The federal government is offering up to $1,000 for the adoption of a wild horse or burro that once roamed public lands out West.
The Bureau of Land Management is holding the adoption event, which will feature 110 animals, in Beeville, which is about 100 miles southeast of downtown San Antonio and about 60 miles northwest of Corpus Christi.
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The incentive will be offered for every animal at the adoption event in an effort to “to find every horse and burro a good home,” the department said in a news release.
Horses and burros range in age from yearling to adult. They all “once roamed free on public lands in the West,” the BLM states.
“The BLM periodically removes excess animals from the range in order to maintain healthy herds and to protect other rangeland resources,” according to the release. “The adoption and sale program is essential for achieving these important management goals.”
Adoptions will take place from noon-6 p.m. on Friday, March 5, and from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, March 6, at the Bee County Expo Center.
Those interested in adopting must be at least 18 years old, have no history of animal abuse and have a minimum of 400 square feet of corral space at their property per animal. The corrals must have access to food, water and shelter, according to the BLM.
Corral fence requirements include 6 feet for adult horses, 4 feet for yearlings and 4 1/2 feet for burros. The animals must be hauled off in covered stock trailers.
Applications will be approved on-site. For more information, call 866-468-7826 or visit www.blm.gov.
More than 240,000 wild burros and horses have been removed by the BLM and placed in homes since 1973.
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