Yellow journalism in Wall Street Journal pushing pesticide as “birth control” on wild horses?

Pm PZP Darts

Made with slaughterhouse pig ovaries PZP is dangerous to herd health

To:  Jacob Bunge, Wall Street Journal

Dear Mr. Bunge:  Regarding your article — They Shoot Horses (With Birth-Control Darts), Don’t They? — here are facts to correct the lies and disinformation you have been told.

Sting of the dart:  If it were only a sting!  Fact: Many wild horses develop an abscess at the dart-injection site.

Bogus ballooning population:  Wild horses are a slow-growth species when it comes to reproduction.  The gestation period lasts 11 months, and a mare produces just 1 foal.  While an independent study of BLM’s records confirmed an almost 20% birth rate, that study also found that 50% of foals perish before their first birthday.  Thus, the effective increase in population from new foals is just 10%.  But adult mustangs also die.  They succumb to illness, injury, and predation at a rate of at least 5% a year.  So, what is a normal herd-growth rate?  About 5%, probably less.

Fraudulent figures:  The Big Lie of “overpopulation” is the pretext for BLM’s war against the wild horses, and the wild horses are prisoners of that war.  It’s BLM’s version of the “Shock Doctrine,” wherein BLM concocted a phony crisis to push through policies antithetical to the Wild Horse Act against the will of The People.  There is no overpopulation except on BLM’s falsified spreadsheets.  Reviews of BLM’s population-estimates reveal biologically-impossible herd-growth rates.  For instance, in Utah, BLM claimed that the Conger herd grew from 156 horses to 285 horses in one year, an 82.7% increase, to which BLM tacked on another 20% by counting the unborn foals — the fetuses.  In Wyoming, BLM declared that the Salt Wells Creek herd grew from 29 horses to 616 horses in 6 months (yes, months), a 2,024% increase.  BLM’s “data” is chock-full of such preposterous growth-estimates.  So, when you hear talk of how the wild horses are reproducing “exponentially,” that’s a sure sign that BLM has falsified the data.

Wild horses are underpopulated:  Per the guidelines of BLM’s own geneticist, 83% of the herds suffer from arbitrary management levels (AMLs) set below minimum-viable population (MVP).  Low AMLs enable BLM to claim an “excess” in herds whose numbers, even if they were over AML, would still not reach MVP.  So being “over AML” is meaningless as well as misleading.  But the low AMLs, combined with falsified, biologically-impossible herd-growth estimates, give BLM an excuse to scapegoat those few wild horses for the range-damage done by the millions of livestock that overgraze the public lands.

Whose grass?  In fact, it is the livestock who are eating the wild horses’ grass.  Some background — the dedicated wild-horse habitats cover only 11% of BLM land.  Cattle are allowed to graze about 5 times that much, including within all but 4 of the wild-horse herd areas.  Yet in those official wild-horse habitats where livestock are given allotments, the mustangs are restricted to 18% of the forage while the cattle get 82%.

Bogus billion:  The wild horses being held in captivity are the “legacy” of former Secretary Salazar’s equid cleansing era, during which he had thousands of wild horses removed from the range.  However, the mortality rate of captive wild horses is about 8% a year.  So, obviously, since they are not reproducing, their numbers will steadily drop, showing that BLM’s billion-dollar figure for their care is just another Lie.  The Wild Horse and Burro program, if run per the minimum-feasible management-model specified by Law, would not cost much at all.  BLM does not lack for resources.  There are 22 million acres of legally-designated wild-horse herd areas — which BLM previously took away for expediency — that can be reopened as habitat.  The horses now held captive can be released to those areas, where the cost of their upkeep will be $0.

Adoptions:  Have not declined.  It’s just that BLM used to count sales-for-slaughter as “adoptions.”  Now, only “forever-family” placements qualify.  However, wild horses are not homeless horses.  They have a home — where they belong — on the range.

Persecuted predators:  Contrary to BLM’s disinformation campaign, wild horses do have natural predators — mountain lions, bears, wolves, and coyotes.  But those predators are persecuted mercilessly.  The government exterminates what the hunters don’t shoot.  However, the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros — Wild Horse Annie’s foundation — notes that even without predators, wild-horse herds self-regulate their numbers, with population-growth in the single digits.

Science and Conservation Center:  Is the manufacturer and distributor of PZP / ZonaStat-H.  Thus, its information is not impartial.  PZP is a registered pesticide that was approved by the EPA for use on wild horses and burros “where they have become a nuisance.”   However, PZP was registered without the standard testing requirements.  There is currently a lawsuit challenging the legitimacy of the registration, especially in light of studies that have disclosed PZP’s many adverse side-effects.

Shooting wild horses:  PZP is a potent weapon in BLM’s arsenal — for its biological warfare against the wild horses.  But birth control for wild horses is unnecessary because there is no overpopulation.  Why would we contracept herds whose population is inadequate for genetic viability?  Why would we contracept herds based on falsified figures?  Logically we wouldn’t and ethically we shouldn’t.  Further, if PZP were going to stop the roundups, it would have done so long ago for the Pryor Mountain herd, which has been darted with PZP for nearly two decades.  Yet roundups have been scheduled there like clockwork every 3 years and, in spite of intensifying the PZP treatments recently, BLM tried to implement yearly roundups until stopped by a Friends of Animals lawsuit.

PZP — the anti-vaccine:  PZP causes auto-immune disease.  PZP “works” by tricking the immune system into producing antibodies that target and attack the ovaries.  The antibodies cause ovarian dystrophy, oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries), ovarian cysts, destruction of oocytes in growing follicles, and depletion of resting follicles.  The mare’s estrogen-levels drop markedly as PZP destroys her ovaries.  Ultimately, PZP sterilizes her.  Because PZP stimulates the immune system, it ironically works “best” — sterilizes faster — in mares that have strong immune-function.  Such mares respond to the anti-vaccine and produce quantities of PZP antibodies that destroy their ovaries.  But, conversely, PZP may not work at all in mares whose immune-function is weak or depressed.  Those mares fail to respond to PZP.  They keep getting pregnant and producing foals who, like their dams, suffer from weak immune-function.  So, the PZP pesticide works against the very horses that Nature has best equipped for survival-against-disease while favoring and selecting for the immuno-compromised.  Worse yet, radioimmunoassay tests indicated that PZP antibodies are transferred from mother to female offspring via the placenta and milk.

Health-risks to volunteers:  As for the well-meaning volunteers who dart wild horses, EPA’s Pesticide Fact Sheet for PZP advises that Personal Protective Equipment requirements include long sleeved shirt and long pants, gloves and shoes plus socks to mitigate occupational exposure.  EPA specifically warns that pregnant women must not be involved in handling or injecting ZonaStat-H, and that all women should be aware that accidental self-injection may cause infertility.  Unfortunately, PZP’s manufacturer has misrepresented PZP as “so safe it is boring.”   But research shows that PZP is a powerful hormone disruptor.  Further, consider the magnitude of the risk — the PZP-in-question is a horse-size dose.  If volunteers think PZP is safe, they will be less likely to protect themselves from this dangerous pesticide.  Indeed, please note that in the photo accompanying your article, Ms. Bolbol is not in compliance with EPA’s safety-precautions.  She is not wearing the required protective gear.

Mengelian experiments:  Now, BLM wants to perform diabolical sterilization experiments on these equine POWs to develop a Final Solution to the “problem”.  BLM is handing out $11 million for sterilization-studies.  The grant money is surely intended to buy loyalty and silence potential criticism from academia.  Plus, BLM, a corrupt agency, gets to cloak itself in respectability by affiliating with prestigious universities.

The ugly side of PZP is humane-washed by feel-good features that describe it with humor, sweetness and light.  However, the true story of PZP is one of scandal, whose deceit and danger — to both horses and humans — must be exposed.  That is the story that needs to be reported.

Sincerely,

Marybeth Devlin

 Marybeth Devlin is a member of the Protect Mustangs Advisory Board and a member of the Alliance for Wild Horses and Burros
This mare waits in the alley before being led into the chute where her age and body condition will be checked. After being treated with the PZP fertility control agent, this mare will be released back to the Owyhee HMA.

This mare waits in the alley before being led into the chute where her age and body condition will be checked. After being treated with the PZP fertility control agent, this mare will be released back to the Owyhee HMA.

Protect Mustangs is a 501c3 nonprofit organization who protects and preserves native and wild horses.




Watch a newborn wild foal near Carson City

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for Protect Mustangs

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for Protect Mustangs

Wild and free is their world

Without Protect Mustangs’ and FoA’s successful 2015 lawsuit protecting the Pine Nut Herd from the roundup and forced drugging with pesticide PZP, this little foal and her band would have been chased by helicopters for miles. . . If she wasn’t abandoned then she would be ripped from her home on the range forever to live and nurse in a dirty pen with no shelter.

A few months later she would be separated from her mama. This would be too early for a wild foal to be weaned. She would be separated from her mama forever at that point with no one to comfort her when she’s sad or scared.

We are very grateful she was born in the wild.

(Video by John Humphrey)

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




Comments submitted to BLM to Protect the Pine Nut Wild Horses (Carson City, Nevada)

PM MArilyn © Eve Arnold Magnum Photos

To:

John Axtell  (PineNutHorses@blm.gov)

Wild Horse and Burro Specialist

Carson City District Office

5665 Morgan Mill Road

Carson City, NV 89701

The Environmental Assessment for the Pine Nut Mountain wild horse management plan near Carson City, Nevada must take into account this herd management area (HMA) is extremely accessible to the public and international tourists with easy access from the San Francisco Bay Area as well as from the Reno International Airport and therefore the Pine Nut HMA must be preserved with the maximum level of wild horses as an educational public sanctuary on public land. The maximum level of wild horses should be determined through rigorous scientific study during a 10 year moratorium on roundups, fertility control and human intervention. Good science must prevail to ensure America’s Pine Nut wild horses–made famous in John Huston’s film THE MISFITS starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe–will not be wiped out due to human intervention resulting in a lack of adaptability to survive climate change, etc.

Many photographers, poets, artists and filmmakers such as myself and our supporters rely on the Pine Nut HMA for accessibility to real wild horses on public land. We seek out wild horses to observe their natural behavior, beauty and inspiration. We don’t want to see sterile groups of wild horses nor those given pesticides ruining their bodies, natural behaviors who are part of an on the range breeding program with a “one foal” policy. We want the real deal, period

We represent thousands of supporters and ask that you do the following:

  • Halt helicopter and other removals to manage the population on the range utilizing reserve design, holistic land management with predation. Predators must not be killed but must fill their niche in the ecological balance of the Pine Nut HMA.
  • Move back into the HMA any alleged “nuisance” and other wild horses that are residing outside the HMA in areas that are not managed for wild horse habitat or that contribute to public safety concerns such as property damage and vehicle collisions. Conduct a study with a wild horse group to find and implement solutions to keep them inside the HMA.
  • Ensure that wild horses are not fenced off from water at the river.
  • Wild horses are not pests and therefore no pesticides should ever be used on native wild horses. PZP is dangerous: http://protectmustangs.org/?p=8749

“The old hypothesis — that PZP merely blocks sperm attachment — has been disproved.

Kaur & Prabha (2014) found that the infertility brought on by PZP is ” … a consequence of ovarian dystrophy rather than inhibition of sperm-oocyte interaction.” They reported thatPZP’s antibodies induce ovarian dystrophy, oophoritis (inflammation of the ovaries), destruction of oocytes in all growing follicles, and depletion of resting follicles.

Despite all the hype about PZP being non-hormonal, the manufacturer himself knew that it had an adverse hormonal effect — significantly-lowered estrogen. In 1992, he reported that ” … three consecutive years of PZP treatment may interfere with normal ovarian function as shown by markedly depressed oestrogen secretion.” Thus, PZP is an endocrine disruptor.

Worse yet, Sacco et al. (1981) found that PZP antibodies are transferred from mother to young via the placenta and milk. The transferred antibodies cross-react with and bind to the zonae pellucidae of female offspring. This is bad news because BLM regularly administers PZP to pregnant and lactating mares, who transfer the destructive antibodies to their filly-foals. Thus, the fillies get their first treatment with PZP in utero, while nursing, or both.

Nettles (1997) found an association between PZP and stillbirths. In 2015, the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs and Burros reported that 7 mares previously treated with PZP, when taken off it, were able to get pregnant. However, 6 of those 7 mares — that is, 86 percent — produced foals that were stillborn. All other ISPMB mares that had not been previously injected with PZP successfully birthed healthy foals. Environmental and other conditions were identical. The only variable was PZP. Meanwhile, over on the East Coast, the Corolla herd, long-managed with PZP, has recently experienced birth defects among its newborns.

Gray & Cameron (2010) questioned the supposed benefit of PZP-sterilized mares living much longer than their normal life expectancy, and and Knight & Rubenstein (2014) warned of unintended consequences of PZP’s ironic effect of extended longevity. Ultra-elderly mares take up scarce slots within AML-restricted herds. They consume resources but no longer contribute to the gene-pool. It is detrimental to a population’s genetic viability to carry significant numbers of sterile herd-members way-beyond their normal life-span. Meanwhile, those few foals that are born have to be removed to achieve AML because they’re more adoptable.

Ransom et al. (2013) conducted a longitudinal study of three herds currently being managed by PZP — Little Book Cliffs, McCullough Peaks, and Pryor Mountain. They found that the the birthing season lasted 341 days — nearly year-round — which puts the life of mares and foals in jeopardy. Nature designed the equine birthing-season to occur in Spring, not year-round, and certainly not in the dead of Winter.

Ransom et al. also found that, after suspension of PZP, there was a delay lasting 411.3 days (1.13 years) per each year-of-treatment before mares recovered their fertility. They warned: “Humans are increasingly attempting to manage the planet’s wildlife and habitats with new tools that are often not fully understood. The transient nature of the immunocontraceptive PZP can manifest into extraordinary persistence of infertility with repeated vaccinations, and ultimately can alter birth phenology in horses. This persistence may be of benefit for managing overabundant wildlife, but also suggests caution for use in small refugia or breeding facilities maintained for repatriation of rare species.”

PZP’s manufacturer conceded that it could take up to eight years to recover fertility after just three consecutive PZP treatments.

The study on PZP by Knight & Rubenstein (2014) found that ” … three or more consecutive years of treatment or administration of the first dose before sexual maturity may have triggered infertility in some mares.” These findings are particularly troubling. They suggest that, actually, only two consecutive PZP-treatments may be reversible. Except, that is, in the case of fillies who have not yet reached puberty — they could be sterilized by just one injection.

PZP’s manufacturer was quoted describing PZP as “so safe it is boring.” Independent research shows otherwise — that PZP is a powerful hormone disruptor that could sterilize a female with just one injection. If staff and volunteers believe that PZP is boringly safe, they will be less likely to protect themselves adequately from this dangerous pesticide. Indeed, many of the volunteers are women and, therefore, at risk. Accidental self-injection with PZP could cause them to suffer diseased ovaries and depressed estrogen-levels — in addition to infertility and, potentially, sterility.Consider the magnitude of the risk — the PZP-in-question is a horse-size dose.” ~ Marybeth Devlin, Wild Horse Advocate

  • PZP, GonaCon, and Sterilization would ruin natural behavior that we specifically go to the Pine Nut HMA to study and enjoy. Therefore this junk must not be forced upon wild horses. No experiments. No collars. Respect their right to true freedom.
  • We request you re-evaluate AMLs to accommodate the present wild horse population without removals, making forage adjustments, if necessary, pursuant to CFR 43 C.F.R. 4710.5(a).
  • Conduct a complete headcount and public database with individual photos of every wild horse on the Pine Nut HMA with their basic information. Follow the wild horses and note all the deaths. Do you know even how many have died since birth in the past 2 years? How many have died of natural causes including predation and how many have been shot or poisoned by humans?
  • Increase penalties for killing wild horses.
  • Include a complete identification and analysis of the various causes of land degradation — AND their corresponding degree of impact — including but not limited to motorized uses (OHV, etc.), extractive uses (mining, etc.), various recreational uses, and other uses for each area, inside and outside of HMAs, analyzed in the EA.
  • The Environmental Assessment must include a complete disclosure and analysis showing the degree of disturbance that each of the following negative impacts has on the bi-state sage grouse: renewable energy projects, extractive uses, motorized vehicle uses, recreational activities, power lines, fencing and other man-made structures have on the bi-state sage grouse behaviors and habitat–mapped and analyze for the degree and range (circumference) of impact each has on bi-state sage grouse behaviors and habitat within the HMA.
  • Analyze the HMA exclusively to be used for wild horses and other wildlife to prevent the degradation of public lands within and outside the herd management area. Expand the HMA if needed to the original acreage designated to wild horses. What would the impacts be and how would the thriving natural ecological balance and Sage Grouse flourish?

We will not allow wild horses to be scapegoated for damage caused by other species or land users.

Thank you for allowing us to participate in the public process.

Sincerely,

Anne Novak

Executive Director

Protect Mustangs

Tel./Text: 415.531.8454

Anne@ProtectMustangs.org

Read about native wild horses: http://protectmustangs.org/?page_id=562 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheAnneNovak

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProtectMustangs

www.ProtectMustangs.org

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

PM Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Craig Downer

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




Red Alert: America’s wild horses are disappearing! Staff lawyer needed ASAP

It’s URGENT to hire a staff lawyer quickly so we can get the most out of the legal genius and save America’s wild horses in court before they are killed! Click here to make a tax-deductible donation today: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

The lawyer will be the only paid professional at Protect Mustangs. The rest of us are volunteers because we care so deeply about America’s wild horses and their right to freedom.

Most organizations are paying their Presidents and Executive Directors big salaries. They pay other staff good salaries and benefits too. At Protect Mustangs it’s different. We are here for the wild horses not for the paycheck.

As you know I’m deeply committed to protecting America’s mustangs so I donate all my professional time as do our other wonderful volunteers. Sadly pro-bono lawyers won’t donate enough time to take a big case through the end. And we want to pound BLM with more than one lawsuit that will really protect wild horses.

Time is running out . . .

Mustangs are being persecuted and forced off their legal land because greedy people want the resources and don’t care about wild horses. Roundups are cruel and deadly. Afterwards wild horses are traumatized even more by being ripped apart from their families that they love. Once mustangs are offered for adoption 3 times by the feds and not picked–they can be sold to slaughter because the Burns Amendment made it legal. This is heinous!

Today is a special day of giving. Please help America’ s wild horses survive and live in freedom with a tax-deductible donation to our legal fund to hire a staff lawyer. Click here to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

Protect Mustangs is a boots on the ground organization saving mustangs with a great track record of 3 out of 4 successful legal actions that have saved thousands of wild horses. (Pine Nut, Wyoming and Fort McDermitt). Now our hands are tied without our own lawyer on staff because there is so much to do!

You can change that.

If you want to make a difference and you want to save America’s wild horses then make a donation to our legal fund right now by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/mustanglaw

Together we can turn this around!

For the mustangs,
Anne

Anne Novak
Volunteer Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Protect Mustangs

P.O. Box 5661

Berkeley, Ca. 94705

Protect Mustangs is dedicated to the protection and preservation of native and wild horses

PM Pine Nut 332 90K meme

Protect Mustangs.org

Protest Horse Slaughter Med

PM WY14 Saved May 2014 Neutral Zone

H.H. The Dalai Lama wisdom

H.H. The Dalai Lama wisdom

BLM wants your data by September 22 for their Pine Nut Mountains Herd Management Area Draft Evaluation

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

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

BLM News Release Date: 09/08/15

Carson City, NV. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Sierra Front Field Office has prepared a draft Evaluation for the Pine Nut Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA) which is located south of Dayton and east of Carson City, Nevada.

This draft Evaluation describes the history of the HMA, condition of riparian areas based on functional assessments, and vegetative trends based on rangeland health assessments. The purpose of the draft Evaluation is to assess the existing conditions of the HMA, and whether the objectives of maintaining a thriving natural ecological balance in relationship to the multiple- use mandate of maintaining a healthy range for wildlife, livestock, and wild horses is being achieved.

We are requesting any data that you may have pertaining to the vegetation condition, utilization levels, riparian condition and wild horse condition by September 22, 2015.

The draft Evaluation can be found on-line at: http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field.html To be considered, the data can be sent electronically to pinenuthorses@blm.gov or submitted in person to the Carson City District Office at 5665 Morgan Mill Road. Data must be received by September 22, 2015.

For more information contact John Axtell, Wild Horse Specialist at: 775-885-6146.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.
–BLM–
Carson City 5665 Morgan Mill Road Carson City, NV 89701

Take Action to protect wild horses!

© Cynthia Smalley, all rights reserved

This stunning Pine Nut stud lives in freedom today near Carson City, NV, with his family, because the lawsuit kept his herd free and safe. There is much more work to do for the mustangs and honestly it’s getting URGENT we file quickly to protect America’s wild horses.

Please donate http://www.gofundme.com/qarve8 and share so the wild ones will have their voices heard in court. We will list everyone’s names who has donated to the legal fund on our website (unless you want to be anonymous) because you deserve to be recognized for being part of the next legal effort with your tax-deductible donations. YOU are making this happen with your donations.

America’s wild horses are counting on all of us to chip in to help them. They are so grateful for your caring, love and support. Thank you!

Many blessings,
Anne

Anne Novak
Volunteer Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

PayPal donations to Contact@ProtectMustangs.org

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

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for Protect Mustangs

Pine Nut Wild Horses ©Anne Novak for 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

Pine Nut wild horses need your help to stay free

Pine Nut wild horses between Carson City and Dayton, NV on 2/13/15

 Only 332 Pine Nut wild horses left on more than 90,000 acres of public land set aside for their principal but not exclusive use and BLM still wants to decimate the herd.

Protect Mustangs went out on the Pine Nut range, near Carson City, last Friday after the judge’s ruling and found less wild horses than we hoped we would. This herd is probably the most famous herd in Nevada from the film The Misfits, starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.

We are grateful to have found the Pine Nut wild horses living in peace and harmony on their native land. For now they escaped the cruel roundup, forced drugging, removals and tearing apart of families forever. Thanks to Friends of Animals’ & Protect Mustangs’ Pine Nut lawsuit–currently active in federal court–these wild horses won’t be shipped off to sordid holding pens without shade or shelter from the elements. Those over 10-years-old won’t be shipped to slaughter while we continue to fight in court for what’s right.

Protect the Pine Nut Herd T-Shirts are still available here https://www.booster.com/protectpinenutwildhorses so you can show your support and wear the message when you visit your Congressional Representative to update them on the wild horse crisis in the West

Wild horses must never be forced to live in zoo-like settings with humans running a PZP-based breeding program–abolishing the survival of the fittest. This would manage them to extinction.

There is a lot of misinformation and fear mongering going around about our Pine Nut lawsuit. Some Spin Dr.s are making false claims to confuse the public and their followers about the PZP issue within our lawsuit.

Here are the facts: PZP doesn’t stop roundups. The BLM would need to roundup the herd with helicopters to give them the EPA approved pesticide–made from slaughterhouse pig ovaries–known as PZP. Then they would use that as an excuse to rip 200 wild horses from their native land–never to return. Today the herd is underpopulated on the range. When nature’s balance is disrupted and there aren’t enough left to help eat the grass, then catastrophic wildfires will occur. The BLM’s chosen management number for the Pine Nut wild horses is outrageously low.

What the Spin Dr.s really don’t want you to know is that PZP sterilizes after multiple use. You might want to read the truth about the lawsuit, directly from the court and government documents below:

Here is Judge Hicks’ order granting the preliminary injunction: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PM-Pine-Nut-Order-Granting-Preliminary-Inj..pdf

This is the EPA Pesticide Fact Sheet wherein the registrant names wild horses as “PESTS”: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/pending/fs_PC-176603_01-Jan-12.pdf

Here is Dr. Cassandra Nunez’s 40 page affidavit about PZP: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PM-Nunez_Decl-_Final.pdf

We are so grateful justice is unfolding in court but the wild ones need your help.

The Pine Nut wild horses are very, very happy they have been spared for now. It’s essential to get technical services for court evidence to keep them free and safe in the wild. If you would like to take direct action to help these wild horses continue to live in freedom, please make your tax-deductible donation today right here: http://www.gofundme.com/lqsy50 and please share this post widely. Thank you, because it takes a village.

In gratitude,
Anne

Anne Novak
Executive Director
www.ProtectMustangs.org

Links of interest™:

CBS Sunday Morning News: Pine Nut wild horses, 2013 (Available footage by Carl Mrozek) http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/nature-wild-horses/

Associated Press: US judge temporarily blocks wild horse roundup in Nevada over contraception controversy: http://www.havasunews.com/nation/us-judge-temporarily-blocks-wild-horse-roundup-in-nevada-over/article_2a0b7c5e-b360-11e4-a62d-bbc93d2384d8.html

Scene from The Misfits: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvGF0YhPSZg

Court order granting preliminary injunction: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/PM-Pine-Nut-Order-Granting-Preliminary-Inj..pdf

US judge “troubled” by mustang roundup planned in Nevada (Associated Press) went viral: 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

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

Dr. Cassandra Nunez’s 40 page affidavit on PZP: http://protectmustangs.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/PM-Nunez_Decl-_Final.pdf

Freinds of Animals: www.FriendsofAnimals.org

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

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: (Associated Press) went viral: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/activists-rip-blms-plans-to-remove-750-more-mustan/

Forum on PZP: http://on.fb.me/1DfKqSJ

Protect Mustangs www.ProtectMustangs.org, Contact@ProtectMustangs.org, 415-531-8454

BREAKING NEWS: Judge temporarily blocks the roundup and forced drugging of beloved herd from THE MISFITS starring Marilyn Monroe

PM MArilyn © Eve Arnold Magnum Photos

PM PIne Nut Horses

 

For immediate release:

Anne Novak, Executive Director, Protect Mustangs; 415.531.8454; anne@protectmustangs.org
Jenni Barnes, staff attorney, FoA’s Wildlife Law Program 720.949.7791; jenniferbarnes@friendsofanimals.org
Mike Harris, Director, Wildlife Law Program; 720.949.7791; michaelharris@friendsofanimals.org

BREAKING NEWS: Judge temporarily blocks the roundup and forced drugging of beloved Nevada herd known from THE MISFITS

Government cannot rely on a five-year-old environmental analysis that ignores allegations of pesticide dangers

RENO, NV (February 11, 2015)—U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks has granted Protect Mustangs and Friends of Animals a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) roundup and permanent removal of 200 wild horses in the Pine Nut Herd Management Area (HMA) and the roundup of another 132 wild horses so that an estimated 66 mares can be given the drug PZP, an EPA approved pesticide, as a form of birth control. These wild horses belong to the most famous horse herd in NV–the one featured in The Misfits starring Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe–which helped pave the way for the Wild Horse & Burro Act of 1971. This herd now faces possible obliteration, despite the Act and advocates are fighting to stop a travesty with attorneys Michael Harris and Jennifer Barnes from Friends of Animals Wildlife Law program and attorney Jennifer Spencer from Cavanaugh-Bill Law Offices in Elko, Nevada

“Today is a milestone for America’s wild horses who have been scapegoated for range damage and forcibly drugged with PZP in experiments for decades,” states Anne Novak, executive director of Protect Mustangs based in San Francisco. “They should never live in zoo-like settings on public land. That’s not freedom. Wild horses are a native species who contribute to the ecosystem. They belong here.”

Hicks said that with the proposed Pine Nut roundup, which was slated to begin Feb. 20, 2015, the BLM has failed to satisfy the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and other federal laws that are applicable.

“Accordingly, the court finds that the public interest will be best served by enjoining the BLM’s proposed gather, at least until the court has an opportunity to fully consider the merits of plaintiffs’ claims,” Hicks said.

“We are delighted that the Court agreed with Friends of Animals and Protect Mustangs that BLM is obligated to fully evaluate under NEPA each and every proposed round-up,” said Michael Harris, director of Friends of Animals’ (FoA’s) Wildlife Law Program. “In relying upon a stale Environmental Assessment from 2010, BLM has not met its duty to fully inform the public about the impacts associated with its plan to permanently remove more than 200 wild horses from the Pine Nut Range, and to dose dozens of mares with the fertility drug PZP. It is time for BLM to evaluate the harsh reality that PZP has long-term detrimental effects on wild horses.”

“I would say this is a major victory for wild horses and reflects rising concerns about rounding up and drugging wild horses with PZP,” added Jennifer Barnes, staff attorney with FoA’s Wildlife Law Program.

“I’m grateful that the wild herd I’ve been studying for 50 years has received justice in federal court today.” Craig Downer, director of ecology and conservation at Protect Mustangs. “This is an opportunity to prove our case to restore the herds.”

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

# # #

 Links of interest™:

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

US judge temporarily blocks wild horse roundup in Nevada (Associated Press) http://www.idahostatesman.com/2015/02/11/3640649_us-judge-temporarily-blocks-wild.html?rh=1

US judge “troubled” by mustang roundup planned in Nevada (Associated Press) went viral: 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 (Associated Press) went viral: 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: (Associated Press) went viral:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/activists-rip-blms-plans-to-remove-750-more-mustan/

Forum on PZP: http://on.fb.me/1DfKqSJ

EPA Pesticide fact Sheet for PZP: http://1.usa.gov/1zKMiWy

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