Report Claims Trump Administration Is Using Loophole To Slaughter Wild Horses
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“Horse killers! Killers! Murderers! You’re liars! All of you, liars! You’re only happy when you can see something die!”
– Marilyn Monroe’s character Roslyn, in John Huston’s The Misfits (1961)
According to the Bureau of Land Management’s data from this year, there are an estimated 85,466 wild horses and burros in the United States.
These wild horses are rarely sold, and laws are in place that prevent them from going to slaughter.
However, The New York Times recently published a report alleging that wild horses are being sold to slaughter by the Bureau of Land Management, with a loophole being used to get around the law.
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New Report Cites Loophole Leading To Slaughter Of Wild Horses
The Bureau of Land Management oversees the care for 245 million acres of American land, with its website noting that is approximately a tenth of the entire surface area of the nation.
Part of that care includes the managing of the wild horse population.
Published in The New York Times on Aug. 20, an article titled “Under Trump, Protected Wild Horses Are Going to Slaughter” has attracted much attention.
Country artist Margo Price, who is a member of Willie Nelson‘s Farm Aid Board of Directors, shared a plea online on Aug. 23 — a few days after the publication of the Times‘ article — for the passing of the SAFE Act, which is an acronym for Save America’s Forgotten Equines.
Her social media post was notably liked by ERNEST.
In the Times‘ report, an allegation is made that the Bureau of Land Management has been utilizing a loophole to free up its storage space for wild horses, with a path to slaughter knowingly being adopted.
This loophole is detailed, with the Bureau of Land Management allegedly placing hundreds of wild horses up for adoption all at once in hopes of being able to categorize a horse as “unadoptable.”
A wild horse is classified as “unadoptable” after failing to be adopted in three one-week adoption listings.
While the law allows for the sale of wild horses, it does so under the condition that sold horses cannot be slaughtered.
This is where the next level of the allegation against the Bureau comes in, as it is selling horses for $25 a head to buyers who then allegedly choose to sell these horses to middlemen who purportedly ask no questions.
For the Bureau, not having to provide longterm care for horses saves it money, with the Times reporting that the government projects it will have saved $56 million after selling 3,700 horses in 2025.
The Times also notes that most of the Bureau of Land Management’s annual $142 million budget is devoted to caring for horses, with $100 million allocated to the storing of approximately 58,000 horses that have been moved from the wild over the years.
The article goes on to hone in on one of the most prominent names in this alleged loophole, an Ohio-based livestock trader identified as Brandon Jones.
While Jones is not confirmed in the Times‘ article as having shipped the horses for slaughter in Canada, the article implies as much.
Reporting that Jones “appeared out of nowhere in the wild horse world last spring,” the Times presents Jones in a negative light, insinuating that his silence amid questioning from reporters and his withholding of his own sale records is potentially indicative of guilt.
Jones is even quoted by the Times, saying, “I’m not dealing with traders. I’m dealing with a farmer, come up the road, who wants to buy a horse.”
When asked about photographs that were taken late at night that allegedly show him shipping off multiple horses on trucks in one of these alleged operations, Jones replied that he wasn’t sure what was being depicted, but that it “could have been cattle,” the Times quoted.
Without quoting him, the Times also clams that Jones knew the market cost of horse meat, as well as the names of several slaughter traders.
His proximity to the Canadian border also raised some red flags for the Times in its investigation, with Jones even denying his contact with another Ohioan who was photographed sending horses with government marks across the Canadian border.
The Times‘ article is largely framed against the Trump administration, suggesting this loophole is in keeping with several other areas where corners are purportedly being cut or adherence to the law is being curtailed for the executive branch’s gain.
When asked to respond to the allegations, the Times was told by the Bureau that it “remains dedicated to placing animals into good homes, protecting their welfare and upholding its statutory responsibilities on behalf of the American public.”
However, The New York Times failed to mention the circumstances under which this has happened before.
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Interestingly, The New York Times makes no mention in its Aug. 20 article of a similar case which happened under President Barack Obama.
In 2015, the Inspector General issued a report implicating the Bureau of Land Management in the sale of 1,700 wild horses to a Colorado-based livestock hauler named Tom Davis.
The report, which can be accessed here, outlines how Davis signed a deal with the Bureau of Land Management in 2012 to purchase horses for only $10 a head. These horses were not sold directly to slaughter, Davis said, but he admitted that he was under the impression that “there was only ‘one place to go. . . . to the kill plant.'”
Ultimately, no charges were filed against Davis.
The Bureau of Land Management responded to the Inspector General’s report by immediately implementing “a policy to ensure that horses were sold only to good homes, including limits of four horses over a six-month period to a single buyer.”
It added, “This policy has helped the Bureau of Land Management avoid situations similar to those involving Mr. Davis by ensuring that purchasers provide appropriate care and facilities for the animals.”
Notably, the Bureau of Land Management’s website includes the following note, reading:
“The BLM provides information to equine sale and auction facilities regarding the illegal sale of untitled wild horses and burros. If you observe or have factual information that a federally protected (untitled) wild horse or wild burro has been treated inhumanely or illegally sold to slaughter, please contact the BLM.”
The Bureau of Land Management may be reached by email at wildhorse@blm.gov, or by phone at (866) 468-7826.
This is a developing story.
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