BLM Announces Fertility Control Program in Stewart Creek
BLM Wyoming's Rawlins Field Office is seeking public comments on a remote fertility control darting program in the Stewart Creek Herd Management Area, to start as soon as this winter.
This means that the roundup of 2020 could be the LAST one these wild horses ever have to endure.
Managing population growth is far more humane than chasing terrified horses with helicopters, condemning them to dull lives in captivity, or worse.
If we want to stop the flow of our wild mustangs/burros to kill pens and slaughterhouses, fertility control is a necessity.
To support humane management for this herd, click below and tell BLM:
(copy/paste the following or restate in your own words -- PLEASE BE POLITE!)
1) I support the Proposed Action (2.1) to manage the Stewart Creek horses through PZP -- humane, reversible fertility control.
2) I object to the use of Gonacon. Gonacon works by stopping GnRH hormone production, which impacts natural wild horse social behaviors (S.E. Hall 2017; Donovan et al, 2013) that are necessary for the herd's safety and survival. The data so far suggest that Gonacon breaks down the ovaries, potentially acting as a chemical sterilant after as few as 2 injections. It is also unproven to be safe for pregnancies in the first 6 weeks of gestation.
3) I urge BLM to raise AML. The 1971 Act states that the range, i.e. "the amount of land necessary to sustain an existing herd or herds," IS "devoted principally but not necessarily exclusively to their welfare."
"Principally" is defined by Collins Dictionary as "more than anything else." Thus, BLM is required by the letter of the law (92-195) to allocate, at minimum, 51% of rangeland forage to wild horses. I, along with the majority of Americans, want my public lands managed principally for wild horses/burros, rather than for privately owned livestock. Currently, livestock are allocated 78% of the forage within this dedicated wild horse habitat. The agency's multiple use mandate can be accommodated while adhering to the law and giving wild horses the principal share of forage.
As you well know, too many of our wild horses are held prisoner in government holding or face death in Canada and Mexico.
The way to STOP that is to STOP the roundups. Humane fertility control is one of the tools we need to use to get us there.
Make NO mistake --
Our #1 priority is to reduce livestock in wild horse/burro habitat and to increase AMLs across the West.
Today, the wild horses of Stewart Creek need you to speak for them. Please click ABOVE to take action!
Resources:
1. "Range" definition - 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act: http://pvdrforms.org/uploads/download/3061/whbact_1971.pdf
2. "Principally" Definition: Collins Dictionary: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/principally
3. PZP information:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVHTUYhmbug&t=1s (Youtube video by the Botstiber Institute featuring Ginger Kathrens)
- TCF position paper on PZP with links to scientific research: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59f8c99ff09ca4e7c237d467/t/5a8caf3653450a95a9aceb26/1519169336055/PZP+Position+Paper.pdf
4. Gonacon research: Towards Non-Surgical Sterilisation of Feral Horses by Sally Elizabeth Hall