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The BLM Should Free Its 45,000 Mustangs, Not Slaughter Them!

First the wild horses were rounded up and removed from their natural habitat. Then they were put in holding pens where many have died from starvation, neglect, and cruel experiments. And now they
are about to be slaughtered.

The 1971 Free Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act created herd areas on public land for wild horses and burros. But the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the government agency responsible for protecting these beautiful creatures,
has been moving the horses and burros off the public lands to make room for cattle grazing, fracking, and oil exploration.
Now there are too many wild horses in captivity, and the BLM Advisory Board just recommended slaughtering 45,000 horses and burros.

Anne Novak, the Founder and Executive Director of Protect Mustangs, was horrified by the news.

She started a Care2 petition to demand that the BLM disregard the Advisory Board's recommendation, and instead return the horses and burros to public lands.
Will you sign her petition?

The BLM is claiming that the 45,000 wild horses and burros marked for death are "unadoptable" because they are either at least 10 years old or have not been picked at adoption events. The agency says that allowing these animals
to live would cost taxpayers too much money.

But Anne knows firsthand that these beautiful animals are far from "unadoptable." She recently went to one of the BLM's short-term holding facilities and took a video of Snowbunnie and Suzie King, two wild horses considered undesirable.
When she posted the video online, someone immediately came forward offering to give them a forever home.

Before resorting to slaughtering 45,000 wild horses and burros, the BLM needs to seriously explore other options put forward by animal welfare experts. They should put information online about horses available for adoption,
and start a humane fertility control program.

But perhaps most importantly, the BLM should give the horses their land back.
One of the agency's major reasons for putting the wild horses and burros into captivity has been to make room on public lands for cattle ranchers and energy companies. The BLM makes about $4.3 billion annually from onshore oil and gas development on
public lands.

The BLM is completely at fault for mismanaging our wild horse and burro populations. And now they are trying to make these treasured animals pay with their lives for the agency's mistakes. But there is still time to save the 45,000
wild horses and burros that the BLM Advisory Board wants to slaughter. Sign Ann's petition to demand that the BLM free the animals instead of kill them.

Public outcry forced the government agency to stop conducting cruel sterilization experiments on horses in the past.
If enough of us speak out once again, we may be able to stop the BLM from destroying these innocent creatures.

Thank you,

Lacey K.
The Care2 Petitions Team

SIGN NOW:
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AwFlk/zsLC/AKMX2

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