Despite underpopulation, does OSU have the right to experiment on federally protected wild horses and burros or are they breaking the law?

 Is Oregon State University about to embark it their biggest PR nightmare?

Vet Spaying Wild Mare at Sheldon Wildlife Refuge

 

© EquineClinic.comn shared for educational purposes

© EquineClinic.comn shared for educational purposes

Oregon State University published the Q & A below based on the false premise, when the truth is wild horses are underpopulated in America today:

 

Frequently asked questions: OSU fertility research involving wild mares and burros

I understand that Oregon State University is involved in research on wild horses and burros.  Is this true?

Yes. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) awarded Oregon State University money to help study fertility-control methods for wild horses and burros.

In 2014, the BLM asked for research proposals from a variety of scientific groups across the nation to help address the high population growth rates of wild horses and burros, including veterinarians, scientists, universities, pharmaceutical companies, and other research entities.  Additional details can be found here.  Since then, the BLM has provided awards to support over 20 projects.

Five universities with college of veterinary medicine programs received awards. Proposals from OSU were selected based on the quality of science, the expertise of the research investigator and the potential impact of the research. Oregon State University faculty were among those that submitted proposals to the BLM to help slow and stabilize the population growth rate of wild horses and burros. The BLM announced its decision on June 27 to proceed with the research to be conducted by Oregon State faculty. Details of that announcement can be found here.

How is Oregon State University involved?

As a research university, Oregon State conducts studies on important topics, and informs public policy-makers and the general public of those research findings.

This research will evaluate minimally invasive, humane, effective, and permanent procedures that would then be reviewed by the BLM as options to maintain sustainable herd levels.

Our role is in conducting research to inform BLM policy. Oregon State University’s role is not to develop policy.

Why did BLM decide that this type of research was necessary?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) developed the program after receiving a report with recommendations from a National Academy of Sciences committee, which had been tasked with performing a complete review of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Management Program.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a video summary of that report, “Using Science to Improve the Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward”.

The NAS reports that the population of wild horses and burros is growing beyond the capacity of federal lands to support the health and welfare of these animals. Animals that are not healthy are susceptible to further suffering from disease, malnutrition, dehydration, and death. The BLM is reviewing a range of options to manage the population of these horses and burros at sustainable levels.

What did the National Academy of Sciences committee find?

The NAS committee emphasized that, on average, the population of wild horses and burros across the west is increasing by 15 – 20% per year, despite ongoing fertility control vaccination programs. The NAS urged the BLM to make wider use of fertility control options that are based on rigorous research.

Why would wild horse and burro populations be a concern? 

The population of wild horses and burros on federal lands is growing beyond the capacity of local, state, and federal resources to support the health and welfare of these animals, and maintain healthy range ecosystems.

An illustrated summary of BLM concerns and challenges related to our nation’s wild horses and burros can be found here. 

What does Oregon State University have to offer?

OSU faculty who responded to the BLM’s request for additional research felt very strongly that their contributions would benefit and improve the health and welfare of our wild horses and burros.

As a land-grant institution, Oregon State University faculty members often have the expertise needed to address issues that affect Oregon and the nation.

Results from this work will be analyzed and published in peer-reviewed forums, in addition to informing the BLM.  In this way, the work performed by OSU faculty will be available to the public.

For more information about how research is conducted at Oregon State University and academic freedom, please click here. 

How is animal safety and humane care ensured during research?

University-wide commitment to animal care, safety, and welfare is a top priority. Oregon State University recognizes both the importance of animals in research and teaching, and the scientific and ethical responsibilities inherent in the care of those animals.  Research activities undertaken by OSU faculty, staff, and students are reviewed and conducted in accordance with strict ethical principles, federal and state laws and regulations, and in compliance with Oregon State institutional policies.

Oversight of animal activities associated with OSU is provided by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). The IACUC’s main functions are to review, approve, and monitor research protocols, and ensure that animals are cared for according to all applicable federal and state laws, regulations, and Oregon State institutional policies.

Oregon State University additionally volunteers to have their animal program reviewed every three years by AAALAC, International, an independent accreditation agency for animal research programs. The accreditation process is very stringent and institutions with AAALAC accreditation are known for their commitment to excellence and humane animal care.

What methods are being studied in this research?

One study will evaluate the removal of both ovaries without the need for any external skin incisions (ovariectomy via colpotomy). Ovariectomies are commonly used by veterinarians to stop egg production and related reproductive (“heat”) cycles in animals.

Another study will evaluate two surgical methods that will interrupt fertilization.  Animals undergoing these procedures will still have heat cycles but they will not conceive.  Tubal ligation is one method, and the other is oviduct ablation.  The use of these methods also avoids the need for external skin incisions.

I have concerns about the management of our nation’s wild horses and burros, and I don’t think Oregon State University should be involved.

As a research institution, work at Oregon State sometimes involves controversial issues.  In this case, research team members have offered their areas of expertise in designing a study whose results will be used to inform policy decisions by the BLM in the management of wild horse and burro populations.

Research data provided by Oregon State researchers will be part of the larger group of studies that BLM will consider as it reviews policies and procedures to respond to the 2013 NAS report.

More information on BLM management of wild horses and burros can be found here.

Who will perform this research?

The studies will be conducted by teams of licensed, highly qualified and experienced veterinary surgeons.

Are Oregon State students involved in this research?

No.  Students are not involved in these projects.

When was this proposal submitted?

Proposals were submitted to the BLM in 2014. 

How long will this research take to be completed?

The research will take place over the next two – five years.

How much will be spent on this research? Who will fund this proposed research?

The BLM has approved two grants to OSU totaling $348,000.

Where will this research be conducted?

The research will be conducted at the BLM’s wild horse and burro facility in Hines, OR. 

How and with whom will these research findings be shared with?

Oregon State researchers will report their results to the BLM; will publish findings in other peer-reviewed forums and share the results with the public.

Who decides to accept or reject these findings? Or implement them as a standard of future practice?

The BLM will make any decisions on future policies and practices. For more information click here.

Cross-posted for discussion from: http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/blm-research-faq

Stay tuned for the backlash

PM Lennox meme

Protect Mustangs is an organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




URGENT: Don’t Kill America’s wild horses!

 

URGENT ACTION ALERT It’s Wild Horse Wednesday™ !

Let Congress know they must prevent wild horses from being killed to make room for more in holding. http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ Be sure to tell them the overpopulation scare is a farce! According to the National Academy of Sciences there is NO EVIDENCE of alleged overpopulation. Email and Call your senators and representative today!

Background news to send to senators and representatives:

Associated Press (viral): http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_24897316/nevada-farm-bureau-counties-sue-over-wild-horses

Washington Post (viral): http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/us-looking-for-ideas-to-help-manage-wild-horse-overpopulation/2014/01/26/8cae7c96-84f2-11e3-9dd4-e7278db80d86_story.html

The Horse article: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/33289/blm-seeks-ideas-on-wild-horse-management

KPFA Evening News reports http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/100329 (begins at 11:05)

More info on the plan that makes sense– the Moratorium on Roundups for scientific studies on population, migration and holistic land management: www.ProtectMustangs.org

#WildHorseWednesday

No shade for captive wild horses as temperatures soar in Nevada, despite requests from the public and elected officials

PVC Thermometer 5:30 pm June 28

 

RENO, NV (June 28, 2013)–With temperatures rising in the triple digits, Nevada photographer, Taylor James visited the national wild horse “processing” facility twice today for Protect Mustangs. She took photos and pointed her video camera over the fence. No sprinklers were seen at Palomino Valley Center (PVC). Surely there were sprinklers somewhere because the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced they were putting sprinklers up to appease public outcry. Why are they putting sprinklers up when the wild horses need shade?

“I witnessed wild horses at Palomino Valley who were in distress today because of the heat,” states Taylor James. “I could not see any sprinklers from my vantage point. They looked miserable without shade.”

Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs, has appealed directly to Secretary Jewell to intervene–to stop the suffering and create shade for the wild horses and burros at Palomino Valley Center. “What these captured wild horses need in sweltering triple digit heat is shade from the blistering sun,” says Novak.

“We have a state law that says dogs need proper shade, food and water, so why not those horses?” asks Mark Manendo, Nevada State Senator. “Why would the BLM not want to provide proper care for the horses–especially if they require adopters must prove the wild horses will have access to shade?”

Protect Mustangs is working with elected officials, advocates and concerned members of the public, to request the BLM give captive wild horses and burros shade and provide them with 24/7 onsite personnel.

Currently no one lives at the facility. No one is there daily after business hours. If there is an emergency, no one can ensure the safety of the more than 1,800 treasured wild horses and burros after normal business hours and on most weekends.

“We joined with Senator Mark Manendo on June 9th to officially request the BLM in Washington provide shade for the captured wild horses at Palomino Valley and elsewhere,” states Novak. “They have done nothing.”

“The BLM must think this sort of animal cruelty is acceptable–but it’s heinous,” adds Novak.  “How many wild horses will perish before they finally do something? Their disregard for America’s icons shows that they just don’t care.”

In the wild, native horses can migrate to more comfortable places during heat waves. In the pens they are trapped and at the mercy of those who chased them with helicopters, tore them from their families and took them from their homes on the range.

Video © Taylor James for Protect Mustangs.org

Basic animal husbandly requires access to shelter as seen at a Nevada equine facility about 8 miles up the road. The BLM ignores horse management protocol while allegedly caring for thousands of wild horses.

For information on the crisis created by the BLM to remove the majority of wild horses and burros off their native land, cruelty towards America’s icons of freedom and no evidence of overpopulation according to the National Academy of Sciences visit www.ProtectMustangs.org

“Like” us on Facebook for updates and ways to help the wild horses: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

Read our June 9th press release requesting shade: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=4501

We want to thank photographer Taylor James for driving out to Palomino Valley Center during the heat wave to document and witness the ‘no shade’ fiasco.

We send a special shout out to fellow wild horse and burro advocates who are also working to get shade for our beloved wild horses and burros: Monika Courtney, Jetara Séhart, Dr. Lester Friedlander, Patty Bumgarner, Colleen Denson, Joanne Cronan-Hamoy, Debbie Catalina, Rt. Fitch, Debbie Coffey, Carl Mrozek, Jill Willis, Craig Downer and others.

We are deeply grateful to Senator Mark Manendo for his compassionate commitment to the humane treatment of America’s wild horses and burros.

Videos from June 28, 2013 Observation at Palomino Valley Center:  Coming Soon

We will be updating this page with videos and photos so check back here to see them.

PVC 5:30 p.m. Car Therm June 28 2013 Heat Wave with No Shade

PVC No Shade Heat Wave

PVC June 28 2013 Water trough

Huff Post: Fertility drugs, nature better than horse roundups

Meet Ellie (#6457). She's a gorgeous 4 yr old Palomino mare from the Calico Mts. She is at the Palomino Valley Center near Reno. (Photo courtesy BLM)

Meet Ellie (#6457). She’s a gorgeous 4 yr old Palomino mare from the Calico Mts. She is at the Palomino Valley Center near Reno. (Photo courtesy BLM)

SCOTT SONNER | June 5, 2013 06:32 PM EST | AP


RENO, Nev. — A scathing independent scientific review of wild horse roundups in the West concludes the U.S. government would be better off investing in widespread fertility control of the mustangs and let nature cull any excess herds instead of spending millions to house them in overflowing holding pens.

A 14-member panel assembled by the National Science Academy’s National Research Council, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, concluded BLM’s removal of nearly 100,000 horses from the Western range over the past decade is probably having the opposite effect of its intention to ease ecological damage and reduce overpopulated herds.

By stepping in prematurely when food and water supplies remain adequate, and with most natural predators long gone, the land management agency is producing artificial conditions that ultimately serve to perpetuate population growth, the committee said Wednesday in a 451-page report recommending more emphasis on the use of contraceptives and other methods of fertility control.

The research panel sympathized with BLM’s struggle to find middle ground between horse advocates and ranchers who see the animals as unwelcome competitors for forage. It noted there’s “little if any public support” for allowing harm to come to either the horses or the rangeland itself.

The report says the current method may work in the short term, but results in continually high population growth, exacerbating the long-term problem.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Fund, a national coalition of more than 50 advocacy groups, said the report makes a strong case for an immediate halt to the roundups that livestock ranchers say are necessary to protect the range and provide their sheep and cattle with a fair share of forage.

“This is a turning point for the decades-long fight to protect America’s mustangs,” said Neda DeMayo, president of the coalition’s Return to Freedom.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is among the livestock groups that have voiced support in the past for aggressive, increased use of fertility control but remain adamantly opposed to curtailing roundups. Horse advocates themselves are not united behind the idea of stepping up use of contraception on the range.

“We are grateful that the National Academy of Science recommends stopping cruel roundups, but we challenge their decision to control alleged overpopulation like a domestic herd with humans deciding who survives and breeds,” said Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs in San Francisco.

The conflict has raged for decades but has intensified in recent years for cash-strapped federal land managers with skyrocketing bills for food and corrals and no room for incoming animals.

“The business as usual practices are not going to be effective without additional resources,” said Guy Palmer, a pathologist from Washington State University who chaired the research committee.

Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said the report should serve as a wakeup call to bring changes he and others in Congress have urged for years.

“These unsustainable practices are a waste of taxpayer money and jeopardize the health and safety of wild horses across the West,” he said.

BLM officials said they welcomed the recommendations to help in their effort to make the program more cost-effective. Spokesman Tom Gorey said the agency “needs and wants to do a better job” managing horses, but said those advocating an end to all roundups are misguided.

“It appears that our critics want to use the report as a propaganda tool to stop gathers,” which the BLM are required to do by law, Gorey said.

“Do the American people and does Congress support changing the law so that BLM would carry out a laissez-faire management policy that would subject horses and burros to mass starvation or dehydration by letting Mother Nature work her will?” he asked in an email to The Associated Press.

Panel members said they found little scientific basis for establishing what BLM considers to be appropriate, ecologically based caps on horse numbers and even less basis for estimating the overall population itself.

“It seems that the national statistics are the product of hundreds of subjective, probably independent, judgments and assumptions by range managers and administrators,” the report said.

BLM’s current population estimate likely is anywhere from 10 percent to 50 percent short of the true level, the report said.

The number of animals at holding facilities surpassed the estimated number on the range in 10 Western states earlier this year for the first time since President Richard Nixon signed the Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

The agency averaged removing 8,000 horses from the range annually from 2002 to 2011. Last year, it spent 60 percent of its wild horse budget on holding facilities alone, more than $40 million, the committee said.

Palmer said the public traditionally adopted about 3,000 of the horses annually but that has fallen off in recent years.

“The goal would be to manage horses better on the range so that any numbers that would be taken off would be matched with the adoption demand, which is not the current case.”

Cross-posted from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20130605/us-wild-horses-independent-review/?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=politics

Montreal Gazette: Independent panel: Wild horse roundups don’t work; use fertility drugs, let nature cull herds

Wild horse mares in holding (Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

Wild horse mares in holding (Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

as seen in the Montreal Gazette, June 5, 2013

BY SCOTT SONNER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. – A scathing independent scientific review of wild horse roundups in the U.S. West concludes the government would be better off investing in widespread fertility control of the mustangs and let nature cull any excess herds instead of spending millions to house them in overflowing holding pens.

A 14-member panel assembled by the National Science Academy’s National Research Council, at the request of the Bureau of Land Management, concluded BLM’s removal of nearly 100,000 horses from the Western range over the past decade is probably having the opposite effect of its intention to ease ecological damage and reduce overpopulated herds.

By stepping in prematurely when food and water supplies remain adequate, and with most natural predators long gone, the land management agency is producing artificial conditions that ultimately serve to perpetuate population growth, the committee said Wednesday in a 451-page report recommending more emphasis on the use of contraceptives and other methods of fertility control.

The research panel sympathized with BLM’s struggle to find middle ground between horse advocates and ranchers who see the animals as unwelcome competitors for forage. It noted there’s “little if any public support” for allowing harm to come to either the horses or the rangeland itself.

The report says the current method may work in the short term, but results in continually high population growth, exacerbating the long-term problem.

The American Wild Horse Preservation Fund, a national coalition of more than 50 advocacy groups, said the report makes a strong case for an immediate halt to the roundups that livestock ranchers say are necessary to protect the range and provide their sheep and cattle with a fair share of forage.

“This is a turning point for the decades-long fight to protect America’s mustangs,” said Neda DeMayo, president of the coalition’s Return to Freedom.

The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is among the livestock groups that have voiced support in the past for aggressive, increased use of fertility control but remain adamantly opposed to curtailing roundups. Horse advocates themselves are not united behind the idea of stepping up use of contraception on the range.

“We are grateful that the National Academy of Science recommends stopping cruel roundups, but we challenge their decision to control alleged overpopulation like a domestic herd with humans deciding who survives and breeds,” said Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs in San Francisco.

The conflict has raged for decades but has intensified in recent years for cash-strapped federal land managers with skyrocketing bills for food and corrals and no room for incoming animals.

BLM officials said they welcomed the recommendations in their effort to make the program more cost-effective but had no immediate reaction to the criticisms.

“Our agency is committed to protecting and managing these iconic animals for current and future generations,” Deputy Director Neil Kornze said.

Compounding the problem is a horse census system and rangeland assessment practice rife with inconsistencies and poor documentation, the committee said, noting a previous NRC committee charged with the same task reached the same conclusion 30 years ago.

Panel members said they found little scientific basis for establishing what BLM considers to be appropriate, ecologically based caps on horse numbers and even less basis for estimating the overall population itself.

“It seems that the national statistics are the product of hundreds of subjective, probably independent, judgments and assumptions by range managers and administrators,” the report said.

BLM’s current population estimate likely is anywhere from 10 per cent to 50 per cent short of the true level, the report said.

The questions about the estimates come after a BLM report said the number of animals at holding facilities surpassed the estimated number on the range in 10 Western states earlier this year for the first time since President Richard Nixon signed the Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

The agency averaged removing 8,000 horses from the range annually from 2002 to 2011. Last year, it spent 60 per cent of its wild horse budget on holding facilities alone, more than $40 million, the committee said.

Palmer said the public traditionally adopted about 3,000 of the horses annually but that has fallen off in recent years.

“The goal would be to manage horses better on the range so that any numbers that would be taken off would be matched with the adoption demand, which is not the current case. The number taken off far exceeds the adoption demand.”

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/world/Independent+panel+Wild+horse+roundups+dont+work+fertility/8484302/story.html#ixzz2VO34SMgc

A dark day for native wild horses ~ National Academy of Science Report published

Photo courtesy BLM

Photo courtesy BLM

The NAS report has been released and is found here.

 

Statement from Anne Novak, Executive Director of Protect Mustangs

We are grateful that the National Academy of Science (NAS) recommends stopping cruel roundups  but we challenge their decision to control alleged overpopulation like a domestic herd with humans deciding who survives and breeds.

NAS deploys the BLM overpopulation myth to push EPA restricted use PESTICIDES (Immunoconraceptive PZP & GonaCon®) as well as sterilization on Native #WildHorses.

This is part of the plan named after Ken Salazar, the previous Secretary of Interior, whose mission was to wipe wild horses off public land, stockpile them at taxpayer expense and send many into the alleged slaughter pipeline.

The Salazar Plan began in 2009 -10, despite public outrage. Its focus was to remove wild horses and burros to facilitate the energy and water grab on public land.

The renewables market abroad is hot. Fracking and exporting natural gas through pipelines across the West is causing environmental damage. Wild horses would require mitigation so they lobbied for the BLM to get rid of them.

The Salazar Plan feigns an overpopulation crisis to remove most native wild horses from their legally designated ranges and stockpile them in government holding. They are torn from their homes, families and at risk of being sold to probable slaughter.

Overpopulation is a MYTH used to ruin native wild horses. There are maybe 18,000 wild horses left on more than 31.6 million acres of public land designated for their use. They are reproducing at a higher rate because nature knows they face extinction from the gluttony of roundups since 2009. Immunocontraceptives are risky. Sterilizing them is wrong. Put the 50,000 in holding back on the range so they can fill their niche in the ecosystem.

We are witnessing the final attack on the indigenous horse and it must be halted.

Man-made fertility control will domesticate wild horses and wipe them out. Survival of the fittest is Mother Nature’s way to select who breeds to protect the herd.

Domestic horses are manipulated by man. Their weaknesses are evident as a result.

We ask the NAS, the BLM and certain members of the advocate community, “Do you really think man can choose who breeds better than nature? Do you realize that by supporting chemical fertility control many will be sterilized and loose their place in the herd?”  What happens when they all die off?  Will you then realize they were never overpopulated?”

# # #

 

Statement from Jesica Johnston, MA Environmental Planning

The National Academy of Science’s findings clearly state that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has failed to provide accurate estimates of the nation’s population of wild horses and burros. Therefore, the NAS cannot conclude that a state of over-population exists and or provide a recommendation for artificial management considerations such as “rigorous fertility controls” to control populations for which the complex population dynamics are currently unknown. However, the NAS is recommending science-based methods to improve current management practices, population estimates, and the overall health of the ecosystem which could provide key information toward sustainable and effective management that could prevent the removal of wild horses and burros from our public lands.

# # #

Dead wild horse (Photo © Craig Downer)

Dead wild horse (Photo © Craig Downer)

Statement from Craig C. Downer, M.S., Wildlife Biologist, Wild Horse Expert, Author and Founder of the Andean Tapir Fund

BLM plans to use “aggressive birth control” to prevent the expansion of the wild horse/burro populations that remain. Chief among the drugs to be used is PZP (porcine zona pellucida). This injected drug covers the eggs, or ova, of mares, preventing sperm from fertilizing them. It is experimental, however, and has some questionable effects upon the horses themselves, both individually and collectively. For example, its effect leads to mares’ repeatedly recycling into estrous, thus stimulating stallions to repeatedly mount the treated mares — all to no avail. This frustrating situation causes much stress among individuals of both sexes and a general disruption of the social order, both within bands and, as a consequence, within the herds themselves.

Other unintended consequences of PZP are out-of-season births occurring after PZP’s effect has worn off after a year or two.  These births have been observed during the colder late autumn and winter seasons (e.g. Pryor Mountains her by G. Kathrens) and their un-timeliness causes suffering and death among both foals and their mothers.

# # #

The underside of a skull, showing palate and teeth, of Equus scotti is seen in this photo provided by the San Bernardino County Museum. The remains of the Ice Age horse were found for the first time at Tule Springs in Nevada.

The underside of a skull, showing palate and teeth, of Equus scotti is seen in this photo provided by the San Bernardino County Museum. The remains of the Ice Age horse were found for the first time at Tule Springs in Nevada.

Statement from Debbie Coffey, Director of Wild Horse Affairs, Wild Horse Freedom Federation

PZP and other fertility control should NOT be used on non-viable herds.   Most of the remaining herds of wild horses are non-viable.  The NAS and any advocacy groups that are pushing PZP and other fertility control have not carefully studied all of the caveats in Dr. Gus Cothran’s genetic analysis reports along with the remaining population of each herd of wild horses.
# # #

 

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

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

Statement from Jennie Barron, Director of Wild Horse Hub Central

1. Wild horse mares that are darted with PZP can become permanently sterile, making the viability of the herd impossible as the older mares die, there are no mares to have foals.

2.  If the Lead Mares are darted with PZP, they can become sterile, making the family herd disorganized; the stallion does not understand why she won’t foal; and she may leave the family herd she knows because of the disorientated. This has happened with older mares as they are not able to foal and they are the lead mares, leaving no mare to teach them where to graze, find minerals, water, or when to do certain things that wild horse herd families do.

3.  The mares who are pregnant after they have been darted with PZP can and do foal out of season. This means that they can not keep enough milk for the foal; and the winter weather is too harsh for the foal to survive. Prognosis: death.

4.  Considering the consequences stated above, this is too risky a business to lay at the feet of an already depleted wild horse herd. It must be taken into consideration that PZP is just as dangerous as a mountain lion, it is permanent, and it is deadly.

# # #

(Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

(Photo © Anne Novak, all rights reserved.)

Statement from Carl Mrozek, Filmmaker of Saving Ass in America

To its credit the extensive review of the BLM’s failed Wild Horse & Burro Program criticized the agency for relying primarily on aggressive culling of wild herds primarily via helicopter roundups which “perpetuate the overpopulation problem by maintaining the number of animals at levels below the carrying capacity of the land, protecting the rangeland and the horse population in the short term but resulting in continually high population growth and exacerbating the long-term problem” the National Academy of Sciences” declared in a preliminary press release.  What they’re referring to is the principle of compensatory reproduction by heavily-stressed wildlife populations needing to rebound from population declines due to many factors.

Unfortunately, they quickly recommend a different intervention as a better solution without considering the ‘ do nothing”  or ‘placebo’ option which is an integral component of every credible field trial for pharmaceutical and other ‘treatment plans. Had they searched for examples of herds which have undergone minimal or no culling in the past decade or so, they would have found multiple examples of herds which appear to have achieved homeostasis (equilibrium) or something approaching it, naturally, i.e. without BLM-sponsored roundups or fertility treatments.

At least two mustang herds I’ve observed and filmed in Nevada and Arizona over the past 5-7 years meet those criteria, and some burro herds as well. The important point to remember, is that all of those herds cost the taxpayer virtually zilch to maintain in the wild. This contrasts with the cash-intensive hands-on management strategy revolving around helicopter roundups, warehousing of captured animals for life in long term and short term corrals and feedlots, as well as the fertility treatments, -the least costly and disruptive of these predominant management methodologies.

The bottom line is that sometimes we can do more, and do better, by doing less, or by letting Mother Nature do what she does best: sow and weed.

Hopefully, this option is explored somewhere in the freshly released report, and will be actively considered by the new hierarchy at BLM and the Dept. of Interior, and with much more intensive collaboration with wild equine afiscionados  committed to the survival of these herds in the wild as intended by the Free Ranging Wild Horse & Burro Act of 1971.

# # #

 

PM Hazard Foter Public domain Marked Sterilize

 

Statement from  Jaime Jackson, Executive Director and the founder of the Association for the Advancement of Natural Horse Care Practices

“Whether wild horses are sterilized or chemically “contraceptized”, at stake are the forces of natural selection being usurped by what will be tantamount to a program of “domestication eugenics” — humans determining who gets to breed and who doesn’t in wild horse country. If that door is opened, we will have turned drug companies and profiteers loose on our wild horses. We now know with certainty that such veterinary/medical interventions cause laminitis, colic, and other types of metabolic breakdown and disease. More drugs will then be needed. Thus, more profits will be pocketed. A brutal cycle is unleashed that causes harm to any horse, wild or domesticated.

“…What we are talking about here is the de facto domestication and subsequent contamination and destruction of America’s wild, free-roaming horses. It is bad enough what we’re also doing to another 51,000 who are captured, and stand idly by at tax payers expense in government holding corrals and private “preserves”? Support the misguided’s push to turn wild horses into pathological parodies of their personal horses? No thanks!

“The AANHCP offers another vision for genuine wild horse preservation that clear thinking people should be able to understand. This vision will do all things that eugenics can never do. And humanely so without compromising natural selection or burdening the tax payer. So, if you really want to help our wild horses, say no to the Obama Administration and the National Academy of Science’s “zero them out” for the corporate land grab, say no to [any] eugenics visions, and no to the drug companies and PZP (and other) pharmaceutical patent holders hungering for the ovaries, testes, and DNA of our America’s wild, free-roaming horses in the name of profiteering at the animal’s genetic expense.

# # #

Sam (#3275) is from California's High Rock area (Photo by BLM)

Sam (#3275) is from California’s High Rock area (Photo by BLM)

Statement from Valerie Price, Biological Researcher

PZP is a pathogen derived immunocontraceptive vaccine, it SHOULD be intended for use ONLY in captive animals. PZP stands for Porcine Zona Pellucida. This, and other immunocontraceptive vaccines are derived from pathogenic bacterias. PZP contains Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the organism that causes tuberculosis in humans and many species of livestock, including cattle. The bacterial component of the vaccine is supposed to be a killed form, but due to the potential for bad lots causing live tuberculosis to be transmitted to humans and animals, and due to concern over the possibility of contaminating the food web, PZP would have been unlikely to recieve approval by the FDA. Instead, the EPA approved PZP as a pesticide, leaving public health professionals in ignorance of the biological nature of this vaccine. It remains unclear whether the restrictions for use allow for any PZP treated animals to be released into the wild. While such a release could pose an ongoing threat to public health for both humans and animals, the effectiveness of PZP as an immunocontraceptive vaccine is negated by only 10% immigration or emmigration into treated herds, according to a study conducted by Texas Parks and Wildlife with captive, white tail deer.

A recent clinical study in cats treated with PZP found a high percentage of injection site abscesses. Rumours of abscesses occurring in horses treated with PZP by the BLM has raised the spectre of possible bad lots of vaccine already having been used. Human exposure to tuberculosis could possibly be a concern and it is recommended that all BLM agents and equine advocates who have come in contact with the vaccine, or with treated animals, be tested for tuberculosis, to ensure the bio-security of the public.

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PM Gov Land Map.jpg.jpe

Statement from Lisa LeBlanc, Independent Researcher & Equine Advocate:
We can not depend on ‘estimates’ of on-the-range populations or the accuracy of ‘reports’ of nearly 50,000 in captivity; neither history nor biology support the Bureau’s claims. There is a supposition that wild equine advocates have no notion of the enormity of wild or captive wild populations due to a ‘sympathetic’ response, but we can only base our data on the information we’re given, and the knowledge we already possess. For example:

Absence of any data indicating mortality, either on-the-range or in holding.

Denial of ‘reciprocal’ breeding, that is, the animal’s biological imperative to replace what’s been taken.

Absence of knowledge of specific herds and their behaviors, key factors in determining accuracy of foaling rates, which often fall far below the National average of 20%.

On-the-range herd management must be as accurate as possible, visually documented for Public use and managed through science and study. How can effective management occur if the basis of all aspects is ‘estimate’?

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Check back for more statements from wild horse and burro influencers. We are updating this page.

 

Protect Mustangs calls for nationwide peaceful protests to stop the roundups


Protect Mustangs Calls for Peaceful Protests to STOP the Roundups and STOP the BLM from selling wild indigenous horses to kill-buyers

It’s time to organize peaceful protests (large & small) and candlelight vigils so NO MORE wild horses will die from roundups, be tortured by the helicopters or sold to kill-buyers for delicacy meat abroad. Spread awareness in your communities and let your friends, family and neighbors know they can contact Congress if they don’t like their tax dollars used to fund cruel roundups.

Ask Congress to find a way to work WITH the wild indigenous horses to create biodiversity on the land–a win-win for wild horses, livestock, landowners, tourism and energy development on the New Energy Frontier.

“Show me a real independent headcount before we talk about fertility control,” says Anne Novak, executive director for Protect Mustangs. “There aren’t enough wild horses left on the range any more. The BLM will continue to roundup wild horses to treat mustangs with fertility control. Roundups have been deadly so far. Roundups are NOT the answer. Biodiversity is the answer.”

Join us to call for a moratorium on roundups.

“More than 52,000 indigenous wild horses have been captured and are in government holding,” explains Novak. “Selling ‘excess’ wild horses to kill-buyers is a heinous act and must stop now as well as the gluttony of roundups.”

If you don’t like the cruelty and deaths at roundups contact your senators and congresspeople and request they stop it now. Congress approves funding for roundups. YOUR tax dollars are paying to wipe out America’s wild indigenous horses.

 

Links of interest:

AP reports & Protect Mustangs speaks out against the gluttony of roundups: 3,500 Wild horses going to loose their freedom starting October 1st Federal roundup of wild horses burros starts today http://www.lvrj.com/news/federal-roundup-for-wild-horses-burros-starts-today-172056591.html

ProPublica reports: All the missing horses: What happened to the wild horses Tom Davis bought from the government  http://www.propublica.org/article/missing-what-happened-to-wild-horses-tom-davis-bought-from-the-govt

Brutal report for day 1 of Nevada’s Antelope roundup. Two horses die. AWHPC video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ne3ppBnbr7g&feature=youtu.be

Day 3 of Antelope roundup. Foals are terrorized by the helicopter and chased too long on their tender hooves. AWHPC video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9LDAwZqyU&feature=youtu.be

Why are empty stock trailers pulling into BLM holding facilities when they are closed on Sunday at sunset?

AP reports: Feds plan roundup for 3,500 wild horses, burros

Helicopter Chasing Wild Horses-Calico (Photo © Cat Kindsfather)

Cross-posted from Madison.com

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Federal officials plan to round up thousands of wild horses and burros across six Western states starting Monday.

The roundups will take place through February on drought-stricken range lands in Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

Contractors for the Bureau of Land Management will use helicopters plus bait- and water-trapping methods to corral 3,500 wild horses and burros, officials said.

In addition, more than 900 other horses will be captured for birth control injections and returned to range lands.

The government is already holding 47,000 horses, most of them on green pasture in the Midwest. Bureau of Land Management officials said it was a popular misconception that they send horses to slaughterhouses. The animals are protected under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.

A small number of horses are put up for adoption, but most horses are kept until their final days in permanent corrals, officials said.

Owners of adopted horses must swear under the penalty of law that they do not plan to send horses to slaughter, said Heather Emmons, a BLM spokeswoman in Reno, Nev.

The BLM’s ability to care for ever-rising numbers of wild horses is a decision left to Congress, she said. The BLM says there are 11,000 more wild horses roaming public lands across the West than belong there.

In all, there are 37,300 wild horses and burros on public range lands across 10 Western states, the government says.

Officials said they have no choice but to cull wild horse herds. With virtually no predators, they say, the herds can double in population every four years.

Horse advocacy groups have been critical of government roundups and what they call the rough treatment of horses gathered up.

“They aren’t placing enough wild horses through adoption so they need to put a freeze on roundups,” said Anne Novak, executive director of Berkeley, Calif.-based group Protect Mustangs. “Killing them is not a solution. Selling them to slaughter is not a solution. They need to be responsible for their actions and stop the gluttony of roundups at taxpayer expense.”

BLM officials say comments suggesting they kill horses are irresponsible.

“We do not send horses to slaughterhouses,” said Chris Hanefeld, a BLM spokesman in Ely, Nev. “You can quote me.”

Several multi-month roundups will get under way across Nevada starting Monday. Officials plan to hold those horses at pens at Palomino Valley near Reno or at Utah’s Gunnison Correctional Facility until they can be prepared for adoption or sent to long-term pasture in the Midwest.

In Utah, one 400-horse roundup is planned for the Cedar Mountain herd, known as “Utah’s Rainbow Herd” because of its high number of pintos, roans, buckskins and grays. The herd is thought to be related to the mounts that the Standard Horse and Mule Co. supplied the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1800s.

Officials say they will release 250 of the Cedar Mountain horses after injecting them with a contraceptive. Roundups also will take place in two other Utah locations.

Elsewhere:

— In New Mexico, officials say 102 horses will be rounded up — and 66 later released — on the Carson National Forest. Another roundup will take place for 365 horses in the high desert of the Jiicarilla Wild Horse Territory. Ninety of those horses will be returned to the land after fertility injections.

— In Oregon, 105 horses will be removed from the Murderer’s Creek management area near Mount Vernon. None will be returned.

— In Idaho, 274 horses will be captured — and 137 released — on national forest land along the East Fork of the Salmon River. The BLM says this herd is comprised of a hardy, genetically diverse stock roaming across more than 240 square miles of mountains.

— In Wyoming, 810 horses will be rounded up — and 580 released — near Riverton. Another roundup is planned for 90 horses in the McCullough Peaks region near Cody. Twenty of those horses will be released to the range.

This is of the government’s most widespread roundups. Horse advocates say the practice should be scaled back.

“Rounding up only the number of wild horses they can adopt out is a viable solution that makes fiscal sense,” Novak said.

Cross-posted from: : http://host.madison.com/test/webfeeds/travel/feds-plan-roundup-for-wild-horses-burros/article_8ecaeacd-e009-5d3a-883f-91f179d5fc59.html#ixzz282cURQIr

AP Reports: BLM wild-horse roundup in Nevada to resume

Cross posted from the Las Vegas Sun

The Associated Press

Saturday, June 30, 2012  6:55 p.m.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will resume a roundup of wild horses about 150 miles northeast of Reno on Sunday, nearly two weeks after a federal judge temporarily halted it due to foaling season.

With the end of foaling season Saturday, BLM officials said, they plan to begin removing about 200 horses from the northern portion of the Jackson Mountains Herd Management Area.

U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben on June 20 granted part of a temporary restraining order sought by horse protection advocates who say the BLM’s own rules prohibit helicopter roundups during foaling season.

He allowed the roundup to continue in the southern portion of the Jackson Mountains because BLM had proven an emergency due to drought. An emergency roundup there began June 8 and ended June 22 with the removal of 424 horses.

But he said that emergency didn’t stretch to the northern half of the target area covering a total of more than 400 square miles east of the Black Rock Desert. He said no helicopters could be used there at least until foaling season ended June 30.

The rest of the roundup in the southern portion of the Jackson Mountains is expected to last about two weeks.

The roundup, which will involve the use of a helicopter to drive horses for miles to corrals, is needed because of a lack of forage and water on the range due to the drought, BLM officials said.

“Gathering the remainder of the excess animals in the northern portion will greatly assist the rangelands from a forage and water standpoint and will reduce the competition among the wild horses, permitted livestock and wildlife,” said Gene Seidlitz, BLM Winnemucca District manager.

Horses removed from the range are taken to the BLM’s Palomino Valley center north of Reno, where they’re put up for adoption or sent to long-term pastures in the Midwest.

The roundup in the southern portion of the Jackson Mountains resulted in the “gather-related” death of only one horse and the “non-gather-related” deaths of six horses due to pre-existing health conditions, BLM spokeswoman Heather Jasinski said.

“We put them down in the field at the trap site or temporary holding corrals,” she said, adding another three horses died after being transported to the Palomino Valley facility.

Anne Novak, executive director of California-based Protect Mustangs, said the animals probably would be alive today had they not been rounded up.

“Curiously, these wild horses were surviving on the range and only died at the hands of the BLM after being captured,” she said. “We want transparency and request that all deaths be counted as roundup-related when they die or are euthanized within 30 days of the roundup.”

The helicopter roundup puts pregnant mares and tiny foals “seriously at risk,” Novak added.

“Just because it’s July 1 doesn’t mean foals aren’t being born,” she said. “Running foals with delicate hooves for miles is inhumane … Helicopter roundups are terrible. They traumatize the wild horses when they stampede them for miles.”

Nevada is home to about half of the estimated 37,000 wild horses on public lands in 10 Western states.

 

Link to the article: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/jun/30/nv-wild-horses-1st-ld-writethru/

AP: Helicopter roundup halted temporarily in the north while the roundup continues in the south

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal judge in Nevada has temporarily banned the Bureau of Land Management from using helicopters to gather many of the hundreds of mustangs targeted in a roundup that’s already under way about 150 miles northeast of Reno.

U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben granted part of a temporary restraining order late Wednesday. Horse protection advocates who sought the order say the BLM’s own rules prohibit helicopter roundups during foaling season.

McKibben says he’ll allow the activity to continue in the southern half of the Jackson Mountains because BLM has proven there’s an emergency due to drought. But he says that emergency doesn’t stretch to the northern half of the gather area covering hundreds of square miles.

He says no helicopters can be used there at least until the foaling season ends July 1.

Cross-posted from My News 4: http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/Judge-stops-copters-in-horse-roundups/uSGq0J-mX06BPAOTR1dnow.cspx