Stop BLM Roundups: A Rally for Nevada's Wild Horses & Burros

Join fellow animal advocates in Las Vegas for a rally on behalf of Nevada's wild horses and burros! WHEN Sunday, April 12th from 11:00 am-12:00 pm WHERE Lower Red Rock Parking Area (this is the dirt parking lot by the *exit* of the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Drive (detailed directions are at the end of this post) POINTS OF CONTACT Cheryl Abbate: 702-281-8397 Casey Kern: 724-263-2677 WHAT TO BRING sunscreen, a sign (if you have time to make one; we'll have some to share), water, and noise makers, e.g. whistles, jars with coins, pots and pans, etc). PROTEST AIM We will speak in defense of the 2,305+ wild horses and 425+ wild burros the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to roundup, between March and June, in just Nevada alone. 425 wild horses and 425 wild burros will be ripped from their home in the Spring Mountains, and Red Rock is an area that BLM is targeting. These horses and burros will then be transported to overcrowded and cramped government holding facilities, if they don't die first (13 wild horses were killed by the BLM in Nevada roundups this year). While the BLM claims that they plan to adopt out our horses and burros, the truth is, most will waste away in these holding facilities or eventually will be sold to "kill buyers," who will arrange to have the horses sent to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered for food. Currently, over 60,000 wild horses and burros are held captive in government holding facilities. The sad reality is: few will find real sanctuary. At this rally, we will peacefully raise awareness about the BLM (& USFS) roundups of Nevada's wild horses and burros and the tragic reality of what happens to wild horses and burros both during and after the roundup. Moreover, we will: (1) call upon the BLM to halt the roundups In Nevada and beyond, leaving our horses and burros free and wild (while also implementing *large-scale* humane fertility control programs (e.g., PZP) to stabilize populations); at the very least, we demand that they stop rounding up wild horses and burros during foaling season; (2) call upon the BLM to adopt the horses and burros who have already been rounded up to reputable sanctuaries; (3) call upon the BLM to be transparent by allowing independent public observers at bait-and-gather sites, loading sites, and unloading sites (i.e., government holding facilities); (4) call upon our U.S. senators and representatives to vote in favor of The Save America's Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act, which would ban the export of horses to slaughterhouses in Canada and Mexico; (5) call upon our U.S. senators and representatives to implement a congressional directive that instructs BLM and USFS to use humane fertility interventions (e.g., the vaccine PZP) to control wild horse and burro populations instead of rounding them up and sentencing them to death or a lifetime of misery. DETAILED DIRECTIONS TO PROTEST LOCATION Type "Lower Red Rock Parking Area" into your GPS; this should bring you to the exact location. It is a large dirt parking lot right off of NV-159, located at the *exit* of the Red Rock Scenic Loop Drive (look for a big sign that says "Scenic Drive Exit"). You do not have to go into Red Rock park to access the lot; parking is free. If you are coming from the Summerlin area, the lot will be on your right (it's the next major parking area after the Red Rock Canyon Overlook Parking Lot). Look for folks with signs; you can't miss us! While the parking lot is quite big and usually pretty empty, we still recommend that folks carpool to the location, if possible. REMEMBER Our incredible wild horses and burros deserve so much better, and they need YOU to speak up for them. Let's make a difference together!