Inola Wild Horse Adoption Program Puts Mustangs at Risk for Slaughter

As the Inola adoption event looms near, the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) warns of the risk of slaughter for these federally-protected animals.

(TULSA, OK) March 22, 2022 — The American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) today warned that wild horses and burros being offered for adoption at an event on Friday and Saturday in Inola are at high risk of slaughter, thanks to a federal program that pays people $1000 to adopt an untamed wild horse or burro.

The adoption-to-slaughter pipeline has been cited by concerned members ofCongressanddocumentedin the New York Times.

Media accounts and research by AWHC demonstrate that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) is attracting adopters who send wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline. These occurrences are detailed in anAWHC reportthat prompted an explosive New York Times exposé last year, which documented “truckloads” of wild horses and burros being sent to slaughter auctions after adopters pocketed incentive payments from theBLM.

“The wild horses and burros being offered for adoption in Inola this weekend are at grave risk thanks to the tax-subsidized pipeline to slaughter theBLMhas created,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of the AWHC. “By ignoring glaring evidence and deliberately underestimating the magnitude of the problem, theBLMis failing to uphold its legal mandate to protect these animals and is evading a Congressional ban on wild horse and burro slaughter.”

All wild horses and burros at the Inola event will be eligible for adoption through the AIP. In the wake of AWHC’s investigation and the New York Times report,U.S. Senator Feinsteinand more than30 members of Congresscalled on the agency to immediately suspend the program while a thorough investigation is undertaken. TheBLMhas ignored these pleas. Recently, AWHCfiled suit in federal courtto halt the program.

The wild horses and burros being offered for adoption were captured in traumatic helicopter stampedes from public lands where they are outnumbered in their habitat by commerciallivestockconservatively 10-1. The National Academy of Sciences has deemed theBLM’s management of these animals by roundup and removal “expensive and unproductive,” with the current roundup plan estimated to cost taxpayers nearly $1 billion over the next 5 years.

Over the last year, AWHC has documented hundreds of captured federally-protected wild horses and burros being sold atlivestockauctions throughout the country. If not rescued, the animals are purchased by “kill buyers” and shipped across the border to slaughter plants in Mexico and Canada where they are butchered for human consumption overseas.

Please contact AWHC for more information on our report findings.

About the American Wild Horse ConservationTheAmerican Wild Horse Conservation(AWHC) is the nation’s leading wild horse protection organization, with more than 700,000 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.