Defund The BLM Adoption Incentive Program (AIP)
On 30 January 2019, the BLM announced its Adoption Incentive Program (AIP). I was horrified by what this misguided plan would obviously mean for wild horses and burros. The AIP pays an individual $500 in taxpayer funds at the time they sign the contract to adopt a federally protected equine. Under penalty of prosecution, the adopter certifies that they will take good care of the animal and not sell it for slaughter. After a period of twelve-months, a second installment of $500 is paid and the adopter receives title. At this point, the animals are privately owned and the BLM takes no more responsibility for them.
Allegedly intended to find good homes for mustangs and burros (which it sometimes does), the program has created a cadre of middlemen to take the animals off the BLM’s hands and dispose of them any way they see fit. Without any protections, monitoring, or consequences for violations, many adopters sell the equines for their meat price as soon as they collect their federal money. Then they go back to the BLM to adopt more animals - repeat offenders are welcome.
My worries about the AIP increased when I spent time at the corrals to see who came to get young horses for the incentive cash. Adoption events do not traditionally attract large crowds, but more people than ever before began to participate. They did not seem like the kind of people to pay veterinary and farrier bills, or gentle the animals to give them a chance at a good future. A few months after the one-year mark, once the final incentive payment was received, we saw a massive increase in the number of mustangs and burros surfacing in kill pens. While this was not unheard of – there have always been wild equines in the slaughter pipeline – we had never before seen so many, the difference being that they were young, wild, unhandled animals with titles.
The title is transferred every time ownership of a federally protected equine occurs. It tells the story of what is really going on. It identifies who adopted the animal one year prior and received $1,000 before dumping it in the slaughter pipeline. The document passes to rescues who bail the animal out of a kill pen, so we hold the evidence in our hands. Even though we report this to the BLM, they wash their hands of any responsibility. Conveniently, once the titled equine is privately owned, the bureau chooses to no longer be involved.
They are, however, accountable for untitled mustangs and burros, whose adopters dumped them before receiving the second incentive payment and title. With their neck brands and FOIA requests, their history can be traced to the AIP, though the Wild Horse and Burro Program (WHBP) claims to have seen no evidence of this happening. They need this corrupted program to move the animals out of overburdened holding facilities and get around the congressional ban on horse slaughter that prevents them from doing it themselves.
We filed a complaint with the BLM to disband their incentive program, I spoke about it at the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory board meeting, but the evidence was ignored and our pleas fell on deaf ears. I was amazed to see in a FOIA that the former head of the Burns corrals, Rob Sharp, shared the same concerns and I did about where these horses were going. All those fears are being realized. Every week we see more wild horses landing in kill pens and being posted before shipping to slaughter. Worst of all, the ones you see are the only the tip of the iceberg. Many kill pens don't even bother to post wild, unhandled mustangs, preferring to ship them direct to slaughter because so few people want them.
It’s difficult to find good homes for completely wild horses. They require a lot of time, patience, and money to train – and some never accept domestication. There are very few rescues equipped to manage mustangs that have not been gentled to at least accept being haltered. Even trainers have a hard time finding homes for trained mustangs, so what chance do these beautiful souls have?
And then there are the Three S's: a euphemism BLM staff use for Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up. We will never know how many mustangs and burros meet this terrible fate. When the point of the program is to get rid of the animals, the BLM doesn’t ask questions. Staff will often take adopters at their word and the send them their incentive money without performing an inspection.
Thank goodness David Phillips at the New York Times, a Pulitzer Prize winning writer and author of Wild Horse Country, cared enough to dig deeper into this program. I met him personally in Colorado Springs where he came to meet GG, Ladybug and Twiglet and saw for himself just three of the hundreds of AIP youngsters who were heading to slaughter before we rescued them. We are so grateful and please use the link to his article in the email or letters you write to congress to show them how serious this issue is.
In response to public criticism, letters from members of Congress, and litigation launched by the American Wild Horse Conservation (which Skydog has joined), the BLM announced changes to supposedly add protections for wild horses and burros in the AIP. The only real improvement, however, would be the 6-month, on-site inspection to confirm that the animals are still alive, in the adopter’s possession, and being cared for. Most BLM facilities, however, are never in compliance with their own rules and regulations.
The number of animals that can be adopted by one person in a twelve-month period was reduced to four, but this has done nothing to stop AIP crime rings. Groups of friends and relatives go in together to adopt 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 horses and literally make a killing at the end of the year.
Skydog has worked hard and fast to partner with other organizations to help these young horses landing in kill pens. Among the AIP titled mustangs at our sanctuary are Angel, Scout, GG, Ladybug (pregnant with firefly), Twiggy, Jack Sparrow, Cheyenne, Snow, and Sierra.
In addition, we have helped dozens reach safety and enter good training and adoption programs with other rescues. We cannot just stand by and do nothing, even if the agency responsible is doing nothing to prevent or punish this. The names of the people dumping these horses are right there on their titles and they should be banned from ever adopting mustangs again.
The BLM issued this press statement heralding the success of their adoptions, claiming they adopted out "more than 6,000 animals, helping the agency to achieve a 15-year record for total adoptions and sales in Fiscal Year 2019". They wrote “We’re excited that the public has responded so strongly to this innovative program. The successful use of incentives to increase adoption rates is a win for all involved – saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, reducing the overpopulation of wild horses and burros on the range, and helping these animals find homes with families who will care for and enjoy them for years to come,”
Sadly, that is not the truth of the matter. We can see exactly where these horses are ending up and it's not in loving homes for years to come. They are tossed in a field or pen with no care whatsoever while adopters wait for their federal money. They are waiting to ship to slaughter, if they have not already having been killed. This entire program needs to be suspended pending an independent investigation. Much to my surprise, even staff at BLM corrals, with whom I have discussed this, strongly agree.
The longer the AIP is allowed to go on, the harder it will become to shut it down. We need to act now for these animals. A BLM staff member said he guessed if enough enough wild equines end up in the kill pens, and enough people make a fuss about it, they would stop the program. There is a flood of AIP mustangs and burros entering the slaughter pipeline, so let’s make that fuss about it.
Recommended Actions Below:
How you can help
Call, write, or comment on social media the following Bureau of Land Management authorities. Ask them politely to suspend the AIP because mustangs and bureaus in the program are being sent to slaughter.
Bureau of Land Management Attn: Director Stone-Manning 1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240 Tel: (202) 208-3801 Online Contact Form: https://www.blm.gov/feedback
Wild Horse and Burro Program National Center
Tel: (866) 468-7826
Email: wildhorse@blm.gov
Department of US Department of Interior (DOI)
Attn: Secretary Deb Haaland
1849 C Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20240 Tel: (202) 208-3100 Email: exsec_exsec@ios.doi.gov
Website Contact Form:
https://www.doi.gov/contact-us
Social Media
X Twitter: @SecDebHaaland I urge you and @BLMNational to #defundtheAIP and save America’s #wildhorses and #burros.
Facebook: @DebHaalandNM I urge you and @BLMNational to #defundtheAIP and save America’s #wildmustangs and #burros.
Petition: Sign Our Change.org Petition “Stop paying the public to kill wild horses”. We have over 110,000 signatures. Our next goal is 150,000.
Postcard Campaign: Send a postcard to Secretary Haaland and Director Stone-Manning to get their attention.
Publicize AIP Rescues: If you are a rescue or advocacy group posting about a saved a mustang or burro from the slaughter pipeline via the AIP, please use the hashtag #defundtheAIP so people can see the faces of the animals this is hurting. This will help raise awareness of how widespread this problem is.
Report Adopter Violtions: If you are a rescue or advocacy group, contact the BLM to report the name of the adopter on the title that is transferred to you. Also report this to the American Wild Horse Conservation (@freewildhorses) as evidence for their lawsuit to shut the program down.
For more help, take a look at our Contact Federal Authorities page.
Clare, Janelle & David Phillips in Colorado Springs, CO on a rescue