GARDNERVILLE, NV (July 27, 2018) - In Defense of Animals is celebrating a victory that has seen the Bureau of Land Management nix its plans to subject a herd of Nevada wild horses to a terrifying and ultimately deadly roundup.

“We are incredibly relieved to have saved the beloved Fish Springs wild horse herd from a cruel fate at the hands of the government,” said Dr. Marilyn Kroplick, President of In Defense of Animals. “The world-famous Fish Springs herd is a fine example of wild horse management at no cost to the taxpayer. The government agency tasked with protecting these animals should not be threatening any horses with cruel and costly roundups. We call on President Trump to disband the Bureau of Land Management, a rogue government agency that is wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars to slaughter wild horses and burros instead of performing its legal duty to protect them.”

Thousands of In Defense of Animals supporters and other wild horse advocates inundated the Department of the Interior with calls to halt the planned roundup of 70 the Fish Springs herd to sell them for slaughter.

The world-famous Fish Springs wild horse herd based near Gardnerville, NV, has been called a “shining example” of successful herd management by the regional BLM’s own Advisory Board wild horse & burro representative, owing to a partnership between the local BLM, animal advocates, and the community.

The Fish Springs herd proves that fertility control using the PZP vaccine can be managed successfully without animal cruelty, and at no cost to taxpayers. This is problematic to the BLM since it exposes the agency’s failing model of cruel and costly roundups and sale-for-slaughter.

Population control and management of the Fish Springs wild horses is implemented by animal advocates, funded by donations, and costs the BLM nothing. By contrast, the BLM’s plans to remove the Fish Springs wild horses from their homes would ultimately have cost taxpayers $1.5 million.

Many of the horses and burros rounded up by the BLM end up being shipped to slaughter in ‘unrestricted’ sales which are illegal.

The fight to keep wild horses protected is far from over. Brutal and often lethal experiments to permanently sterilize wild horses and burros are currently being proposed by the BLM. The Trump Administration’s FY 2019 budget request calls for Congress to approve “unlimited sales” and mass killing of wild horses and burros in holding facilities and on the range.

“The battle is won, but the fight is far from over,” said Kroplick. “We will never back down or stop fighting for wild horses to remain on public lands.”

Learn more and take action for wild horses and burros: www.idausa.org/savehorses

CONTACT: Ginger Fedak, 303-349-0779, ginger@idausa.org 

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In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 30-year history of fighting for animals, people and the environment through education, campaigns and hands-on rescue facilities in India, Africa, and rural Mississippi.

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