Report: US Sold 3,700 Wild Mustangs, Some Tracked to Slaughter
Sales more than doubled to 3,700 horses in 2025, while advocates say weak tracking lets some sold mustangs reach slaughter buyers.
- A New York Times investigation on Thursday exposed the Bureau of Land Management for selling wild horses through a loophole that enables export and slaughter abroad, circumventing federal protections.
- Under the Sale Authority program, the government designates horses as unadoptable after three one-week listings fail to attract takers, enabling cheap sales that often end up in slaughter channels.
- Livestock trader Brandon Jones purchased hundreds of mustangs for $25 each, exploiting a system where the government spends $3,000 to capture each horse, while buyers earn up to $750 per animal at slaughter plants.
- Patricia Miller, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation, criticized the reliance on sales over fertility control, arguing many horses sold through the program are young and saleable.
- While Congress has barred the bureau from using public funds to kill healthy wild horses, President Donald Trump has advocated for lethal measures, including proposals in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025.
22 Articles
22 Articles
Under Trump, protected wild horses are going to slaughter - The Boston Globe
Slaughtering wild horses is illegal, but the administration is creating a loophole that enables people to get mustangs on the cheap and then quickly resell them to be exported alive, processed into cuts of meat and sold abroad.
Federal government thins the herds of wild horses in Colorado
U.S. officials say the ever-growing population of wild horses that roam federal lands in Colorado is depleting natural resources. But some activists say efforts to remove the horses are inhumane.
How can a protected wild mustang end up in a kill pen? Sumter County rescue explains the gap in federal protections
A wild mustang can begin its life roaming federally managed land in the American West and, years later, end up thousands of miles away at a rescue in Central Florida.
Is Trump really ‘selling’ wild horses to slaughterhouses? Report raises concerns with 'unvetted' buyers
Investigation finds 3,700 protected wild horses were sold cheaply in 2025 under a BLM loophole, raising concerns that many ended up in slaughterhouses.
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