Group Urges Federal Agency to Work with Wild Horse Advocates to Develop Humane, Cost-Efficient Management Program and Applauds Private Bailout Plan
The Humane Society of the United States denounces any serious consideration of selling off or killing more than 30,000 wild horses currently housed in BLM holding centers across the U.S. in an effort to solve the agency's self-inflicted financial problems.
The group also urges the BLM to reject the Advisory Board's cruel, short-sighted proposal and instead, work with The HSUS and other organizations represented in the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign Coalition to engage in a long-overdue reformation of the entire wild horse and burro management program.
The HSUS applauds the announcement yesterday by Madeleine Pickens that she hopes to work with BLM to find a life time sanctuary for the horses now in long term holding. However, The HSUS cautions that, without a change in the management priorities of the agency, this valiant effort will simply enable the agency to repeat its management mistakes.
The HSUS argues that most of the 30,000 wild horses currently held in captivity by the BLM should never have been removed from the range in the first place. Over the last decade, the BLM has implemented an aggressive, poorly managed, fiscally irresponsible wild horse roundup and adoption program that has resulted in an increasing number of wild horses being permanently warehoused in long-term holding facilities. Now, after years of blatant mismanagement and unanswered pleas from wild horse advocates to stop removing horses in such large numbers, the Advisory Board wants to wipe the slate clean by recommending an unprecedented, and unthinkable, option – the mass killing of more than 30,000 captive horses in order to "balance the budget" even though viable options are available and have yet to be explored.
"We condemn the Advisory Board's recommendation to support the BLM's 'bailout' of their responsibilities by forcing our nation's wild horses to pay the ultimate price for the BLM's mistakes over the years," said Holly Hazard, Chief Innovations Officer for The HSUS. "BLM made a commitment to care for these animals - in perpetuity if necessary- when it began rounding up horses and burros and placing them in holding centers around the U.S. Now, the agency must honor its previous commitment to care for these animals, who are held in trust for the American people, and to develop humane, sustainable programs for managing these animals on the range and in holding centers."
To reduce costs for the current management program, The HSUS recommends:
- Returning many of the wild horses in holding facilities to the more than 19 million acres designated by Congress as wild horse habitat,
- Releasing horses to the many herds that are currently below Appropriate Management Levels established by the BLM. (Out of the 199 Herd Management Areas, 130 currently have less than 150 animals, a benchmark for genetic viability of the herds.),
- Incorporating contraception as an important tool for managing wild horses on the range, wherever there is a need for reduction in herd size. Studies show that management costs could be significantly decreased by treating mares with the immunocontraceptive PZP (porcine zona pellucida) and returning them to the range, rather than detaining them indefinitely in holding centers, and
- Aggressively promoting the current adoption program and expanding the training program. With creative marketing and appropriate training, these magnificent animals can be successfully placed in good homes.
"We are anxious to work with BLM and other stakeholder groups to implement the aforementioned alternatives and help BLM comply with the original intent of the 1971 Act, or if necessary, enable BLM to comply with the Act by working to amend it," continued Hazard.
For more information, please visit humanesociety.org.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.
