Federal Wild Horse & Burro Sales Surge 146% Amid Concerns Animals Are Being Resold For Slaughter

Growing scrutiny of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Sale Authority program is raising serious concerns about what happens to America’s wild horses and burros after they are permanently sold into private ownership and lose federal protection.

According to BLM data, 3,718 wild horses and burros were sold in Fiscal Year 2025, compared with 1,509 the previous year — an increase of approximately 146%.

Sale Authority stems from the 2004 Burns Amendment to the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Horses and burros can become eligible for sale if they are more than 10 years old or have been unsuccessfully offered for adoption at least three times.

The major concern begins once a sale is complete.

Unlike an adoption, a Sale Authority purchase immediately transfers ownership of the animal to the buyer. From that point forward, the horse or burro is no longer protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, and the BLM does not routinely track where the animal goes.

A recent New York Times investigation brought national attention to federally sold wild horses that were later linked to the horse slaughter trade. American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) has also spent years investigating federal wild horse placement programs through records requests, freeze-brand research, and monitoring of online sales, auctions, and kill pens.

AWHC warns that this lack of long-term oversight leaves wild horses and burros vulnerable after they leave federal custody, including the possibility of later moving through auctions and kill pens before ultimately being resold or transferred for slaughter.

The organization says the issue cannot be separated from the larger federal wild horse management system, which continues to remove thousands of animals from public lands and place them in costly off-range holding facilities.

AWHC has confronted a similar problem before.

The organization helped challenge BLM’s Adoption Incentive Program, which offered qualified adopters up to $1,000 to adopt a wild horse or burro. A federal court later vacated the policy governing the program, and BLM discontinued it on March 3, 2025.

AWHC is now urging federal officials not to allow Sale Authority to become another pathway through which wild horses and burros lose protections after leaving government custody.

AWHC said in a statement provided to World Animal News:

“What happened to these horses was not simply the work of a few bad actors. It was the foreseeable result of a federal system under pressure to move wild horses out of overcrowded holding facilities as quickly and cheaply as possible. Selling an American mustang for $25, transferring ownership immediately and conducting no post-sale tracking created an unacceptable opening for exploitation.

“We are grateful to the rescuers, sanctuaries and advocates who found these horses, documented what was happening and carried an extraordinary financial and emotional burden to save them. Their experience made the consequences impossible to ignore.

“The BLM’s decision to raise the price, strengthen its sales agreement and screen out purchasers connected to kill pens is an important first response—but it is not enough. AWHC will continue pursuing accountability and durable reform so that we do not simply close one pipeline only to watch another take its place. Ultimately, we must replace mass roundup and warehousing with humane management that keeps wild horses wild and protects every animal removed from public lands.”

BLM has since strengthened parts of its Sale Authority program. The agency standardized the base sale price for wild horses and burros at $125 per animal and revised its Bill of Sale to require purchasers to certify that they will not knowingly, recklessly, or negligently sell or transfer animals to individuals or organizations intending to process them into commercial products or facilitate such processing.

BLM says purchasers who violate the program’s terms may be prevented from buying additional animals, while suspected violations may be referred to federal law enforcement.

AWHC recognizes these changes as an important step but says they do not resolve the central problem: federal jurisdiction over a horse or burro ends once the animal is sold, and there is no routine system for following that animal afterward.

AWHC is calling for an independent audit of recent individual and group sales, greater transparency, stronger screening of prospective buyers, meaningful post-sale traceability and accountability, and a suspension of high-volume group sales while safeguards are strengthened.

The organization is also seeking reform of the Burns Amendment, stronger federal protections against horse slaughter, and greater investment in humane, on-range management that keeps more wild horses on the lands they call home.

For AWHC, lasting reform means addressing more than what happens at the point of sale. It means reducing reliance on mass roundups and costly holding while ensuring that wild horses and burros removed from public lands remain protected from being sold or transferred for slaughter.