BLM Advisory Panel Votes To Slaughter 45,000 Wild Horses Now Being Held

"Last Friday, the Bureau of Land Management‘s (BLM) National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board made the decision to use euthanasia to kill 45,000 wild horses currently captive in government holding facilities throughout the US. The decision has come under great scrutiny by organizations who argue for using birth control to minimize population growth, instead.

Over the last 20 years, the BLM has been rounding up and removing wild horses from their natural habitat in the interest of allowing privately owned cattle to graze on the land. What they have experienced since then is the unsustainable financial burden of keeping the horses alive in their facilities – $49 million in 2015, alone – and the task of coming up with an alternative solution.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) released a statement condemning the decision, expressing, “The decision of the BLM advisory board to recommend the destruction of the 45,000 wild horses currently in holding facilities is a complete abdication of responsibility for their care. The agency would not be in this situation but for their long-term mis-management. Alternatives to this proposal have been ignored for over 20 years.”"

Katie Medlock reports for inhabitat September 12, 2016.