Western Horse Watchers Association
Exposing the Hypocrisy, Lies and Incompetence of the Wild Horse Advocates
Opinion
It was attributed to Lady Groupthinker in the July 29 article by Nevada Current.
It’s time for Congress to protect these horses from merciless helicopter roundups and mandate compassionate fertility control instead.
The advocates are all cut from the same cloth and drank the same Kool-Aid.
RELATED: Advocates Respond to Callaghan Roundup.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The term refers to an elusive object or goal of great significance according to the explanation at Wikipedia.
It’s a report titled “How Fertility Control Improves Genetic Diversity.”
Unobtanium might be more accurate.
That term originally referred to materials that don’t exist according to the definition at Wikipedia.
The report, if found, would save the advocates from total embarrassment and defeat.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The statute declared that the horses are not stray livestock, according to an opinion piece in the Arizona Capitol Times, and it prohibited anyone from harassing, capturing or euthanizing them without written authorization, and only for humane purposes.
But it didn’t protect them from mass sterilization and those who would sacrifice the herd to prove their nutty ideas and win the approval of its detractors.
The debate about removal should include humane management, a codeword for long-term use of PZP, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
In a surprise move, they’re calling for an end to motorized removal and greater use of humane alternatives according to a July 29 article by Nevada Current.
Who saw that coming?
Nina Jackel, founder of Lady Groupthinker, said “It’s time for Congress to protect these horses from merciless helicopter roundups and mandate compassionate fertility control instead.”
The advocates have nothing to offer America’s wild horses.
In most cases, the herds bounce back after a roundup.
With humane management, a codeword for long-term use of immunocontraceptives, the changes are permanent: The mares will be sterilized, the breeding population will be destroyed and genetic mixing will be stopped.
Pay no attention to the advocates. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing and don’t deserve a penny of your support.
RELATED: Roundup Season: Boon to Pesticide Salesmen, Callaghan Aftermath.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The changes are not permanent, a huge disappointment to the advocates.
The pre-gather population was 809 and 703 animals were removed, leaving around 100 to repopulate the area.
Q. Did the helicopters sterilize any mares?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Was the breeding population destroyed?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Was genetic mixing prevented?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the incident skew the sex ratio in favor of females?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the roundup attract women?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Are you surprised that the advocates favor techiques that are incompatible with genetic health?
A. No, they want the ranchers to win.
PREVIOUS: Lahontan Roundup Ends?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Long-term use of PZP at the Salt River, under the guise of humane population reduction, has produced the following results:
Curiously, some advocates are still calling for scientific study of herd size and genetic health, evident in a July 29 commentary in the Arizona Capitol Times.
How would the research save the herd from total collapse?
Why haven’t Van der Salm, the Salt River ringleader, and Roy, the disgraced former leader of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, been held to account?
PREVIOUS: Foal-Free Friday, Blood from a Stone Edition.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The page by Superior Livestock Auction includes a live video feed.
There are seven buybacks this year.
Why aren’t the advocates calling for study of genetic health?
PREVIOUS: Chincoteague Mare Found Dead Just Before Pony Swim.
UPDATE: Auction results now available.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The pre-gather population was over 4,500 and 2,000 animals were removed.
Q. Did the helicopters sterilize any mares?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Was the breeding population destroyed?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Was genetic mixing prevented?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the incident skew the sex ratio in favor of females?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the roundup attract women?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Are you surprised that the advocates push for the greater of two evils?
A. No, they want the ranchers to win.
PREVIOUS: Callaghan Roundup Ends?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The average of the herd is increasing, along with the death rate, because no new foals are hitting the ground.
It’s not nature’s way, it’s a better way according to the advocates.
The Salt River advocates portray themselves as voices for the horses but they were hired to get rid of them.
How much of their support comes from hunters and ranchers?
The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group is a forward base of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, a leader in mass sterilization.
Conservation, protection and preservation are codewords for long-term use of fertility control, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.
That’s what you’re seeing at the Salt River (and Virginia Range).
Refer to the AdvocateSpeak decoder for more examples.
RELATED: Don’t Worry, Science Will Indict Salt River Advocates.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Not for animal cruelty, which they deserve, but for betraying the public trust.
PREVIOUS: Media Should Put Salt River Advocates Under Microscope.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The writer of a column in the Arizona Capitol Times argues that decisions affecting public resources, such as wild horses, should be supported by transparent data and sound science, not by consensus or a show of hands.
The piece contains misleading information about herd size and genetic health while ignoring facts about long-term use of PZP. That information is in the ISPMB report, starting on page 30.
Here’s the money quote:
Through fertility control and natural attrition, the population has fallen from approximately 450 horses five years ago to about 271 today — a reduction of more than 40% without mass removals.
Except the time frame is closer to eight years. A reduction of that magnitude would require a death rate of about 10% per year, twice the normal rate.
If science and transparency had a role, the author would have told you that you can’t use PZP to shrink a herd by 40% without sterilizing the mares.
The population will continue to decline, even if the darting program is stopped.
Where does that leave the debate?
PREVIOUS: Rally Announced as Salt River Debate Drags On.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Two bands have migrated into the Lahontan area according to the writer of a guest column in Carson Now and they might be captured and processed as BLM horses.
How would she know this?
She’s the Director of Conservation with the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses, instigator of the mass sterilization program in their home range.
Her volunteers will chase the mares to the ends of the earth for an opportunity to hit them with pesticide-laced darts.
The column is a sales pitch for nonmotorized removal, a service that CAAWH provides.
Starting tomorrow, wild horses “will lose their freedom forever. Not because science says they must go but because our federal management system has failed to keep pace with modern conservation,” codewords for long-term use of PZP, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.
Describing current management practices as a broken system, the writer notes that, after a roundup, populations are allowed to grow beyond levels deemed appropriate, which is how nature provides for genetic diversity and long-term viability.
What she proposes is a dead-end for wild horses, the greater of two evils.
RELATED: Roundup Season: Boon to Pesticide Salesmen.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
You could argue that they’re rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic but you’d be wrong.
The ship is already at the bottom of the ocean, thanks to the advocates.
Concerns about herd size, genetic diversity and planned removals, outlined in a story by AZ Free News, are too late, too far downstream.
The damage has already been done and a “Follow the Science” rally, set for July 22, won’t fix it, no matter how large the crowd and how many experts are invited.
The organizers—names unknown—should have called it the “Truth Harder to Find than Foals” rally.
The only way to save the herd from collapse is to bring in mares from other areas that haven’t been ruined by PZP.
The effort should be accompanied by an investigation of all parties involved since 2018.
RELATED: Salt River Horses Need Protection from Advocates.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
The wild horse world is corrupt from top to bottom, especially in the space occupied by the advocates.
With roundup season in full swing, they’re going all out to sell nonmotorized removal.
Except they don’t call it that. They call it conservation.
They may even post images of wild horses grazing peacefully near a water hole.
Except there are no foals.
If you’re a hunter or rancher, you should recognize the limitations of motorized removal and the advantages of their approach:
But fertility control can.
So think twice before criticizing the advocates. They offer the greater of two evils.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Ranchers, with the cooperation of your faithful public servants, want to control how grazing allotments are used.
Permits would be limited to animals they like, such as cattle and sheep.
Grazing would no longer be authorized for undesirable species such as bison and horses, precluding the use of public lands for wild animal preserves.
It’s anti-competitive, a barrier to those who would lawfully acquire base properties and petition the government for changes in livestock types and seasons of use.
It’s also the middle finger to those who bear the costs of off-range holding.
You can comment against the proposal at the Federal Register.
PREVIOUS: Allotment Conversion Not Illegal.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Q. Did the helicopters sterilize any mares?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Was genetic diversity compromised?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the incident reduce the breeding population to an unsustainable level?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Did the roundup attract women?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Will the herd collapse?
A. No, fertility control programs do that.
Q. Are you surprised that the advocates push for the greater of two evils?
A. No, they want the ranchers to win.
PREVIOUS: Montgomery Pass Roundup Almost Over.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
In the following video one of the founding members of the Pesticide Caucus complains about motorized removal at the Callaghan Complex, which she describes as costly and inhumane, and the benefits of immunocontraceptives.
The capture and removal goals are 2,000 according to the gather page, not 5,000, and there are no plans to treat any of the mares with such pesticides and return them to the range, much to her chagrin.
Remember, “humane management,” “protecting them from removal” and “a better way” are codewords for long-term use of PZP, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.
Refer to the AdvocateSpeak decoder for more examples.
RELATED: Callaghan Roundup Not a Rescue?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Of course it is! It’s the government throwing a lifeline to high-net-worth individuals whose livelihood is threatened by pests that are robbing forage from the most noble and deserving nonnative species on Nevada’s public lands.
The Day 1 results at the gather page give body condition scores of 3 to 5, discrediting the starvation hypothesis, at least for now.
Animals removed from their lawful homes will be placed in off-range holding at a cost of $6 per head per day, while the government collects about five cents per head per day for livestock grazing in their stead.
Makes perfect sense.
Pay no attention to the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses and its army of nitwits, they are public enemy #1 of America’s wild horses.
PREVIOUS: Callaghan Roundup in Progress.
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
Exhibit A:
They’re obsessed with pesticides.
They’re as ruthless as the helicopter pilots and wranglers.
They hate foals.
They hate families.
They hate nature’s way.
The Salt River Wild Horse Darting Group is a forward base of the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses in Arizona.
RELATED: Salt River Advocates Hitting Mares in the Back?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
A July 10 press release by the Campaign Against America’s Wild Horses says the incident is expected to become the largest wild horse removal effort in Nevada history, which is not true.
The mass sterilization program on the Virginia Range, targeting over 3,000 wild horses, is the largest removal effort in the state, and it’s inflicted by the writers of the news release.
As usual, the charlatans call for effective management strategies grounded in science, transparency and humane stewardship, codewords for long-term use of PZP, with the inevitable result of permanent infertility and herd collapse.
One of their dupes, who stars in the Yellowstone spinoff Marshals, said “This isn’t about population control.”
Yes it is.
They are pesticide salesmen, not conservationists, and don’t deserve a penny of your support.
PREVIOUS: Callaghan Roundup Closed to Public Observation?
► Get the truth about wild horses and the wild horse advocates at westernhorsewatchers.com.
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