CONTACT FEDERAL AUTHORITIES
Believe it or not, your voice matters!
Today, as never before, wild horses and burros are getting some traction on Capitol Hill. Ten phone calls or messages from constituents in one day is all it takes to draw the attention of members of Congress to an issue. Whether you call or email, always be polite - rudeness and hostility do not help the animals. Request a response. Let them know that protection of wild equines is a voting issue for you. When you call, usually you will reach an aide, who will take down your contact details and comments. If you are transferred to voicemail, leave a message. It may feel like a black hole on this end, but it is a flood on theirs. Any time wild horses and burros are threatened or harmed by federal authorities, we want the inboxes and phones of federal authorities to be swamped with messages.
Public Policy Polling in 2022 confirmed:
• 88% of voters support protecting wild horses
• 79% oppose the slaughter of wild horses for human consumption.
• 75% opposed the BLM’s 2022 plan to remove 19,000 wild horses and burros.
• 74% oppose helicopter roundups.
• 72% oppose removing horses from their habitat.
Members of Congress
If you aren’t sure which Members of Congress represent you:
1. Look up your House Representative by entering your zip code
2. Look up your Senators by entering your state
You can reach them in the following ways:
1. Call the Congressional Switchboard and ask to be transferred to their offices: (202) 224-3121
2. Email them via contact forms for constituents on their individual websites
3. For your convenience, you can submit a single message that is sent simultaneously to your two Senators and Representative via one website: www.democracy.io
Less is most often best in messaging when supporting specific legislation and actions. All you really need to communicate is:
1. My name is - - -
2. I am a constituent / taxpayer.
3. I support keeping and protecting wild horses & burros on public lands.
4. Please co-sponsor and do everything in your power to pass this legislation (e.g. The SAFE Act, H.R. 3475 / S. 2037) or place a moratorium on helicopter roundups, etc.).
The White House
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Tel: (202) 456-1111 E-mail: comments@whitehouse.gov White House Website Contact Form:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Secretaries & Directors of Federal Land Management Bureaus
Secretary of the Interior / Department of the Interior (DOI)
Deb Haaland
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240 Tel: (202) 208-3100 Email: exsec_exsec@ios.doi.gov
Website Contact Form:
https://www.doi.gov/contact-us
The Bureau of Land Management (DOI) Director Tracy Stone-Manning
Tel: (202) 208-3801
Email: wildhorse@blm.gov Website Contact Form:
https://www.blm.gov/feedback
US Fish & Wildlife Service (DOI) Director Martha Williams
1849 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20240 Tel: 800-344-9453 Website Contact Form:
https://fws.gov/contact-us
US National Park Service (DOI) Director Charles Sams III National Park Service
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240 Tel: 202-208-6843 Website Contact Form:
https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/contactus.htm
US Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Secretary Tom Vilsack 1400 Independence Ave., S.W.
Washington, DC 20250 Tel: (202) 720-2791 Email: askusda@usda.gov
US Forest Service (USDA) Chief Randy Moore 1400 Independence Ave., SW,
Washington, D.C. 20250-0003 Tel: (800) 832-1355
Social Media
Most politicians, federal agencies and authorities post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (and subsequent spinoffs). You can make your voice heard on these platforms.
Legislation That Needs Your Support NOW!
Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R.3475 / S.2037) This bill would amend the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, commonly known as the “Farm Bill”, an omnibus federal law that includes several important provisions for animals, like the Cat and Dog Meat Trade Prohibition Act, which makes it illegal to slaughter, transport, possess, purchase, sell, or donate dogs and cats, or their parts, for human consumption. This bill would extend the prohibition to equines. Specifically, prohibiting a person from knowingly slaughtering an American equine for human consumption; or shipping, transporting, possessing, purchasing, selling, or donating an American equine to be slaughtered for human consumption.
Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act 2023 (H.R.3656) This bill prohibits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from using or contracting for the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft for gathering horses and burros under the Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act. Further, BLM may not make contracts to use helicopters for transporting captured animals under such act.
Ejiao Act (H.R. 6021) After China and Hong Kong, the US is the third-largest importer of ejiao, a gelatin made by boiling donkeys’ skins primarily for use in beauty products; a brutal trade that has almost decimated the donkey population globally. This bill would prohibit the sale or transport in interstate or foreign commerce of ejiao.
Actions You Can Take NOW!
Defund the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) To abolish the corrupted program, in which the BLM pays “adopters” $1000 to take captured wild horses and burros off their hands and then dump them into the slaughter pipeline.
Stop the Use of Pregnant Mare Urine (PMU) to Produce Premarin To stop the cruelty suffered by pregnant mares raised for their urine to make the hormone replacement therapy drug, Premarin, and the foals that are taken from them and discarded for slaughter.
Ban Canned Zebra Hunting Sign the petition to stop the killing of zebras and other exotic animals, as well as endangered species, at canned hunting ranches.