Carson City, Nevada – Fifty to sixty wild horse advocates descended onto the capitol grounds in Carson City, Nevada to both welcome the new governor, Steve Sisolak, and the new director of the Department of Agriculture, Jennifer Ott.
The purpose of the rally was to encourage the Governor and the Director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture(NDA) to once again allow the American Wild Horse Campaign to continue their darting efforts as a means of birth control for the wild horses that roam state and private lands. On October 25, 2017, the NDA announced abruptly that it was cancelling the Cooperative Agreements, which put a halt to the birth control program.
Between March 2015 and November 2017, the NDA had two Cooperative Agreements with the American Wild Horse Campaign to rescue and implement humane management of the Virginia Range horses. The darting program, which is done by trained and certified volunteers, was a huge success in keeping the birth rate down a year after it was implemented. I can concur with this assessment, being a wild horse photographer in this area, as to noticing a huge reduction in newborn foals.
The Virginia Range Wild horses roam from Reno to Fernley to Silver Springs and Carson City. To manage these horses, the darting program uses the PZP immunocontraceptive vaccine to humanely reduce population growth and reduce population numbers over time. The vaccine is documented to be safe and effective by 30 years of published scientific research. In addition, a through documented database of over 3000 horses is updated regularly by volunteers.
The cost of this program to taxpayers is ZERO! The birth control program is entirely funded with charitable dollars. To allow this Cooperative Agreement to continue is a win-win for all parties involved … especially the wild horses. Keeping a mare from having foals every year is not only good for the health of the mare, but it’s good for our open lands that continue to shrink from development.
To help with this worthwhile cause, take a moment to signup for American Wild Horse Campaign alert emails by visiting: Americanwildhorsecampaign.org/
By Kathy Klossner – Kathy has been involved with horses before she could walk. Having owned several horses through the years and showing in both English and Western Pleasure classes, Kathy now dedicates her time to helping horse rescue organizations in getting more exposure on the Internet for funding and recruiting volunteers. She is also involved with several Wild Mustang horse advocate groups in keeping our wild horses free. Check out our Gallery section to view Kathy’s photos of American’s wild horses.