Wild horses and burros on public land in the United States are protected from hunting or slaughter under the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act. The population of these equines has been managed primarily through their sale at public auction, but this strategy is far from perfect.
Last fall, Dave Philipps, a reporter from ProPublica, wrote an article about Mustangs managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the sale of those Mustangs to a buyer named Tom Davis. According to Philipps’ article, Davis had purchased 1,700 BLM Mustangs over the course of less than three years at a price of $10 each. The article also reports that Davis is a public supporter of horse slaughter and has sought support to open an equine slaughterhouse of his own.
Selling adopted BLM horses and burros to slaughter would be a violation of the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, and Davis says that he has found homes for the horses he buys from the BLM as companion animals and for film studios. But his story wasn’t good enough for the wild horse advocates, who believe that the BLM should be screening adopters more thoroughly before allowing them to take equines.
New adoption regulations announced by the BLM last month may help to curb the sort of large-scale adoptions that may put Mustangs at risk of being resold to slaughter. The new policy states:
The policy is intended to be a temporary measure until a long-term plan can be put into place.
The BLM asks anyone with knowledge of inhumane treatment of adopted equines, or their sale to slaughter to report the incidents at wildhorse@blm.gov or by phone at 866-4MUSTANGS.
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Good article, and glad it is only temporary. what is to stop one person with 10 friends, each adopt 4 mustangs, and still sell them for slaughter.
hope he has to pay for killing all those horses you would have thought BLM would have a screening process for buyers in place before this
That's great.
I'm glad that they are finally making some restrictions and requirements to protect these magnificent animals. I wish they could all be left on the range, but I know that's not probable.