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#I STAND WITH WILD HORSES

Save our country's wild horses from cruel and unnecessary roundups that rob them of their freedom and families. Join The Wild Beauty Foundation in the fight to protect these majestic creatures by contacting your Members of Congress today and urging them to SUPPORT the Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023.

WHAT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU CAN DO

Stand with Wild Horses

Few people actually know that about 80,000 horses currently roam free in the Western United States, but they are being cruelly rounded up by helicopters, taken away from their families, and losing their freedom.

The Bureau of Land Management, tasked with the “humane management” of these animals, is contracting with private helicopter companies to pursue the wild horses across extensive distances, often generating distress, injury and even death for the animals. Today, over 50,000 wild horses are stuck in mass holding facilities.

If something isn’t done soon, wild horses will be lost to our history forever.

Bleeding Wild Horse
Wild Horse Helicopter Roundup
Caged Wild Horses
Injured Wild Horses
Helicopter Roundup Chasing Wild Horses
Roundup Wild Horses
Wild Horses in a pen
Penned Wild Horses
Caged Wild Horses
Sad Wild Horse after capture in roundup
Helicopter Roundup 3
Wild Horses Marked
Horse in Trough

Scenes from the powerful documentary “Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West”

What you can do

Support the Legislation | Sign the Pledge | Share on Social Media

Support the Legislation

In May, Representative Dina Titus (D-NV), a member of the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus, reintroduced the bipartisan Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023, along with Reps. David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Steve Cohen (D-TN). The bill aims to amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 by prohibiting the cruel use of aircraft during the roundups of wild horses.

This legislation will save wild horses and burros from the cruel and dangerous helicopter roundups, and Congress needs to know their constituents support the bill.

Tell Congress that you Stand With Wild Horses by sending a message directly to your elected officials now:

You can also call the Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your Representative’s office by providing your zip code. You may have to leave a message. Simply say:

“I am a constituent, and I’m writing to you to ask that you please support H.R. 3656, the bipartisan Wild Horse and Burro Protection Act of 2023. This important bill would protect wild horses from helicopters being utilized in roundup operations; a cruel and antiquated method that leads to trauma, injury, and death in the horses. Supporting this bill also effectively advances the BLM’s directive to humanely capture horses while providing significant savings for taxpayers. I Stand With Wild Horses!”

Wild Horse Eye Closeup

Sign the Pledge

Your signature on this petition will be presented to Congress, along with the award- winning documentary “Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West” in Washington D.C.

The Pledge:

  • I believe that wild horses and burros should remain free on our public lands for future generations to enjoy and cherish as an iconic symbol of freedom in the United States of America.
  • I acknowledge that wild horses, burros, and their families are fast disappearing from the Western United States, and I feel these actions are unjust.
  • I believe the government should remove livestock, not horses, from wild horse habitat to address overgrazing.
  • I recognize that wild horses should be federally protected by the government per the 1971 Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, but this Act is being willfully violated by the government to benefit livestock and other industries.
  • I believe helicopter roundups of wild horses are inhumane, and that wild horses and burros have been caught in the slaughter pipeline as a result of a broken federal adoption system.
  • I pledge to advocate for the continued protection of our wild world, and educate others on both the beauty and plight of wild horses in the Western United States.

#istandwithwildhorses

Sign the pledge here

SHARE on Social media

Step One

Write the words “I Stand With Wild Horses” on a piece of paper, or on another creative surface like cardboard, asphalt, or glass.

Step Two

Take a photo with the words, and your face, in the shot!

Step Three

Post your photo to social media with the hashtags #Istandwithwildhorses and #haltthehelicopters

View More

See the Film

WILD BEAUTY: MUSTANG SPIRIT OF THE WEST is an immersive journey into the world of wild horses which illuminates both the profound beauty, and desperate plight currently faced by the wild horses in the Western United States.

Play Video

Filmmaker Ashley Avis (Disney’s BLACK BEAUTY) and crew go on a multi-year expedition to uncover the truth in hopes to protect them, before wild horses disappear forever.

The critically acclaimed, award winning documentary has been called “groundbreaking” and “a piece of on-the-ground investigative journalism”. The film has been supported by lawmakers, celebrities, and major environmental groups alike. Delia G. Malone, the Wildlife Chair of the Sierra Club Colorado calls WILD BEAUTY “A clarion call to action for everyone who loves the freedom of the West, a must-see for all who want to restore and preserve the wild.”

WILD BEAUTY is available on Amazon.

“I find it unfathomable that in our modern day, a government agency could possibly consider the use of a low flying helicopter a “humane” way to treat wild horses.  These are highly intelligent flight animals; and the harrowing experience to me is barbaric.  I sincerely hope that the bill shall pass, and we will do everything we can to support the efforts of these admirable representatives with our film.”

— Ashley Avis
Founder & President of The Wild Beauty Foundation, and the director of the award-winning “Wild Beauty: Mustang Spirit of the West” and Disney’s “Black Beauty”

I Stand With Wild Horses 

I Stand With Wild Horses 

I Stand With Wild Horses 

I Stand With Wild Horses 

I Stand With Wild Horses 

I Stand With Wild Horses 

“Helicopter roundups of wild horses do nothing to improve land health or native ecosystems; federal agencies replace the horses with increased cattle and sheep numbers, and native ecosystems suffer as a result.”

Erik MolvarExecutive Director with Western Watersheds Project.

“We applaud Rep. Titus and the other cosponsors for their leadership to help end the horrific helicopter roundups that continue to plague our iconic American wild horses and burros on federal lands. Congress should move swiftly to enact this legislation and ensure the very horses whose backs this country was built upon are protected.”

Marty IrbySenior Advisor at the Animal Wellness Foundation

“We have been watching the archaic practice of brutally rounding up our wild horses and burros by helicopter for far too long. It is time to get out of the dark ages and actually protect these icons of the West. It is time to do better for our majestic wild world. Thank you to Rep. Titus and the members of Congress who recognize this in support of this bill.”

Kimerlee CurylFine artist and wild horse photographer

“Taxpayer dollars are being spent by the tens of millions to hire helicopter contractors to chase down wild horses and burros, and tens of millions more to incarcerate them en masse in deplorable government corrals. There is nothing responsible or humane about the helicopter roundups, and Rep Titus’s legislation is an important step to restoring some sanity to the BLM’s wild horse and burro program”

Scott BecksteadDirector of campaigns for Animal Wellness Action

It’s time to make a difference.

#IStandWithWildHorses