DENVER, Colorado, March 3, 2025—In a landmark victory for wild horse protection, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado has overturned the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) controversial Adoption Incentive Program (AIP), ruling that it violated multiple federal laws by failing to undergo required National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Administrative Procedures Act (APA) requirements. 

The court found it was “not hard to imagine” that slaughter of wild horses could be “fairly traceable” to BLM’s actions regarding the national AIP program. It also noted the legally required need for vigorous public comment and agency review, which the BLM failed to conduct. 

Incentivizing slaughter

The decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Eubanks & Associates, PLLC on behalf of American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC), Skydog Sanctuary, Carol Walker and other petitioners. They argued that the program, which pays individuals $1,000 to adopt wild, unhandled wild horses and burros, incentivized the unnecessary suffering and slaughter of these federally protected animals.

Judge William J. Martínez found that the 2022 Instruction Memorandum (IM) establishing the AIP violated both the APA and NEPA. He wrote: “An agency cannot avoid its notice and comment obligations by simply clothing instruction memoranda in permissive language, only to then treat them in practice as mandatory.”

As a result, the court vacated the 2022 IM and ordered the BLM to conduct proper notice-and-comment and environmental review procedures before implementing any similar legislative rules in the future, thereby overturning the current adoption program.

Judge Martinez also quoted BLM’s own internal concerns that “[t]he easy money aspect [of the AIP] may bring out potential for fraud, abuse and neglect.” in addition, he wrote that the front-page exposé in The New York Times, and congressional action, followed the “advocacy efforts” of the petitioners. 

“This ruling halts this corrupt federal program that has funneled hundreds of federally-protected wild horses and burros into the slaughter pipeline in violation of Congressional protections,” said Suzanne Roy, executive director of American Wild Horse Conservation.

She noted, however, that her group’s ongoing investigation of this adoption program was likely just the tip of the iceberg. “We’re grateful that the court recognized what we have long known—that the BLM’s program was not only unlawful but also fundamentally at odds with the agency’s duty to protect these iconic animals and treat them humanely.”

Adoption program ‘opened the floodgates’

“This ruling is a powerful affirmation that the Adoption Incentive Program was a betrayal of these iconic animals, pushing them from public lands to slaughter auctions under the false promise of care,” said Clare Staples, founder of Skydog Sanctuary. “The AIP opened the floodgates and allowed thousands of wild horses and burros to enter the slaughter pipeline.” 

Skydog Sanctuary has led efforts to rescue AIP animals from slaughter auctions and has saved hundreds of animals from this cruel fate. 

“Our wild horses deserve to be protected and treated humanely, not turned into a commodity for profit and abuse. This decision returns to the wild horses that have been removed from our public lands the protection that they deserve,” said wild horse photographer and author Carol Walker. 

The AIP was launched in 2019 and staged adoption events like this one. Evidence presented in court—brought to light by an AWHC investigation, which prompted a widely publicized exposé in The New York Times—revealed that many adopters at these events were pocketing the incentive money before quickly sending the animals to slaughter auctions. 

The investigation revealed that groups of related individuals were adopting the maximum of four animals per person. Then they “flipped” them to slaughter auctions once titles were obtained, collecting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars in the process. 

No evidence of protection

The ruling found that the BLM failed to consider “whether limiting the AIP to untrained horses increases the likelihood of horses being slaughtered.” It also contended that the BLM failed to provide adequate evidence that its policies actually protected wild horses from being slaughtered​.

In confirming the legal standing to sue, the Court quoted petitioners’ pleadings regarding their “grave aesthetic injuries.” These included being forced to witness “malnourished, injured animals in kill pens,” as well as observing “firsthand the inhumane treatment these federally protected animals must endure as a direct result of the AIP.” 

“This victory belongs to every wild horse advocate who fought for transparency and accountability—and to the wild horses and burros themselves, cherished American icons who deserve protection, not cruel slaughter to end up as horsemeat consumed overseas,” said Roy. 

AWHC remains committed to ensuring that the BLM adopts responsible, humane, science-based solutions to manage wild horse and burro populations on public lands. It stands willing to collaborate with the agency on responsible adoption programs that prioritize the safety and welfare of wild horses and burros. 

About the wild horse advocates

‍American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) is the nation’s leading non-profit wild horse conservation organization, with more than 700,000 supporters and followers nationwide. AWHC is dedicated to preserving the American wild horse and burros in viable, free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage. In addition to advocating for the protection and preservation of America’s wild herds, AWHC implements the largest wild horse fertility control program in the world through a partnership with the State of Nevada for wild horses that live in the Virginia Range near Reno.

Skydog Sanctuary is a forever home for wild mustangs and burros who have ended up in horrible and dangerous situations—at kill pens, at auctions, or in unloving homes where they have often been starved and neglected. The sanctuary is also home to several wild horse families that have been reunited after being separated during roundups.

‍Carol Walker is a wild horse photographer and author based in Denver, Colorado.