Rescue groups are blasting the Bureau of Land Management for plans to capture thousands of wild horses and burros in California and other western states, saying most of the animals end up in slaughterhouses.
The Bureau of Land Management plans to round up more than 14,000 wild horses and burros in western states this year, including some in Kern County and San Bernardino County.
Clare Staples runs SkyDog Sanctuary, which saves some of these wild horses and burros by buying as many as they can from auction.
“We are seeing Bureau of Land Management adoption events selling large numbers of horses and donkeys for $25 each, and those horses are being flipped straight into kill pens and livestock auctions,” she told KNX News’ Emily Valdez. “And then [they] make a long journey down to Mexico, where they're slaughtered in a horrible way.”
Staples said the Bureau of Land Management does not have enough staff or places to care for the horses.
“You've never seen it before, like the amount of animals that are ending up in the slaughter pipeline, and I think there needs to be a review of the sale authority program,” she said.
The horses and burros being rounded up do not include the burros that have been turning up mutilated in Riverside County.
KNX News has reached out to the Bureau of Land Management for a response.
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