Bill Will Send Them to Slaughter Against the Will of the American People

Washington, DC (July 18, 2017) Today the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee stripped language from the Department of Interior's 2018 budged that federally prohibits the slaughter of America's federally protected wild horse and burro herds.The amendment, put forth by Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) and passed by a voice vote, allows for the destruction of healthy wild horses and burros that Interior Department bureaucrats deem to be surplus. The removal of the protections would result in wild herds across the West being slaughtered on a mass scale. Captured wild horses and burros in government holding facilities would also be subject to being killed en masse.Suzanne Roy, executive director of The American Wild Horse Campaign, the nation’s leading wild horse advocacy organization, issued a strong statement condemning the Committee’s vote."Let’s be clear: House Appropriations Committee members just signed a death warrant for America's mustangs and it will lead to the wholesale destruction of these irreplaceable national treasures,'' Ms. Roy said. "The Stewart amendment is a slaughter amendment, and its proponents are trying to hide that fact from the American people.""We will hold these Members of Congress to account for this public deception and unacceptable assault on our wild mustangs,'' Ms. Roy said.Recent public opinion polls and previous polls consistently show that 80% of Americans support protecting wild horses and burros from slaughter, and the vast majority support the use of humane birth control rather than slaughter to manage our nation’s wild horse herds.The bill now moves onto the full House for a vote. The Senate is expected to take up the issue after the August recess.