The U.S. Bureau of Land Management agreed Wednesday to tighten the reins on its wild horse adoption program, which has allowed thousands of federally protected animals to go to slaughter.
The BLM manages about 42,000 wild horses and burros on public land in 10 Western states. During the past 25 years, more than 175,000 of the animals were rounded up and placed with adopters for about $125 each.
But an Associated Press investigation found that the BLM lost track of 32,000 adopted animals and that 90 percent of the horses rounded up each year ended up being slaughtered.
The Fund for Animals and the Animal Protection Institute of America sued the BLM. The BLM then agreed to reduce the slaughter and make adopters swear they don’t plan to sell the horse for slaughter.
