Ep #50: A Win for Wild Horses: Shutting Down the Adoption Incentive Program

How would you feel if your tax dollars were being used to send wild horses to slaughter? In a landmark legal victory, wild horse advocates recently shut down a government program that was doing exactly that. The Bureau of Land Management’s Adoption Incentive Program (AIP) was paying people $1,000 per horse to adopt untamed wild horses, with devastating consequences.

I’m joined today by Suzanne Roy, Executive Director of American Wild Horse Conservation, and Amelia Perrin, Senior Communications Manager, who led the investigation and legal challenge that brought down this harmful program. Their meticulous work uncovered a disturbing pattern: adopters were collecting the cash incentives, waiting the required year to gain title to the horses, then immediately selling them at livestock auctions where they entered the slaughter pipeline.

The federal judge’s ruling represents the fourth time in decades that wild horse advocates have successfully shut down a BLM scheme to dispose of wild horses. The judge determined that the slaughter of these horses was “fairly traceable to BLM actions” – a powerful statement that validates years of advocacy work. This victory not only saves countless horses from a terrible fate but also establishes an important precedent for wild horse protection going forward.

Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How the BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program created a pipeline sending wild horses to slaughter auctions.
• How advocates used social media monitoring and Freedom of Information Act requests to document the connection between the AIP and kill pens.
• Why the federal court ruled that the BLM violated the law by implementing the program without proper analysis or public comment.
• How some adopters exploited the program by having multiple family members adopt horses and collect up to $82,000 in taxpayer money.
• Why veterinary vouchers rather than cash incentives would better serve the intended purpose of supporting legitimate adopters.
• How the current situation with 67,000 wild horses in government holding facilities creates ongoing concerns about their future.

Listen to the Full Episode:

Featured on the Show:

• Subscribe to my blog to get more information on how you can help America’s wild horses.
• Follow along on Facebook and Instagram!
• Living Images by Carol Walker
• Wild Hoofbeats Blog
• Wild Hoofbeats: America’s Vanishing Wild Horses by Carol Walker
• American Wild Horse Conservation

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