Honest question; not trying to be provocative. If I adopt a wild horse through the BLM, can I consume it?

Question

The Bureau of Land Management is currently facing a horse management crisis. They have 30,000 wild horses in holding facilities, and another 33,000 out in the wild, which is about 6,000 too many for the land to support. The BLM is currently considering euthanasia to kill off about 6,000 of these horses, but there is public opposition. Their budget is strained trying to manage all these animals.

Right now, the BLM is simply giving away wild horses to just about anyone who wants one. If you have a horse trailer and some land, you can pick up some BLM horses.

Not to be crass, but with food and beef prices rising, I am considering adopting a few of these animals for meat consumption. Some of my friends and relatives are interested as well, and would reimburse me for gas costs and horse trailer rental.

Would I face any legal repercussions if I adopted horses from the BLM then processed those horses into food?

Answer 1

Yes, they do followup!

But go ahead and try it, you may get a well deserved Darwin Award.  These horses have received drugs, vaccinations, and wormers that cannot be given to animals intended for meat.

Answer 2

Just ask the person who gives you the horse

Answer 3

You can get in real trouble!!!! They do a fallow up on the horses!!!!!!

Answer 4

If beef is getting too expensive, try turning veggie ! duh, it far simpler, and believe me, its a lot less hassle.

Answer 5

well, i'm sure you should take the time to go ask a lawyer who knows about laws regarding : 1. food for human consumption.2. the laws regarding the adopted horses.

i really dont think you can, but then again i dont live there, i dont know the local laws, and i'm not educated on the issue.

Answer 6

Are you concerned with the complete lack of meat standards that such a plan involves?  You have no idea what these horses have ingested or been injected with, or of diseases that may have affected them.

Even if your plan meets with all legal standards, which I don't know the answer to, why would you risk eating meat that is not regulated?

Answer 7

NO YOU CANT.... you have to sign an agreement saying you will be in full carae and you wont do anything to harm the animal.

Answer 8

um, ew. gross. horses are beautifull creatures and it is ad enough people abuse them, but to buy one from an organization that is trying to stop that kind of thing, and then EATING it?????? that is just disgusting. i cant imagine eating my horse that is just too gross

Answer 9

You would have to keep the horse for a year, and provide adequate care for it during that year.  Then you need an equine professional to look at the horse and sign off on some paper work saying that the horse is okay.  Then you get a title on the horse and it is yours to do as you wish.  The BLM has so many other things going on that they almost never come out to check on the horse - and after a year there is no possibility of it.

The year wait is meant to discourage using the horse as food - the cost to manage the horse for the year makes it not cost effective to buy it and butcher it.

Legally - yeah, sure.  Once the horse is yours, you can do whatever you want with it.  There are no slaughter houses that will handle a horse in the US anymore, and most butchers will not be to anxious to do it either.  In that case you are going to be processing the horse in your garage to which I say, "I hope you have an understanding wife/girlfriend, and a big freezer."

By the way - horse meet is very good tasting (not like beef, but good) and very lean.  Plus there is no chance of mad cow.  With all the Mustangs they are trying to get rid of, I would rather see someone put the meat to good use rather than let it go to waste.

All the vaccinations and wormers they get - they work their way out of the system over time, so that is not an issue.  And if you claim the horse just died before the end of the year, the BLM will investigate the circumstances.

Edit:  Technically speaking, according to the USDA, operating a slaughter house that processes equines is currently illegal.  Buthchering an equine for private consumption is not.  As long as you are not selling the meat, and your local government has nothing against it, then you can do what you want.

Answer 10

its an odd idea to say at the least and seems like more of a joke. im not gonna go mad like some people i see and yell cruelty. but i am gonna say that it would be vulgar. Im pretty sure for the first year it belongs to the blm till they inspect it and release him fully to you. But would you really want to wait a whole year before doing that and how would you kill it? are you just that weird that you can chop off a poor wild horses head? that seems pretty sadistic if you ask me

Answer 11

nope :P

Answer 12

interesting question that i don't know the answer to.  funny thing is everyone would be up in arms with the fact that you want to eat a horse, "how could you".... but do you think anyone would make a fuss if the government was giving away cattle and people slaughtered the cattle for consumption?  i love horses, i could never eat one personally.  but i see a problem with thousands of horses that will just end up euthanized when we could use their meat to feed thousands of people or animals that are starving.

Answer 13

That would be considered animal cruelty and you could be locked away, like Michael Vick.

Answer 14

The horse belongs to the BLM still for the first year you have it.  Then they come out and do a "title inspection," and if everything is up to par, they give you the title to the horse.  It is then yours to do anything with...keep, sell, send to slaughter (when the slaughter plants were still open), etc.  So the legal repercussions would not come from the BLM.

There are no federal laws (that I am aware of) about killing and eating horses.  It's more of a state and local thing.  It all depends on how horses are classified where you live.  If they are classified as companion animals, you can get in big trouble for killing them.  If they are livestock, the line is a little more grey.  Although it is not socially acceptable to consume horse meat, there may be no law against it in your area.  I would check you state laws, and then your local laws.

EDIT:  The BLM does NOT do follow-ups after the first year.  Once you have the title, that horse is yours and they have no right to tell you what to do with it.  I know because I work for them!

That's not to say the ASPCA or someone won't come after you if they know what you are doing but like I said, check the local laws.

Now, if you have any other type of horse, there isn't even the year waiting period, the horse is immediately yours, so it seems like it would be more of a hassle to go through the process of getting a mustang.

Answer 15

Well that is considered cruelty to animals and even if it wasnt you shouldnt do it, it is just evil

Answer 16

"Q: Are there any restrictions on what I can do with the horse/burros that I buy?

A: Congress placed no limitations or restrictions on the animals purchased. The animals will be classified as private property upon purchase. Our emphasis is to find good homes for the animals."

6 from the bottom

And after a year of adoption the horse is considered your property and you get the title/deed/whatever to it...

Answer 17

If you do this, and the BLM finds out about it, you could face criminal penalties, pal, not to mention huge fines, because horse slaughter is illegal in the US now. Where are you going to process your horses into food? There is no place here in the States where you can do it legally, and Canada is LONG WAYS OFF. Besides, the slaughter plants in Canada generally don't take privately owned horses and process them. I am not as sure about Mexico- their laws and standards are different, but given the incredibly poor sanitation practices that country follows ( don't forget, this is a place where farmers use human waste as fertilizer on the fruit and vegetable crops we import from them) then I sure wouldn't want to consume any meat that was processed down there. I'd be afraid of catching something really bad from it- and you should be too, if you go that route.

Another question I have for you, if you manage to go ahead with this scheme, is what are you going to do with the meat once it is processed? Do you have enough space to store it all, and how are you planning on getting it back home from the slaughterhouse? If you send it by air, people will know your game is up- and don't be surprised if it gets confiscated at the border, by the border patrol.

I think you need to think this through a little more, and realize what a bad idea it is. Enough said.

Answer 18

Why don't you just start eating stray dogs...

Answer 19

hmm, interesting. I think they do followups, and if they die, they will check why they died, and why all of them (eventually) who is going to butcher them for you and package them? No packing house is going to do it for you...I think it is illegal for a business to do so.