Hoeven: ND wild horses not impacted by reports of BLM sales to slaughter

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - National animal advocates are voicing concern over the treatment of America’s wild horses following a national report detailing allegations that several hundred federal animals were sold and sent to slaughterhouses.

However, North Dakota officials said the state’s famous wild herds remain shielded from the practices highlighted in the report.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages the vast majority of the nation’s wild horses and burros, operates adoption and sales programs to place animals into private care.

Under federal law, these animals are not to be sold or sent to slaughterhouses or to “kill buyers.”

But a report published by the New York Times claims some buyers have bypassed legal protections using third-party middlemen.

According to the report, at least one buyer purchased wild horses for as little as $25 a head before selling them to Canadian slaughterhouses, where they can fetch up to $750 each.

Distinct brands from wild horse protection programs have reportedly been photographed on animals at Canadian livestock auctions and slaughterhouses.

The allegations have drawn sharp criticism from animal advocacy groups like Humane World for Animals, which decried the BLM for setting the stage for the horses’ “betrayal and deaths.”

Despite the national outcry, the office of U.S. Senator John Hoeven confirmed to Your News Leader that North Dakota’s wild horses are not affected.

“The BLM does not manage any wild horse herds in North Dakota, so we are not aware of horses from our state being sold,” said Hoeven’s office in a statement. “The horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park are managed by the National Park Service. Given that, our legislation should not be impacted.”

Hoeven has championed legislation to permanently protect the wild horse herd residing within Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Despite the controversy surrounding the BLM’s national programs, Hoeven’s office said progress on the local preservation bill remains on track.

“We have secured approval by the full Senate for our TRNP wild horse legislation, and now we are working to get it through the House and to the President to be signed into law,” said Hoeven’s office.

The bill is currently awaiting further action in the House of Representatives.