WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Wild Horses on Auction Block
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Rutland, Vermont - June 13, 2009
More than three dozen wild horses were sold to Vermonters at a sale in Rutland Saturday.
Up until recently, the horses lived on western rangelands. The Bureau of Land Management rounds up thousands of horses every year from ranges in western states and then sells them to the public at a cost of about $125 dollars per horse. The animals have no natural predators and the herd size can double every two to four years.
Martha Marik, with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says, "We want to protect the herds and also protect the environment. One of the ways we're going to manage the herd size is by holding these adoptions across the nation."
There are currently about 36-thousand horses and burros still living in the wild. The BLM has been selling the horses for 39 years.
