A new law allowing the sale of wild horses to potential slaughter facilities will not change Wyoming's management of horse herds, a federal official said Friday.

Alan Shepherd, Wyoming Horse and Burro Program leader for the Bureau of Land Management, said Wyoming's number objectives will remain, and the agency will still focus on its adoption program.

"None of (this) is going to affect our on-the-ground management significantly," he said.

A December-passed measure sponsored by U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., allows for wild horses to be sold if they are more than 10 years old or if they have been put up for adoption unsuccessfully three times.

That law provoked an outcry from animal rights groups, which said horses are now exposed to slaughter facilities or other possible inhumane treatment.

But Shepherd, who attended a conference in Arizona in January with others in BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Program from neighboring states, said the adoption program is still key.

"With the new act, we intend to implement it, but our goal is to find good, alternative homes to these horses so they're not heading in the direction that most of the groups feel," he said.

The BLM is establishing a "national point-of-contact person," Shepherd said, who will work with people interested in buying horses.

That person will "be asking some questions" of potential buyers, he said, but no specific questions have been outlined. Once a wild horse is sold, there will be no overseeing of its life, he said.

"We were told we cannot place those types of restrictions on it, because it is a private animal," he said.

He said the agency will look to animal groups to help place horses.

Patricia Fazio of the Wyoming Animal Network and past president of the Humane Federation of Wyoming said the new approach sounds better.

"That's one step in our direction, and I'm pleased with that," she said. Still, she said there are a lot of unanswered questions.

"The problem is people can 'adopt' them then send them to slaughter," Fazio said. "I'm in favor of adoption, but I think it should be done the same way you adopt out a dog or a cat. If you do it properly, you do a home check. Make sure the person has never been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor animal cruelty. More work needs to be done up front."

Fazio also said she questions the "three times up for adoption then sold" rule.

"How much effort do they put into trying to adopt some of these horses out?" she said. She also said it is difficult to "age" horses, so determining if an animal is more than 10 years may be problematic.

Shepherd said the current adoption process dictates someone does not own the horse until one year has passed. Many people don't like that process, which can be laden with paperwork, and he hopes some good owners who want to own horses outright will come forward.

He called the adoption program "still our No. 1 avenue."

Fazio said some oversight is necessary.

"In some ways I would rather see an animal humanely euthanized or shot rather than go to a bad home and suffer over many weeks and many months, which has happened on the BLM's watch," she said.

Shepherd said there are about 8,400 horses on BLM lands that qualify for sale under the new law. There are about 24,000 horses in short- and long-term holding facilities.

Wyoming is home to about 4,100 wild horses in 16 management areas. BLM's objective is between 2,500 and 3,600 animals.

Wild horse herds are protected under the 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act.

This weekend, 200 horses are being gathered outside Adobe Town and being brought to a holding facility in Rock Springs.

Many people complain that horses beat up on public rangeland. Shepherd said there is also damage when herds of cattle or elk use the range for too long.

Environmental reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@trib.com.