Wild horse sales surge under Trump amid slaughter concerns

Federal sales of protected wild horses have increased sharply under the Trump administration, fueling concerns among animal-welfare groups that some could ultimately enter slaughter channels after being sold through a government program.

The issue came under renewed scrutiny after a New York Times investigation on Thursday examined the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Sale Authority program. Under the process described by the Times, horses can be designated unadoptable and offered for sale after receiving no takers during three one-week adoption listings.

Sold horses lose the statutory protections retained by adopted horses, although initial buyers must agree not to slaughter them or knowingly sell them to someone intending to do so. Critics argue that restriction can be circumvented when a horse is resold to an intermediary not bound by the agreement.

The report found sales surged after Trump returned to office. BLM sold about 3,700 horses in 2025, more than double the previous year’s total, according to bureau records cited by the Times.

About 73,000 wild horses roam federal public lands in the West, while another 58,000 are housed in the BLM holding system at an annual cost of roughly $100 million, according to figures cited by the news outlet. The government estimated that avoiding years of care for the horses sold in 2025 would save about $56 million. The Department of the Interior says removing excess animals and placing them into adoption or sale programs is part of its legal responsibility to maintain healthy herds on healthy public lands while reducing overcrowding and taxpayer costs.

In a statement to Newsweek, the Department of the Interior said the BLM "does not sell or send wild horses or burros to slaughter" and that allegations of violations of federal law or sales agreements are reviewed and referred to law enforcement when appropriate.

The department also said protecting wild horses and burros is a long-standing federal responsibility under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, while Congress directed the BLM in 2004 to make certain excess animals available for sale subject to safeguards barring commercial processing.

The White House referred Newsweek to the Department of the Interior. Newsweek also reached out to the Department of Agriculture. In a statement provided to the Times, BLM said it "remains dedicated to placing animals into good homes, protecting their welfare and upholding its statutory responsibilities on behalf of the American public."

Patricia Miller, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation, told Newsweek that her organization began closely tracking the Sale Authority program after seeing increased efforts to move horses out of long-term holding facilities.

Miller said her group saw a connection between increased Sale Authority use, pressure to reduce the long-term holding population and plans for additional roundups.

"We have been following the increase in Sale Authority usage over the last 12 months and saw the correlation between need to move horses out of long term holding with plan to round up 14,000 more," she said Thursday.

Miller said records her organization obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests helped reveal how extensively the program was being used.

"We saw not only a large increase, but also the alarming part of large group sales going to buyers that were not vetted," she said.

The scrutiny of the Sale Authority program comes after a separate federal court ruling in 2025 led BLM to pause its Adoption Incentive Program, which had offered adopters up to $1,000 to take horses and burros. Animal-rights groups alleged some animals obtained through that program later entered slaughter channels. A federal judge wrote that such an outcome was "not hard to imagine" and that the possibility was "fairly traceable" to the agency's actions. Following the ruling, BLM halted the program while reviewing its options.

A key issue for critics is who is buying the horses.

Miller pointed to Brandon Jones, an Ohio livestock trader who the Times reported received hundreds of horses through the federal program and who was a central figure in its investigation.

"For instance, Brandon Jones cited a vet referral a state away, who was not even an equine vet, who did not even know him to have horses," Miller said.

Jones denied selling any of the horses to slaughter and told the Times that he resold them in small numbers to what he described as good owners. He declined to disclose where the hundreds of horses he bought from the government ultimately went.

The Department of the Interior said most people who adopt or purchase wild horses and burros provide appropriate care and that those who abuse the program "should not be confused with the thousands of responsible Americans who provide good homes for these animals."

Miller said volunteers, sanctuaries and rescue groups have reported finding what they believe are horses sold through the Sale Authority program in so-called "kill pens," where horses are collected before being purchased by slaughter buyers or shipped elsewhere.

BLM has maintained that buyers must agree not to slaughter horses or knowingly sell them to anyone intending to do so. Critics argue that the contractual restriction becomes difficult to enforce after an animal is resold to an intermediary who did not sign the agreement.

The controversy has also reignited the long-running debate over how the federal government manages wild horse populations.

Animal welfare groups say the government has focused too heavily on roundups, long-term holding facilities and sales rather than aggressively expanding fertility-control efforts designed to reduce future population growth.

"For instance, this year while removing 14,000 horses there are no plans to go back and manage with fertility control as they are supposed to," Miller said. "That will create another rinse and repeat round up situation in the future."

Martin Schulman, a professor of veterinary reproduction at the University of Pretoria who has researched immunocontraception in free-roaming horses, said fertility-control vaccines can be an effective tool for managing wild horse populations when a large proportion of animals can be treated.

"At the very least, this method can be considered to be one tool that is effective, practical and humane which is currently available to management of these populations," Schulman told Newsweek.

BLM officials have long argued that fertility control is an important management tool, but not a complete solution. The agency says currently available treatments have limitations, noting that many require boosters and are most effective in smaller, more accessible herds. BLM says studies indicate roughly 75 percent of mares in a herd must be treated to significantly affect population growth.

The agency has also said that many larger herds are in remote areas where repeated darting or treatment can be difficult.

Schulman said currently available fertility-control methods require ongoing monitoring and booster treatments, but argued they compare favorably with long-term holding and other management strategies in terms of cost, practicality and animal welfare. He said successful fertility-control programs require sustained treatment and monitoring over time, but argued large-scale population management through immunocontraceptive vaccines has already been demonstrated in free-roaming horse populations.

The dispute highlights a larger challenge confronting federal land managers.

The U.S. Forest Service and BLM collectively manage hundreds of wild horse and burro territories across millions of acres of public land. Federal agencies say wild horse populations can grow rapidly because the animals have few natural predators and can place pressure on forage, water resources and wildlife habitat when populations exceed management targets. The Forest Service says it relies on both gathers and fertility-control vaccines to help manage herd growth, while U.S. Geological Survey researchers continue studying population dynamics, fertility-control methods and ecological impacts.

Advocates argue the government's growing reliance on horse sales reflects a failure to address the underlying drivers of population growth.

Miller argued that Sale Authority was originally intended for older or difficult-to-place horses but is increasingly being used for younger animals.

"Sale Authority was intended for older or unsaleable horses, yet we saw all horses were being pushed through online sales, getting three strikes and then going Sale Authority," she said. "Many of these Sale Authority horses are young and saleable."

As sales increase, the debate is focused not only on what happens to horses after they are sold, but also on whether the federal government is doing enough to reduce future population growth through fertility-control efforts and other management tools.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Edward T. Cummins.