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GAO-17-680R 1 (2017-07-17)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaakyt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 July 17, 2017 Congressional Requesters Animal Welfare: Information on the U.S. Horse Population The U.S. horse population consists of domesticated horses in private care-such as race horses, show horses, and horses residing on farms-and free-roaming horses, including wild horses and burros on certain U.S. public lands and feral horses on tribal or other lands.1 Federal and state agencies and nongovernmental stakeholders have raised concerns about the availability of options for managing horse populations, such as challenges in finding homes for adoption and limited capacity at rescue sites; the cost of caring for wild horses; and the effectiveness of efforts to limit population growth and the environmental impacts of free-roaming horses.2 Stakeholders have also raised concerns about the welfare of horses sold for export to either Canada or Mexico, which permit commercial slaughter of horses for human consumption. In the United States, such slaughter has been effectively prohibited by language Congress included in annual appropriations acts for fiscal years 2006 to 2011 and beginning again in fiscal year 2014. Specifically, the annual appropriations acts have prohibited the use of federal funds to inspect horses that are to be slaughtered for human consumption. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior (Interior) are the federal agencies with primary responsibility for horse welfare issues. USDA compiles agricultural data, such as on livestock exports. USDA is also responsible for inspecting certain animals before they are slaughtered and processed into products for human consumption, as well as for overseeing the welfare of horses transported for slaughter. Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-with research assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey-and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) manage populations of wild horses on U.S. public lands in 10 western states.3 BLM and USFS are required under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 to set the appropriate management level for each of their 177 herd management areas and 53 wild horse and burro territories, respectively.4 In areas where BLM or USFS finds that an 1We use the term 'wild horses' to mean wild free-roaming horses and burros under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. Pub. L. No. 92-195, 85 Stat. 649 (1971) (codified as amended at 16 U.S.C. §§ 1331-1340). Wild horses, on certain public lands defined by the Act, are protected under the Act. Feral horses, generally addressed by state law, are unwanted and unclaimed free-roaming horses found on public lands not designated for wild horses, or on private or tribal lands. Feral horses are not protected under the Act. 2We use the term 'horses' to refer to all equines, including burros, mules, and asses. 3BLM and USFS both manage wild horses, but this report focuses on BLM management because BLM-managed wild horse populations account for the majority of the wild horses on public lands. 4This level is the numeric population range for a herd that the agency has determined can be maintained in healthy condition without adversely affecting the thriving natural ecological balance and while preserving the land for multiple uses, such as wildlife and livestock grazing. When establishing an appropriate management level, BLM and USFS also consider other federal acts pertaining to public lands. GAO-17-680R Animal Welfare: Information on the U.S. Horse Population Page 1

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