Cheers to the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations for including language in a Department of The Interior funding bill that reaffirms protections for America’s beloved wild horses, preventing their slaughter.

The longstanding slaughter ban was omitted from The Administration’s FY2026 budget proposal, opening the door to the mass slaughter of wild horses, which was a policy initiative of Project 2025. Project 2025 includes fear-mongering myths about wild horses and a direct call for Congress to enact laws allowing BLM to “dispose” of them.

The misguided budget proposal also slashed funding for the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro program by 25%. However, the House bill appropriates $144 million to the BLM’s Wild Horse and Burro Program.

Thank you to our supporters who answered the “Call of the Wild” and joined us on July 1—a national call-in day of action and protest to defend wild horses and burros and public lands.

The truth is that destructive businesses, like the meat industry and oil, gas and mineral extraction projects, which are obtaining increasing representation and power in our federal government, try to scapegoat wild horses for the severe damage that they do to our federal lands. However, these activities, not wild horses, are damaging the environment, fragmenting wildlife habitat, and contributing to climate change.

In contrast, studies show that wild equids are key to healthy ecosystems and play a vital role by increasing ecosystem resiliency and buffering against negative impacts of climate change.

It is a national disgrace that there are currently more wild horses in captivity—62,946—than there are wild horses roaming freely on federal public lands. A measly 53,797 remain wild and free in 10 states. And 10,000 more are scheduled to be rounded up and removed before October 1, 2025.