Wild Horses

Introducing…National Help A Horse Day!

Friday, April 26, 2013 - 11:45am
Introducing…National Help A Horse Day!

Happy National Help A Horse Day! We’re celebrating this day for the first year ever, and we hope you’ll join us.

The ASPCA wanted to take a day out of the year to draw special attention to the plight of horses in our country. We chose April 26 because in 1866 our founder, Henry Bergh, stopped a cart driver from beating his horse, resulting in the first successful arrest for the mistreatment of a horse on April 26. Horses were critical to our mission at the founding of the ASPCA—and they’re just as important now.

Ready to get in the spirit? Check out our Top 10 Ways to Help Horses.

Today, horses need our help more than ever, so whether you’ve got horses of your own or just admire these majestic creatures, make sure to mark every April 26 National Help A Horse Day.

To hear more about what the ASPCA does for horses, visit ASPCA.org/horse, learn about the many cruelty issues facing equines today and read about a recent horse rescue in Montana.

Thank you for helping us get the message out about horse cruelty! Tell us why you stand up for horses in the comments or on Twitter.

Tags: 
Equines
Take Action
Wild Horses

ASPCA Speaks Up for Wild Horses!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012 - 3:15pm

Guest blog post from Nancy Perry, Senior Vice President of ASPCA Government Relations.

Did you know that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the federal agency in charge of protecting our country’s wild horses and burros?  Enacted more than 40 years ago, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act states that the federal government is required to protect wild horses while balancing their presence on rangelands with commercial activities of humans and the needs of other wildlife.

Unfortunately, in the 40 years that the BLM has been managing our wild horses, we have seen a continuous cycle of roundups and removals with little regard for the welfare of these living creatures.

Taking Action on Capitol Hill
I was recently invited to testify before the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior and the Environment to discuss the importance of protecting wild horses.

My testimony focused on four main requests. We asked the committee to 1) reinstate language to prevent the sale for slaughter and mass euthanasia of wild horses, 2) prohibit removal of more horses and burros than can be adopted, 3) prioritize on-range management of wild horses and burros, and 4) require the swift creation of standard operating procedures for humane, transparent roundups, if any are to occur.

As I spoke to the committee, I could see their obvious disgust at the descriptions I provided of recent roundups, during which:
 - Foals were forced to run extreme distances, losing their hooves.
 - Horses were driven to physical exhaustion.
 - Horses and burros were physically assaulted with helicopter skids.
 - Electric prods were used on wild horses by BLM staff or contractors.
 - Horses were kicked and beaten with lunge whips.
 - Metal gates and panels were slammed into horses.
 - Horses' tails were twisted and pulled during loading.

Looking Ahead
Congress oversees federal agencies to ensure that government services are delivered appropriately and fairly, and it can direct agencies like the BLM to reform programs that are not working as they should. The BLM has indicated a willingness to examine parts of its wild horse program and we hope they will work with us to make needed changes.

For now, we are encouraged that both the BLM and Congress are open to input from the ASPCA and other animal protection organizations regarding the plight of these majestic animals.

Learn more about our efforts to protect equines.

Tags: 
Advocacy
Wild Horses

BLM Halts Wild Horse Roundup Early; Returns 22 Horses to the Range

Monday, February 28, 2011 - 2:30pm
BLM Halts Wild Horse Roundup Early; Returns 22 Horses to the Range

Photo by Terry Fitch

At long last, animal advocates have scored two small victories in the fight to end the inhumane, unsustainable wild horse management policies of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM): On Friday, having rounded up about 1,370 horses—approximately 600 horses short of its previously stated goal of 2,000—the agency brought an early end to the controversial Antelope Complex roundup in northern Nevada. And on Sunday, the BLM returned 20 chemically sterilized mares and two studs to the range.

These developments followed the BLM’s announcement on Thursday, February 24, that it would undertake a large-scale overhaul of its wild horse management program. That about-face came on the heels of a U.S. House of Representatives vote to cut the agency’s budget by $2 million.

Journalist and horse advocate R.T. Fitch and his wife, equine photographer Terry Fitch, were present during the Antelope roundup and filmed the moment when the 22 horses were returned to federally protected public lands. Watch the Fitches’ video below to see the horses realize they’re free.

These developments followed the BLM’s announcement on Thursday, February 24, that it would undertake a large-scale overhaul of its wild horse management program. That about-face came on the heels of a U.S. House of Representatives vote to cut the agency’s budget by $2 million.

Journalist and horse advocate R.T. Fitch and his wife, equine photographer Terry Fitch, were present during the Antelope roundup and filmed the moment when the 22 horses were returned to federally protected public lands. Watch the Fitches’ video below to see the horses realize they’re free.

Tags: 
Advocacy
Equines
Wild Horses

Bureau of Land Management Announces Overhaul of Wild Horse Program

Friday, February 25, 2011 - 2:45pm
Bureau of Land Management Announces Overhaul of Wild Horse Program

On Thursday, February 24, the Bureau of Land Management proposed a vast overhaul of its broken strategy for caring for our country’s wild horse and burro populations. The agency has long depended solely on inhumane roundups to remove wild horses from public lands legally designated for their use.

The BLM outlined its new strategy after intense and prolonged public outcry, including the objections of the ASPCA and our equine welfare partners. We are heartened by the agency’s progressive proposals, including its renewed commitment to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), which is studying wild horse management procedures and will make recommendations based on definitive scientific research.

“We’ve taken a top to bottom look at the wild horse and burro program and have come to a straightforward conclusion: We need to move ahead with reforms that build on what is working and move away from what is not,” said BLM Director Bob Abbey in a released statement. “As a first step, we are aiming to increase adoptions and broaden the use of fertility control. And while we do this, we are reducing removals while the NAS helps us ensure that our management is guided by the best available science.”

The BLM’s revised strategy includes:

  • Commissioning the NAS to study, among other things, rates of population growth, fertility control methods and land capacity for wild horse herds
  • Developing new strategies, including public adoption, for the long-term care of wild horses that are removed from public lands
  • Increasing the number of mares administered fertility control from 500 in 2009 to 2,000 annually
  • Reducing the number of wild horses removed from public lands over the next two years from 10,000 to 7,600 annually
  • Improving and enhancing humane animal care and handling during roundups as well as at long-term care facilities
  • Promoting public engagement and recruiting local volunteers to assist with rangeland management

Increasing transparency and openness by giving the public access to horse gathers as well as accurate information about the program in its entirety.

“The ASPCA looks forward to greater transparency in all aspects of the BLM’s wild horse program,” responded Matt Bershadker, ASPCA Senior Vice President. “We are encouraged that the BLM is taking the necessary steps to correct its inhumane and fiscally irresponsible policies before America’s wild horses are completely eradicated, but more than 15,000 wild horses and burros are still slated to be rounded up over the next two years, adding to the tens of thousands of wild horses currently languishing in long-term holding pens.”

As always, the ASPCA will continue to keep a close eye on the fate of these national treasures. To learn more about the BLM’s proposed reforms, please visit the agency’s website at www.blm.gov. A detailed proposal will be posted on the site (pdf) on February 28, after which the public is invited to review it and submit comments via email at wildhorse@blm.gov through March 30.

Tags: 
Advocacy
Equines
Wild Horses