08/24/2026
We generally try to stay apolitical, but a recent post blaming the current president for personally destroying wild horses has prompted this response:
This has been going on for a LONG time, no matter who has been president. The BLM is run by ranching apologists and the cattle industry has a very powerful lobby. The BLM was created to enforce the Taylor Grazing Act which was to regulate cattle and sheep grazing on public lands. They view horses as competition. They vew apex predators as a threat to cattle and sheep, not something that keeps nature in balance. Like asking the fox to guard the hen house, then wondering why the chickens are disappearing.
Mustangs being back-doored to slaughter is nothing new, it's just becoming more widely known. Tom Davis, a ranchers and neighbor of the then head of the Department of the Interior (which oversees BLM), sent over 1,000 horses that he acquired from BLM directly to slaughter. That was many years ago. BLM has just accelerated the numbers of horses being flipped to slaughter PUBLICALLY by increasing the number of horses deemed sale authority. And more people have figured out a way to make a quick buck since there are no repercussions from BLM.
How many mustangs have gotten a duplicate brand so there is no tracing the ones that shipped direct to slaughter? How many horses disappear from longterm holding without a trace? There has been NO ONE in the history of BLM that has ever advocated for wild horses or burros. They are considered a nuisance at best, and something to be completely eradicated by many.
Before 1971, when the WH&B Act was passed, ANYONE could chase down mustangs and burros by vehicle, rope them, and turn them into chicken feed and dog food, right here in the US. How many predators have been killed on public lands year after year to "protect" cattle and sheep?
Ranchers try to make themselves out to be the most wholesome way of life in the country, but ranching is one of the most environmentally destructive industries there is, and profits from death. Congress can't even pass the SAFE Act, as flawed as it is, to keep horses from shipping to slaughter over the border even though 80% of Americans oppose horse slaughter. Not because of who's in the white house, because ranchers have WAY too much influence in congress.
Meanwhile, mustangs get rounded up, horses get sent to slaughter, and wild horse advocates fight amongst each other, with some believing false promises from the government or worse - sell out - so there is not a united front on behalf of our wild ones. Then we wring our hands because we can't stop an endless stream of mustang from going to slaughter. Advocates need to do better and come together, before it's too late!
