Since 2020, the Bureau of Land Management has removed 74,011 wild horses and burros from public ranges, according to agency figures. During that same period, only 7,818 fertility control treatments were administered. This discrepancy has left more than 58,000 animals warehoused in government holding facilities, costing taxpayers over $100 million annually.

Neda DeMayo, president of the nonprofit Return to Freedom, insists that the agency must now prove its intent by scaling up these treatments. She argues that the current reliance on helicopter roundups is ecologically unsustainable. Beyond the funding allocation, advocacy groups are bracing for potential renewed efforts by the agency to introduce sterilization programs. Previous attempts to surgically sterilize wild mares have been thwarted by public backlash and federal litigation, and organizations like Return to Freedom maintain that such invasive measures remain both unnecessary and dangerous.