Mustangs Protected Under Appropriations Bill Draft

The bill will go to full committee next week.

Flickr/BLMIdaho/CC

Wild horse lovers can breathe a sigh of relief — for now. The Interior Appropriations sub-panel of the House Committee on Appropriations met yesterday afternoon to markup the Interior Appropriations bill, which in its current draft includes language specifically barring the destruction or sale of wild horses under care of the Bureau of Land Management.

After yesterday’s monumental decision by the House Committee on Appropriations to lift the previously-standing ban on horse slaughter in the United States within the Agriculture Appropriations Bill, many fans of America’s wild horses feared that the mustang herds would face inevitable destruction — especially after the Bureau of Land Management’s 2018 budget justification requested the ability to conduct sales without limitations and euthanize what it deemed to be excess populations of wild horses.

Here is the exact language from the Interior Appropriations Bill:

“Appropriations herein made shall not be available for the destruction of healthy, unadopted, wild horses and burros in the care of the Bureau or its contractors or for the sale of wild horses and burros that results in their destruction for processing into commercial products.”

You can read the full draft of the Interior Appropriations Bill here.

America’s wild horses appear to be safe from sales without limitations and mass euthanasia, for now; many mustang advocates still fear an amendment added at next week’s session of the full Committee on Appropriations. We will continue to follow this story and bring updates to our readers.

Horse Nation reminds readers that the best way to ensure your thoughts are heard is to reach out to your legislators directly. If you need assistance finding your representation in Congress, you can find your representatives here and your senators here.

[Wild horses and burros on public lands won’t be killed — for now]