Photo by Meg Frederick
The House Interior Subcommittee has included prohibitions against the government killing healthy wild horses and burros or selling them to slaughter in its Fiscal Year 2027 bill language released on Wednesday.
In addition, the House subcommittee would keep funding for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program roughly flat at $144 million.
That critical protective language prohibiting funds from being used to euthanize healthy wild horses and burros for management was left out of the president’s 2027 budget proposal.
The president’s proposal would also slash the program’s budget by 33% — a cut that, when paired with a lack of protective language, could place the lives of thousands of captive wild horses at risk.
While a final funding package is far from completion, we are pleased that the House subcommittee recognizes the support of the American people and Congress for non-lethal management solutions for wild horses and burros.
RTF will continue to work with Congress and other stakeholders to ensure that this critically important language protecting wild horses and burros is again included in the final bill.
In 2026, Congress appropriated $142 million to the BLM’s wild horse program. The president’s 2027 budget proposed just $106.8 million.
At best, that would cover the cost of caring for the 58,274 captive wild horses and burros living in off-range holding facilities. The BLM spent $101 million on holding in 2024. It has not posted its final expenditures for 2025.
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