BLM WILD HORSE AND BURRO ADOPTIONS

THE ISSUES

If the BLM is removing Wild Horses and Burros from their rightful range, they have an ethical and legal responsibility to ensure their safety in adoption. Pre-adoption screening, including location checks and background investigations for animal abuse, must be mandatory. Post-adoption follow-ups—property visits, not just phone calls—are essential. A vet sign-off should mean something. So why are newly titled horses showing up in kill pens, neglected and starving? Who is signing off on their care?

This system is broken, and unless real accountability measures are enforced, the very program meant to help these horses will continue to betray them.

H-4760-1 Conducting Compliance Checks for BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program (P)

Adopting a Mustang is more than a transaction—it’s a lifelong commitment. Too often, these wild horses end up in tragic situations due to a lack of understanding about their needs. Better education is essential to ensure adopters are truly prepared for the responsibility, preventing neglect, abandonment, and the heartbreaking fate of too many Mustangs today.
Any Mustang that ends up in a kill pen within two years of being sold or titled is a failure of the system—and those responsible should face legal consequences.