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All across the Western U.S., our last remaining herds of wild horses are being violently rounded up by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and forced into government holding pens. The BLM rounds up wild horses and burros to keep millions of acres of public land available for lease to agribusiness for cattle grazing. The horses and burros are captured, housed in barren pens, and separated from their families. These horses are supposedly put up for adoption, but few are actually adopted into long-term homes. Most end up warehoused or shipped to Canada or Mexico for slaughter.

According to federal officials, the roundups are necessary because the land is overpopulated by wild horses and could become uninhabitable to other wildlife. The truth is that BLM has leased millions of acres of the wild-horse and burro rangelands to cattle interests. The cattle are eating all the forage and drinking up the scarce water supply, and the wild horses are being blamed and forced out of their homes.

The BLM is taking comments today about the latest plan to round up nearly 1,700 horses who are living on land designated for the future Wild Horse Eco-Sanctuary, founded by philanthropist and activist Madeleine Pickens. These horses will be directly affected by what the BLM is calling a "gather."

Please e-mail the BLM and let the agency know that the survival of wild horses on their native lands must take precedence over cattle grazing. The comment period ends today, so take action right now. 

Written by Jennifer O'Connor

TuesdayHorse / CC

Philanthropist and activist Madeleine Pickens needs your help to save a whole bunch of wild horses who are now in peril.

Our pal Madeleine's "Pony Express Campaign" is working to stop Bureau of Land Management (BLM) round-ups in which wild horses and burros suffer great anguish when they are captured, housed in barren pens, and separated from their families. The BLM rounds up thousands of horses and burros every year, claiming that they are "saving" them from crowding and starvation. But in reality, the BLM is working to keep them off millions of acres of public lands that are leased to agribusiness companies for cattle grazing.

Madeleine's first goal is for President Obama to issue an executive order stopping the round-ups. She then plans to set up a sanctuary of more than 1 million acres—she already has them!—for the tens of thousand of horses who have already been captured, and she ultimately plans to adopt, sterilize, and release them to live freely on protected land. Madeleine's vision is to preserve the legacy of American history and encourage people to visit, appreciate, and respect wild horses.

Jump aboard Madeleine's Pony Express by signing this letter, which Madeleine will personally deliver to the president from the back of her adopted mustang. The deadline to collect 20,000 signatures is September 1.

Written by Jennifer O'Connor