What is Humane Birth Control and Why is it Important?

We use PZP (Porcine Zona Pelucida) immuno-contraception. It can be darted in the field without capturing wild horses. It is the only acceptable form of birth control for wild horses, as it does not harm nor influence their hormones and therefore does not harm or influence their reproductive behaviors and herd dynamics. Any other form of birth control, such as geldings or overyectomies, are cruel, expensive, and will influence their hormones, which is why we do not support those forms of birth control for wild horses.

Birth control is important, because the herd is fenced in by civilization on all sides and their resources are limited; therefore they cannot grow exponentially. The PZP program will give the older mares a break from having babies and give the younger mares more time to mature before having a foal. All mares will still be given a chance to contribute their DNA to the herd. The goal of this program is for each horse born in the wild, to be able to live out its life in the wild.

To date we have successfully darted 36 mares and will continue the program throughout 2019. It does not affect the foals that are already in the making for 2019, therefore the earliest we will see the effects of our birth control program is 2020. We monitor the mares closely before and after darting, we have seen no effects and no bumps or edema’s at the injection sites. The mares do feel the dart when it injects, and might give a buck; but they resume grazing 10 seconds afterwords.

After we have darted the mare, it prevents fertilization for one year. By implementing this fertility control protocol with our team of certified darters, we can stabilize the population humanely and thereby prevent any future roundups. We want to thank our coalition partner the American Wild Horse Campaign for the financial support for this program.

PLEASE Join us in this historic movement to ensure that these beautiful wild horses remain wild and free and managed humanely.

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