What It All Means – part 1

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chwildhorseadvocates

Hello! 

The October 2024 roundup of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses is over.  The park issued their reports that we have not been able to decipher because we do not know which numbers correlates to which horse.  We have received a list of numbers and have added numbers to the horses we know the birth order for.  All of the numbers have been added to our list of horses on our website: https://chwha.org/the-horses-of-theodore-roosevelt-national-park/

PLEASE NOTE: Since Theodore Roosevelt National Park refuses to give us the names that match the numbers, this is only our best guess.  The park SHOULD release the names with the numbers so that the public reads the report the way they intended us to.  CHWHA has asked for this in an email to Superintendent Finley with no response.  Our lawyers sent a request for this information (and more) in our FOIA request that was sent in yesterday (11/8/2024).  You can read the FOIA report here:

CHWHA – GonaCon FOIA (Final)Download

Let’s remember – we now KNOW that this roundup was COMPLETELY unnecessary!  In a report released by Theodore Roosevelt National Park in March of 2024 – written by Blake McCann – we know that in 2022, the park had DNA on 98% of the horses!  We also KNOW that they tracked the horses movement so the collars are NOT necessary either! You can read the report for yourself here:

Ecology and Evolution – 2024 – Thompson – Population genomics provide insight into ancestral relationships and diversity of (1)Download

The roundup reports can be read here: https://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/nature/feral-horses.htm

What we know:

First, let’s talk about the collars.

We now know who the park put collars on.  The collars were actually put on as part of a NEW experiment by the USGS.  Why? The park told us “A subset of 15 horses were fitted with GPS collars to better understand their range and use of the park environment.”

Again, we know from the report that the park released in March of this year, that they observed the movement of the horses enough to include that data in their paper.  The collars are unnecessary and need to be removed.  Please make sure you take a moment to sign our petition that we are hand delivering in Washington, DC next week asking for Senator Hoeven AND  the NPS in Washington, DC to help get these collars removed!  We have meetings with BOTH offices next week!  You can sign this petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/x-5WrjPo20Cb4LGbj5PD-A2

The mares that have collars are:

2007 Mare Firefly (currently in Stallion Frontier’s band) – Mom Sundance was one of the original 28 mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2013 Mare Faith (currently in Stallion Trooper’s band)

2013 Mare Mischief (currently in Stallion Flax’s band) – Mom Maggie was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2014 Mare Dixie (currently in Stallion Amantes band) Grandma Sundance was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2014 Mare Grace (currently in Stallion Gunner’s band)

2014 Mare June (currently in Stallion Teton’s band) Grandma Shale was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2014 Mare Eclipse (currently in Stallion Half Moon’s band) Mom Freckles was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2014 Mare Opal (currently in Stallion Remington’s band) we believe her mom Molly was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013 – the list we were given only shares mares still alive as of October 2024

2014 Mare Quinn (currently in Stallion Grady’s band) we believe her mom Ghost was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013 – the list we were given only shares mares still alive as of October 2024

2014 Mare Velvet (currently in Stallion Arrowhead’s band) Mom Blue was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2014 Mare Taylor (currently in Stallion Xander’s band) Mom Spotted Blue was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2017 Mare Aurora (currently in Stallion Maverick’s band)

2019 Mare Almanac (currently in Stallion Flash’s band) Grandma Freckles was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

2019 Mare Antice (currently in Stallion Ollie Jr.’s band)

2020 Mare Pippi (currently in Stallion Illinois band) Mom Little Gray was one of the 28 original mares hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013

Is it a coincidence that so many of these mare now sporting collars are the daughters and/or granddaughters of the original 28 mares that were hand injected with GonaCon in 2009 & 2013?

No matter what the reason is for these collars, we KNOW they are unnecessary for the reasons the park is trying to feed the taxpaying public!  We also KNOW that the USGS is putting collars on other wild horses on the western range too!

WE KNOW that these collars are just another experiment on these horses that have ALREADY been experimented on for over 11 years with GonaCon!  The National Park Service needs to STOP experimenting on OUR wild horses!!!

We have A LOT more to share on these reports so be sure to check back! 

Please take a moment to take action!  We have a few action items listed below that you can do to help maximize our impact in Washington, DC next week!

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

Current Calls to Action that we will be discussing with the National Park Service AND members of Congress next week:

First – if you have NOT already signed our petition asking that the collars be removed from the wild horses of Theodore Roosevelt National Park – PLEASE SIGN IT NOW!! If you have already signed it, THANK YOU! Now, please ask your friends and family members to sign this as well.  You can sign the petition here: https://secure.everyaction.com/x-5WrjPo20Cb4LGbj5PD-A2

This is ONE of MANY topics we will be discussing with Senator Hoeven AND the National Park Service when we are in DC.  It goes without saying that we really need strength in numbers here to get these collars of these horses! We have just under 3,300 signatures so far!

Second – We will also be speaking with members of Congress about the Devil’s Garden herd when we are in Washington DC this month. Please take a moment to send an email to your members of Congress to speak up for the Devil’s Garden herd: https://secure.everyaction.com/TUGd9WmX4EqyNwsH08Wn

Third – One of the biggest things we asked during our postcard campaign was that Congress STOP giving the BLM money for the permanent sterilization of our wild horses.  Almost 900 of you sent postcards asking this! 

We want to follow-up on this and are asking that you do 3 things to help:

  1. Sign our petition asking them to stop funding the permanent sterilization of our wild horses! We will hand deliver this petition to Congress this month.  You can sign the petition here:  https://secure.everyaction.com/TDodlCKidU68M1sjsNQWJA2
  2. Write a Letter to the Editor to YOUR own local newspaper.  We have a sample message you can customize below.
  3. We have taken the sample letter in our LTE action above and also added it to a one-click email that you can send to your members of Congress.  You can send the email here: https://secure.everyaction.com/KpGnE7odVkG2_LuFlzncPg2

We are asking that you customize this letter and send it to your local newspaper.  Please make sure that you call out your members of Congress – feel free to list multiple names!  IF you have a member of Congress that is on the Interior Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee – please call them out in a single Letter to the Editor.  You can check the committee members here: US House Appropriations Committee: https://appropriations.house.gov/subcommittees/interior-environment-and-related-agencies-118th-congress US Senate Appropriations Committee: https://www.appropriations.senate.gov/subcommittees/interior-environment-and-related-agencies

(Member of Congress)                  I am asking that you do your part to protect our wild horses!  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has once again requested money in their budget for the permanent sterilization of America’s wild horses and burros.  This is in direct conflict with The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, the law that was enacted to protect our wild horses and burros on our public lands.  If the BLM continues to receive funding from Congress – WITH OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS – to permanently sterilize our wild horses and burros, this will mean the end of these majestic animals. 

The continual funding being granted to the BLM for the permanent sterilization of our wild horses and burros is a total waste of taxpayer dollars and I am asking for your help to stop this act of destruction against these amazing animals.

chwildhorseadvocates

2 responses to “What It All Means – part 1”

  1. Pamela L True Avatar
    Pamela L True

    I can’t help but wonder if they put the dollars on the horses because they are experimenting on another type of permanent sterilization in secret such as Spay ovariectomies or another one dart permanent sterilization pestice sterilization that has not been studied at all. We already know that the GonaCon study was stopped and CSU did not ever write up reports on the study and claimed that BLM was using it improperly. The EPA should never have approved GonaCon for use on wild horses without a proper completed study by qualified veterinarians and University. BLM also recently asked Congress for funding to use GonaCon on stallions despite they have been doing that in secret since 2020 at least where I witnessed proof on the Red Desert Roundup where we filed a TRO in Court and I filed a complaint to the judge at that time and never got a response. GonaCon was first used on deer both genders. Because it has been done in secret for so long on stallions they do not wait 30 days to give the booster like they supposedly do for mares…rather I believe they give the stallions a double dose. Over the last couple of years stallions have been dying like flies on all HMAs that have been heavily rounded up by helicopters. Their goal for extinction is zero procreation and why they keep coming back to round them up and why they try to take them all so they can make sure all horses are permanently sterilized returned to the range. They also never put back any foals or those too young to stetilize. Then darter’s still go in and dart wild horses regularly despite all of this. Very sick as they do it for money. I believe horses are dying from this poisoning.

    There would be no need to use collars to observe the horses if it was GonaCon. Collars on wild horses is very dangerous. There is not one law within the original Wild Horse and Burro Act that is not being violated and bastardized to include by Congress.

    All Government land management agencies are involved in the systemic slaughtering, incarceration, killing and genocide of our wild horses driving this protected indigenous wild life species to extinction and Congress is costing the American Taxpayer 100s of millions annually to accomplish their dirty criminal deeds.

    Reply
  2. What It All Means – part 2 – CHWHA

    […] You can read part 1 in this series from yesterday on our website here: https://chwha.org/2024/11/09/what-it-all-means-part-1/ […]

    Reply

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