Man Pleads Guilty To Neglect Of Adopted Wild Horses, Burros
By Kathryn Brim, Editor

According to an Arizona news release, a man has pleaded guilty to the neglect and starvation of five horses; including three mustangs and one burro he had acquired through a Bureau of Land Management adoption center.

A total of five horses, one burro and one steer were seized from the property. The animals were significantly underweight and malnourished. Their condition was so poor that one of the horses had to be euthanized prior to being removed from the property.

Under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the U.S. BLM was given the authority to manage, protect and control the wild horse population in the United States. Part of this process includes the adoption and/or sale of captured horses to the public through the Adopt-a-Horse-or-Burro program. Through this program animals are offered for adoption to qualified people and, after caring for an animal for one year, the adopter is eligible to receive title, or ownership, of that animal from the Federal Government.

The status of these horses within this program has not been released.