Abuse Charges Prompt BLM to End No-Fee Adoptions of Wild Horses

The Bureau of Land Management said Friday that it will curtail its practice of giving away large numbers of wild horses.

Though the bureau did not mention it in the announcement, it has previously admitted that instances of what appeared to be abuse of animals in North Dakota and Nebraska might help end its no-fee adoptions. Critics have charged that ranchers adopted large numbers of wild horses only to sell them to pet-food companies.

Since 1976, more than 86,000 horses have been removed from the range in the West and placed with private owners, and the bureau will continue to offer horses to individuals.

The bureau charges $125 per horse, but has been waiving the charge for people willing to take 100 or more.

Robert Burford, director of the bureau, said in the announcement that the bureau would still accept applications for waiver of the fee from nonprofit groups working to improve the adoptability of wild horses.

Young horses find ready takers, but older animals are harder to break and for that reason are in less demand.

Burford said the bureau had “great hopes for another concept being developed, that of privately funded wild horse sanctuaries,” and also would step up its use of prison inmates to break horses.