House Passes FY26 Appropriations with Wild Horse Funding and Protections

Up to $11 Million Designated for Fertility Control; Slaughter Protections Maintained

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 9, 2026 – American Wild Horse Conservation welcomes the passage of the U.S. House of Representatives FY26 Interior Appropriations bill, which includes funding for humane management and protections for America's wild horses and burros following months of advocacy by conservation organizations and the public.

Significantly, the final report language limits wild horse population management funding exclusively to fertility control vaccines, taking dangerous and cruel permanent sterilization procedures off the table. The legislation designates up to $11 million of the Bureau of Land Management's Wild Horse and Burro Program budget specifically for immunocontraceptive fertility control vaccine management strategies, with no mention of sterilization procedures—a critical distinction that improves previous report language , which had included references to sterilization.

The bill also prohibits the BLM from euthanizing healthy wild horses and burros and maintains longstanding protections against slaughter.

A record number of 83 House members and 17 Senators signed on to the Appropriations Committee request in support of language developed with congressional allies to protect wild horses and burros, as well as the inclusion of the slaughter ban in the bill. The bipartisan support reflects growing recognition that current wild horse management approaches need to shift.

"This funding represents a meaningful step toward humane, science-based wild horse management," said Patricia Miller, Board Chair at American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC). “Congress is signaling that there's a better way forward—one that prioritizes proven fertility control solutions over costly roundups that remove wild horses from public lands."

Up to  $11 million in designated fertility control funding provides resources for expanding immunocontraceptive vaccine programs as an alternative to roundup-and-removal operations. Studies have shown that on-range fertility control can be a cost-effective approach to population management.

The bill maintains the prohibition on euthanizing healthy animals. It also continues protections against horses being sold to slaughter, which were threatened by the President's Budget request to Congress. 

"Hundreds of thousands of Americans made their voices heard on this issue," Miller added. "This outcome reflects sustained public engagement with Congress on wild horse management."

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration. AWHC will continue monitoring implementation of these provisions and advocating for expanded fertility control programs across wild horse ranges nationwide.

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About American Wild Horse Conservation

American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation's leading nonprofit wild horse conservation organization, with more than 800,000 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. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America's wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.