More than 26,000 wild horses and burros are currently housed in temporary Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holding sites, and the Ford Motor Company is offering $200,000 to eligible rescue groups to reduce that number.

In May 2005, Ford introduced the “Save the Mustangs” fund with the help of the BLM and Take Pride America (www.takepride.gov), and in less than a year the fund had generated more than $200,000 in donations. The money will provide financial assistance to qualified rescue groups purchasing aged horses ($100 for each horse over the age of 10) from the BLM. Additionally, Ford has provided financial support for 2,000 wild horses and established an educational website (www.savethemustangs.org).

Ziad Ojakli, Ford Group vice president of corporate affairs, said in a BLM press release, “As we promised last spring, the goal of the Save the Mustangs program was to provide wild horses with a sustainable future, and we’re delivering on that promise as we assist those who are offering loving homes for the mustangs. I am very proud of the contributions that Ford and other Mustang lovers have been able to make in preserving such a marvelous icon of American freedom.”

Ford’s involvement with wild horses began when an Oklahoma man posing as a preacher purchased 52 older wild horses offering to give them permanent homes. The horses were later sold to slaughter. Ford intervened and bought the 52 horses from the slaughter plant