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Categories: Horse News

BLM Shelves Wild Horse Euthanasia for Now

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board met on Monday, November 17, 2008, in Reno, Nevada, to discuss issues relating to the management, protection, and control of wild horses and burros on western public rangelands. Cost cutting has been a major concern of the agency, which has complained it doesn’t have the budget to manage the number of unwanted horses gathered from public rangelands.



According to an Associated Press report released after the November 17 meeting, a BLM official was cited as saying that to control costs the agency will reduce the number of horses it gathers from the range for the current fiscal year. Additionally, the agency will delay a highly controversial cost-cutting measure that called for euthanasia of wild horses to keep costs down and control herd populations.



While euthanasia is on hold for now, the BLM warned that tough decisions still remain. As of June 2008, the agency was holding 30,088 wild horses that had been gathered from the range. According to the BLM, wild horse adoptions are down by approximately 36 percent as compared to the 1990s.

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  • why would u kill wild horses they are so beutiful if u don't like them then u should just put a fence around ur yard they are so beutiful why would u harm such a beutiful creatur like that how would u like to be killed or even unwhanted they mean no harm to us so why would u do a thing like that??? tell me now e-mail me at libbylou_17@yahoo.com

  • why would u kill wild horses they are so beutiful if u don't like them then u should just put a fence around ur yard they are so beutiful why would u harm such a beutiful creatur like that how would u like to be killed or even unwhanted they mean no harm to us so why would u do a thing like that??? tell me now e-mail me at libbylou_17@yahoo.com

  • why would u kill wild horses they are so beutiful if u don't like them then u should just put a fence around ur yard they are so beutiful why would u harm such a beutiful creatur like that how would u like to be killed or even unwhanted they mean no harm to us so why would u do a thing like that??? tell me now e-mail me at libbylou_17@yahoo.com

  • why would u kill wild horses they are so beutiful if u don't like them then u should just put a fence around ur yard they are so beutiful why would u harm such a beutiful creatur like that how would u like to be killed or even unwhanted they mean no harm to us so why would u do a thing like that??? tell me now e-mail me at libbylou_17@yahoo.com

  • um i have a question? how do u pick which horses to euthanize? just the old ones or just random? i think the whole thing is a bad idea! they r our history and i thought we protected landmarks and other boring stuff that no one cares bout! and people care bout the horses!!!

  • Wild horses should be left along! Their wild spirits we here before we moved in. They are BEAUTIFUL ANIMALS!! I love wild horses. How could people do such a thing?

  • I think that it is sad that they are considering doing that, but what can they do. From what I have heard, there isn't enough range land left for the horses to be left completely alone, and fewer people are adopting. It is better that they be humanely euthinized than to let them either starve on the range because of overpopulation or spend the rest of their lives in holding pens. I wish there was a better way, but if there is, I don't know about it.

  • I do not think that what they are planning on doing to these wild horses is humane. They were born in the wild and they should stay in the wild. I am very much against the BLM's plan to euthanize the wild horses. If they consider that saving them... they are very wrong because it is just hurting their population.

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