More than 30 legislators have sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland demanding a thorough review of the Bureau of Land Management(BLM)’s Adoption Incentive Program for wild horses and burros to ensure the iconic animals won’t continue to be sent by adopters to slaughter, in violation of the agency’s adoption agreement.
The BLM founded the adoption program, which offers a $1,000 incentive to people approved to adopt a wild horse from a gather operation, to find good homes for the animals.
But a New York Times exposé found the agency was allowing individuals with backgrounds involving horse slaughter to adopt, and that numerous adopters had sold their rescued animals to slaughterhouses or middlemen after pocketing the taxpayer-funded stipends. The exposé also quoted an agency spokesperson saying those adopters would be allowed to adopt again.
Following the shocking report, more than 30 House legislators led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.) sent Haaland a letter, denouncing the gruesome loopholes and demanding a thorough investigation and review of practices.
Haaland, during her previous time in Congress, has backed legislation protecting wild horses and burros.
The American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) also has threatened to sue the agency in federal court, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.
AWHC’s Executive Director Suzanne Roy said the nonprofit will not sit idly by while untold numbers of federally protected wild horses and burros are sent to slaughter through a taxpayer-subsidized incentive program.
“We are prepared to take the battle over the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program to federal court if the Interior Department continues to delay action to protect these iconic animals and abide by the congressional prohibition on wild horse and burro slaughter,” Roy said in a statement.
Nonprofit Friends of Animals also recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Colorado, according to the Denver Post. The lawsuit also alleges the adoption program is circumventing federal law that forbids the slaughter of wild horses and calls for an immediate, temporary halt to the program so the BLM can conduct a thorough investigation into the program’s outcomes and impact.
Congressional law has protected wild horses and burros since 1971, making it illegal to sell the animals to buyers who intend to slaughter them.
The call to action follows other legislation ramping up attention and protections for equines, including the Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act currently before lawmakers.
More than 7,500 wild horses and burros have been adopted through the incentive program since 2019, according to the BLM. The federal agency has roundups scheduled through June.
If you haven’t already, sign our petition urging the BLM to stop these adoptions that send wild horses to a grisly end.
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I will keep rescuing animals when they need it I used to raise wildlife until I couldn’t no more I got sick but I still have a couple of them that come around but I give them to a place where they can do things with them
Most of us who have have been fighting this War since the 70 ‘s We are still in a much bigger fight now then back then. These Wild Mustangs have been Protected since 1971. But it means nothing to them. BLM HAS TRIED EVERYTHING TO KILL OFF OUR HORSES. YES I SAID OUR HORSES. THESE HORSES BELONG TO EACH & EVERYONE OF US WHO LOVES THEM & THEIR BEAUTY RUNNING WILD & FREE.
THE ONLY REASON THEY WANT THEM ALL GONE, IS TO MAKE ROOM FOR MORE CATTLE ON OPEN RANGE. So we keep up the fight
to keep them running Wild & Free as God intended them to be. Don’t let them kill these Horses. BLM will try every trick in the book they can & have
Paying Adopt-tive’s after so long a time to send them to Slaughter. We Adopted our first Mustang Mare in 1973. We were one of the few that we got a double deal she was with foal. Had a Beautiful black Colt. This Mare lived to old age in our care. This is a State wide fight for their freedom. Help us fight to keep them Wild & Free.
Evil always seems to find a way, especially if it’s a legal way. There are always loopholes in every law or program because greed is the ultimate undoing of all humanity. There needs to be more sanctuaries where animals can go. Giving an animal to another human is not the answer because by example there a lot of liars out there who care about the bottom dollar or convenience of their own plots or plans. The well being of the animals always gets the short end of the stick. I hope more and more donors are out there giving to sanctuaries that do tend to animals and care for them.
Ensure our WILD HORSES remain happy and healthy NO MATTER where they land — the ABUSE, the SUFFERING, the CRUEL DEATHS, along with HORRORS of SLAUGHTER MUST NEVER happen — NEVER.
Heartless and cruel for sure.
promote adoption not slaughter
SAVE THE HORSES!!!!
Stop the slaughter of these majestic animaks 🐴🐎.
I thought when Biden appointed Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior we would see a real investigation into what the Bureau of Land Management is doing with horses and burros. I was wrong and I’m extremely disappointed in our President and Secretary Haaland.
Stop the slaughter of these majestic animals. They are needed in our communities
This Horse cull is one of the nastiest cruel treatment given to such valuable animals. These were the Horses who stood of the time with the soldiers to support on battle grounds to win their respective lands. Now these very same human race is treating so brutally to such majestic animals once who helped them win their battles. WHAT A PATHETIC UNGRATEFUL HUMAN BEINGS ARE THESE, WHO DECIDE WHO SHOULD LIVE & WHO SHOULD DIE? PATHETIC.
May karma find all those responsible for all the deaths of these animals that were supposed to be under the protection of the U. S. Government. I am ashamed to call myself an American.
There would never be proper justice for the tortured animals of this world, only the flames of hell can provide true justice for the monsters of this world.