BLM Changes to Wild Horse Adoption Incentive Program Insufficient to Prevent Slaughter
Group that helped expose program as a pipeline to slaughter for scores of wild horses and burros says cash payments for adoption must end.
Washington, DC (July 27, 2021) … The nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) (AWHC) is charging that reforms announced yesterday by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to its controversial Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) fall short and will not stop the flow of federally-protected wild horses and burros to slaughter. AWHC charged that the BLM continues to underestimate the scale of the problem while failing to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation of the program.
The AIP — which pays adopters to take up to four wild, unhandled wild horses or burros at $1,000 per animal — was exposed by an AWHC investigation as a pipeline to slaughter. The investigation prompted an explosive New York Times report documenting that “truckloads” of wild horses and burros were being sent to slaughter auctions after adopters pocketed the incentive payments, which come in two installments: $500 when the horse or burro was adopted and $500 after the title is transferred a year later.
According to AWHC, the changes the BLM is proposing to enact are insufficient and ineffective. As one example, the agency is proposing to conduct compliance inspections of wild horses and burros adopted through the AIP within six months. While this could uncover abuse and neglect of some animals, it will not prevent individuals from sending horses and burros to auction after receiving the second payment at the 12-month mark.
“The changes the BLM is vowing to implement will be rendered meaningless without the elimination of the cash incentives for the adoption of untamed, wild mustangs and burros,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of AWHC. “By underestimating the scale of the problem and failing to implement the one change that would actually make a difference, the BLM is allowing these federally-protected animals to continue to be sold into the slaughter pipeline.”
AWHC, working with Skydog Sanctuary and Evanescent Mustang Rescue and Sanctuary, have identified over 120 horses from kill pens in the last seven months and of those, 89 have been confirmed as adopted through the AIP. Over the course of its investigation, the organization has documented over 130 additional horses and burros at livestock auctions across the country. These animals were not able to be identified and their status is unknown, either they were rescued by a private individual or were shipped across the border. Just this week, the organization identified ten federally protected wild burros from the AIP at a notorious “kill pen” in Oklahoma. The BLM had adopted the burros to three individuals who then obtained the payments and dumped the animals together within four months of receiving the titles.
“A thorough investigation must be conducted to hold adopters who have violated their adoption contacts and federal law, accountable,” continued Roy. “Until then, taxpayers will continue to pay to send cherished wild horses and burros to slaughter and the BLM’s announced changes are not likely to alter that situation.”
In July, AWHC, joined by Skydog Sanctuary, Evanescent Mustang Rescue and Sanctuary, and wildlife photographer Carol Walker, filed suit in federal district court claiming that the agencies violated multiple federal laws in the creation and implementation of the BLM’s controversial Program for wild horses and burros. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the groups by Eubanks and Associates, a top national public interest environmental law firm.
About The American Wild Horse Conservation
The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) (AWHC) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.
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