Jack,

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is legally mandated to protect America’s wild horses and burros. However, thanks to the work of our Investigations Team, we’ve identified thousands of BLM-branded wild horses and burros in kill pens since 2020. Many ended up in these slaughter auctions as a result of the disastrous Adoption Incentive Program (AIP).

Please help us speak out against the AIP and protect wild horses and burros from slaughter by signing this letter to the BLM demanding urgent action to end this crisis.

The main driver behind the influx of horses and burros in slaughter auctions across the country is the AIP’s cash incentive: a $1,000 payment given to private individuals to adopt up to four unhandled, untrained wild horses or burros each year. This was meant to encourage people to give these innocent animals a safe home, but the reality has been the opposite.

Our Investigations Team's findings show that groups of related individuals have been defrauding taxpayers out of thousands of dollars by adopting multiple rounds of AIP animals and then sending them to kill pens once the cash incentives clear their bank accounts. In some cases, these nefarious adopters go back just days after being awarded a title to adopt their next round of animals.

We cannot allow this disastrous cash incentive program to continue endangering the lives of hundreds – if not thousands – of these innocent animals. That’s why AWHC has been working day in and day out in the field, in courts, and on Capitol Hill to hold the BLM accountable – but we need your help. Will you use your voice and join us in urging the BLM to stop the AIP cash incentives?

Thank you,

Team AWHC