Wild horses have long been a target of disgruntled cattle ranchers, who see them as nuisance animals
competing with livestock for food. Now, a plan is underway to ship America's wild horses out of the country into
Mexico. The "Sonora Wild Horse Repatriation Project" is the brainchild of rancher Merle Edsall, who recently
presented the plan to the Bureau of Land Management's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. Since
then, he has been actively lobbying the U.S. Senate to garner support and funds for his proposal. Under his
project, 10,000 wild horses would be relocated from the U.S. to Mexico.
While on the surface, Mr. Edsall's plan seems like a benign solution to rancher/mustang conflicts, the likely
outcome is much grimmer. Last year, 626,000 horses were slaughtered in Mexico. There is no guarantee that
once in Mexico, where U.S. federal protections would no longer apply, American wild horses would not suffer
that same fate.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact your U.S. Representative and your two Senators (Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121) and urge them
to reject any proposal allowing our wild horses to be sent to Mexico or any other country. You can identify the
names of your federal legislators by visiting our Legislative Directory. Also, contact John Fend (202-452-0379;
John_Fend@blm.gov) at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and ask him to reject the Sonora Wild Horse
Repatriation Project. Tell him the U.S. should provide these horses with an American sanctuary — surely the
BLM can find some room for these beautiful animals on the 262 million acres in the U.S. under its
management.
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