🚨ALARM: The sponsor of the original Salt River Horse Act, Rep. Kelly Townsend, has sponsored a bad bill, HB 2858, which would amend and potentially undermine the original Salt River Horse Act by limiting humane management.

The bill as written will block life-saving measures that are sometimes necessary to sustain the health and well-being of individual horses and the herd as a whole. These include:

1. Rescuing horses with life-threatening injuries or orphaned foals within an emergency time window. HB 2858 currently requires approval of the governor and posting on the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) website before a horse is removed, even in cases of emergency. For emergency rescues, such delay will result in the suffering and death of horses.
2. Supplemental feeding that is sometimes necessary to maintain the body condition of the horses in times of drought and range stress. Without this feeding when necessary, the horses will become thin, making the mass removal of the horses from their habitat more likely. HB2858 as currently written limits human interaction, including supplemental feeding.
3. Humane management, including a successful fertility control program that will reduce the size of the population humanely over time. As currently written, the bill is vaguely worded and the undefined requirement to “maintain their wild nature” could be interpreted to prevent this type of management as well.

The bill also has the potential to be positive, but not without amendments that reflect the strong support of Arizona citizens for the continued humane management of the Salt River wild horses in their historic habitat.

How sad would it be if, if the bill would eventually cause the demise of the Salt River wild horse herd.

TAKE ACTION TODAY.

1. Send the email below to Arizona legislators letting them know that you oppose HB 2858.

2. Follow up your email with a call to the members of the committee. Here’s what you need to say: “I’m calling from [town/city] to oppose HB 2858 unless it is amended to allow for lifesaving intervention, including emergency rescue and supplemental feeding, for the Salt River wild horses. Thank you for your consideration.”

• House Speaker Rusty Bowers, (602) 926-3128, rbowers@azleg.gov
• Bill sponsor Kelly Townsend, 602-926-4467, ktownsend@azleg.gov
• Bil co-sponsor Jay Lawrence, 602-926-3095, jlawrence@azleg.gov
• Rep. Cesar Chávez, 602-926-4862, cchavez@azleg.gov
• Rep. Geraldine Peten, 602-926-4842, gpeten@azleg.gov
• Rep. Travis Grantham, 602-926-4868, tgrantham@azleg.gov
• Rep. David Cook, 602-926-5162, dcook@azleg.gov
• Rep. Arlando Teller, 602-926-3069, ateller@azleg.gov
• Rep. Timothy Dunn, Chairman – 602-926-4139, tdunn@azleg.gov
• Rep. Joanne Osborne, 602-926-3181, josborne@azleg.gov

Email to legislators:

Dear xx:

I am writing in opposition to HB 2858. The bill as currently written will block life-saving measures that are sometimes necessary to sustain the health and well-being of individual horses and the herd as a whole. These include:

-Rescuing horses with life-threatening injuries or orphaned foals within an emergency time window. The bill currently requires approval of the governor and posting on the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) website before a horse is removed, even in cases of emergency. For emergency rescues, such delay will result in the suffering and death of horses.

-Supplemental feeding that is sometimes necessary to maintain the body condition of the horses in times of drought and range stress. Without this feeding when necessary, the horses will become thin, making the mass removal of the horses from their habitat more likely. The bill limits human interaction, including supplemental feeding

-Humane management being implemented by the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, including a successful fertility control program that will reduce the size of the population humanely over time. As currently written, the bill is vaguely worded and the undefined requirement to “maintain their wild nature” could be interpreted to prevent this type of management.

As currently written, the bill will weaken the original bill that was overwhelmingly passed by the Arizona Legislature to protect the Salt River wild horses and could lead to the demise of the herd.

The bill has the potential to be positive, but not without amendments that reflect the strong support of Arizona citizens for the protection and continued humane management of the Salt River wild horses in their historic habitat.

Thank you for your consideration.