Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/814818
GLOBAL CULTURE e main function of the trip was "darting," or administering the PZP immunocontraceptive vaccine via dart guns, to about 300 wild mares on Vieques. e vaccine must be given twice in the first year to prevent a mare from getting pregnant, with the second round of shots taking place in April. But before anyone arrived in Vieques, HSUS experts had concerns as to how they'd be received by local horse owners. "e big question is what is PZP? Are there negative side effects?" said Loller. "I would say there were a handful of people who were skeptical about, 'Really, what does this do?' ey were concerned that it might at all harm the horses, which it doesn't. We've taken a large amount of time making the community connections and really bonding with the locals. ere's a huge riding population already on the island, and we go in with respect for that—making sure we give them all the information. "e mayor also did car announcements with a speaker on top of a car, so they announced it to the entire island multiple times," she continued. "Because we were asked in by the government, things were a little different that way. en there were things we weren't involved in at all; people asking, 'Are there going to be roundups to get horses out of the main part of town?' And that's not our program—ours is solely focused on immunocontraceptive work." In addition to slowly decreasing the equine population of the island, Loller noted that mares that don't foal every year generally look healthier. "It's better for tourism if you're not seeing ribcages," she said. "It's a huge work in progress. It's still in its first year, but for our darters to get to 300 mares, that's 300 less babies for next year. It's a big, big difference." MEREDITH LEE/HSUS PHOTO The Puerto Rican island of Vieques is currently home to about 2,000 wild horses—a number that's too high for the small island to easily sustain. "It was very cool for me as a rider to be able to give back to horses," said top show jumper Georgina Bloomberg of her trip to Vieques to work with the HSUS program. 96 M AY/J U N E 2 017 U N TAC K E D