BLM Background on the Sale of Wild Horses and Burros

After a brief suspension of its wild horse sales program from April 25, 2005, to May 19, 2005, the Bureau of Land Management resumed its sales of wild horses and burros affected by a Federal law that Congress enacted in December 2004. (The law, an amendment to the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, directs the BLM to sell "without limitation" wild horses and burros that are either over 10 years old or have been passed over for adoption at least three times.  Direct sales transactions, in which the title of ownership to the animal passes immediately from the Federal government to the buyer, are different from adoptions, in which the title of ownership is withheld by the government for one year, during which time the adopter must demonstrate humane care for the horse or burro.) During the temporary suspension of the sales program in 2005, the BLM revised its bill of sale to strengthen the agency's efforts in finding good homes for sale-eligible animals. Toward that end, the BLM also contacted all three then-operating U.S. horse processing plants in an effort to restrict the possibility that BLM freeze-branded horses sold under the sale-authority law (Public Law 108-447) would be received or processed by those plants. The temporary suspension of sales was prompted by two incidents in April 2005 involving the commercial processing of 41 horses that had been re-sold or traded after being bought from the BLM.

Ford Motor Company and Take Pride in America, a national partnership program, have teamed to support the Bureau in its efforts to place sale-eligible animals in good homes. The BLM is committed to the well-being of wild horses and burros, both on and off the range. With this support from Ford and Take Pride in America, the BLM will be able to carry out the will of Congress while finding good homes for wild horses and burros, which are a treasured symbol of the Western spirit and an icon of American freedom.

For information about the BLM-Ford-Take Pride in America joint effort, called "Save the Mustangs," please visit: www.savethemustangs.org

If you are interested in buying a wild horse or burro for long-term care, please call us toll-free at 1-800-710-7597 or e-mail Sally Spencer at: Sally_Spencer@blm.gov

Implementation of New Wild Horse and Burro Authority as Directed By Congress

• Message from the BLM
• Frequently Asked Questions
• New Legislation
• News Releases
  • “Save the Mustangs” Fund Ready to Distribute $200,000 to Wild Horse Organizations for Long-Term Care of Horses (4/4/06)
  • Bureau of Land Management and Public Lands Council Urge Public Lands Ranchers to Buy Wild Horses (2/21/06)
  • BLM Statement (4/22/05)
  • BLM Sells 30 Wild Horses to Cattle Rancher (4/4/05)
  • BLM Announces First Sale of Wild Horses to Tribes under New Law (3/21/05)
  • BLM Announces Sale of Wild Horses to Horse Group in California (3/9/05)
  • BLM Announces First Sale of Wild Horses under New Law (3/1/05)
• Photo Gallery
  • Photographs of some of the two hundred horses sold to Wild Horses Wyoming, which is committed to the long-term care of these animals. For full details of this sale -- the first conducted by the BLM under its new sale authority -- see the news release.

The BLM is committed to our Adoption Program, which is unchanged by the new law and will remain separate from the new sale authority program. Additional information on adoption events around the country can be found at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro/events.html.

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