Buyer Sold BLM Mustangs to Slaughter, Federal Report Says

Livestock hauler Tom Davis admitted that most of the horses he purchased through the BLM went to slaughter in Mexico.
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A man who purchased numerous wild horses from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sold nearly 1,800 Mustangs to Mexican slaughter plants, according to the results of an investigation by the Department of the Interior’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 federally protects wild horse and burro herds residing on Western rangelands and places them under the BLM’s jurisdiction. Currently, the BLM manages more than 58,000 wild horses and burros, while more than 47,000 unadopted animals reside in BLM-managed holding facilities.

Three years ago reports surfaced indicating that, between 2009 and 2012, Colorado-based livestock hauler Tom Davis purchased more than 1,700 Mustangs from the BLM, then sold the animals for slaughter in Mexico. At the time, the BLM contract forbade buyers from knowingly selling or giving away animals for processing into commercial products. Under the past or current contracts, those who sold or otherwise transferred horses for processing faced federal charges.

In 2012, BLM spokesman Tom Grey confirmed that Davis had purchased 1,777 horses from the BLM and that he was the agency’s “biggest buyer.” At the same time, Gorey said that there was “no evidence” that Davis had, in fact, sold the animals he purchased to slaughter plants in Mexico

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Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

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