Abstract
An overabundance of wild horses and burros on federal lands can lead to suboptimal welfare when there are insufficient forage and water resources. Placing some of these animals in private homes has been identified as a key part of the solution. A nationwide online survey completed by 2,247 current and former horse owners is used to assess the feasibility of accommodating this strategy. The survey tool addressed basic horse ownership and demographic information, previous experience with wild horses, and hypothetical wild horse adoption scenarios. Results suggest that most respondents are receptive to the idea of adopting a wild horse, with previous adopters and younger potential adopters showing greater willingness-to-pay. By reducing existing barriers to adoption, which includes educating the horse-owning public on adoption requirements, expanding the training of wild horses, and targeting certain age groups of potential adopters, our study suggests that it may be possible to increase the annual number of adoptions over current levels. With appropriate and informed strategies, enhanced welfare of privately adopted and on-range animals can be achieved.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 602-614 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |
| Volume | 27 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2024 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Funding
Both studies referenced above suggested that providing initial training for undomesticated horses is a key factor in increasing private adoptions. Two training programs guided the development of the choice experiment used in this paper. The Trainer Incentive Program (TIP), supported by the Mustang Heritage Foundation, engages professional trainers to provide basic gentling and halter training in undomesticated horses (Mustang Heritage Foundation, ). The Wild Horse Inmate Program (WHIP) is a partnership between the BLM and correctional facilities in western states. Under the guidance of professional horse trainers, inmates participate in the feeding, care, and training of wild horses to be riding horses. These saddle-trained horses are then adopted through a competitive bidding process (Colorado Correctional Industries, ).
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Mustang Heritage Foundation |
Keywords
- BLM wild horses
- interval regression
- willingness to pay
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Animal Science and Zoology
- General Veterinary