I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8541 
To amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act to provide for 
criminal penalties for acquiring a wild free-roaming horse or burro with 
the intention of transferring such animal for processing into commercial 
products, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 23, 2024 
Mrs. LUNA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act 
to provide for criminal penalties for acquiring a wild 
free-roaming horse or burro with the intention of trans-
ferring such animal for processing into commercial prod-
ucts, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wild Horse Integrity 
and Slaughter Prevention Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TIME PERIOD BEFORE TITLE GRANTED; CRIMINAL 
PENALTY. 
The Act of December 15, 1971 (16 U.S.C. 1331, et 
seq.; commonly known as the ‘‘Wild Free-Roaming Horses 
and Burros Act’’) is amended as follows: 
(1) In section 3(c) (16 U.S.C. 1333(c))— 
(A) by striking ‘‘period of one year’’ and 
inserting ‘‘period of 6 months’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘one-year period’’ and in-
serting ‘‘6-month period’’. 
(2) In section 8 (16 U.S.C. 1338)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘Any person who’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(a) Any person who’’; 
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘except 
as provided in section 3(e),’’; 
(C) by redesignating paragraph (6) as 
paragraph (8); 
(D) by inserting after paragraph (5), the 
following: 
‘‘(6) acquires a wild free-roaming horse or 
burro, or the remains thereof, with the intention of 
transferring such animal, or the remains thereof, di-
rectly or indirectly, for processing into commercial 
products, or 
‘‘(7) knowingly transfers an acquired wild free- 
roaming horse or burro, or the remains thereof, di-
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rectly or indirectly, for processing commercial prod-
ucts, or’’; 
(E) in the matter following paragraph (8), 
as so redesignated, by striking ‘‘be subject to’’ 
and all that follows through ‘‘United States 
Code’’ and inserting ‘‘have committed a felony 
offense punishable by a fine of not more than 
$2,000, imprisonment for a term exceeding one 
year, or both’’; and 
(F) by amending subsection (b) to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(b) The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary 
of Agriculture, and their respective employees, shall have 
power to investigate possible violations of the offenses list-
ed in subsection (a). A finding of non-compliance shall be 
referred to the Attorney General (or one of the U.S. Attor-
ney’s offices serving under the Attorney General) for pros-
ecution.’’. 
Æ 
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