I am Elated.. This is a happy day for me!

I've been praying for this. This is a giant step in the right direction.

House Passes Mustang Management Bill by: Pat Raia

A bill promoting increased on-range management for wild horses and burros came closer to becoming law today when the U.S. House of Representatives passed it 239-185.

Introduced by Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) HR 1018, the Restore Our American Mustangs Act, amends the Wild Horse and Burro Act of 1971 to allow the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to increase acreage available to free roaming herds, and to develop wild horse and burro sanctuaries on public lands.

The bill also calls for wider use of contraception to control herd growth, directs the BLM to expand its wild horse and burro adoptions programs, and forbids the euthanasia or sale of healthy horses to commercial slaughter.

It now moves to the Senate for approval.

Nancy Perry, vice president of Government Affairs for the Humane Society of the United States, said the vote represents a step toward more cost-effective, humane wild horse and burro management.

"It helps the BLM get past its practice of round-up and holding," she said.

The BLM currently manages more than 33,000 wild horses and burros on public land.

No one from the BLM was immediately available for comment.