Update: The BLM announced this week that they’ll put a halt to planned sterilization experiments. Public outcry in conjunction with multiple lawsuits led to the decision.

Since the #StopThemSally campaign launched on Tuesday, thousands of concerned citizens have heeded calls by The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign to demand that U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell halt planned sterilization experiments.

Thousands of tweets, Facebook posts, faxes, and emails have prompted the BLM to delay the start of the controversial program from October 1st to November 16th. AWHPC reported on their website that as of yesterday, a video released documenting the invasive experiments had over 33,000 views and 5,600 faxes have been sent to The Department of the Interior.

The experiments, due to begin this fall at the Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines, Oregon, are to be conducted on 200 wild mares by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in cooperation with Oregon State University.

“The planned sterilization experiment will surgically remove the ovaries of wild mares in a procedure that veterinarians have called ‘archaic’ and ‘barbaric’ and that the National Academy of Sciences specifically recommended against,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHPC, “These experiments are unnecessary and unacceptable, particularly when a humane population management tool is available in the PZP birth control vaccine.”

In addition to the social media campaign, AWHPC and The Cloud Foundation have filed multiple lawsuits against the BLM demanding a halt to the sterilization experiments. Should they not be ordered to stop the program, the organizations are requesting access to document the experiments claiming it’s a first amendment right.

If you’re against the sterilization experiments on America’s wild mustang mares, join the #StopThemSally campaign on social media.