PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As a national program administering the sale of feral horses gains ground, an organization with ties to Oregon has expressed concerns that it promotes the slaughtering of the animals.
In a letter sent on Thursday, Skydog Sanctuary President and Founder Clare Staples urged the Bureau of Land Management to shut down the Wild Horse and Burro Sale Program. It allows the federal agency to sell some of the “unbranded, unclaimed and free-roaming” equines found on public lands — although animal advocates are claiming many of them ultimately end up in kill pens.
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Starting in 1971, the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act required U.S. officials to manage and protect the mustangs on public lands. But BLM’s sale program has resulted in a loophole that allows people to purchase the animals for cheap before reselling them to others who slaughter them and process them into meat, according to a recent report from The New York Times.
The report cited data from the federal bureau, as well as Skydog Sanctuary. The organization currently operates a 9,000-acre ranch for wild horses near Bend, in addition to California properties in Malibu and the Santa Ynez Valley…