Captured wild horses are transported during a 2016 helicopter roundup at Devils Garden Plateau Wild Horse Territory. RTF file photo by Steve Paige.
The U.S. Forest Service announced on Tuesday that it will hold an online adoption / sale event Feb. 11-15 for wild horses captured last fall at the Devils Garden Wild Horse Territory in Northern California.
“Approximately 121” wild horses will be available for adoption from the “Double Devil Online Corrals.” Wild horses ages 10-older will also be available for sale for $1 apiece with a prohibition against slaughter, according to a press release.
Wild horse advocates remain concerned that USFS’s decision, announced in December, to drop the sale price from $25 to $1 will make the sale more attractive to kill buyers or third parties willing to sell to slaughterhouses.
The USFS is allowing a single buyer to purchase up to 24 wild horses each.
Both horse slaughter and the transport of horses with intent to slaughter are illegal under California law.
Those who adopt a wild horse, for $125 each, do not gain title for one year but are allowed to return the horse at any time during that one-year period. Those that purchase a wild horse receive title immediately.
Adopters and buyers will be able to pick out their horses anytime during the online event and make appointments for pickup, according to a press release. The USFS also continues to allow in-person adoptions and sales at the Double Devil Corrals at Modoc National Forest in Alturas, Calif.
The USFS announced at the start of the roundup that it planned to sell remaining wild horses ages 10-older without restriction. Advocacy groups, including Return to Freedom, have filed suit in federal court to stop the horses from being sold without a prohibition against slaughter. A hearing is set for May 9.
The wild horses are among 932 captured during a fall helicopter roundup at Devils Garden. A total of 128 wild horses have been adopted or sold since mid-November.
More than 650 Devils Garden wild horses ages 9-under as well as mares with foals will be available for adoption soon from the Bureau of Land Management’s Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Corrals, according to the press release, though no date has been announced for adoptions to begin. BLM estimates that they may begin in mid-March, after delays caused by weather and the government shutdown.
Adoption / sale information
For USFS adoption and sale forms and for more information, click here. Photos of the wild horses can be found on the Double Devil Wild Horse Corrals Facebook.
In addition to the planned online adoption / sale event, USFS continues to allow adopter / buyer viewing, selection and pickup of wild horses by appointment each Wednesday and Friday as well as on the first Saturday of each month. Appointments must be confirmed at least seven days in advance after completing a “Viewing and Pickup Scheduling” request form by clicking here and submitting it to modoc_info@fs.fed.us.
For more information about the BLM adoption process, click here.
Take Action
Click here if you are interested in providing a home or transportation for Devils Garden horses
Donate to RTF’s Wild Horse Defense Fund