American Wild Horse Campaign volunteer stalking and shooting wild horses with high powered gas operated rifle. Photo courtesy of American Wild Horse Campaign.
YREKA, CA, US, February 3, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — A recently introduced bill titled the ‘Veterans for Mustangs Act’ allegedly seeks to employ Veterans suffering from PTSD to shoot wild horses using high powered gas operated rifles firing a heavy projectile carrying a chemical sterilization agent commonly known as ‘PZP’.
An examination of the unvarnished data about what is being cavalierly proposed in this new bill shows many compelling serious contraindications for supporting this bill.
First off, there are no published psychological studies that prove any potential mental health benefits for combat veterans suffering from PTSD by chasing wild horses around the landscape and shooting them with these powerful rifles. And in many cases where combat veterans are suffering from PTSD, ownership or use of any firearms may be contraindicated, according to information from a National Academy of Science’s report: https://cdn.govexec.com/media/gbc/docs/pdfs_edit/071712bb1.pdf.
Moreover, according to a published National Institute of Health Study (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308415/):
“Military veterans and individuals with Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are at increased risk for aggressive behavior and suicide, compared to civilians and those without PTSD. Further, compared to other psychiatric populations, veterans with PTSD have been found to possess more firearms and to more frequently engage in potentially dangerous firearm related behaviors. This is concerning as, compared to civilians, veterans are more likely to complete suicide with a firearm and access to firearms is associated with higher risk of suicide above and beyond the effect of psychiatric illness. Veterans with PTSD also demonstrate higher levels of anger, hostility, and aggression than those without PTSD, which may render firearm possession particularly problematic among this population.”
The key lobbyist behind this bill, Mr. Marty Irby, has a background that should be carefully considered in regard to his motivation in lobbying a bill that raises many questions and serious concerns, as can be read in this published article:
In fact, the experts who pioneered and helped develop and study using gas powered rifles to shoot large animals, including wild horses, with heavy chemical filled syringes, have themselves raised some of the serious concerns and published them:
“Even on a large animal struck correctly, the dart (contraceptive PZP darts) can cause hemorrhage and hematoma. Misplaced shots can break bones or even kill the animal.” (Thomas and Marburger 1964)
“Muzzle report [when a gun goes ‘bang’] can cause problems in darting either captive or free ranging animals. In captive situations, the noise can be more disturbing to animals than getting struck with a dart.”
“Disturbed animals are then more difficult to approach, or the entire group of animals may run away.” (Page 32, “Overview of Delivery Systems for the Administration of Contraceptive to Wildlife” by Terry J. Kreeger)
In fact, there is mounting scientific evidence that using PZP, also known as a ‘Genetic Poison’ by many wild horse experts and advocates, has many unintended consequences that are never mentioned by the promoters of PZP.
A leading researcher in the field of fertility control using PZP, Dr. Cassandra M. V. Nuñez, has written extensively about the ‘unintended consequences’ of using PZP, even when administered in a less draconian manner than using combat soldiers to shoot wild horses with rifles.
More about Nuñez’s research here: https://cmvnunez.weebly.com/.
Interestingly, the Bureau of Land Management, which has suffered from ongoing and widespread condemnation of their management of American wild horses, is offering millions in tax dollars as funding incentives (grants) to people and NGOs to employ the use of shooting wild horses with PZP to allegedly control populations of wild horses where they are deemed in conflict with humans and commercial enterprises.
According to an article by Michael Ray Harris, a law professor and litigator at Vermont Law University and the Legal Advisor to the California based non-profit all-volunteer organization Wild Horse Fire Brigade:
“What is ignored by the pro-PZP community is that wild horses darted with PZP to inhibit their ability to naturally reproduce aren’t really, well, ‘wild’ anymore. Wild means ‘living in a state of nature’ as opposed to being ‘tamed or domesticated’ to be more useful to humans. Accordingly, opposition to PZP is based on an ethical belief that wild animals should be free of human manipulation.”
This press release can be viewed in full online at: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/614834024/.
Please visit www.wildhorsefirebrigade.org for more information.