American Wild Horse Conservation: A Closer Look

A version of this article was previously published. Most of the information provided still holds true today. Western Justice is sharing to help reveal the manner in which extremist groups operate, their ties to and cooperation with other extremist groups, and the continued threat they pose to our lifestyles and livelihoods.

Behind the glossy imagery of horses roaming free on Western rangelands lies an organization with a far different agenda. American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC)—recently rebranded from the American Wild Horse Campaign—presents itself as a voice for animal welfare, but its record reveals deep ties to radical animal rights groups and a consistent pattern of obstruction against genuine management solutions from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and other stakeholders.

Origins and Mission

AWHC was founded by Neda Demayo and Virginie Parant, both longtime animal rights extremists and co-founders of Return to Freedom (RTF), a self-styled sanctuary in Lompoc, California. Despite its name, “Return to Freedom” does not release horses back to the wild but instead confines them to a 300-acre holding facility.

On its website, AWHC openly states:

“Our efforts include working collaboratively with other advocacy groups, meeting with members of Congress on Capitol Hill and their district offices, and mobilizing and empowering our supporters to reach out to their elected officials on behalf of wild horses and burros.”

Among its policy goals is the repeal of the Burns Amendment, which allows for more flexible management of horse populations. The group also partners with and promotes other animal-extremist organizations, including ASPCA, HSUS, In Defense of Animals, Animal Law Coalition, The Cloud Foundation, Last Chance for Animals, and World Wildlife Fund.

Litigation as a Fundraising Tool

While AWHC solicits donations under appeals such as “Act now to save the Mustangs,” the majority of its resources are funneled into litigation, not on-the-ground solutions.

Its website maintains list of over 19 lawsuits against the BLM and other groups attempting to manage wild horse populations. These lawsuits have not alleviated starvation or dehydration crises on the rangeland, nor have they improved adoption rates or reduced herd overpopulation in a meaningful way.

AWHC relies on the law firm Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks, which is known for representing radical organizations such as PETA, HSUS, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), Center for Biological Diversity, and Defenders of Wildlife. The firm frequently partners with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, further cementing AWHC’s alignment with animal extremist litigation networks.

Deep Ties to Animal Extremism

Over the years ,AWHC’s leadership and supporters have consistently had deep ties with radical groups:

Neda Demayo (Founder) – Profiled by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), which the FBI classifies as a domestic terrorism group. ALF even hosted fundraising tools for her Return to Freedom organization. Demayo has also collaborated with PETA-affiliated platforms and partners with HSUS and WWF.

Suzanne Roy (Executive Director) – A 30-year activist with experience at In Defense of Animals, PCRM, and Born Free USA. Newsweek once described PCRM as “a wolf in sheep’s clothing…a fanatical animal rights group with operational ties to violent zealots.”

Eleanor Phipps Price (Past President) – A major donor to PETA and NRDC, an environmental NGO notorious for “sue and settle” tactics.

Stephanie Zill (Past Treasurer) – Publicly praised convicted eco-terrorist Kevin Tubbs of the Earth Liberation Front as a “hero” for his arson campaign. She also held leadership positions with the Center for Biological Diversity, which has been caught falsifying evidence against ranchers.

Grace Kuhn (Past Communications Director) – Involved in producing propaganda films What the Health and Cowspiracy, while campaigning against circuses and rodeos.

Brieanah Schwartz (Former Policy Counsel) – Connected with Meyer Glitzenstein & Eubanks and other radical legal groups, advocating for extending legal standing to animals and even ecosystems.

These associations reveal a consistent ideological pattern: AWHC is less about protecting horses and more about advancing the broader anti-agriculture, anti-use agenda of animal rights extremism.

Promoting Unethical Practices

AWHC frequently amplifies HSUS authored content and promotes the use of PZP contraceptive vaccines—a controversial chemical that raises serious ethical and ecological concerns. This push underscores the group’s alignment with HSUS, which itself recently rebranded as Humane World for Animals (HWA) to obscure its radical agenda.

A Hidden but Clear Ideology

On the surface, AWHC presents itself as a mainstream advocacy group. But closer examination of its leadership, alliances, and litigation strategy shows that it is part of a well-funded network of extremist organizations seeking to undermine wildlife management, agriculture, and traditional animal use.

When organizations like AWHC are unmasked, their true mission emerges: to advance a broader extremist agenda while misleading the public with emotive imagery and fundraising campaigns.

Read about the reality of wild horses HERE