Sale Authority Exposed

The New York Times exposé on August 20, 2026 confirms what Skydog has been documenting on the ground for more than a year: federally-protected wild horses are being moved quickly out of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adoption events into slaughter pipelines. What was uncovered by Skydog’s research became the foundation for the New York Times investigation. (Link to the article below)

What is Sale Authority?

Sale Authority is a loophole created by the 2004 Burns Amendment to weaken the protections against sale to slaughter set down in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horse & Burro Act. It allows the BLM to sell wild horses and burros 10+ years of age, or younger equines passed over for adoption three times.

Ownership transfers immediately to the buyer with minimal protections for animals. Once sold for $25 (or less), they are no longer federally protected, so owners can - and do - haul them straight to kill pens to flip them for their meat price (around $500). Then they turn around and buy more while the BLM looks the other way.

Thousands of wild horses and burros are being moved out of BLM holding via Sale Authority, as holding facilities are being shut down by federal budget cuts. In Jan-May 2026 alone, 242 babies shipped to slaughter. Even so, the government went ahead with plans to round up 14,000 more mustangs this summer.

For Skydog, it all began with Elliot and Felix

When Skydog Sanctuary found Elliot (4) and Felix (2) in kill pens in Texas and Kansas in March and April of 2025, it did not make sense. These were not old or unadoptable horses. The documentation that comes with each rescued mustang made it possible to piece together where they came from, who bought them, and how they ended up in kill pens almost immediately after being sold by the government.

A Pattern Emerged

Over a matter of weeks, Skydog documented wild horses and burros:

• Purchased at BLM adoption events

• Hauled directly to kill pens

• Flipped by coordinated buyers

• Transported to slaughter pipelines in Mexico and Canada

* If the purchaser makes any material misrepresentations in "Application to Purchase Wild Horses and Burros," "Bill of Sale," or during any negotiations with the BLM leading up to purchase, including representations about the purposes and/or use for which the animals are obtained, then the sale is voidable at the discretion of the BLM.

Many buyers - including repeat offenders - have gotten away with this by claiming they did not knowingly resell their animals into slaughter pipelines.

Formal Complaints and Rescues

We submitted multiple formal complaints to the BLM and Department of Interior officials warning that Sale Authority had become a fast-moving pipeline to slaughter. None of the offenders we have reported have been banned from adopting more animals. Nor did the BLM seize back any of the horses we reported in kill pens.

At the same time, Skydog worked to rescue as many animals as possible before they disappeared. What began as an investigation into individual horses - all young mustangs who should never have ended up in kill pens -  revealed a larger system operating behind the scenes.

The SA mustangs we have rescued since March 2025:

Mounting Evidence

As more and more horses came in, it was clear these were not isolated incidents. The same names, transport routes, kill pens, and buyers appeared again and again. Skydog gathered evidence:

* Wild horses purchased at BLM events and sent directly to kill pens within days

* Coordinated buyers purchasing multiple horses at a time

* Bulk transfers of federally protected wild horses to livestock traders

* A dramatic increase in Sale Authority transactions after the collapse of the Adoption Incentive Program

*Failures by the BLM to repossess horses even after formal complaints were filed

FOlA records also revealed large-scale sales contracts involving hundreds of wild horses. Everything pointed to a system designed to move horses out of federal holding facilities quickly with little meaningful protection once animals entered the Sale Authority system.

Drawing National Attention

Clare went to Las Vegas to discuss Sale Authority with Representative Dina Titus (NV) - champion of the Wild Horse Protection Act, and a leader in the Wild Horse Caucus in Congress.

She also shared Skydog’s findings with David Philipps, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent for the New York Times, who conducted an investigation. What Skydog uncovered became the foundation for his exposé:

NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE

Please note the article may be behind a paywall requiring a subscription to access.

Philipps’ reporting on America’s wild horse crisis spans more than a decade.

• His book, Wild Horse Country: The History, Myth. and Future of the Mustang is an essential primer for anyone interested in the issues.

• In 2012, his reporting on the Tom Davis Scandal for Pro Publica triggered state and federal investigations and caused the BLM to limit the number of horses sold to one individual to four per year.

• In 2021, his story on the BLM's Adoption Incentive Program contributed directly to a federal court overturning it in a ruling on a lawsuit, in which Skydog was a co-plaintiff. 

• We anticipate that his investigation of Sale Authority will have a profound impact.

Erin Schaff is one of the most recognized photojournalists in the United States. She is the first staff photographer to be hired full-time by the New York Times in over ten years. Erin traveled to our ranch in Oregon to photograph Sale Authority horses rescued from the slaughter pipeline for this story.

They bring much-needed attention to the abuse and renewed scrutiny of the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program.