congressionally-designated wild horse and burro habitat. We must ensure these herd areas are, as the 1971 Wild, Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act requires, “devoted principally” for the welfare of wild horses and burros. Restore the 40% of original herd areas that have been zeroed out for wild horse and burro use where possible.
Third, Establish Meaningful Humane Standards. The BLM’s current animal welfare program is inadequate and lacks transparency. Humane standards must include:
– transparency for the use of helicopters and trap pens by having GPS-live feed cameras for public access;
– prohibition of helicopter roundups in extreme weather (freezing or below and 90 degrees or over);
– restrictions on helicopters chases from the current unlimited miles to 10 miles.
In summary our message is: Protect the Wild in Wild Horses, Give Them Their Fair Share and Humane Treatment.
The Cloud Foundation
www.thecloudfoundation.org
