After a roundup, the future for a wild horse is uncertain. A small percentage of horses make their way into good homes, and even fewer find themselves being returned to the wild. Many will live out the rest of their days in privately-owned holding facilities. While some facilities include spacious pastures, other long-term holding facilities are little more than overcrowded and unsanitary feedlots where horses are warehoused like livestock.

As a result of the federal government’s aggressive campaign to round up and remove tens of thousands of wild equines from their wild public lands home, there has been an increasing risk of horses being adopted through the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program landing in the slaughter pipeline. The New York Times first exposed the relationship between the AIP and the slaughter pipeline in August of 2021, and the BLM promised reforms.

Despite those promises, large numbers of BLM animals adopted through the AIP continue to be sold into the slaughter pipeline by unscrupulous adopters, and advocates and rescues have struggled to save as many as possible from shipping to Canada and Mexico to be slaughtered in foreign meat plants. When confronted by documentation of BLM equines sold for slaughter, the BLM has simply stated they see “no evidence” that this is actually happening. We at WBF are outraged that these horses have been sold into the slaughter pipeline and demand the BLM take meaningful steps to stop AIP animals from going to slaughter and take responsibility for the results of this deeply corrupt adoption program.

Advocacy groups have been instrumental in exposing the truths of the disastrous consequences of the AIP and assisting in rescuing these beautiful wild souls from unknown fate. Our wild horses should ultimately be protected though, and they should never be found in terrible places like this. The Adoption Incentive Program must be ended immediately. We need to make this change before it is too late. We urge you to contact your local lawmakers and tell them about the atrocities of the Adoption Incentive Program. Additionally, teach your friends and family about the plight of our wild horses and encourage them to spread the word to everyone they know. The more voices we have in this fight, the more change we can make. We thank you; wild horses thank you.