The US beef industry is advocating for the legalization of wild horse slaughter within the United States, a move that comes as thousands of wild horses are already being sold through legal workarounds to Canadian slaughterhouses. More than 90,000 wild horses and burros inhabit public lands in the Western US, and the federal government annually rounds up thousands, citing population levels that exceed the land's carrying capacity. These captured animals are typically held in pens or pastures pending adoption, but a significant number are sold for meat, primarily destined for European and Asian markets.
While direct slaughter of these animals for meat is currently illegal in the US, livestock buyers have reportedly purchased wild horses for as little as $25 apiece and funneled them through intermediaries to Canadian facilities, where they can be sold for up to $750. These practices have been ongoing for decades, with an acceleration noted during the Trump administration.
Wild horses, iconic symbols of the American West, are not typically considered food animals by the general public in the US. However, the beef industry, through organizations like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and its Public Lands Council, is pushing for more intensive roundups and the legalization of slaughter. These groups argue that wild horses compete with privately owned cattle for forage on public lands. Approximately 250 million acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Forest Service land are leased to ranchers for grazing cattle at low rates, leading some critics to describe it as a subsidy for the industry.
Advocates for wild horses contend that the BLM's population management strategies are designed to favor cattle ranchers, ensuring ample grazing for livestock. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Public Lands Council have called for increased budgets for the BLM and Forest Service to facilitate more aggressive wild horse removal schedules and have openly advocated for legalizing horse slaughter in the US. Neither organization responded to requests for comment.
On average, the BLM has captured around 8,800 wild horses and burros annually since the mid-1990s. These roundups, often conducted using baiting or helicopters, can result in deaths during the process or later from injuries. After capture, the animals are housed in facilities, costing taxpayers approximately $100 million annually for the care of about 58,000 wild horses and burros. The number of sold horses has increased, from 65 in 2013 to over 3,700 last year, though the exact number that end up in slaughter plants remains unknown.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Land Management denied that the agency sends wild horses to slaughter, stating that no loophole exists allowing adopted or purchased animals to be sold for slaughter. Despite these denials, conservation nonprofits and former BLM employees allege that the agency has been overly deferential to cattle industry interests.
Concerns about conflicts of interest have also been raised, including instances where high-ranking officials within the Department of the Interior, which oversees the BLM, have owned companies that graze cattle on public lands. The beef industry's influence extends to other wildlife management issues, with some cattle groups seeking to restrict bison grazing and advocating for the removal of gray wolves' endangered species protections due to predation on cattle.
One proposed solution favored by both animal welfare groups and cattle organizations is an increased focus on fertility control for wild horses and burros to manage populations more humanely and reduce the need for roundups and potential sales. In 2019, a compromise plan called the “Path Forward” was developed, aiming to increase funding for both aggressive roundups and birth control measures. Congress subsequently increased the BLM’s budget for wild horse and burro management. While fertility control efforts have been ramped up, they remain time and resource-intensive. The BLM spent approximately $5 million on fertility control in 2024, a figure that advocates believe should be significantly higher.
This issue highlights ongoing debates about the management of public lands in the Western US, particularly concerning the balance between livestock grazing and the preservation of wild horse populations. The question of how to manage these animals, reduce their numbers on public lands, and prevent them from ending up in slaughterhouses remains a significant challenge.