In a recent roundup, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management took 1,922 wild horses away from their home in the Calico Mountain Complex of Nevada. These wild mustangs are supposed to be protected beneath the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, a federal law since 1971.

However, instead of protecting these horses, legislators are spending tax dollars to round them up and relocate them regularly, causing the deaths of 64 horses (or more) in this last roundup alone, as well as the loss of 35 babies from pregnant mares. In addition, more horses were euthanized. The Bureau has even considered simply euthanizing mass numbers of the wild horses in holding facilities to simply “erase the problem” they cause for ranchers, farmers, and the government itself.

In order to stop treating horses like cockroaches, the Restoring Our American Mustangs Act (also known as ROAM) is being introduced. This bill would create an amendment to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burrows Act, which would include further protections for these horses.

The amendment includes specific provisions for improved management of wild horses as well as support for their health rather than their relocation and murder for human convenience. It also maintains that 19 million acres of land that the mustangs are native to be kept their habitat, safely ensuring that they have plenty of land to live on. It will provide them with the freedom of movement that they need to survive as well as non-lethal means of managing their population altogether.

If you’d like to offer support to ROAM and the wild mustangs, please click here to find out more information and to contact your senators today.