On March 9, without a public gather schedule or meaningful lead time, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced four new wild horse and burro removals in Nevada that will begin “on or around March 15.” All four will use bait and water traps, not helicopters, but the goal is the same: remove more than two thousand wild horses and burros from the range and funnel them into already crowded off‑range holding.
Please take action. Contact your lawmakers and ask them to stop this madness: Require BLM to allow independent public observation at trap and holding sites, pause foaling‑season bait‑trap gathers, and strengthen protections to keep wild horses and burros out of slaughter pipelines.
Four complexes, thousands of lives
BLM’s own announcements describe the scope:
Across these five announced operations (these are five, not four as the press releases are misleading), BLM is targeting at least 2,500 wild horses and burros for removal from Nevada public lands in a matter of weeks
We are also aware that BLM is trying to get helicopter roundups approved to begin in July at Pancake, Antelope/Triple B and other areas like Kiger, Salt Wells (and the other HMAs in the Rock Springs complex) and Callaghan (where they plan the largest roundup in U.S. history).
Previous roundup at Caliente
All of these are “bait traps” as there is a prohibition against helicopters from March 1 through June 30th. Bait operations are designed to unfold out of sight: no public at the trap, no public at loading, no independent eyes on foals being separated, mares going down in trailers, or injuries and deaths that occur in the pens.
On top of the lack of access during capture, most of these horses are being shipped out of sight into private facilities that offer no regular public access.
BLM has a profound transparency problem. When the public cannot see, the public cannot verify BLM’s claims of “humane care” and compliance with its own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program.
Where these horses and burros are going after capture
The agency has already assigned destinations for most of the captured animals:
Upon arrival, BLM says animals will be “checked by a veterinarian” and “readied for the Adoption and Sales Program,” the same pipeline that has already put thousands of wild horses at risk of ending up in slaughter pipelines after adoption or sale.
Notable: BLM is only bringing the horses and burros into public view that are actually experiencing the lower body scores. The horses that look good? All are going into facilities you cannot visit. The horses/burros from Spring Mountain will travel 4 additional hours to Reno than the time it would take for them to get to Sutherland in Utah or Ridgecrest in California (oopen to public).
On February 27 we reported that the BLM’s Sale Program has surged by 1,287% since 2015, with 3,718 wild horses and burros sold in 2025 alone. The agency continues to push this program—using a legal loophole that funnels animals straight toward slaughter—clearing out holding pens to make room for more roundups, all while sustaining a system that fails to protect wild horses and burros at any stage of “management.”
Antelope horses just removed in February in holding at PVC already being pushed fast toward to “Sale” door that leads to slaughter
The new plan at Antelope/Triple B is in the Administrative Appeal phase. BLM is racing forward without completion of this guaranteed process.
Pancake Complex: The Pancake bait and water trap operation is tied to the Pancake Complex Wild Horse Gather and Herd Management Plan EA, which is already in federal civil court. That case has been stalled—first by the federal government shutdown, then by repeated “extensions of time” requested by Department of Justice attorneys citing post‑shutdown “overwork” and resource constraints.
This timing is not isolated. We saw the same pattern in January and February at Owyhee and Antelope, where BLM used 72 hours or less notice instead of a forward-looking gather schedule, making it extremely difficult for advocates and attorneys to respond. The sudden shift away from a public “gather schedule” toward last-minute announcements is a disturbing trend that undermines both public participation and meaningful judicial review. (We are researching a way to challenge this on a broad scale.)
Newborn in trap
Bait traps do not make foaling season safe
BLM closed helicopter drive‑trap season on March 1. Two weeks later, the agency is launching at least four major bait and water trap operations across Nevada. On paper, BLM frames this as a safer, quieter approach, but for heavily pregnant mares and newborn foals, the dangers remain very real.
Tiny foals—sometimes only days or weeks old—are especially vulnerable to stressors. Their legs, joints, and immune systems are not fully developed; they can be easily injured in panels, knocked down in crowded pens, or weakened by long hauls and abrupt changes in feed and water. For mares late in pregnancy, the same stress can trigger complications, including premature birth or loss of the foal.
Placing 5 operations that will include at least 9 distinct areas in a rapidly announced bait trap avalanche to begin at the start of BLMs foaling season is unprecedented. BLM’s decision to push forward with large-scale bait trap operations in March is not a pause for foaling season; it is a pivot in methods that still subjects pregnant mares and tiny foals to trapping, loading, and shipping, now entirely out of public view.
February in Pancake is the start of foaling season
Body Score 3-4 at the end of February is NORMAL
BLM’s own announcements also lean on body condition scores of 3–4 as part of the narrative for why these removals are “necessary,” presenting those numbers as if they are evidence of poor condition or herd distress. Under the Henneke system, however, a score of 3–4 is a normal winter body score for many wild horses coming out of the leanest months of the year, reflecting the natural seasonal cycle of weight loss in winter and gain in spring and summer—not an automatic red flag that justifies large‑scale removals. As your own field work and body‑scoring guidance note, wild horses—like elk, deer, and pronghorn—normally move through this seasonal curve, and a 3–4 in February is not, by itself, an indicator of crisis on the range.
Our team is working on overdrive.
You can help.
Please take action. Contact your lawmakers and ask them to stop this madness: Require BLM to allow independent public observation at trap and holding sites, pause foaling‑season bait‑trap gathers, and strengthen protections to keep wild horses and burros out of slaughter pipelines.
8
Laura Leigh
In the video above we have tried to edit down the East Pershing roundup into 5 minutes.
During the East Pershing Complex roundup we documented inappropriate conduct including, but not limited to, the following:
While WHE battles it out in the courtroom to gain an actual enforceable welfare policy, you can help. (Case 3:23-cv-00372-LRH-CLB)
You can ask Congress to set aside specific funding to create an incentive for BLM to comply with existing law (humane management of wild horses and burros) and begin the formal rulemaking process to create an enforceable welfare policy.
We made it easy: Just Click HERE
Reno, Nevada. – The roundup operation of wild horses from the East Pershing Complex of Herd Management Areas (HMA) and Herd Areas (HA) unexpectedly ended on February 9, 2024. The largest operation set for fiscal year 2024, had been scheduled to run over two months, from December 28 to February 28. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and its gather contractor ended the operation before reaching their target goal of 2,875 wild horses. BLM’s “Daily Gather Reports” specify 2,698 horses were gathered, while “Gather Daily Status Reports” denotes 2,692 horses; a six horse discrepancy. Discrepancies in record keeping on BLM reports is not uncommon. When the operation concluded BLM was either 177 or 183 horses shy of its goal based on BLM’s reporting of numbers. 362 foals were captured. BLM reported 26 deaths.
The operation was run out of BLM’s Winnemucca District in Nevada. Although in a press release for the start of the wild horse gather the district said its staff and contractors would use the best available science and handling practices for wild horses in accordance with the Comprehensive Animal Welfare Policy (CAWP), our organization’s observers documented frequent failures to follow the so-called “policy.” Horses were being chased by wranglers on horseback, often more than one, and roped. In one instance mare and a colt were chased and driven by the helicopter toward the makeshift corral or trap, but rather than being captured the pair ran through the funnel-shaped draped material or trap wings meant to guide horses toward the trap. Ignoring “policy” the pair were roped by multiple wranglers fatally injuring the colt. In another roping catastrophe a horse was hog-tied and improperly dragged on the ground by an ATV with a wrangler on top of the horse. Both incidents were aired by various media.
BLM has failed to identify any data-based foaling season for herds in the complex and relies on anecdotal data for a tribal herd far to the north to claim a blanket “foaling season” of March through June for all herds in the West. Heavily-pregnant mares and foals should not be run due to extreme dangers to both; any veterinarian would tell you to restrict any activity beyond walking your domestic mare near foaling time. Helicopter-assisted gathers are disruptive to the entire wild horse herd. Foals and mares were chased and separated. A tiny foal was captured after being found alone alongside the road the morning after being run by the helicopter and hopefully reunited with mare and survived.
According to BLM, all animals identified for removal will be transported to the Winnemucca Off-Range Corrals in Paradise Valley, Nevada, checked by a veterinarian and readied for its Adoption and Sale Program. BLM has been utilizing the Winnemucca facility that was built with taxpayer funds for over a year and has never allowed the public to visit to view any horses or the conditions. Our volunteer observer drove as far as possible down the road to the corrals until coming upon private property and no trespassing signs and could not see any horses. The area was full of standing water and slush.
No wild horses will be released back to the Complex.
We ask that you please take action. Helicopter capture season will begin again in July, in the sweltering heat and while foaling season continues. We must gain an enforceable welfare policy. It is absurd and obscene that we have had to fight BLM to get them to take any steps toward any form of enforceable policy. Please take action. We made it easy: Just Click HERE
You can read more about our long battle to gain a welfare policy, including the court cases that were necessary to simply get to where we are now (BLM internal standards) by clicking HERE.
We need your help to continue to document, expose, work toward reform with lawmakers and litigate. Our wild ones deserve to live free on the range and free from abuse.
Thank you for keeping WHE on the frontline in the fight to protect and preserve our treasured wild ones.
The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales are known for their epic commercials and amazing appearance when taking center stage at events around the world. In total and complete awesomeness the Budweiser Clydesdale have combined their epic performance with the legendary band Queen. Creating the song we Will Rock You, Budweiser creates one of the best ever Budweiser Clydesdale commercial that was never seen in the United states. The commercial was produced and originally aired in Russia. So today, in Dressage Hub Awareness we bring you a different kind of song and dance. So sit back, relax and enjoy.
Target: Mayor Eric Adams, New York City, United States
Goal: Ban horse-drawn carriage rides and replace them with electric or human-powered alternatives to improve animal welfare and reduce air pollution.
Horse-drawn carriages have been a part of the tourism industry in New York City for decades. However, this traditional practice has come under scrutiny due to concerns about animal welfare and air pollution. The horses that are used to pull the carriages often work long hours in busy and noisy streets, which can lead to stress, injury, and illness. Additionally, the horse-drawn carriages contribute to air pollution in the city, which can have negative effects on both human and animal health.
The usage of horse-drawn carriages for tourists in New York City must be outlawed right away. By doing this, the ecosystem of the city will be preserved while simultaneously ensuring the welfare of the horses.
We can provide tourists dependable, sustainable solutions while also encouraging the usage of green transportation by implementing electric or human-powered alternatives. Horse-drawn carriages can be replaced with bicycles or electric vehicles that are more eco-friendly and efficient without sacrificing the charm and uniqueness of the experience.
Demand that the use of horse-drawn carriages for tourism be outlawed and replaced with electric or human-powered options.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mayor Adams,
I am writing to urge you to advocate for the ban of horse-drawn carriages for tourism in New York City and replace them with electric or human-powered alternatives. The use of horse-drawn carriages for tourism has long been a tradition in the city, but it is time to consider more humane and sustainable options.
The horses that are used to pull the carriages often work long hours in busy and noisy streets, which can lead to stress, injury, and illness. This is unacceptable and poses a serious threat to their welfare. In addition, the horse-drawn carriages contribute to air pollution in the city, which has negative effects on both human and animal health.
To address these issues, we must take action to ban the use of horse-drawn carriages for tourism and replace them with electric or human-powered alternatives. This will provide a more sustainable and humane option for tourists while promoting the use of eco-friendly transportation. Electric carriages or bicycles can provide a safer and more efficient alternative to horse-drawn carriages, without compromising on the charm and character of the experience.
We urge you to take immediate action and support the ban of horse-drawn carriages for tourism in New York City.
Sincerely,
Photo credit: Joy Burrell
Representative Image (Deb/Adobe Stock)
Lady Freethinker
PETITION TARGETS: Minister for the Environment and Water Tanya Plibersek, NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Heritage Penny Sharpe
Thousands of wild horses in a national park in Australia will soon be brutally shot to death from the sky following a government-sanctioned approval of the gruesome gunning.
The New South Wales Environment Minister recently approved the lethal “management,” claiming the estimated 19,000 wild horses — known to Australians as brumbies — who call the Kosciuszko National Park home are causing damage.
But the current plan to reduce the herd down to 3,000 wild horses by 2027 — including by aerial gunning — will create a bloodbath and unnecessary suffering, said Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst.
“When the last government-sanctioned aerial shooting of brumbies took place at Guy Fawkes National Park, horses were found days later still alive with bullet wounds,” Hurst told the Maitland Mercury. “This is the sort of bloodbath we will likely see again.”
An aerial gunning in 2000 saw more than 600 wild horses shot down in three days — leading to public outrage, condemnation, and a decades-long hiatus on the shootings.
No wild horse deserves to be gunned down from the sky and left to suffer an agonizing death. The Australian government must find a more compassionate path forward.
Sign our petition urging Australian leadership to recommit to non-lethal alternatives for these wild horses and so save countless lives and stop horrific suffering.
A total of 2,643 animals have been rounded up in Nevada* for transport to government holding pens since July 9, 2023–among them more than 260 foals. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) employees use helicopters (exceptionally frightening to the horses) to assist wranglers on horseback who chase the mustangs into traps (makeshift corals on the high-desert range). The roundups are not only arguably illegal according to the government’s own rules, but are exceptionally cruel. According to representative U.S. Rep. Dina Titus of Nevada, since the roundups began the horses have suffered through a host of tragic injuries, ranging from broken necks, broken legs and even dehydration due to the oppressive triple digit heat. There have been numerous horse deaths due to the roundup, including one horse with a broken leg that was chased for 35 minutes before it was euthanized.
While the feds maintain the roundups are necessary for the ecology, critics say the real purpose of the removals is to appease ranchers who don’t want horses competing with their livestock for precious forage in the high desert.
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Legal efforts to stop the roundups
Nonprofit organizations and U.S. representatives have tried unsuccessfully in the past to get a restraining order to stop the roundups. In this most recent effort, U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks in Reno, Nevada declined to grant the Aug. 1, 2023 request for a temporary restraining order to halt the Nevada roundup. But on August 4, 2023, he put the BLM on notice that it has until 4 p.m. Monday, August 7, 2023 to formally respond to the allegations of illegal mistreatment of the animals.
He set a hearing for Wednesday, August 9, 2023 to hear more detailed arguments if necessary from lawyers on both sides.
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Source: AP
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*Nevada is home to nearly two-thirds of the 68,928 wild horses the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has estimated are roaming federal lands in 10 Western states stretching from California to Montana.
Every single year, tens of thousands of horses – from ponies, to race horses, to working animals like plow horses – are slaughtered when they are deemed no longer “useful.” Many of those horses are healthy enough to live out their remaining days comfortably, but are sent to be tragically killed for their meat instead.
Sign now to tell Congress to pass the SAFE (Save America’s Forgotten Equines) Act!
Technically, due to a temporary USDA regulation, horses cannot be slaughtered for human consumption in the U.S. But that doesn’t stop it from happening. In fact, tens of thousands of horses get exported to places like Mexico and Canada where it is perfectly legal.
Rather than being disposed of like a broken piece of equipment, animals who have done work for human benefit should be treated with the utmost dignity, since we depend so highly on them.
This is why Congress must pass the SAFE Act – to finally explicitly ban both domestic horse slaughter and horse slaughter exports. Sign the petition now to tell our legislators: it is time to act on behalf of these beloved creatures!
On Tuesday afternoon, the Nevada Senate Committee on Natural Resources heard SB90, a bill to recognize the wild mustang as the official state horse. Like the original wild horse and burro movement in the 1960s, the effort was supported by Nevada’s schoolchildren with over 100 kids showing up to attend the hearing! The students eloquently expressed their support for the wild mustangs who call Nevada home and we are so grateful for their passion.
Unfortunately, the opposition also came out in full force. Nevada ranchers who graze their privately-owned cattle and sheep on public lands used their testimony time to blame horses for range degradation. Each rancher who spoke made the hearing about wild horse management and not about the naming of the state horse. The hearing ended with no vote, as committee members discuss next steps.
We need people from all over the country to speak up about the mustang’s historic importance and the tourism resource they are for the state. Smithsonian Magazine even named Nevada the number one place in North America to see wild horses! As a potential visitor to Nevada, your voice matters, but it will only be heard if you act now!
Call each of the five committee members and ask them to support SB90.
All you need to say is: “Hi, my name is [NAME] and as a tourist who visits Nevada for its wild mustangs, I am calling to ask that Senator [NAME] support SB90 to recognize the wild mustang as Nevada’s state horse. Thank you.
– AWHC TeamDONATE
You can help wild horses in more ways than one! Check out all of the different things you can do to help further wild horse and burro protection.
American Wild Horse Campaign
P.O. Box 1733
Davis, CA 95617
United States
A horse in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest (Photo Credit: USDA/ Lance Cheung via Flickr)
PETITION TARGET: Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Service
At least 25 horses were callously shot to death on federal forest land in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona.
Horses on the Sitgreaves side of the forest are considered “wild” and are federally protected under the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act. Horses on the Apache side currently are considered feral and excluded from federal protections.
While forest officials have classified the corpses as “feral” horses, they also have recognized that no horse deserves to be shot to death for simply existing.
A deputy forest supervisor told local news that animal cruelty charges could apply and that the agency is actively investigating. The supervisor also condemned the tragic mass killings, which he said were “not something we think is ok,” according to local news reports.
Horses — regardless of how humans classify them — are highly intelligent, sentient animals who deserve to live their lives in peace with their herds.
Whoever brutally killed these horses must be held accountable.
Sign our petition urging Apache-Sitgreaves Forest detectives to use all resources available to identify the killer(s) of these horses, to forward all applicable animal cruelty charges on to a prosecutor, and to push for maximum accountability.
Representative image via Pixabay
Lady Freethinker
PETITION TARGET: Wyoming Legislature Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee
The U.S.’s iconic wild horses could be rounded up, slaughtered, and shipped for human consumption if one Wyoming legislator gets his way.
Wild horses have been federally protected since 1971. The brutal slaughter of any horse on U.S. soil for human food — domestically or abroad — has been prohibited since 2007. The Department of the Interior also prohibited using taxpayer funds for the destruction of healthy animals for processing into commercial “products” as recently as 2020.
But House Joint Resolution 3 (HR3), proposed by Rep. John Winter, would ravage that progress for these precious animals who already face persecution in the state.
A sole round up in one of Wyoming’s “management” areas, known as the Checkerboard region, aimed to remove more than 3,500 wild horses — many of whom died gruesomely or sustained horrific injuries — while leaving 91 percent of that same land open to for-profit livestock grazing, according to nonprofit In Defense of Animals (IDA).
The horrors that defenseless horses face at slaughterhouses also are well documented. They often endure grueling hours-long transports in overcrowded trucks, without access to food or water. Many die or are seriously injured on the way to the facilities, where the industry then claims the survivors are “humanely” killed — most commonly by having a bolt fired into their brains, followed by their twitching bodies bleeding out.
Lady Freethinker, along with numerous other animal welfare groups, asserts that there is no such thing as humane slaughter. Prior to the shut-down of the last U.S. horse slaughterhouse in 2007, reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) noted rampant cruelty — including horses with broken bones, gaping wounds, and eyeballs hanging from their sockets.
Wild horses — as well as domesticated horses who have been cared for, used, or exploited by people for their entire lives — don’t deserve to end their days in cruel slaughterhouses.
This legislation must not go any further.
Sign our petition urging the Wyoming Legislature’s Committee of Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources to strike this preposterous bill and instead uphold needed safeguards for federally-protected horses and all horses in the United States.
By Hailey Kanowsky
A horse who escaped his stable was found in an icy Wisconsin lake last week and was thankfully saved by a group of good Samaritans.
Residents and neighbors told ABC News that they were relieved that they were able to save the horse who is named Jack after Leonardo Dicaprio’s “Titanic” character. Jack was able to get up and stand up after spending three hours in the icy waters in Wood Lake, Wisconsin. Despite the subzero temperatures, residents and rescuers never gave up trying to get Jack to safety.
“This doesn’t surprise me. That is the kind of neighborhood and community that would do something like that,” Mike Strub, the president of the Big Wood Lake Association, told ABC News.
Jack escaped after a tree fell on a fence and created an opening for him to leave, according to Frontier Stables, who helped rescue the horse.
Strub said that residents of the lake saw the horse walk on the frozen water through surveillance camera footage and fall around 8:30 in the morning. They quickly went to the lake to see what they could do. Neighbors spent hours trying to save the horse, running the clock against hypothermia.
“On the scene, there was a veterinarian. As long as the horse was still moving and kicking it was savable. That’s why they never gave up,” Strub said.
Finally, rescuers were able to get a nylon strap under the horse and guide him out of the ice and to safety.
They took the horse to a trailer with a climate-controlled stable and got him warmed back up again. Representatives from Frontier Stables told ABC News that he was doing well and recuperating, and they were able to reunite Jack with his family.
We are so glad that these residents never gave up saving the horse and were able to rescue him from the freezing water.
Source: WCCO – CBS Minnesota/YouTube
Sydney Shaffer
Target: Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal
Goal: Put an end to horse-drawn carriages.
Horses being used for horse-drawn carriages in India are suffering. They are forced to pull heavy carriages full of people, even when physically wounded, sick, and hungry. Some horses are whipped as well. These animals pull the carriages in extremely hot weather and have also been seen standing in their own waste. The carriage rides are usually long, which causes exhaustion for the horses and means they go a long time without food and water. PETA India is demanding the end to these cruel conditions.
An investigation found cruel conditions for the horses. Many of them had injuries which could be from being struck by cars, likely while navigating through heavy traffic. It was discovered that they are left to find their own food, and some are abandoned after they can no longer work. They receive no veterinary treatment, leading to painful deaths. They went far too long without food, leaving them extremely thin.
Sign below and demand that horse drawn carriages be banned in India and the horses given proper treatment and care.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Mamata Banerjee,
You must put a stop to the tourist attraction of horse-drawn carriages. The horses being used for this are put through harmful conditions like lack of food and water. This leads to exhaustion and can even lead to their deaths. They are not receiving proper medical treatment and are being forced to work.
Horses do not deserve to work in these harmful conditions. We demand alongside PETA India that the cruel conditions these horses are suffering from the carriage rides are stopped.
Sincerely,
Photo Credit: Jim & Robin Kunze
PETITION TARGETS: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
UPDATE (9/22/2022): Nevada Congress member Dina Titus has sponsored HR 6635, which seeks to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to prohibit the use of aircraft to manage wild horses. The bill was introduced to the House in February and currently is in the Committee on Natural Resources. We’ll keep watching this situation. —Lady Freethinker Staff
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Wild horses who snapped their necks running into corral panels, were killed following lacerations and broken bones, and who died of “unexpected heart failure” were among the victims of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s most recent helicopter-assisted roundups – or “gathers.”
At least 245 wild horses died as the result of 20 roundups in 2021-2022 where low-flying helicopters pushed the panicked animals toward corrals, according to a review of the BLM’s daily gather reports.
While the BLM’s reports cite “pre-existing conditions” – including blindness, fractures, club feet, poor body condition, and bad or no teeth – as the cause for most of the killings, at least 33 wild horses died specifically from acute or gather-related injuries, according to the gather reports.
Three of those deaths made headlines during the recent Pancake Complex roundup in Nevada – with victims of a foal separated from his family who limped reportedly for at least 29 minutes before being euthanized, a 20-year-old stallion who suffered a “break” and a 3-year-old mare killed after reportedly being too weak to stand up.
Some of the other victims, according to the BLM daily gather reports:
While the BLM says that helicopters are a humane way to manage wild horse removals, the horrific death toll from a single year alone shows they are cruel, violent, and unacceptable.
(Courtesy Bureau of Land Management)
The gruesome trend also isn’t new, with a report as far back as 2008 citing most deaths during helicopter roundups from “broken limbs or injuries sustained accidentally during gathers,” according to documentation from the Government Accountability Office.
Wild horse experts from several advocacy groups say a more effective – and less deadly – approach would involve fertility control via humane darting that would allow wild horses to remain on the range, while also contributing to the thriving ecological balance the BLM is required to maintain.
That alternative also would save U.S. taxpayers the millions of dollars spent each year to hold upwards of 50,000 wild horses in long-term holding corrals or to pay ranchers to keep the horses on private property.
Captured wild horses also sometimes meet grisly ends, with the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program exposed by the New York Times as knowingly handing over the protected animals to individuals with a history of selling horses to slaughterhouses.
Sign our petition urging the Biden Administration, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Land Management to end deadly helicopter gathers in favor of safer, more cost-effective approaches involving humane fertility control that would allow wild horses to remain free on the range, and so help end unnecessary, grisly deaths from injuries to intentional slaughter.
(Courtesy Bureau of Land Management)
Four horses in the wild
October 12, 2022
Representative image. (Photo Credit: Benjamin/Adobe Stock)
PETITION TARGETS: Palma Town Council and Mayor José Hila
When a severely exhausted and brutally overworked horse used for carriage rides, collapsed in 104-degree heat on a street in Spain, the carriage driver responded by violently jerking the animal’s head from the pavement in an attempt to coax the horse to stand up, the Daily Mail reported.
The poor horse laid on the ground while the tourists in the carriage remained seated. Although at least one passerby begged the driver to give the horse water and let the tired animal rest, the horse instead lumbered back to his feet, according to news reports.
Horse-drawn carriage rides are a common cruelty in the tourist hub of Palma, the capital city on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. A month prior to this horrific, documented incident, another overworked horse collapsed in the same area, and police halted a carriage pulled by an elderly limping horse that clearly should not have been working, according to news reports.
A Spanish advocacy organization reported that the horses were still being put to work in violation of new regulations prohibiting their use during high temperatures, according to the Daily Mail.
Palma’s city government is reportedly considering replacing horse carriages with some form of electric transportation, and this should be a priority before any more horses needlessly suffer.
Sign our petition urging the government of Palma to ban horse carriage rides. Tourist money is never an acceptable excuse for animal cruelty, and Palma officials should act swiftly to prevent any more horses from suffering such painful exploitation.
Care2 Update(8/11/2022): Grueling bystander footage revealed that another carriage horse, a sweet 14-year-old named Ryder, collapsed in Manhattan from the brutal summer heat. The call for a ban on horse-drawn carriages STILL hasn’t been answers. Mayor Eric Adams & New York City Council must act now before another horse is hurt!
With greenhouse gas emissions climbing and temperatures rising, scientists are guessing each summer going forward will be incredibly hot. These temperatures have consequences for all of us, but we often overlook some of the animals who suffer the most from extreme heat: horses forced to pull carriages on hot asphalt and concrete. Animal rights activists say this life of captivity and labor is “fundamentally abusive.”
Sign now to demand New York City Council and Mayor Eric Adams work together to immediately ban horse drawn carriage rides in New York City!
For decades, animal rights activists have been pointing out just how dangerous these carriages are for the horses forced to pull them. A few years ago, a horse in Central Park tragically collapsed from exhaustion and had to be euthanized shortly after. While obviously devastating, this story should surprise no one — horses are not meant to walk on concrete day in and day out, towing heavy weights and breathing in dirty car exhaust. Even more recently, a car collided with a horse, knocking the horse unconscious, causing a bloody mess and a number of injuries for the poor animal.
Cities in the United States, like Chicago and Salt Lake City, and municipalities abroad have banned the use of horse drawn carriages because of their obviously harmful and abusive nature. There is no reason that New York City can’t do the same. In the past, Eric Adams has vocalized opposition to the horrific practice, tweeting with disgust that it makes no sense the practice is still continuing in New York City. Now, Mayor Adams has the chance to show that he’s not all talk, and that he’s willing to actually implement change to rescue these poor creatures from a life of unnecessary labor — a proposed bill from the New York City Council seeks to ban horsedrawn carriages by June 2023! All that needs to happen is for the city council to pass this bill and send it to the mayor’s desk to sign it, which he must do without delay.
Time is running out for the horses of New York City. We cannot allow any more innocent horses to suffer for the sake of entertaining humans in a city of endless entertainment. Sign the petition now to urge Mayor Adams and the New York City Council to protect horses immediately!
A horse trainer near Portland, Oregon was arrested after an anonymous tip of allegations of violent, terrifying abuse was made to local police. The details of the case were gruesome: the woman allegedly deprived the animals of food and water and maliciously beat them. But the owner of the farm the trainer worked at has repeatedly made statements excusing her behavior, and clearly knew that she was using torturous, problematic methods. Arresting the perpetrator is the first step, and now White Birch Farm must now be held accountable.
Sign now to demand Oregon’s Animal Control Unit investigate and shut down White Birch Farm and find new homes for the horses!
The stories of what occurred at White Birch Farm are harrowing. In one video, a horse is bridled so tightly to the saddle that it appears to be struggling to breathe — its eyes look glossy, beginning to roll back into its head. In another part of the witness affidavit, the accused trainer allegedly described taking a miniature horse’s head and slamming it into the wall to intentionally inflict pain.
Local police charged the accused woman with a whopping 20 counts of animal cruelty: two counts of failing to provide proper drink, two counts of overworking, nine counts of torture, and seven counts of mutilating or cruelly beating or unjustifiably injuring an animal. That many counts of cruelty indicates long term and repeated abuse of many animals. How could the institution who employed her not know that all of this is happening?
The reality is that it’s almost impossible White Birch Farm didn’t know the accused woman was engaging in these behaviors. In fact, when asked about the abuse, the owner replied, “you needed to have a specific training philosophy to understand the training methods used by her,” according to the warrant. In other words, the owner was literally claiming that abusive methods are simply a difference of philosophy, and not an objectively morally wrong thing to do to any animal in any circumstance.
Oregon’s Animal Control Unit must investigate and shut down White Birch Farm, as they clearly are fine with allowing horses on the premises to endure extreme and dangerous abuse. These poor horses should be relocated to a safe environment where they can receive the love and care they deserve. Sign the petition now if you agree!
Tell the BLM to halt helicopter roundups pending investigations into the Wild Horse & Burro Program!
While Americans were celebrating the freedom of our nation, contractors hired by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to roundup our wild horses were caught mistreating the very animal that represents our independent ideals:
An AWHC observer witnessed atrocities committed against wild horses during the Buffalo Hills wild horse roundup when she caught on camera BLM contractors violently slamming a young foal to the ground. The contractors then hogtied the baby and reportedly threw the young foal to the ground once more before putting him into the back of a vehicle. He’s not the only one to suffer — during the hot summer months, vulnerable young foals are often chased by helicopters.
Foaling season should not be helicopter season.
Sadly, examples of this shocking neglect continue into BLM holding facilities, where the deadliest disease outbreak in history claimed the lives of 146 wild horses in Colorado and where internal assessments show that the facilities are woefully noncompliant with the agency’s own Comprehensive Animal Welfare Program. It continues with the Adoption Incentive Program, where AWHC has documented hundreds of wild horses and burros entering the slaughter pipeline as a result of this program.
It’s time for immediate reform to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program, and we need your help to make it happen.
Please take a moment to urge the BLM to heed the calls from Congress and reform the Wild Horse and Burro Program. BLM should immediately pause the helicopter roundups pending investigations into the program, stop conducting helicopter roundups in the summer, and remove the contractors involved in the mistreatment of the foal.
Year after year, after lives of trusting companionship and—in so many cases—loyal service, tens of thousands of horses are cast off and condemned to an arduous cross-border journey into Mexico or Canada that ends with their death. acceptfoto/iStock.com
It is a long way from the stable, paddock and winner’s circle at Churchill Downs to the dark, dank and bloody slaughterhouses in which tens of thousands of American horses meet their sad and pitiable end each year.
Yet some former racehorses do make that terrible journey, and it’s hard not to think of them on the eve of the Kentucky Derby, the most celebrated of races.
The most dispiriting story of all might be that of Ferdinand, the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who retired as horse racing’s fifth-leading earner of all time and was sold to a stud farm in Japan in 1989. A few years later, with no notice to his former owners, Ferdinand was sent to slaughter, for use in pet food or for human consumption. More recently, in 2020, Private Vow, a 2006 Derby runner, met his end the same way in Korea.
The stories of these and other horses lead to one awful conclusion. Of all modern threats to the horse in the United States, horse slaughter stands out for its sheer callousness and deceitfulness. It’s a problem rooted in wrong and outdated views of horses and how we should treat them, and it’s a problem of our own making here in the United States. For that reason, we have to solve it here, too.
The international export trade that allows horse slaughter to continue can be summed up in a sentence. Year after year, after lives of trusting companionship and—in so many cases—loyal service, tens of thousands of American horses are cast off and condemned to an arduous cross-border journey into Mexico or Canada that ends with their death.
We’re trying to bring this horse slaughter pipeline to an end, and we’re getting closer to that goal than ever. The federal Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act has 216 cosponsors in the House of Representatives, and we’re pressing leaders in Congress to advance the measure for passage in the remaining months of the session.
Animal advocates have been fighting to end the slaughter of American horses since the 1990s and have made steady progress. In 2007, three federal courts upheld state legislation that effectively prohibited the sale of horsemeat for human consumption, which in turn effectively shut down the operation of horse slaughter plants on American soil. Since then, we have kept the industry here on ice by ensuring, year after year, that no federal funds can be used for USDA inspection of such plants.
This de facto ban on domestic horse slaughter did not end the trade, however, and stopping the export market has proven to be a difficult challenge. The killing shifted to Canada and Mexico, where there is an existing slaughter industry satisfying the appetite for horsemeat in Europe and Asia. Today, a network of bottom-feeding “kill buyers” in our own country continues to outbid potential caring owners and export American horses across our borders for slaughter. In 2021, 23,431 horses were exported for slaughter, down 13,454 from the previous year—a 36.5% decrease. Yet it’s still a shocking number, and a great betrayal of horses.
Passage of the SAFE Act would take the United States out of the circuit of cruelty as a supplier of horses to a grisly global trade in horse flesh. It’s a simple bill that permanently bans domestic horse slaughter as well as the export of American horses for slaughter elsewhere, something that 83% of citizens support. With the issue receiving a hearing in the Health Subcommittee in January 2020 and with nearly half the members of the House and six members of the Senate currently on as cosponsors, we are in the final stretch of getting this bill passed into law.
There are many in the racing industry who agree with us that horse slaughter is way out of step with American values. The Jockey Club, The Breeders’ Cup, the New York Racing Association and The Stronach Group (owner of five prominent racetracks) are all active in the campaign. Hall of Fame jockey and founding member of the HSUS National Horse Racing Advisory Council Chris McCarron has also stood tall in the fight, authoring editorials in two Kentucky newspapers, one in Lexington and one in Louisville, just days before this year’s Derby contestants line up at the starting gate.
Another one of the strongest voices in this struggle is that of Joe De Francis, onetime CEO of the Maryland Jockey Club and the chair of the HSUS National Horse Racing Advisory Council. De Francis has been a principled and consistent critic of horse slaughter and played a leadership role in spurring the industry to confront the problem directly. He has also been a stalwart in the broader campaign for horse racing reforms, testifying and advocating on behalf of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA, which we worked to enact in 2020) and playing a lead role in its implementation. As a Director of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, the national oversight body created by the Act, De Francis strongly supports and endorses the Authority’s decision to select Drug Free Sport International to create the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit that will serve as the enforcement agency for the drug and medication portion of HISA’s mandate.
There are no easy victories in the animal protection universe. They are all hard-won, and the fight to end horse slaughter has been one of the most demanding and difficult ones we have ever had to wage. Now, during this Triple Crown season, we urge you to join us in a critical push for passage of the SAFE Act. The slaughter pipeline is no place for our horses, and once the bill becomes law, they won’t ever have to face that horror.
Speak out to end horse slaughter
Sara Amundson is president of the Humane Society Legislative Fund
Ask Congress to Support 2022’s Horse Protection Platform!
This year in Congress, your legislators have many important opportunities to stand up for America’s horses. And the situation could not be more urgent – especially for wild horses and burros as brutal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), helicopter roundups are underway to capture and remove an astounding 19,000 of these iconic animals this year.
Polls taken this month show that 88% of Americans want wild horses protected and 83% oppose slaughtering horses for human consumption. Contact your two U.S. Senators and your U.S. representative in Congress to ask them to honor the will of the American public by supporting what we’re calling the 2022 Horse Protection Platform:
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