No excess wild horses in the Pryors

Posted on June 10, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

PZP is a risky pesticide. Will it ruin the treasured herd?

By Marybeth Devlin

The issue underpinning the use of PZP and the continuing cycle of removals of wild horses from the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range is: Whether there are excess wild horses. No, there aren’t. BLM creates the illusion of an overpopulation by administratively setting the maximum herd-size below minimum-viable population. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature determined that, if a herd were managed carefully per a stud-book, it could sustain itself genetically at a minimum of 500 individuals. Compare that number to BLM’s maximum: 120.

In fact, according to the latest genetic analysis, the Pryor Mountain herd is evidencing “a general trend for a decline in variations levels of the herd.” The recommendation was to “increase population size.” Yet, BLM stubbornly insists on its own failed approach of artificially limiting herd-size, declaring that it disagrees with the scientific “interpretation.”

But can the range accommodate more horses? Yes. By way of comparison, BLM allots 38 acres per cow or calf when setting the stocking-rate for livestock grazing. Thus, the 33,187 acres that compose the Pryor Mountain habitat can support 500 to 873 horses. When the WHR is restored to its original configuration, 44,920 acres, the high-bound can be increased to 1,182.

As for PZP, numerous independent studies have disproved the old theory that PZP merely blocks sperm attachment. In fact, PZP’s mechanism of action is to alter ovarian function, causing inflammation of the ovaries and cyst formation. PZP provokes an auto-immune response, wherein the pig-ovary-derived PZP antibodies attack the mares’ ovaries, resulting in dystrophy of those reproductive organs. Despite being hyped as a non-hormonal contraceptive, PZP causes “markedly depressed oestrogen secretion” in mares treated for just three consecutive years. The latter finding was disclosed by Dr. Kirkpatrick himself 23 years ago. PZP-use is associated with stillbirths, altered ovarian structure and cyclicity, interference with normal ovarian function, permanent ovarian damage, prolonged breeding season, and unusually-late birthing dates. A particularly troubling finding suggests that PZP can be selective against a certain genotype in a population.

PZP is touted as reversible; however, a recent study warned that just three years of treatment, or administration of the first PZP injection before puberty, may trigger infertility in some mares. Thus, only two PZP injections could be viewed as relatively safe, but it appears that even one injection is risky. The researchers warned that inducing sterility may have unintended consequences on population dynamics by, ironically, increasing longevity while eliminating the mares’ ability to contribute genetically.

Most pertinent to the Pryor Mountain herd is a longitudinal study on three herds treated with PZP — Little Book Cliffs, McCullough Peaks, and … Pryor Mountain. The researchers found that the birthing season lasted nearly year-round: 341 days. Out-of-season births put the life of the foals and the mares at risk. That same longitudinal study found that, following suspension of PZP injections, there was a delay in the mares’ recovery of fertility that lasted 411.3 days (1.13 years) per each year of PZP treatment. Thus, mares injected for four consecutive years (per BLM’s “prescription”) would be expected to take 1,645.2 days (4.51 years) to regain reproductive capacity. If disaster were to befall the Pryor Mountain horses, even if PZP were stopped immediately, it would take years for the herd to recover, if ever.

PZP has neither stopped nor slowed the roundups. Only lack of holding space has done that. Even the Pryor Mountain herd, injected for decades with PZP, is facing removals again this summer (per the usual three-year cycle) in addition to an intensified PZP “prescription” to be administered per an “equal opportunity program” eerily similar to Communist-China’s one-child policy. What’s ironic is that, for all the interference, BLM has achieved basically the same — or worse — record as has been attained the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros. ISPMB complies with the “hands-off” minimum-feasible management approach stipulated by the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. ISPMB’s two wild herds grew 8.73 and 5.08 percent, respectively, without PZP and without removals. Pryor Mountain’s most recent report — reflecting management with PZP and with removals — grew by 8.26 percent.

BLM needs to get out of the way of Nature. Let the Pryor Mountain herd find its own appropriate population level.

(Note: Beware of petitions pushing PZP. Be sure to read everything you sign these days especially the fine print!)

Please donate to Protect Mustangs’ Legal Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw2016 to help the voiceless in court. Thank you!

Legal petition filed to cancel PZP pesticide registration

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

It is with great pleasure to announce that Friends of Animals has filed a legal petition to cancel the EPA’s registration of wild horse fertility control pesticide, PZP http://friendsofanimals.org/foa-files-legal-petition-cancel-registration-wild-horse-fertility-control-pesticide-pzp and that Protect Mustangs’ education and outreach has culminated in this action. When Anne Novak started the PZP Forum in November she felt that through education and outreach, action would follow. Everyone’s participation in the PZP Forum has made it an educational hub while the battle wages on . . .

Our successful Pine Nut lawsuit that brought PZP to the court for the first time, when we partnered with FOA, came out of The Forum. We hope FOA’s PZP legal petition will be equally successful.

We are grateful FOA has the funding needed to employ legal staff spearheaded by Michael Harris, who rocks at wildlife law, with the awesome Jenni Barnes.

We hope someday we can afford to hire legal staff but for now, as a dynamic grassroots volunteer organization, we stretch donor’s dollars so we will be paying less on a case by case basis. We encourage wild horse supporters to donate to the Protect Mustangs’ legal fund so we can file our unique legal actions quickly to help America’s wild horses and protect them from all sides. Our Legal Fund site is here: http://www.gofundme.com/qarve8

With our boots on the ground in the West, we educate, advocate and rescue. We are dedicated to serving and protecting America’s wild horses ‘forever wild and free’™.
(BLM’s photo of mares used for PZP experiments)

PZP discussion and information

Posted on May 17, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Rebuttal of Misinformation Posted by Pro-PZP Entities
Issue # 1. Criticism of devoted scientists and advocates

Discussion: Sometimes the truth hurts, and sometimes the only way to wake misguided people out of their imaginations is to speak in the strongest of terms.
Issue # 2. Self-regulating herds.

Discussion: The pro-PZP groups parrot the BLM line that there is an insufficient number of large predators to effectively control wild horse populations. But what happened to the predators? They have been virtually exterminated due to excessive hunting by sportsmen and excessive culling by Wildlife Services, which kills on behalf of public lands ranchers. Instead of joining with conservation organizations and animal protection groups that are fighting for the predators, the PZP adherents want us to accept defeat. We won’t. We believe in a thriving natural ecological balance, which must include predators, large and small.
Issue # 3. Impact on genetics and social structure.

Discussion: The pro-PZP groups say it is too late, that the herds have already been genetically and socially disrupted by decades of roundups, removals, and relocations. Their solution? PZP. Thus, we are essentially being told that underpopulated herds suffering from genetic decline should have their numbers further reduced and their mares eventually rendered sterile. We say, “Absolutely not.” The answer is to fight for the herds, for viable populations, for genetic diversity, for normal behavior, for natural fertility.
Issue # 4. Economics.

Discussion: Pro-PZP groups want us to accept BLM’s mismanagement as a fact and learn to live with it. They say we should let wild fillies and mares be slowly sterilized. Using PZP will, “over time” reduce removals, they claim. If only that were so. A review of BLM’s population estimates for herds scheduled for gathers this year showed case after case of dizzingly inflated numbers, even for years in which PZP would have been at maximum effect. BLM is not a trusted partner! BLM is using PZP to accelerate the demise of the herds, combining slow sterilization with massive removals on any pretext. The pro-PZP groups are unwittingly playing into BLM’s nefarious schemes to wipe out the wild horses and burros.
Issue # 5. Whether PZP is a pesticide.

Discussion: The EPA classifies PZP as a pesticide for use on non-food animal pests. It exerts a contraceptive effect by inflamming the ovaries, causing ovarian dystrophy, destroying oocytes in growing follicles, and depleting resting follicles. The EPA warns that PZP is a biohazard are advises women that accidental injection could cause infertility. The EPA cautions pregnant women to avoid handling PZP, despite PZP’s supposed non-interference with a pregnancy in progress. Thus, the possibility is raised of harm to an unborn child by exposure to PZP in the womb.
Anne-Marie Pinter” The crux of this is; multiple attacks on the immune system; stress then a stimulant…..then you have the makings of “Autoimmune disease” as it is termed in today scientific world; “Autoimmune diseases are due to an overacting immune system, that starts attacking their own body”
Issue # 6. Whether PZP-22 is the best answer, if fertility control is to be used.

Discussion: No. PZP-22 has the same adverse-effects profile, except it is longer acting. Once “native” PZP opened the door to artificial population control, BLM looked for ways to make it last longer so they would have less work to do. Thus, one-year PZP is often rejected as “not feasible” and “not practical”. For the most part, BLM wants to keep holding helicopter roundups on a rotating basis every four years, as they’ve been doing. In BLM’s ideal world, they would continue conducting helicopter gathers to catch and corral the mares, shoot them up with “PZP-48”, remove most of the herd anyway based on exaggerated population estimates, and then retire to their offices to sit back for another four years.
Issue # 7. Whether “native” PZP is a sterilant.

Discussion: Ultimately, yes. But if a filly or mare has a strong immune system, even the first immuno-vaccination could provoke such a powerful immune response that she would immediately be rendered permanently sterile. With multiple consecutive injections, sterility is pretty much a certainty. Exceptions would be mares with a weak or depressed immune system, which would not respond to the PZP. That’s why some mares get pregnant in spite of PZP, and why PZP inadvertently selects for immumo-compromised horses. Over time, herd health would suffer and the population could be wiped out by an inability to fight off disease.
Issue # 8. Whether PZP is a chemical contraceptive and whether it poses a significant risk to inoculated mares and their foals.

Discussion: PZP is a chemical, classified by the EPA as a pesticide, approved for use against “feral” horses deemed to be pests. Let it be understood that our wild horses are Federal, not feral. PZP works to provoke an immune response that has been shown to target the ovaries, causing inflammation and dystrophy. PZP destroys oocytes in growing follicles and depletion of resting follicles. So, yes, it does pose a significant risk to mares injected with such a powerful and destructive “vaccine.” Because pregnant women are strictly warned against handling PZP, even though PZP is said not to interfere with a pregnancy already in existence, the possibility of ovarian or testicular degeneration in the developing embryo or fetus is of concern. Therefore, a pregnant mare’s unborn foal could potentially be affected. The cautionary principle would call for rejection, not injection, of such a substance.
http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=R96054
Issue # 9. Whether PZP causes ovarian damage and other pathologies.

Discussion: Yes, it does. The pro-PZP groups endeavor to differentiate “native” PZP from other PZP formulations and claim that “native” PZP works completely differently from the rest of the PZPs and ZPs. Not so. Recent studies have disproven the theory that ZPs block fertilization. Instead, ZP vaccines cause ovarian dystrophy, oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries), destruction of oocytes in all growing follicles, and depletion of resting follicles. That is why, regardless of PZP type, it takes years for fertility to be restored (if ever) and why eventual sterilization occurs with certainty after multiple inoculations. Kirkpatrick, Liu, Turner, et al. (1992) found that ” … three consecutive years of PZP treatment may interfere with normal ovarian function as shown by markedly depressed oestrogen secretion.”

http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/1317449/Long-term-effects-of-porcine-zonae-pellucidae-immunocontraception-on-ovarian-function-in-feral-horse

Certainly ovarian damage should have been suspected 23 years ago and investigated, in light of “markedly depressed oestrogen secretion” in PZP-treated mares. Yet despite the developer’s own finding in 1992 that PZP appeared to “interfere with normal ovarian function,” the product was promoted as a safe vaccine that merely blocked fertilization. Recent independent studies, based on examining the reproductive organs of sacrificed experimental animals [note: whether they were “sacrificed” to determine the organ-damage has to be verified], revealed the ovarian destruction, clearly disproving the previous assumption.
Issue # 10. Whether PZP is paving the way for use in humans.

Discussion: No, it’s not. Interesting choice of argument that PZP’s 95 percent efficacy rate would be too low for human contraception. Compare PZP’s rate with that of birth control pills, which are only 91 percent effective unless perfect compliance is achieved, no conflicting medications are taken, and no conflicting health issues are present. And compare PZP’s efficacy rate to that of condoms. With typical use, 85 percent of women relying on prophylactics worn by their partners successfully prevent pregnancy. Interesting choice of argument also in comparing PZP to the influenza vaccine, whose efficacy is reportedly in the 10-60 percent range.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/news/20150115/flu-vaccine-effectiveness
Issue #11: Whether 150 is the lowest viable population of a wild horse herd to be genetically healthy.

Discussion: The International Union for Conservation of Nature has determined that 2,500 is the minimun viable population for a wild horse herd. A recent meta-analysis suggested that number should be doubled. Interestingly, the Pryor Mountain herd, which the pro-PZP groups cited, is in genetic decline, according to the most recent report from Dr. Cothran. His recommendation? Increase the size of the herd.
Issue #12: Whether or not the NAS recommended fertility control in Federal wild horse herds.

Discussion: The NAS researchers were prohibited by BLM from collecting their own data. They were required to base their recommendations on BLM’s wild horse population estimates, which are exaggerated by more than double. So, it was to be expected that NAS would recommend fertility control. What else could they be expected to do?

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The Example of Assateague Island National Seashore
Examining PZP through the eyes of the Assateague horses themselves:

Horses have not been handled.

Reply: Right. They are shot with a dart gun, so human hands do not touch them, although the PZP causes their ovaries to become inflamed.

Mortality rates have declined significantly, especially among foals.

Reply: Nature operates by survival of the fittest, which means those that are not fit, perish. Reduced mortality may not correlate with a herd being self-sustaining because most of the herd is not reproducing.

Body condition scores have improved.

Reply: Mares in good or improving body condition have a hugely increased tendency to produce colts. This could lead to a gender imbalance. Having too many colts negatively impacts the genetic diversity of a herd.

Longevity has increased dramatically, with mares living three times longer than pre-PZP.

Reply: Longevity, combined with sterility, reduces a herd’s viability in both the short-term and the long-term. Here’s the analogy. On average, American women live about 75 years. If PZP caused them to live three times longer, for 225 years, would that be a good thing if none were allowed to have more than one child?
Discussion: Let’s take a look at another East Coast wild horse herd being managed on “native” PZP: Corolla. The low population limits imposed on that herd have led to birth defects. To increase gene pool diversity, a stallion from the Curritick herd, 150 miles south of Corolla, was translocated. However, he may never win a band and, besides, the mares are contracepted, which makes his job more difficult.

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Issue #13: Whether PZP inoculations can introduce pathogens, and whether administering PZP will cause laminitis, resulting in horses’ hooves to fall apart.

Discussion: This is a two-part issue. As for the first part, yes, it is possible for any inoculation, including PZP, to introduce pathogens. However, the second part appears to be a straw man story invented by pro-PZP parties and falsely attributed to PZP’s critics.
Issue #14: Whether PZP-mares stay in perpetual estrus, causing unrest in the herd.

Discussion: The incorrect word above is “perpetual.” Studies have found that mares on PZP have more estrus events and cycle beyond the normal breeding season. Mares in estrus give off pheromones [note: verify this], which are attractants for stallions. With more estrus events occurring in his mares, the band stallion will likely experience more challenges to his leadership. Yes, foals can get hurt when stallions do battle. A recent study by Ransom et al. showed that herds managed by PZP have a breeding season of 341 days. So, by “perpetual” we mean nearly year-round: 365 days minus 24 days.
Issue #15: Whether pharmaceutical companies are involved with the Assateague Herd project and other native PZP projects.

Discussion: This appears to be a straw man accusation. Pharmaceutical companies have no interest in PZP in any of its various iterations because of the long time it takes to restore fertility (four to eight years), the risk of irreversible sterility, and as has been pointed out, the prospect of settling bad-drug lawsuits.
Issue #16: Predation is the only viable ecological solution.

Discussion: To have a thriving, natural ecological balance (TNEB), an ecosystem must have predators.
Issue #17: The allegation that anti-PZP groups claim PZP, specifically “native” PZP, is patented.

Response: This appears to be another straw man accusation. ZonaStat-H is a proprietary product registered with the EPA by the Humane Society of the United States. It is possible that some persons confused “proprietary” with “patented.” Merck originally held the patent but let it lapse due to the adverse effects listed herein.
Issue #18: Some organizations appear to support perpetuating the problem or creating a new problem.

Response: If your income or your funding depends on there being a problem, you will do things that keep that problem going or create new problems to take its place. Once PZP has sterilized one herd after another, and once BLM zeroes out such HMAs, then these groups will surely take up a new rallying cry: Recreate the herds! They’ll say that no one knows why the herds are dying out (yes, you do; it was the PZP), but let’s sign petitions to bring in substitute horses to reinvent such and such herds. Of course the original herd and its unique genetics will be lost forever, but now these groups will have a new life with a new cause.
Issue #19: BLM is not managing wild horse HMAs according to the Law.

Response: The clear intent of the Act was that mustangs would benefit from the principal use of their dedicated range and its resources. Yet, within 98 percent of their legally designated habitats, wild horses and burros are relegated to a minority share of the forage.
Issue #20: Wild horse sanctuaries are pale imitations of real wild horse herds.

Response: The Law provides for eco-sanctuaries. They are called HMAs. The need for private sanctuaries is due to BLM’s mismanagement, to inadequate AMLs, to removals in numbers that deluge the adoption market.

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Don’t take the wild out of wild horses!

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Associated Press reports: Groups differ on plan to help control wild horse population

May 9, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plan to inject 50 wild horses in western Utah with contraception drugs to help control the population is being applauded by one wild horse advocacy group but derided by another.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign supports the plan, saying it is a more humane method than taking horses off their ranges, the Deseret News newspaper in Salt Lake City reports (http://bit.ly/1zCcWkw ).

“This is the best-case scenario,” campaign spokeswoman Deniz Bolbol said. “We really applaud Utah BLM for doing this for the Onaqui herd and letting these horses stay with their families, remain wild and free, and at the same time manage the number of horses born so they don’t have to do roundups into the future.”

But the group Protect Mustangs says the anti-fertility drug can lead to sterilization and wreak havoc on natural selection.

“This is an essential part of survival of the fittest. Nature knows best,” said Anne Novak, Protect Mustangs executive director. “No one should be shooting wild horses with dart guns. It’s harassment, plain and simple.”

This marks the first time this method has been used in Utah. The BLM plans to begin injecting the drugs in the horses using darts in May, said spokeswoman Lisa Reid. It will continue with the project over a five-year span.

The drug that will be used, called porcine zona pellucida, is most effective for one year, the BLM said. It is effective in preventing pregnancy in horses for one year, Reid said.

The BLM says there are 317 wild horses in the Onaqui Mountain area about 60 miles southwest of Tooele. That’s more than double the appropriate level of 120.
Statewide, there are about 4,300 wild horses and burros in Utah, above the appropriate management level of about 2,000, the agency said.

“This is a very important program. The only tool we’ve had in the past to manage herds is through removal,” Reid said. “We prefer not to round them up, so administering birth control through darting is a great tool because it’s less invasive and less stressful to the herds, and it allows us to hopefully reduce reproduction effectively.”

Roundups are also expensive, said Gus Warr, Utah director of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro program. Helicopter roundups cost about $400 to $500 per horse while fertility drugs cost roughly $100 per horse, Warr said.

The issue of wild horses has been a lightning rod across the West for years. Many ranchers claim the horses are overrunning the range, causing ecological damage and reducing grazing for livestock. They want the BLM to immediately round up excess horses.

Bolbol, of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, said she hopes BLM officials around the West use this method to keep herds at manageable levels.

But Warr said the contraception plan won’t work in all Utah herds because of difficult terrain and skittish horses.
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Information from: Deseret News, http://bit.ly/1zCcWkw

Link to the Associated Press article that’s gone viral: http://www.sfgate.com/news/science/article/Groups-differ-on-plan-to-help-control-wild-horse-6252849.php cross-posted for educational purposes

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Please share the petition to bring emergency shade and shelter to wild horses & burros https://www.change.org/p/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros

Also please share the petition to defund and stop the wild horses roundups https://www.change.org/p/defund-and-stop-the-wild-horse-burro-roundups

JOIN the Facebook Forum on PZP to learn more about forced drugging with the pesticide (PZP) made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros/

Help Protect Mustangs continue to fight for wild horses with a donation via PayPal.com to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org or visit our website www.ProtectMustangs.org to join the organization.

You can also make a tax-deductible donation to help us keep fighting in court to protect America’s wild horses right here: http://www.gofundme.com/qarve8

Together we can keep the wild in wild horses!

Many blessings,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Media placement spins wild horses as scary pests to push PZP at upcoming BLM meeting?

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for Protect Mustangs

Are the PZP PUSHERS buying CNN media placement ahead of the BLM’s Wild Horse Advisory Board Meeting April 22-23rd in Ohio to PUSH PZP, take over and control America’s wild horses that they see as “pests” deserving of a pesticide for “birth control”? Follow the money and you find millions of donor dollars that would pour in (think of who is on the top of the PZP pyramid) if they were able to claim they solved the wild horse “problem” with PZP. (EPA Pesticide Fact Sheet: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf)

Wild horses and the world’s forgotten animals
by Motez Bishara, for CNN April 21, 2015

(CNN)The Rolling Stones sang about them, and Ford named its most iconic sports car after them.

Their numbers are increasing, yet mustangs are among the ever-growing list of animals being eclipsed by the modern world.

That’s the view of Dutch artist Charlotte Dumas, who holds a particular fascination with the wild horses that populate the western U.S., together with the overall roles that animals play in society.

“Their physical presence may be growing, but what they stand for is deteriorating,” Dumas explains. “The whole idea of the wild and free horse is not sustainable anymore.”

From her observations, much of the world’s attention when it comes to animals either fixates on pets, which she says are “put on a pedestal, almost to excess,” or those consumed as part of the giant produce industry. “And then there is a big midsection that completely disappeared,” she says.

Dumas, 37, uses her medium of undirected portrait photography to humanize a largely anonymous subset of the animal population. She avoids zooms, taking photos only with portrait lenses that force her to get up close and personal with the animals — even when those subjects are wolves, wild dogs and tigers (she was safely behind a fence for the tigers).

Her two most recent bodies of work were recently on display at The Photographer’s Gallery in London. For “The Widest Prairies,” Dumas shadowed the mustangs from a trailer in Dayton, Nevada, while “Anima” is a video montage of military horses falling asleep in the stables of Arlington National Cemetery.

“Those horses make for a more appealing subject simply because they are more realistic of how most horses live, rather than in a very artificial habitat (catered to) horses that we might see in the Olympics,” says Dr. Thomas Witte, lecturer in equine surgery at the Royal Veterinary College in London.

Both projects required multiple trips from New York, where Dumas was living at the time, and countless hours behind the lens. Dumas believes taking her time is essential in order to catch the subjects in a relaxed and natural state.

The 12-minute film “Anima” was compiled from footage shot over the course of 15 nights, usually from midnight until 4 a.m.

“I encounter a lot of people in my work, and what they all find the strangest is that I stay around that long,” she explains. “(They ask), don’t you already have it by now?”

A press officer from the cemetery was assigned to accompany her during the overnights, shuffling back and forth between the stables and alerting Dumas when a horse was nodding off.

“I felt really guilty in the beginning because he had to be there for all these insane hours, but he didn’t mind at all,” she says.

The time spent allowed her to present a behind-the-scenes look at the working life of a regal animal. Known as caisson burial horses, the likes of Major and Ringo lead the procession for honored deceased servicemen up to eight times a day.

“(A working horse) is one of the few places where there is still this interaction where man and animal depend on each other,” says Dumas. “They are not as visible anymore, whereas they used to be very much part of everyday life.”

Tens of thousands of tourists go on African safari every year. Many will see the continent most beautiful beasts from the safety of a four-wheel drive vehicle, but some brave the bush on the four legs of a horse.

Witte points to an old adage in the veterinary world: that 10% of the world’s equine population receives 90% of the veterinary care.

“All those equids that are doing the grunt work and supporting their human families in developing parts of the world — the mules and donkeys — they get very little in the way of veterinary care and very little in the way of attention,” he says.

After such an intimate project, Dumas decided to profile the exact opposite type of horse for her followup — one with almost no human interaction or discipline.

“The wild horses have such a romantic connotation; I wanted to challenge myself, and see if it was possible to take a portrait of one,” she says. “I thought it was always a daring topic to go near, so it took me a while before I was ready to take that on. Practically they are very different from each other.”

Dumas spent nights in a trailer loaned by a wild horse preservationist in Nevada. The topic is controversial, since the free-roaming horses (numbering 40,815 throughout 10 states) can overpopulate and encroach on residential areas.

“They keep coming closer and closer to civilization because there is no food on the hills anymore. So (there is a question of) who’s infringing on who,” she explains.

Witte notes that overpopulation can lead to a spread of diseases between species. “Wherever you have that interface between human population and animal population, you’ve got to do something to control the situation; that is for animal welfare as much as it is for human convenience,” he says.

There are a further 16,203 horses up for adoption in holding shelters, and another 31,250 in long-term pastures. All the horses fall under the care of the Bureau of Land Management and are protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

On a gamble, Dumas took to the mountains of Nevada and befriended a local watcher who put her up in her trailer. After studying the horses up close, Dumas decided to return months later — and noticed how their personalities had changed. Oddly, the more time she spent in the mustangs’ proximity, the less comfortable she became.

“I went in early spring which, was like mating season, and then they got really wild. You really had to be careful that you didn’t get caught up between two stallions fighting for mares,” she recalls. “The more I spent time with them, in a sense I got more and more afraid of them.”

Dumas’ other projects have profiled the retired search and rescue dogs of 9/11 (only one was reportedly still alive in 2014, 13 years after the World Trade Center attacks) and stray dogs in Palermo, Italy, along with tigers and wolves living in animal sanctuaries.

“They have so much power,” she says, recalling her nervousness around the tigers, “and when you see them up close they are so much bigger.” The tigers were shot at an eccentric private animal park in Texas that housed over 250 wild cats, while the wolves were photographed at a preserve in Colorado and in upstate New York.

Now back in Amsterdam, Dumas is focusing on her next projects: the logging horses of Lapland, Sweden, along with the eight native horse breeds of Japan, which she says are in danger of extinction.

Each series is part of a collective calling, to preserve a lasting image of a place in time for an unheralded group of animals that may not be around forever.

“What is the value of something that has no real direct use anymore to society?” she asks. “If there is no economic purpose, then they are just going to go extinct. That’s just how it is.”

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Cross-posted from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/21/sport/wild-horses-photographer-charlotte-dumas/ for educational purposes

Is this CNN article another subliminal push for the registrant of PZP (The Humane Society of the United States) to take over wild horse and burro management based on using PZP? Besides lobbying, are they buying media placements through PR firms too?

Learn more about PZP, the restricted use pesticide used as “birth control” that permanently sterilizes wild mares after multiple use on the Facebook Forum: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros

Despite protests, BLM returns wild horses to range in Nevada

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

April 12, 2015

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Despite the protests of a rural county and rancher, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has returned some 160 wild horses to the range in central Nevada.

The agency returned the horses to the Fish Creek Herd Management Area near Eureka on Tuesday after being cleared to do so by the Interior Board of Land Appeals.

The BLM originally had planned to return some 100 mares treated with a fertility control vaccine and 80 studs to the HMA on Feb. 20. They were among 424 horses removed from the HMA during a roundup that ended earlier in February.

The bureau routinely thins what it calls overpopulated herds on public land across the West, sending horses that aren’t adopted by the public to pastures in the Midwest for the rest of their lives.

The agency also routinely releases mares treated with fertility control drugs back to the range after being rounded up. Varying numbers of studs also are released back to the range to help maintain the genetic viability of herds.

Eureka County commissioners and rancher Kevin Borba filed an appeal with the Interior Board of Land Appeals to block the return of any of the 424 horses to the range and to challenge the BLM’s assessment of how many horses the HMA can support.

But the board affirmed the BLM’s authority to return 162 of the horses to the range. Arguments in the case continue on the underlying claims.

Borba has said the BLM has drastically reduced his livestock allotments in the HMA while allowing well over twice as many horses in it as it can support. He and Eureka commissioners seek the removal of more horses.

Horse advocates praised the BLM’s return of the horses to the range, saying it’s in line with recommendations released in 2013 by a National Academy of Sciences panel calling for increased emphasis on fertility control to keep horse numbers down.

“Now is the time to move forward with innovative management that makes sense, keeping wild horses on their range and saving millions of tax dollars in the long term,” Neda DeMayo, president of Return to Freedom, said in a statement. “It is time for a new direction instead of wasting time and money obstructing positive solutions that will benefit the horses, wildlife, ranchers and the range.”

But not all horse advocacy groups support the use of fertility control drugs on mares.

“We want to see drug-free holistic management used for native wild horses,” said Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs. “(The fertility control vaccine) PZP sterilizes after multiple use and we’re concerned that will ruin survival of the fittest.”

Borba has said he thinks the fertility control vaccine is far less effective than the BLM and horse advocates claim, and horse numbers will further explode as a result. Ranchers view wild horses as competition for scare forage in the arid West.

Cross-posted for educational purposes only from the San Francisco Chronicle.

URGENT: They want them all wiped out except for a zoo-like herd!

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Dear Friends of Wild Horses & Burros,

It’s urgent to send in comments by midnight April 10th against BLM’s horrid plans to wipe out the Kiger herd (Sprit is from the Kiger herd http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166813) and Riddle herd in Oregon. Unless this is stopped they will leave only a few wild horses as a token to photograph and breed in a zoo-like setting.

The BLM is proposing to spend your hard earned tax dollars for a brutal helicopter roundup of 210 wild horses, and permanently remove and put in holding 120 thus stripping populations to the low end of BLM’s alleged Appropriate Management Level (AML). That would leave only 51 for Kiger HMA and 33 for the Riddle Mountain HMA. There are already too few remaining on the range. Stop the roundups!

Chasing them with helicopters or drugging them up with PZP–a pesticide, made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries–used for birth control for alleged ‘humane management in the wild’ is heinous, deceitful and must be stopped now. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf Spaying underpopulated wild horses or gelding studs must be halted too. This is a native species that must NOT be managed to extinction using tools like PZP.

Please send your comments by midnight Friday, April 10 to:

Lisa Grant
Burns District Office
Email: lgrant@blm.gov or BLM_Or_BU_Mail@blm.gov

Be sure to send your senators and representatives (http://www.contactingthecongress.org)
a copy of your email and request they intervene to stop this tragedy before it’s too late.

PZP lobbyists are paying a lot of money to fool your elected officials into believing wild horses are overpopulated and therefore NEED their EPA approved “restricted-use pesticide” for birth control when the truth is wild horses need their rights protected to the land they are supposed to be freely roaming on according to the 1971 law.

Here are seven talking points:

1. ) Raise the BLM’s alleged appropriate management level (AML) to create viable herds. Genetically viable herds are essential to ensure the herds survival based on natural selection. Both the Kiger and Riddle herds need to be allowed higher populations immediately.

2. ) Reduce livestock grazing that is currently getting 5 times more forage allocation than native wild horses.

3.) Stop shooting up wild horses with PZP. It is a pesticide that sterilizes after multiple use and is being used as a tool to manage native wild horses to extinction. It’s inhumane for many reasons and robs them of their right to survival of the fittest in the wild and would force them into breeding program with many problems such as this: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8077

4.) There is no evidence of overpopulation according to the National Academy of Sciences 2013 report, therefore roundups are unjustified.

5.) Holistic management must be implemented to save the herds before they are all destroyed.

6.) Wild horses are a native species who prevent wildfires. When the herds are radically reduced from helicopter roundups then catastrophic wildfires follow costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

7.) Stop the roundups.

If you have already emailed a comment but didn’t realize how dangerous endorsing PZP is then you have the right to send the BLM an updated comment stating you are against using PZP (native, 22 or any other version). You will find a lot of information about PZP in the Facebook Forum on PZP https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros Sadly groups that have signed contracts with BLM are pushing PZP as well as the registrant at the top of the pyramid. What they aren’t speaking about is the fact that mares are permanently sterilized after multiple use and that often fillies get raped by mobs of studs desperate to breed because their mares are on PZP.

Please share the Petition for Shade & Shelter to help the roundup victims that the BLM refuses to take care of properly: https://www.change.org/p/bring-emergency-shelter-and-shade-to-captive-wild-horses-and-burros

Thank you for taking action today to save America’s wild horses in Oregon from being managed to extinction and for helping the victims of previous roundups.

In gratitude,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Is PZP causing young fillies to be raped by mobs of studs?

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

By U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Anne-Marie Pinter writes in the Forum on PZP, “Encore the yearling filly stolen by a band of bachelors and held hostage by a BAND of mature bachelor’s, that filly is too small to fight off an adult stallion let alone a band who will rape her whether she is heat or not because she cannot fight them off,and cannot outrun them- so not to worry if she lives thru it -she will be sterile as the cervix will be so badly torn it will never form a seal..Is it because of PZP-well go to BLM’s website and read under the fertility program management where they acknowledge since the use of PZP it has been “noted” stallions have started breeding yearlings and mares are foaling as 2-year-olds. underdeveloped and not mature enough to know how to be a good mother..this is NOT behavior ever noted by Ginger before the use of PZP..hope all you sleep well tonight, and realize-there are consequences to the use of PZP..this is one among many.”

JOIN the Forum on PZP https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros to learn the TRUTH about PZP (Native, 22, etc.) Once informed people can’t support PZP and that’s why the PZP Pushers are trying to hide the information.

BREAKING NEWS: Advocates win — BLM Cancels Roundup Following Protect Mustangs’ and FOA’s Court Victory

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

For immediate release

BREAKING NEWS: Advocates win — BLM Cancels Roundup Following Protect Mustangs’ and FOA’s Court Victory

Nevada’s beloved Pine Nut Herd from ‘The Misfits’ escapes horrible helicopter stampede

RENO, NV. (March 25, 2015)—After U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks’ Feb. 11 decision to grant Protect Mustangs’ and Friends of Animals’ (FoA) a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the proposed roundup of more than 300 wild horses on the 98,000 acre Nevada Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today it has officially canceled the roundup. The famous herd from ‘The Misfits’ continues to live in freedom thanks to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and justice in federal court.

“The BLM is attacking wild horses, painting them as pests that are destroying the environment while the real culprits act with impunity in their own best interest,” states actor Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy, Batman Begins).

“We are so grateful truth and justice has been upheld for America’s wild horses,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs based 4 hours away in San Francisco. “We have been studying the wild horses in the Pine Nuts for several years. They are an inspiration to fight for wild horse freedom throughout the West.”

“The BLM’s outdated 2010 environmental assessment did not stand up in court because it did not take into account the current situation on the range,” explains Tami Hottes Protect Mustangs board member. “We are working on increasing the Appropriate Management Level for native wild horses to ensure their survival.”

Before the proposed 2015 roundup was stopped, BLM wanted to permanently remove 200 wild horses and forcibly drug with PZP the few remaining mares to be released. Protect Mustangs and FOA filed a case in the District Court of Nevada, arguing that BLM violated its duties under NEPA by dusting off their stale 2010 Environmental Assessment. U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks agreed to the preliminary injunction. On Feb. 11 Hicks decided that the plaintiffs showed they were likely to succeed on their legal claims and granted Protect Mustangs’ and FoA’s request to postpone the roundup.

“This gives us a fighting chance to restore the herd’s population to what it was when I was a boy,” says Craig Downer director of ecology and conservation for Protect Mustangs. “Habitat restoration is essential for native wild horses to survive drought and environmental changes in these times.”

“Forced drugging with PZP, an EPA restricted use pesticide that sterilizes after multiple use, is something we will not tolerate on the federally protected Pine Nut herd,” states Novak. “Americans will champion the herd’s freedom and will prevent special interest groups from using them as pharmaceutical lab rats for drug research on the range.”

“Underpopulation on the Pine Nut HMA is a serious problem for the herd’s long term survival because of the public land grab and environmental degradation due to multiple use policies,” explains Novak. “Since BLM tried to round them up in the beginning of 2015 we have become vigilant and are often in the field gathering evidence to keep the native herd safe, as well as building our legal department to fight for the voiceless in court.”

###

Protect Mustangs is the leading grassroots nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses. www.ProtectMustangs.org

Links of interest:

EPA Pesticide Fact Sheet for PZP: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

Bureau Of Land Management Halts Horse Contraception Program (Associated Press) http://kjzz.org/content/118651/bureau-land-management-halts-horse-contraception-program

US agency abandoning Nevada mustang roundup for now http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/25/blm-abandoning-nevada-mustang-roundup-at-least/

Agency abandons at least for now roundup that US judge earlier blocked (Associated Press) http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/47f8f5d9e87d4a408461657fd926bea7/NV–Wild-Horses-Lawsuit-Contraception-Rift/

Protect Mustangs’ legal fund http://www.gofundme.com/qarve8

Facebook Forum on PZP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros

February 11th Court order granting preliminary injunction: PM Pine Nut Order Granting Preliminary Inj.

US judge “troubled” by mustang roundup planned in Nevada http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/09/3636398_us-judge-troubled-by-latest-mustang.html?rh=1

Lawsuit targets Nevada wild horse roundup (USA TODAY)http://usat.ly/1yNrjLy

Latest suit to block Nevada mustang roundups targets drugs http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/01/3622737_latest-suit-to-block-nevada-mustang.html?rh=1

Jan. 26th Press release: Protect Mustangs & Friends of Animals file lawsuit to stop Pine Nut Mountains roundup: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=7806

Wild-horse activists kicked out of federal meeting in Nevada, (Associated Press) went viral: http://bit.ly/1zHGrjY

Activists split on US agency”s plans to treat 250 mares with fertility-control drug in Nevada: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/activists-rip-blms-plans-to-remove-750-more-mustan/

Genetic viability in Pine Nut herd at risk http://protectmustangs.org/?p=7917

Mark Boone Junior http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0095478/

Protect Mustangs on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

ProtectMustangs on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProtectMustangs

Anne Novak on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

A brief history of wild horses in the news: http://bit.ly/1LsjGEz

Media Contact:
Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
Tel./Text: 415.531.8454
Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

WARNING: Slaughter Fear-mongering pushes forced drugging with PZP on wild horses!

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Protect Mustangs

Helicopter roundups will increase to administer PZP

95% of the herds can’t be shot with darts in the field

Does the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) want to take over the Wild Horse and Burro Program, pushing forced drugging with PZP (pesticide made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf) for management on underpopulated herds? PZP is a “tool” to manage wild horses to extinction. Science proves PZP (native, 22, etc.) sterilizes after multiple use.

Isn’t the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign (AWHPC) the wild horse mouthpiece for HSUS? Doesn’t their pledge to “keep them in the wild” written up in the Huffington Post include forced drugging with PZP as their cornerstone management tool? Does HSUS want to create zoo-like settings to “keep them in the wild”? HSUS endorsed the former Secretary of Interior’s Plan, aka the Salazar Plan, in 2009. Now the plan is entering the final wipe-out phase with the help of PZP pushers.

For decades native wild horses have been used by the pharmaceutical industry as lab rats for birth control “research” at huge taxpayer expense. This involves killing wild horses to research drug damage on ovaries and other organs. PZP = Roundups = Cruel Animal Experiments

Links of interest™:

Salazar presents ambits plan to manage West’s wild horses (Washington Post, October 2009) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/07/AR2009100703237.html “Some animal advocates, including Wayne Pacelle of the Humane Society, praised the plan, but others decried it.”

Experimenting on wild horses creates cheap R & D for drug makers http://protectmustangs.org/?p=7993

Facebook Forum on PZP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ForumPZPWildHorsesBurros/

Protect Mustangs™

Forever wild and free™

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