Imagine a wild mare running free through the wide-open spaces of the American West – her foal close beside her, her herd moving together just as they have for generations.
Then, a helicopter appears. She runs. The herd scatters. She is chased from her home, separated from her family, forced into captivity and may ultimately be sold for slaughter.
This is the devastating reality for thousands of America’s wild horses, and they desperately need our help.
Up to 85,000 wild horses roam public lands in the U.S., living in close-knit family bands. They belong in the wild, but their freedom is being taken from them.
Thousands are captured in traumatic roundups every year. Many then spend years in holding facilities awaiting adoption or sale. And for some, removal is only the beginning of an even more dangerous journey.
Rounded up by helicopters, these wild horses are torn from their families and the freedom they were born into. For illustrative purposes. Source: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
From freedom to slaughter.
Horses who are not adopted may be sold through a low-cost sales program. Once sold, they lose their federal protections and enter a shady network of auctions, killpens and middlemen.
Investigations have revealed that the government sold 3,718 wild horses in 2025 alone, and hundreds ultimately ended up being transported to slaughter facilities in Canada and Mexico, where they can be processed for human consumption.
Wild horses need a special kind of protection.
Wild horses were born free, and they deserve the chance to remain there.
Network for Animals is committed to helping America’s wild horses and is supporting trusted local partners working to keep them wild, fighting for better protections and rescuing those already in danger.
Fertility-control programs can help manage wild horse populations safely and humanely. We are also supporting efforts to strengthen protections for wild horses and prevent horses from being transported to slaughter.
Exhausted and afraid, these horses are on their way to the slaughterhouse, with no idea about the horror that lies ahead. Source: Beth Walker
But while we fight for change, horses in danger cannot wait.
Together with rescue partners, we will help pull horses from auctions, kill pens and the slaughter pipeline, providing them with the food, veterinary treatment, rehabilitation and safe shelter they need. We will give these horses the time and care they need to recover and, ultimately, the chance to find loving, forever homes.
Your gift can save a horse – and help keep others wild.
- $25 (£18) – Keep them wild. Help support humane fertility-control efforts that reduce the need for roundups and help horses remain free.
- $100 (£74) – Defend their freedom. Help support advocacy and monitoring efforts to strengthen protections for America’s wild horses.
- $250 (£185) – Rescue a horse. Help fund an urgent rescue from an auction, kill pen or slaughter pipeline.
- $500 (£370) – Give a rescued horse sanctuary. Help provide food, veterinary care, rehabilitation and safe shelter for a rescued horse.
Wild horses belong wild and free, not rounded up and placed on the path to slaughter. Donate today to help keep them running free. Source: Mikekolesnikov/Envato
Wild horses belong wild and free – not at risk of being torn apart from their families, stripped of their freedom and placed on the path to slaughter.
Please donate generously to Network for Animals today to help keep wild horses free, rescue those already in danger and give these iconic animals the future they deserve.
