By Sara Amundson and Kitty Block

President Trump’s FY27 proposed budget eliminates a crucial congressional prohibition against the slaughter of wild horses and burros and cuts funding for the Wild Horse and Burro Program. This proposal sets the stage for killing of tens of thousands of these animals or selling them to “kill buyers” for slaughter. Congress stopped this last year, and we are urging lawmakers once again to protect these amazing animals.

You can help by urging Congress to act now to protect wild horses and burros.

Protect wild horses and burros >>

Under current law, the slaughter of federally protected wild horses and burros is illegal because of long-standing appropriations bill language that, year after year, has been affirmed in both the House and the Senate. But without this congressional rider prohibiting slaughter, the government could allow wild horse and burro slaughter.  

Wild horses and burros have long been scapegoated for challenges on public lands.

For years, elected officials and special interests in the Western states have made wild horses and burros scapegoats for drought and other problems plaguing our public lands and sought to erase them from the landscape. Their populations are spread across 10 Western states on 26.9 million acres of public lands, yet their traditional ranges have shrunk due to loss of habitat and land degradation.

More recently, however, the tide has been turning. Now it's not only animal welfare and horse advocates who are pushing for nonlethal solutions. There are an increasing number of voices in the ranching community, the public lands community and others saying the same thing: Let's focus on nonlethal solutions that can allow wild horses and burros to thrive and let public lands flourish.

There is absolutely no reason to harm these incredible animals.

Wild horses and burros are not only hearty survivors on the Western ranges but living symbols of the independent and resilient spirit, the adaptive temperament and the untamed beauty that we associate with the American frontier. When it comes to popular opinion, those who push for the slaughter of wild horses and burros are not just outliers; they are also apologists for the exceedingly cruel and unpopular practice of horse slaughter.

We have argued that a comprehensive approach to wild horse and burro management, one centered on the humane and strategic use of immunocontraception, will ultimately be necessary to safeguard these animals. The approach we’ve championed acknowledges the realities of the political and environmental context in which decisions about their future will be made, and specifically the tensions that their presence creates in some parts of the country.

The congressional rider that protects wild horses and burros from the cruel killing and sale to slaughter must stand. And we must all continue to stand up for it.

The sight of wild horses galloping across open plains is thrilling. And we believe it is a sight that future generations should be able to enjoy.

Stand with us and ask your lawmakers to ensure wild horses and burros can continue to live safe, wild and free.  

Kitty Block is CEO and president of Humane World for Animals.