Since 2020, American Wild Horse Conservation (AWHC) has been investigating the devastating and deadly consequences of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) cash incentive adoption program, known as the Adoption Incentive Program (AIP). The AIP pays individuals $1,000 per animal to adopt up to four wild, unhandled BLM mustangs and burros per year. Recently, the Property and Environment Research Center released a report endorsing the AIP. It even went as far as recommending the BLM increase the cash incentives. With 64,000 wild horses and burros in holding and over 20,000 planned to be removed this year, it's obvious that the BLM cannot adopt its way out of the crisis it has created. We need you to take action and demand the BLM stop handing out cash payments and instead offer veterinary vouchers to offset the initial care of horses and burros.

Throughout its investigation, AWHC has uncovered the following: 

• Over 2,100 BLM-branded wild horses and burros have been identified in kill pens since 2020.
• Over a dozen known groups of related individuals have adopted multiple wild horses and burros to the same address, then flipped all the animals to kill pens as a group after receiving the full incentive payments. 
• Numerous adopters have been identified on their second round and even third round of AIP adoptions despite disposing of their previously adopted animals in kill pens.
• The influx of wild horses and burros into slaughter auctions as a result of the AIP has now exceeded the capacity of rescue organizations to take in the animals. 

But this is just the tip of the iceberg since many kill pens directly ship horses and burros to slaughter without ever advertising them. The true number of wild horses and burros entering the slaughter pipeline as a direct result of the AIP is likely much larger than what AWHC's investigation has uncovered to date.

It's obvious: Handing out cash to adopt wild animals is a dangerous and fiscally irresponsible plan.  And increasing that incentive is even more dangerous. To ensure mustangs and burros are protected from slaughter and abusive conditions, the BLM must abandon the cash component of this program — and we need your help. 

Please take a moment to send a letter to the Director of the BLM and urge them to stop the cash incentives and instead, offer a veterinary voucher to incentivize mustang and burro adoptions!