A contraceptive vaccine will now be used to control the herd size of wild horses and burros in the American west. Why did it take so long for this to become policy? It makes so much more sense than rounding up tens of thousands of wild horses, causing some severe harm, and ending up with horses that have little chance of being adopted.
The vaccine, porcine zona pellucida or PZP, has been used on Assateague wild horses for more than 20 years
There are now more than 45,000 wild horses in the U.S. Limiting the growth of the population by controlling fertility will be more humane, more effective and less costly that the round ups run by the Bureau of Land Management. In other words, it’s a win-win for all, but especially for the horses.