The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says it has no plans to euthanize thousands of wild horses currently held in short- and long-term holding facilities. The agency came under fire earlier this month after wild horse advocates reported that the BLM National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board voted on a referendum relative to the fate of some horses in holding that could be deemed unadoptable.

The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 protects wild horses and burros and places them under BLM jurisdiction. The agency estimates that 67,000 wild horses currently reside on public lands in 10 Western states, and another 45,000 animals reside in short- and long-term holding facilities. The National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board is an independent panel that makes recommendations to the BLM regarding wild horse and burro management.

In a Sept. 9 written statement, Ginger Kathrens, executive director of the Colorado Springs-based Cloud Foundation and one of nine advisory board members, said she was the sole dissenting vote when the board passed a resolution concerning the euthanasia of wild horses residing in federal holding facilities.

Tom Gorey, BLM spokesman, said the recommendation on which the Advisory Board voted pertained to BLM stipulations under the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, which gives the agency the right to sell wild horses “without limitation

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