Thousands of wild horses in U.S. care will not be put down, and the government will have another year to explore possible solutions, U.S. officials said Monday.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will round up fewer wild horses and try to shuffle funds within the agency to prevent killing the animals.
About 30,000 horses removed from western rangelands are currently being cared for by BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program.
A federal report released last week by the Government Accountability Office—the watchdog agency for the U.S. Congress—suggested that thousands of horses kept in government holding facilities may have to be killed as upkeep costs escalate and adoptions dwindle.
(Related: "Horses Suffer, Owners Struggle With Soaring Feed Prices" [September 8, 2008].)
BLM Deputy Director Henri Bisson said maintaining the wild horse and burro program for another year will give the agency, Congress, ranchers, and animal advocates time to come up with alternatives and let "cooler heads prevail.
"Let's focus on doing something positive before we have to look at last resort tools," Bisson said at the BLM's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board meeting in Reno, Nevada.
"We're not making any decisions today. We're not making any decisions next week."
Bisson said the agency needs to find U.S. $15 million to $20 million elsewhere in its budget to sustain the wild horse program throughout 2009.
Government roundups will also now be limited to about 5,000 horses annually, mostly of animals facing severe hardship because of conditions such as drought.
Back to the Drawing Board
Dozens of wild horse advocates attended Monday night's meeting in hopes of persuading the BLM not to euthanize the horses.
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