Government Abandons Plan to Subject Wild Horses in Utah to Controversial Sterilization Surgeries

Government Abandons Plan to Subject Wild Horses in Utah to Controversial Sterilization Surgeries

American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) declares victory for the third time in a 5-year legal effort to block procedure

(WASHINGTON, DC) April 19, 2021...The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is dropping plans to conduct inhumane sterilization surgeries on wild mares in Utah, and the American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is again declaring victory in its legal effort to block the government from conducting the controversial procedure. Government lawyers informed the group’s attorneys of the decision this morning as part of AWHC’s current lawsuit against theBLM. It’s the third time that AWHC’slegal actionhas blocked theBLMfrom proceeding with the controversial surgeries -- called ovariectomy via colpotomy, conducted to manually sever and remove the ovaries of female horses (mares).

“We are pleased that the Interior Department has dropped the previous administration’s barbaric plan to subject wild horses in Utah to this risky, painful, and invasive sterilization. The decision bodes well for humane and science-based decision making under the leadership of Interior SecretaryDeb Haaland,” said Brieanah Schwartz, director ofpolicyand litigation for AWHC.

Schwartz noted that, as a member ofCongress,Haaland signed on to a letterspearheaded by AWHC and the Animal Welfare Institute, and endorsed by 57 other members of Congress, calling on theBLMto drop plans to conduct the sterilization surgeries. As a member of Congress, she alsoco-authored an amendmentto last year’s Interior appropriations bill to fund the implementation of scientifically-recommended PZP fertility control as an alternative to mass roundups and removal of these iconic animals from western public lands.

“We look forward to a new era of reform at theBLMtoward true protection for America’s iconic wild horse and burro herds through humane, publicly-supported, and scientifically-recommended management policies,” Schwartz added.

AWHC and Utah citizen Robert Hammerfiled suit in Decemberin the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Interior Department to stop theBLMfrom implementing the ovariectomy via colpotomy sterilization surgeries. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of AWHC byEubanks and Associates, a top national public interest environmental law firm.

“TheBLM’s decision to abandon its plan to subject recently gathered Confusion mares to dangerously brutal surgical sterilization is welcome news,” said Robert Hammer, a local photographer, and plaintiff in the case. “I had high hopes that Secretary Haaland’s appointment to lead the Interior Department would ultimately shiftBLMwild horse and burro managementpolicyin a more humane direction, but did not expect to see evidence of this shift so soon.”

Government counsel has asked for a 60-day stay to finalize its position with the court. The agency’s decision to again drop the procedure will be finalized in the next few months.

TheAmerican Wild Horse Conservation(AWHC) is the nation’s leading wild horse advocacy organization, dedicated to defending America’s wild horses and burros to protect their freedom, preserve their habitat, and promote humane standards of treatment. AWHC currently implements the largest wild horsefertility controlprogram in the world for a population of 3,000 state-managed free-roaming horses in a 300,000-acre habitat in Northern Nevada.

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