If you can't care for your horses, do you sell them off to the next person to come along, or do you put them down?

Prompted by a review of its recent performance, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is expected to decide soon how to handle a vast surplus of captured wild horses, the care of which has consumed most of the agency's budget for managing the animals.

Federal law requires the BLM to manage wild horse and burro herds, removing animals from overpopulated areas. Though the agency is allowed to humanely put down the animals, it hasn't in the recent past because of concerns over public and congressional reactions to such a move, said Tom Gorey, a spokesman for the agency in Washington, D.C.

The agency is also allowed to sell off certain horses if they are not adopted, but has not.

As a result, the agency is now "overwhelmed" by the number of horses it's caring for, Gorey said Wednesday. About 30,000 horses are now kept in long-term pastures in the Midwest and short-term facilities elsewhere in the country, eating up nearly three-fourths of the $37 million wild-horse budget.

The problem has been complicated by other factors, including a nationwide decrease in the number of horse adoptions, Gorey said. Higher hay and transportation costs have dropped annual adoptions from 5,700 in 2005 to not even 4,000 in the 2008 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.

"The situation is becoming worse, not better," Gorey said.

Now, a Government Accountability Office review of the BLM's actions has concluded the agency is not complying with federal requirements. No BLM decision on the matter is expected until sometime after its National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board provides recommendations on Monday in Reno, Nev. But the GAO report, Gorey said, makes it clear that officials have to do something.

In the Magic Valley, various officials still say the situation has been complicated by a 2007 ban on slaughtering horses inside the U.S., coupled with the slowing economy. The combination, they say, leads people to either provide inadequate care for their horses or abandon them on public and private lands.

Nationally, Gorey said the BLM has recorded "some small-scale abandonment," though no major upswing in cases. But locally, abandonment reports are rising, including a recent string in Owyhee County.

Sheriff Gary Aman said he's aware of 12 horses left in parts of the county over the last three weeks, up from just one this time last year. M.J. Byrne, spokeswoman for the BLM's Boise District, said she's aware of six. Officials managed to find homes for the six, she said, but it wasn't easy - not even the state or groups such as the Humane Society can afford to take the animals.

The abandonments, she said, are a sign that people don't understand that herds of wild horses won't accept domestic-raised newcomers.

"Those wild horses ... they're predators," she said. It's not, as many people think, that their "little guy will go and find a happy family."

The problem isn't consistent across the state: Twin Falls County Sheriff spokeswoman Lori Nebeker said the department is seeing more neglect cases instead. But the overall issue has gotten the attention of Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, who within the last week directed the Idaho State Department of Agriculture to work with the Idaho Horse Council on ways to encourage owners to keep their animals, said Otter spokesman Jon Hanian. Efforts could include forming owner cooperatives allowing them to buy food more cheaply, he said. ISDA Chief of Staff Pam Juker said the department is looking into the matter.

The BLM will work on improving its program, including its counts. National officials have acknowledged that they undercount the wild horse population, and Twin Falls District spokeswoman Heather Tiel-Nelson said the tight budget has hampered efforts to count abandoned horses.

"It's all been hearsay," she said of comparing notes with counterparts in Oregon and California.

Nate Poppino may be reached at 208-735-3237 or npoppino@magicvalley.com.

Can't afford your horses? Officials suggest working with local horse groups to find them a new home rather than releasing them. Visit http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/ for more on wild horses and the BLM.