Right now, WHE is following up on the recently captured Antelope horses at PVC, the Palomino Valley Wild Horse and Burro Center. WHE will continue to monitor these horses, and address questions that arise as we review information received at the facility and concerns that emerge as we review video and photos.

While documenting the Antelope horses, I couldn’t help but spend some time with two pens full of demanding young geldings that I happened to walk by. These youngsters are so sweet and it may seem strange, but it felt peaceful. That moment was precious.

Demanding in a sense of ‘come and visit with us, we’re fun and irresistible!’ One can’t help but think of taking one, or two, or three more home. I could have stayed all day and had a nice, long break from the world in general. It was painful to leave them to inspect more Antelope holding pens. Holding facilities are not for the faint of heart.

I later found out that these two to three-year-old “comedians” are from mixed HMA’s and are slated to be shipped “back east” to adoption events within the next two to three weeks. They are unavailable for on-site adoptions.

The path of these adorable guys is most likely not the soft landing one might envision, which is not a straight shot from here to there with a “good home” at the end of their journey. Long rides in the trailer, multiple locations/events, IF they survive the process without injury or death, the possibility of being sold as aSale Authority with zero oversight is very real; landing in the kill market with no way out in a few short months from this precious moment of interaction. (The BLM Sale Program has increased over 1,000% in the last decade with a fast turn around to kill auctions and zero oversight from BLM.)

The reality of what these sweet babies have already survived is hard to witness. What likely awaits them is terrifying. 

This is not the first time I have had this experience. It is probably not the last. But it could be. 

The House Agriculture Committee markup for the Republicans’ Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 (H.R. 7567) begins March 3 at 5:00 PM ET—your calls today and tomorrow can influence amendments.

Advocates have created a path to include the Safe Act as an amendment to the massive “must pass” package, rather than the perpetual failure to introduce it each year as a standalone bill. The Farm Bill package that already carries the dog and cat meat ban, SAFE, would add equines directly into existing language and enforcement structures.

If SAFE is successfully folded into the Farm Bill and that Farm Bill becomes law with the SAFE language intact, three big things happen in the real world:

1. The legal slaughter market collapses: No USDA‑inspected horse slaughter plants, and no legal export of American equines for slaughter in Mexico or Canada.

2. The kill‑buyer business model changes: Without legal plants to sell to or export to, the predictable “kill price” at auctions disappears, weakening the financial incentive to bulk‑buy cheap horses—including BLM‑branded mustangs coming out of adoption and sale programs.

3. Every equine, wild or domestic, gains a baseline protection: Once a wild horse loses federal status through sale or adoption, SAFE is the back‑stop that would make it illegal to send that animal into the human‑consumption slaughter pipeline.

If you want to do the biggest thing to stop these guys, and other equines in our country from entering the slaughter pipeline, take this action item today! Our equines deserve better.

I urge you to please take action today, for their sake. ~ Marie Milliman, Wild Horse Education volunteer.

There is still time to get SAFE into the Farm Bill—but only if people are calling right now to their own members of Congress and to Agriculture Committee offices, asking specifically for SAFE (H.R. 1661 / S. 775) language to be included before or during markup.

Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202‑224‑3121. Give the operator your ZIP code and ask to be connected to each of your two Senators and your Representative. You will need to make more than one call. 

Sample Script:

Hi, my name is ___ and I live in (city, state), ZIP code ___. I’m calling to ask the Senator/Representative to support including the SAFE Act (H.R. 1661 / S. 775) in the Farm Bill.

Every year, tens of thousands of American horses are still shipped to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered for human consumption. The SAFE Act would finally ban this and close the export pipeline.

Please let the Senator/Representative know that I strongly want the SAFE Act language in the Farm Bill and that I will be watching how they vote. Thank you.

If you cannot make a call  you can take action here. 

This won’t fix every problem wild horses and burros face, but it could have a major impact on the slaughter pipeline and save countless lives.

Please flood the U.S. Capitol switchboard with polite but firm calls. Ask your two Senators and your Representative to support including the SAFE Act (H.R. 1661 / S. 775) in the Farm Bill and to tell Agriculture Committee leadership you want SAFE in the bill. The number is 202‑224‑3121.

Every mile we travel to cover roundups or assess a herd, every court case we bring, every win, every action we take is only possible because of your support.