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[Subject] Protect Wild Horses and Burros

Dear [Your Senator or Representative],

I am writing today to urge you to protect wild horses and burros on public lands.

Over the past forty years, laws passed by Congress to defend wild horses and burros have been distorted, misrepresented and ignored by those who seek to profit from their removal. Tens of thousands of acres that were designed for these animals have been taken away, and countless wild horses and burros have been rounded up and privatized or sent to slaughterhouses.

During the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundups, contractors mercilessly chased down wild horses and burros in trucks and helicopters. Many are injured and die in the process and pregnant mares have prematurely aborted foals. This is unacceptable.

While the Restore Our American Mustang (ROAM) Act is a good effort to halt this, changes must be made to prevent the sterilization and continued capture of these animals.

The proposal by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to aggressively sterilize wild horses and capture and move tens of thousands of these free-living animals into captivity in the Midwest and Eastern United States is an outrage.

This proposal is not about protecting the ecosystems that Congress has designated for wild horses and burros; it is about further opening public lands to private interests. Were Secretary Salazar sincere about protecting the ecosystems, he would also mandate a reduction of cattle and sheep grazing on these lands.

An estimated 15,000 or fewer wild horses and burros remain in the wild, while more than 34,000 are confined in BLM holding pens. Secretary Salazar’s plan would essentially manage wild horses and burros into extinction – at significant cost to U.S. taxpayers.

Again, I urge you to reject the Salazar proposal and pass legislation that truly protects wild horses and burros. Wild horses and burros must be left alone and allowed to remain free – not captured, not sterilized and not sent to slaughterhouses or government holding pens.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Address

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