The demand for U.S. horse meat has long been strong in Asia and Europe. BLM officials profiting Although nothing in the law prevents sending an adopted horse to slaughter, government officials offer conflicting opinions on whether it is legal or ethical for BLM officials to adopt and sell wild horses. The AP matched computer records of horse adoptions with a computerized list of federal employees and found that more than 200 current BLM employees have adopted more than 600 wild horses and burros. Some of these employees, when contacted, could not account for the whereabouts of their animals. Others acknowledged some of their horses were sent to slaughterhouses.
Federal law prohibits U.S. govemment employees from using public office for private gain.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics said this means BLM workers are not allowed to profit from BLM programs. But Gabriel Paone, the Department of the Interior's designated ethics official in Washington, D.C.,said there is nothing wrong with BLM employees adopting wild horses and then selling them for profit. The federal government is conducting several reviews of the BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program. Two audits and two reports to Congress are expected to be completed in 1997. It can only help.