Budget Cuts Threaten Wild Horses with Slaughter, Warns Activist

Activists are raising alarms over potential mass slaughter of wild horses following President Trump's budget proposal, which includes a $10 million cut to the wild horse management program. The proposal by the Interior Department suggests cost-cutting through unrestricted sales of excess wild horses on federal lands, potentially leading to their slaughter, according to Suzanne Roy, executive director of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign).

"It could totally be a backdoor to killing thousands of horses, and they want to be able to do that," Ms. Roy said. "It would be nice if President Trump could step in here, because it’s hard to imagine that someone who wants to make America great would support destroying the symbols of American freedom and greatness," she added.

As of March, approximately 73,000 wild horses and burros roamed public lands, a number the Trump administration deemed "wholly unsustainable." The administration claims that unrestricted sales could save the government $4 million, with additional savings from reduced birth control treatments and other measures.

Proponents of the change argue it reverses policies harmful to the horses' health and well-being. Ethan Lane, executive director of the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Federal Lands, stated, "We’re absolutely supportive of their request to lift that ban, because it’s a poorly thought out piece of language that is really directly responsible for the crisis we have now."

The battle over wild horses has been ongoing for years, with Ms. Roy’s group frequently going to court to block horse roundups, which they argue are inhumane and unnecessary. Congress has also been involved, with the 2017 spending bill allowing the Interior Department to transfer excess horses to state or local governments as "work animals," while barring their path to slaughter for commercial purposes.

The broader debate over horse slaughter dates back over a decade, when Congress imposed a backdoor ban on horse meat slaughter at the behest of horse enthusiasts. Although horse meat isn't sold for human consumption in the U.S., it is exported to countries where it is accepted.

Following the congressional ban, the Government Accountability Office found that horses were being shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter, often facing inhumane conditions. It urged Congress to revisit the policy. The de facto ban was lifted in 2011 but reinstated several years later, with advocates on both sides claiming their solutions are the most humane.

Horse advocacy groups aim to ban slaughtering outright and stop the export of horses for slaughter. Earlier this year, Reps. Vern Buchanan and Earl Blumenauer introduced legislation to end the export of live horses for slaughter in Mexico and Canada and officially ban horse slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. However, similar bills have stalled in Congress in recent years.

"I do hope that that will pass eventually," Ms. Roy said. "America’s not a horse-eating nation, and Americans don’t want to see our horses slaughtered."

Conversely, Rep. Adrian Smith, who opposed the de facto ban in 2011, argues that current policies are counterproductive to horses' health and welfare. He suggests that resuming horse processing in the U.S. and expanding wild horse conveyance could reduce abandonment and neglect, while ensuring compliance with USDA standards.

"Resuming the processing of horses within the U.S. and expanding the conveyance of wild horses would reduce abandonment and neglect," Mr. Smith said. "It would also lessen the negative impacts of this non-native species on public lands while ensuring processing is done subject to the strong health, safety, and animal welfare standards of USDA."

Originally posted by The Washington Times