Federal Funding for Wild Horse Fertility Control Announced; Advocates Demand Faster Results
Return to Freedom, a wild horse advocacy group, welcomed a $30 million federal investment for fertility control but urged for quicker implementation and measurable outcomes, citing ongoing captures and costly holding.
LOMPOC, Calif. – A $30 million federal investment aimed at expanding fertility control measures for wild horse populations has been announced, drawing cautious optimism from the advocacy group Return to Freedom (RTF). While acknowledging the funding as a positive step, RTF is pressing for more rapid and effective implementation to keep horses on public lands.
The U.S. Department of the Interior stated that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will receive the funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to accelerate fertility control efforts, responding to public demand for increased use of this management strategy. RTF has long advocated for fertility control as a humane alternative to the costly and controversial practice of capturing and removing horses from the range.
Since Fiscal Year 2020, when Congress first allocated funds for such strategies, the BLM has captured and removed 74,011 wild horses and burros. In comparison, only 7,818 fertility control treatments have been administered. This disparity has resulted in over 58,000 animals being held in off-range corrals at an annual cost exceeding $100 million to taxpayers.
RTF also expressed concern over the BLM's consideration of sterilization methods, which the organization opposes due to safety and efficacy concerns. "Population modeling by ecologists shows that management of wild horses and burros by capture and removal will not work," stated RTF president Neda DeMayo. "Only by scaling up fertility control immediately to slow reproduction down... can removals and long-term holding be phased out."