Alexa, Play “Wild Horses,” By the Rolling Stones
Today we’re going to discuss something that isn’t easy to talk about: animal control, specifically in wild horses.
Thousands of wild horses or burros roam American soil. Although movies and books paint the picture of wild horses being beautiful, majestic animals, this is not always the case.
According to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the agency manages and protects approximately 88,000 wild horses and burros on 26.9 million acres of public lands in 10 western states. The goal of the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program is to manage healthy wild horses and burros on healthy public rangelands. As of March 12, 2019, the BLM allows qualified adopters to adopt a wild horse or burro through their Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program.
The BLM’s website houses a page surrounding myths and facts of the Wild Horse and Burro Program. I strongly suggest you check this page out when you read this column, you will learn a lot about the program – it answered many of my questions as well.
It’s amazing how a little research can change your perspective and diminish pre-existing skeptical thoughts. In the vegan and activists Facebook groups I am a part of, I VERY strongly suggest they do the same, which brings me to the inspiration of this week’s column.
In one of those Facebook groups, an article was shared this week published by Value Walk titled, “Animal groups team up with cattlemen to depopulate wild horses.”
The article lists various organizations and associations who work or have worked with the BLM on wild horse and burro management including National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) and the American Mustang Foundation.
It was hard for me to pick out a quote to captivate the article written by Value Walk CEO Jacob Wolinksy considering the entire article bashes every one of the listed organizations. If you are in the mood to get fired up about something, I suggest reading the article in question.
Although I could not find any comments from the American Mustang Foundation online, I was able to find an online presence from the Mustang Heritage Foundation (MHF), a partner of the BLM. It is a public, charitable, nonprofit organization “dedicated to facilitating the successful placement of America’s excess wild horses and burros into private care through several program, including the Extreme Mustang Makeover and the Trainer Incentive Program.”
I would like to point out this: Normally, I would say HSUS and ASPCA® are our (agriculturists) enemies — but that may not be the case in this specific situation. ASPCA® explicitly states on their webpage dedicated to wild horse and burro management, “Our ultimate goal is to see this non-lethal approach supported through funding for the BLM.” Along those lines, HSUS urges contraception practices through vaccination. Two agendas I, personally, can get behind.
No one, and I repeat no one, enjoys managing wild horses and burros lethally. They’re beautiful animals and have the potential to be adopted and used on ranches through the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program. But the fact of the matter is, the wild horse population is out of control and resulting in unhealthy horses and rangelands. Sometimes, lethal removal is the best option.
Think about it this way: Your beloved family pet is hurting. You take them to the vet and are told the dog has a couple of weeks to live. You now have the option of letting nature painfully take its course or put the dog down. Putting down a dog is hard — but sometimes, that’s all you can do to end the animal’s pain and suffering.
Wild horses and burros are completely overpopulated and have no natural predator, leaving sick and starving horses to slowly suffer. Take a look at Nevada BLM’s Flickr account online and you will see exactly what I’m talking about – you can count the ribs on the horses in some of these photos.
The image we all picture when we think about wild horses (yes, the rainbow is 100% real).
What wild horses ACTUALLY look like.
It’s inhumane to allow these horses to roam the countryside freely with no management solutions as both the horses and the land suffer in the end. It’s inhumane to completely discredit contraception options, because bringing more wild horses and burros into the world just adds fuel to the flame. It’s absolutely, without a doubt, inhumane to just sit back and say, “they’re wild animals, let them be free,” because they’re not free — they’re trapped in a prison of malnourishment.
In 2018, the BLM reported gather and removal of 11,472 wild horses and burros from public lands with 4,609 of these animals placed into private care. The BLM, NCBA, HSUS, ASPCA® and MHF are all in favor of the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Incentive Program — and I don’t know why they wouldn’t be. This program, if executed correctly, is a great way to help control the wild horse and burro populations and also provides $1,000 to anyone who adopts a wild horse or burro. That’s right, you read that correctly: For an application fee of $25, you will be rewarded $1,000 to adopt a wild horse or burro.
So, to all anti-wild horse and burro control activists reading this column: If you are outspoken and against contraceptive and even lethal control of wild horses and burros, then adopt one of these wild animals. If you have the guts to come after the BLM or any of the other organizations listed in their efforts to make a bad situation better with every resource they have, then you should have the guts to nourish a 500-1,000 pound wild animal back to health and care for it until the end of its life. The BLM is doing all they possibly can to help these wild animals, and if you think you can do a better job, then step up and do it.
To learn more about wild horses and burros, read this week's Western Ag Reporter headline story by editor, Kayla Sargent and visit the BLM website.
