About 33,000 wild horses roam the open range in 10 Western states, around half of them in Nevada. The federal Bureau of Land Management says caring for the animals is becoming too expensive. One proposal to euthanize 10,000 captive horses was put on hold this week. BLM spokesman Duran Sanchez says the bureau will redirect funding from other programs until a solution can be found. 

“We’ll be working with private individuals and organizations to find acceptable long-term care for some of the animals now in the long and short-term holding facilities.” 

Meanwhile, Madeleine Pickens, the wife of Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens, has offered to find homes for the animals rather than see the BLM kill them or sell them for possible slaughter. The BLM will report back to the board three months before it adopts any proposal.