Hello and Happy Wednesday!
It has been a very long day, and A LOT has transpired! One of the MANY things we did today in our fight for this herd was start the day by sending an email to our state and federal legislators literally giving an 11th hour plea for their help and clearly stating why these points were important. This email was also sent to the press we have been communicating with. Patrick Springer quoted several of my lines from that letter in his article this evening: https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/hoeven-no-wild-horses-will-be-removed-after-roundup-of-herd-at-theodore-roosevelt-national-park?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=dailypm&utm_market=inforum.
I did want to share the images in this blog with you to show that the park is preparing for the helicopter roundup. These photos were taken on our way home this evening and show hay bales in the capture pens along with all the horse trailers moved to the capture pen area. I also want to share that Stallion Gunner and his band are all also about ¼ mile from the capture pens. The picture of the longhorn cattle that are in the North Unit of the park is from our friend Birgit Pruess who allowed me to share her photo. Thank you Birgit!
We are NOT done yet!
Many of you read Patrick Springer’s article in the Fargo Forum this evening. Senator Hoven negotiated that no horses will be removed during the roundup. We are thankful to Senator Hoeven but THAT is NOT the biggest battle with this round up.
YES….
- Removing ANY horses is bad
- Using helicopters to roundup the horses is bad
- We are NOT fans of collaring the horses
- We will fight them on future talks about using IUDs on the mares
The list can go on and on.
HANDS DOWN the #1 thing we are fighting for is for the planned use of GonaCon being hand injected on EVERY mare in this herd to be stopped.
YES – it is questionable as to exactly HOW much of a reproductive herd we have after YEARS of experimentation and prolonged use of GonaCon on this herd. We know that HAND INJECTING causes long term sterility – if not permanent sterility. We KNOW this because Dr. Dan Baker TOLD US that in our YouTube Horse Talk with him: https://youtu.be/kdLHvgVmIuw?si=Z8QxsatX_jl2YFR4
He also spoke to the dangers of using GonaCon on EVERY mare in the herd.
Please make sure you take time to watch or listen to this because it is sooo important!
CHWHA sent a FOIA request to the park YEARS ago asking for the schedule on who was getting GonaCon – initial injections, boosters, etc. Our FOIA request was DENIED. Superintendent Finley promised to resurrect our FOIA and told me repeatedly in our meetings that she would get me that data. My hands are still empty!
We have no idea how many doses of GonaCon ANY of these mares have received. We also are not certain about how each mare responds – aside from mares like Dolly, Democracy, June etc. – the “non-responders that keep having babies.
We DO know that according to Theodore Roosevelt National Park management – EVERY mare in this herd has been treated with GonaCon!
I want to share a couple important FACTS with you:
From the 1978 Environmental Assessment (EA) that the park is SUPPOSED to be managing the horses by: (this was written in the context of the ONLY fertility control this EA talks about: vasectomies for stallions OR injecting their testes with iodine)
A word of caution should probably be interjected in relation to fertility control. The use of vasectomies is a non-reversible process. Therefore, if vasectomies are successful in reducing foal production and if they are performed on all dominant stallions, the recruitment of young animals into the population could be severely limited. If this were to go on for many years, entire age classes of animals would be completely missing from the population. This is totally unacceptable from a biological standpoint and could result in the collapse of the herd after several years.
That is exactly what they are doing now – just with GonaCon.
THIS HERD WILL COLLAPSE IF they are allowed to hand inject EVERY mare with GonaCon!
The park is TRYING to manage ALL of their “livestock” the same way. YES – in our meetings they are STILL referring to the horses as LIVESTOCK.
What other LIVESTOCK do they have?
A small herd of 9-13 longhorn cattle that reside in the North Unit of the park. This is a non-reproductive herd. As they die off, they get more longhorns to replace them. They help with the historical representation of the park and represent Theodore Roosevelt’s time as a rancher in the Badlands. I also understand that they DO have to actually take care of the longhorns in the winter months. The horses fend for themselves.
As a side note: The longhorns DO NOT compete with the horses for ANYTHING – they are in a completely different unit of the park than the horses – over 2 hours away.
The park is planning to manage the horses in the EXACT SAME WAY!! A non-reproductive herd and as we sit and watch our favorites die off, once they get to their target number (that according to the park, they have yet to determine) they will go to the BLM and bring in another horse to replace these horses as they die.
For those of you excited for the prospect of “new blood” coming from the BLM, remember this: When wild horses are captured by the BLM and put in long-term holding, the stallions are gelded, and the mares are double-dosed with GonaCon – so more non-reproductive horses being thrown into TRNP. They can check off the box that says there are horses – there just won’t be the horses that represent the history of this area or what makes this herd unique enough that people travel from all across the globe to see them.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park has a “Livestock Management Plan”, and they are working on implementing it.
We are happy that Senator Hoeven was able to secure a commitment to NOT have any horses removed. Thank you, Senator Hoeven!
That means nothing if the rest of the herd is treated with GonaCon.
Senator Hoeven may not have understood this earlier today, but he does now! THAT is why it is so important that you call our North Dakota Federal Legislators and let them know that you want the HAND INJECTING of mares with GonaCon STOPPED!
That is the #1 thing we are fighting for because IF that is allowed to happen, truthfully, the rest of our concerns just don’t matter.
I received an email from Senator Hoeven’s office this evening. They have assured me that they are raising concerns about the use of GonaCon with the NPS. We have also shared as much information as we can with his office so that they understand the concerns we have and that they are valid concerns.
My voice is just ONE voice.
Has Senator Hoeven, and our other ND Federal Legislators heard from you? These horses need your help NOW more than ever!
The horse roundup was SUPPOSED to start TOMORROW (10/10/2024). The park mentioned to one of our reporter friends that it would start this weekend. In a Facebook post this evening, they said the horse roundup would start early next week.
The clock is LITERALLY ticking for the TRNP wild horses. We have the right people’s ear. Please make sure they are hearing from YOU!
Senator John Hoeven: 202-224-2551
Senator Kevin Cramer: 202-224-2043
Congressman Kelly Armstrong – 202-225-2611
Thank you for your support and have a great night!
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