Legislation the House passed today would restore a 1971 ban on selling and slaughtering thousands of free-roaming horses in the West.

The bill (HR 249), which the House approved by a 277-137 vote, would prohibit the Bureau of Land Management from selling off an estimated 31,000 in holding facilities and another 28,500 roaming freely on public lands. Eighty-two Republicans voted for the bill, while 24 Democrats voted against it.

Supporters say the bill is needed to curtail a brutal practice of auctioning off for slaughter the wild horses, which represent a rich part of American history and had numbered about 2 million at the turn of the 20th century.

Under current law, the bureau can sell wild horses that have been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least three times or are more than 10 years old. More than 50 horses have been slaughtered because of the Burns provision, while about 2,300 have been sold into private care, according to the Natural Resources Committee.

A number of Western lawmakers have been strongly opposed to reinstating the ban, which Congress created in the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act.