Nearly 80 veterinarians have signed a letter urging the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to withdraw its “misguided” proposal of “inhumane” surgical sterilization experiments on wild mares in the Warm Springs Herd Management Area in Oregon.
The letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was delivered ahead of a Washington, D.C., meeting of the BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board to recommend several strategies to manage wild horses in the area, including using surgical sterilizations to control populations.
The BLM is considering sterilizing mares – up to 25 a day — using an extremely invasive procedure called ovariectomy via colpotomy, which causes suffering to the horses and can lead to complications including infection and death. In this painful and traumatizing method, the mare remains conscious while a metal rod-like implement is pushed through a vaginal incision to remove the horse’s ovaries.
“Not only is ovariectomy via colpotomy far more invasive, inhumane, and risky than other nonsurgical methods of fertility control,” stresses the letter, “it is also more invasive and inhumane than the techniques that veterinarians use on domestic horses in the rare circumstances where some form of ovariectomy is clinically necessary.”
It goes on: “This procedure can be accompanied by a high rate of complications … including risks of infection, trauma, post-operative pain, hemorrhage, abdominal adhesions, evisceration, abscess formation, abortion, neuropathies, and even death …. The associated risks are exacerbated by the fact that, by the agency’s own admission, the surgeries will be conducted at the agency’s corrals in an operating space that ‘may not be entirely sterile.’”
This is the fourth time since 2016 that the BLM has tried to set in motion these dangerous experiments, but so far it has been blocked, most recently in 2018 when the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI), the American Wild Horse Campaign and The Cloud Foundation attained a preliminary injunction preventing the bureau from undertaking the experiments.
“We are grateful to the many veterinarians, with their considerable medical expertise, who are speaking out against the BLM’s blatant disregard for horse welfare,” commented Dr. Joanna Grossman, AWI’s equine program manager. “Given the BLM’s aggressive pursuit of ovariectomy experiments, members of the veterinary community are sounding the alarm about the serious risks involved in this heinous procedure. It is imperative that the BLM ensure the humane treatment of all federally protected wild horses.”

The BLM is crap and evil and crooked. Do away with this murderous organization.
STOP THIS INSANITY AGAINST THESE MAJESTIC ANIMALS NOW. WE THE PUBLIC DEMAND THAT THESE CRUEL, AND OFTEN DEADLY PROCEDURES ARE STOPPED NOW. WE ARE WATCHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot understand why ANYONE would think that this procedure would be considered as an approach to controlling a population. This is vivisection, plain and simple. Torment and torture of animals Thankfully, there are people who are willing to take a stand against cruel treatment of animals, making this issue one that can’t be ignored.
Cannot believe this is allowed to continue in a so-called civilised country. Absolutely shameful.
BARBARIC
Please acknowledge vets & NOT carry out sterilisation of Wild Mares in way suggested in this article.
How do we call ourselves civilized and treat animals like this I will never understand, we need to stop and become civilized as we claim to be.
Please close this racetrack down as too many accidents leads to horses being put down.
Please close this racetrack as too many incidents lead to horses being put down.
Stop torturing these beautiful animals!!!
BUT WHAT EVERYONE IS FORGETTING IS THAT POLITICIANS DO NOT CONSIDER ANIMALS WORTHY OF CONCERNM ONLY WEALTHY RANCHERS WHO DONATE TO THEM. THEY ARE IN THE POCKETS OF BIG PHARMA, AGRICULTURE, PET FOOD MANUFACTURERS AND PEOPLE FOOD MANUFACTURERS. NOT TO MENTION MONSANTO NOW BAYER. THEY PASSED A LAW THAT PROTECTS mONSANTO FROM BEING SUED AFTER THE ROUND UP MESS. I HAD CANCER BECAUSE OF ROUND UP.
NO BARBARIC STERILIZATION OF AMY MAMMALS
This is animal abuse and cruelty. There is no excuse for it. It is sadistic and indecent and should not only be stopped, but should be prosecuted. Human beings are becoming so indifferent to sadism and the corruption supported by greed that the entire human race is devolving before our eyes. Who are the individuals who actually carry out such heinous acts? Who lives with and around these so-called people? Who tolerates this behavior. A person who would engage in such behavior should not even be permitted any contact with animals, children or any other decent human being.
80 veterinarians, heinous procedure – that says enough for me to consider this a really bad idea.
Once again the BLM is showing its true colours. The BLM will NOT be satisfied until EVERY wild horse and burro has been taken off the grazing lands. The BLM will then hand over the grazing lands to either their fat-assed, money-grabbing rancher ‘friends’ for their cattle or to various corporates for fracking or drilling. Once the horses and burros have been removed, the BLM will, quietly and secretly, sell the horses to their other fat-assed, money-grabbing, profiteering ‘friends’ the Kill Buyers. These heartless, gutless, soul-less kill buyers will send these innocent animals on torturous journeys to either Mexico or Canada where they will then endure the most cruel, abusive treatment by the so-called workers in filthy, stinking slaughterhouses. They will be horrifically and brutally slaughtered for their meat. Shame on the BLM and all those that support the heinous atrocities that are being carried out on these animals.
This sounds unbelievably cruel and should be made unlawful.
Bite that monster’s beast to death just like he did to an innocent animal. These are not human beings and must leave this globe and be thrown away like rubbish!
Eliminate the BLM !! They are a despicable agency of our government, that is not needed. They round up horses that are surviving in the wilderness, and send them off to slaughter. Horrific cruelty is implemented on these horses, by Mexico, Japan, and Canada. Now torture sterilizations, with no pain medicine, in dirty germ invested corrals. This sounds like the BLM is advocating their torture and death !! Shame on the BLM !! Maybe Mr. Zinke’s cruelty to animals has worn off on this horrendous agency.
Well done to the vets for taking this action.
Thank goodness that there are vets and animal advocates that will continue to speak up and fight against animal cruelty. It is especially important to not let govt legitimize it.
this is unacceptable torturing animals is unforgiveable and you need to rethink this now and stop it …