Jack, Mesa and Dune’s story is only known because someone was watching.

This year, AWHC documented 100% of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) wild horse and burro roundups — every helicopter, every trap, every animal who lost their freedom forever. 

Our observers are sometimes the only independent witnesses on the range.

When no one is there, families are separated in silence. When AWHC is there, the truth is recorded — and used to fight back in Congress, and in the courts.

Our Observation Fund makes that possible, Jack. And as roundups escalate heading into 2026, this work has never been more urgent. 5,000 wild horses are being targeted for removal in Nevada — the largest wild horse round up in U.S. history.

Every dollar raised toward AWHC’s Observation Fund today will power our work in 2026 to document roundups as they happen — so that no cruelty goes unseen or unchallenged. Please make a 2X-Matched donation today to power this critical work.

— The AWHC Team
 

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: <[email protected]>
Date: Friday, Dec 26, 2025
To: <[email protected]>

Jack,

Before the noise came, the land was familiar. I knew where to step. I knew my baby, Dune would follow.

That morning, nothing felt different — until it was. On November 15, at our home in the Buffalo Hills of Nevada, helicopters chased our herd across the land we have always known. 

Burros like us were not meant to be driven this way. Our instincts — to stop, to brace, to protect our young — make these chases more dangerous, not less.

As the helicopters came down, I kept Dune close — always just a few steps away. When the ground felt uncertain, I slowed for him. When he hesitated, I waited.

That is how burros survive, Jack. We do not scatter easily. We do not run blindly into danger. When we are afraid, we stop. We stand. We look for safety.

But on that day, nowhere was safe.

I stayed with Dune as long as I could. I placed myself between him and what was coming. I thought we might be free and safe when our family was taken away. But then, the helicopter returned — just for us.

Seven men surrounded us. Ropes flew.
I felt the pull.
I felt my baby fall beside me.

We were taken to a place with fences and noise. I don’t know where my family is now. I only know that we are not going back.

Humans have decided there is no place for burros here anymore. Their goal was to remove every single one of us. 33 of us were taken from Buffalo Hills, 4 did not survive.

An observer from American Wild Horse Conservation was watching that day. They saw what happened to us. They documented it — because without witnesses, no one would ever know our story.

Your support makes it possible for AWHC to be there — to stand watch, to tell the truth, and to fight for a future where families like mine are not torn apart by force.

Please, if you can, make a year-end donation to AWHC’s Observation Fund to help protect wild families like mine — before more are lost. Every donation made before tomorrow at midnight will be matched, going twice as far to power this critical work.

— Mesa

As witnessed by AWHC observers