America's wild horses may be the latest casualties of federal budget problems. Thirty-three thousand wild horses roam the West, well above the 27,000 target. Expensive holding facilities house another 30,000 rounded-up horses, making them available for adoption. The government says it can no longer afford to control the population with pricey housing. Thus, the US Bureau of Land Management wants to euthanaize part of the population to cut costs.
Horse activists are leading an opposition. One animal rights activist called the plan "killing pure and simple to balance the books for an agency whose reckless management has caused immeasurable harm to a national treasure at considerable cost to the American taxpayer."
Other opponents of the euthanasia proposal want lawmakers to promote horse birth control, and give landowners incentives to keep horses on their property, reports the New York Times.
Since horses compete with ranchers' needs, should the government put emotions aside and choose euthanasia as the effective solution? Or should these national treasures be protected from budget mismanagement?
There really are herds of wild
horses running around in the Rocky Mountain west. It's a pretty contentious issue out there. As a former horse owner, I don't want to see a bad thing happen to a single on of them. I had a
horse who couldn't be trained, and I took great pains to make sure she went to a home to retire, and not go to auction (aka the meat factory). I understand the desire to protect them, and the
connection that horse lovers have with them. But at the same time, there isn't a lot you can do with them, and there are only so many homes they can go to. It's not just like adopting a
kitty! Some can be trained, but some are just too wild. My friend adopted two of them, and it took months before they would even let her walk up to them. I have no idea how she even got them
on her property! It's really a super hard call for me. If I could afford it, I would have a thousand acres and they could all be lawn ornaments for me. 
Well I've never seen a horse roaming so clearly this can't be that big of an issue.
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