The appropriations rider is the annual safeguard that blocks federal funds from being used to send healthy, unadopted animals down that pathway.
As of May 15, 2026, the FY2027 President’s budget proposal reportedly omits the longstanding appropriations rider that bars the destruction of healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros and bars sales that result in slaughter. Congress has not yet publicly confirmed that protection in FY2027 House or Senate Interior-Environment appropriations bill text. The House Interior-Environment bill is not scheduled for subcommittee markup until May 21, 2026, with full committee markup scheduled for June 3, 2026.
The annual rider is not a permanent statute. It is an appropriations limitation, meaning it must be included in annual Interior-Environment funding legislation to remain in force for that fiscal year. The modern rider prevents appropriated funds from being used for two core actions: killing healthy, unadopted wild horses or burros under federal jurisdiction, and selling wild horses or burros in a way that results in their destruction for processing into a commercial product.
At the congressional stage, the official CRS Appropriations Status Table: FY2027 on Congress.gov shows the Interior-Environment row blank, meaning no House subcommittee approval, Senate subcommittee approval, committee approval, initial passage, conference action, or presidential approval is listed for that bill as of the page extraction
URGENT please call/write your legislators—Please include, without weakening amendments, the longstanding Interior-Environment appropriations rider prohibiting funds from being used for the destruction of healthy, unadopted wild horses and burros, or for the sale of wild horses or burros that results in their destruction for processing into a commercial product. Please also preserve the transfer safeguards that prevent government recipients from selling, transferring, destroying, or euthanizing these animals except in documented humane veterinary circumstances.
Wild horses need you right now. Donations fund on-the-ground observation, advocacy, and efforts to stop the cycle of removal and suffering. Stand with them—donate today.
