This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.

The Bureau of Land Management is once again callously planning to permanently sterilize wild horse mares using a gruesome procedure so deadly and inhumane that many veterinarians refuse to perform it. Don’t let the BLM rip out the ovaries of wild mares!

The proposed surgery, called ovariectomy via colpotomy, is controversial even for domestic mares who are used to human handling and given normal surgical protections such as sterile conditions, anesthesia, and complete long-term aftercare. The situation at the Burns Corral in Oregon, where the deadly experiments are slated to take place, is not conducive to any of those conditions which makes the already risky procedure all the more dangerous and life-threatening.

This is the third time that the Bureau has tried to perform this barbaric experiment on defenseless wild horse mares, under the guise of a “study.” After two major universities dropped out, lawsuits were filed, and massive public outcry occurred, the first two attempts were abandoned by the Bureau. Many thousands of In Defense of Animals supporters wrote to both of the universities initially involved, and also to the BLM in protest of this vile procedure from its past attempts.

This disturbing video shows and describes the brutal ovariectomy via colpotomy procedure performed on a fully-conscious but immobilized burro. It is no surprise that out of a total of six horses and burros in the study, two died. The remaining four only survived after “intensive post-operative veterinary care.”

It is difficult to comprehend why the Bureau is continuing to push for this cruel, expensive, and deeply unpopular study when other more humane and proven fertility control options are readily available; U.S. Representatives Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Dina Titus (D-NV) have already proposed appropriations spending for humane fertility control programs.

The BLM has likely been emboldened to re-attempt its sterilization experiment following a recent collaboration with livestock industry lobbying groups, the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and Return to Freedom (RTF.) With the support of these organizations, the BLM requested appropriations funding for “population growth suppression methods.” This intentionally vague language has now opened the door for BLM to move ahead once again with its brutally cruel ovariectomy via colpotomy proposal.

Time is running out! Just days remain to stop the cruel horse experiment. Sign now before the BLM public comments period closes on June 12. 

What YOU Can Do: 

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Animals still need your help.