1. United States
2. Pa.
3. Letter

Block the Trump administration's budget proposal to allow wild horses and burros to be sold for slaughter. For nearly 50 years, Congress has upheld the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act's protections by explicitly prohibiting slaughter sales — this budget would gut that commitment overnight to save a mere $10 million. Thousands of mustangs could end up in foreign slaughterhouses in Canada, Mexico, and Europe. This is a giveaway to the livestock lobby, plain and simple. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has pushed for years to clear rangeland of the estimated 59,000 wild horses competing with cattle for forage. There are humane, proven alternatives — the ASPCA and wild horse advocates have long supported on-range fertility control programs. The BLM is choosing slaughter over science to placate a well-funded industry. Please use every tool available to strip this language from the budget and preserve the long-standing congressional ban on wild horse slaughter sales. These animals are a national symbol, and letting them be sold off to foreign processing plants is not a budget solution — it's a betrayal.