LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Six wild horses from Nevada’s pubic lands have avoided Mexico slaughterhouses, but nine others have nowhere to go, according to a national rescue organization.

Skydogranch.org put the spotlight on the 15 horses last week, and that resulted in a delay in shipping them out of a Texas “kill pen.” The horses were found at the Last Chance Direct Ship Horses pen in Kaufman, Texas, about three hours away from where they had been purchased.

The nine remaining horses are scheduled to be shipped on Monday.

“All the rescues, quarantines, fosters and places for them to go are maxed out and already full of unhandled mustangs without a plan,” according Clare Staples, founder and president of Skydog Sanctuary in an Instagram post from the organization.

“There are many being boarded at kill pens, who were bailed weeks ago but don’t have a soft landing and it’s fair to say the rescue community is breaking under the weight of this never ending stream of wild horses,” Staples said.

15 Nevada wild horses headed for slaughter in Mexico, rescue group says

Most of the horses were rounded up from the Triple B Complex in Nevada. When wild horse populations grow, the ranges often don’t have enough food or water, and the Bureau of Land Management rounds them up and sends them to corrals for adoption. They are not supposed to end up at slaughterhouses.

“We know people care deeply about wild horses and their welfare, and we’re actively investigating the situation,” a BLM official told advocates for wild horses. “The BLM is committed to protecting the welfare of wild horses and maintaining public trust in how they’re managed on public lands.”

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The rescue organization said their presence in the kill pen constituted a clear and documented violation of the BLM sale agreement. “It is also a direct violation of federal law,” the group said.

“But we fight on and we are doing all we can to pressure the BLM to prosecute these illegal actions, as it’s a federal offense to sell a wild horse to slaughter but that’s meaningless if the BLM won’t take action to punish the buyers,” Staples said.

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