BLM's Wild Horse Sales Exploit Loophole That Sends Animals to Foreign Slaughter

An investigation revealed that the Bureau of Land Management has been using a statutory loophole to move wild horses into a slaughter pipeline. Sales of protected horses rose to 3,700 in 2025, twice the prior figure, after the agency listed animals as unadoptable following three weeks on its adoption website. Buyers must sign agreements promising not to kill the horses or sell them to anyone who would, but once the animals are transferred to a middleman, the buyer’s contract no longer binds the middleman.

This intermediary can then sell the horses to slaughterhouses abroad, including facilities in Canada. The practice exploits the Burns Amendment, which Congress enacted to allow the sale of unadoptable horses while prohibiting direct killing. Officials claim the sales saved $56 million in taxpayer costs, while conservation advocates argue it undermines protections for the roughly 70,000 wild horses roaming public lands in western states.