Advocates Urge Congressional Action to End Wild Horse Slaughter

Neda DeMayo, president of the nonprofit advocacy group, labeled the situation an un-American tragedy that remains preventable through legislative reform. While domestic slaughter remains halted due to a lack of USDA inspectors, kill buyers frequently exploit loopholes by purchasing horses at low-cost auctions before shipping them to Mexico or Canada. The proposed Save America’s Forgotten Equines Act seeks to permanently prohibit both the slaughter of equines within the U.S. and their export for the same purpose.

Beyond the legislative push, critics point to the government's long-standing reliance on helicopter roundups. Currently, more than 58,000 wild horses and burros are held in taxpayer-funded facilities at an annual cost exceeding $100 million. Return to Freedom contends that the Bureau of Land Management prioritizes removal over effective population management, noting that between 2021 and 2025, the agency removed over 63,000 animals while applying fertility control to only a fraction of that number. Although the Bureau recently increased sales fees and updated contract language to penalize buyers who sell horses for slaughter, advocates maintain that these measures are insufficient without a federal mandate for humane fertility control and a total ban on the slaughter pipeline.