- Allow adopters to acquire more than four horses or burros during a one year period.
This four animal limit regulation was established years ago in an effort to stem abuses by adopters who acquired large numbers of horses that they couldn't humanely maintain or purchased to resell to "kill buyers" at livestock sales. (Kill buyers are middlemen who sell collected horses to slaughter plants that in turn sell horsemeat for human consumption overseas.)
- Convert the unused "Sunset Option" to expanded sale authority.
The "Sunset Option" allowed the Secretary of Interior to identify animals for which there was no demand by qualified adopters to be "destroyed in the most humane and cost efficient manner possible." Prior to the insertion of the Burns Rider, Congress would routinely specify that no funds would be made available to implement the "Sunset Option."
It makes some sense to try and develop placement options for these animals, however critics charge that doing so without including "downstream" protections is simply a way to make the Sunset Option palatable to Congress - by turning the animals over to private parties to destroy via livestock sales and the slaughterhouses.
Senator Reid's bill actually places an additional 16,000 horses (after the 2005 gathers) on the block to be acquired by private parties in such a manner that the government will have no control over these animals once titles are issued.
- Remove the "without limitation" language from the Burns Rider.
The language in the Burns Rider that orders horse sales "without limitation" is some of the most troublesome language in the current sale authority law. It legally ties BLM's hands with respect to making any serious attempt to "select" the most appropriate purchasers of excess animals.
Furthermore "without limitation" prevents BLM's placing legally enforceable requirements on the purchasers of these "discounted" and Federally protected animals. Removing the "without limitation" phrase is essential to any sale authority reform bill, however there are other ominous conditions that were inserted by Burns that the Reid bill doesn't repeal including language that removes historic Federal protections for these animals once sold and titled.
- Place a one year delay on the conversion of protected to non-protected status of animals sold.
S.1273 places a one year delay before sale authority buyers receive title, however it also specifically removes any and all protections afforded to wild free-roaming horses and burros once titles are issued. Therefore buyers, once again, can do anything they wish with these animals including selling them for slaughter.
While this provision makes it unprofitable for a back yard horseman to acquire an animal, feed it for a year, then sell it for slaughter, it doesn't prevent potentially huge profits from being realized by large landholders who could acquire large numbers of horses at next to nothing prices (please see the next item), pasture them for a year, then sell them for windfall profits.
- Drop minimum adoption fees to $25.00.
Discounting increases the profit motive for persons intending to get rich on the sale authority program and cheapens the value of our nation's "heritage species" to a commodity that costs less than a child's tricycle.
If a private adopter cannot afford $125.00 to acquire a horse, how can he/she afford to properly and humanely maintain that animal?
However if an agricultural operator wishes to buy 1,000 horses for eventual resale, Senator Reid's proposed discount sweetens the purchaser's profits by $100,000.00!
