Nevada, Wild Horse Advocates Clash over Estrays

In a statement, agricultural authorities said they receive daily complaints about horses roaming residential neighborhoods and that gathers only take place when the horses pose a danger to themselves or to the public safety.
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The Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) has issued a statement relative to its recent gather of wild horses from the Virginia Range located in South Reno. But some wild horse advocates say the roundup jeopardizes a 2013 agreement that allows advocates to collaborate on ways to eliminate the gathers altogether.

The NDA states that approximately 2,000 horses—so-called “estrays” descended from domestic horses turned out onto the range by their owners and wild horses—reside on the Virginia Range, a private rangeland surrounded by four major highways. The NDA, which is tasked with managing the horses, says it gathers some of the animals to prevent them from wandering on to nearby highways and being killed by motorists. The gathered horses are then sold at auction.

The auction sales have drawn criticism from some wild horse advocates on grounds that the animals could be sold to buyers who would resell the animals for slaughter at processing plants in Mexico and Canada. So, last year, Nevada agricultural authorities and the wild horse advocacy group Return to Freedom (RTF) entered into a cooperative agreement whereby the RTF can purchase the collected horses for $100 per horse on an as-is basis and would work with third-parties who either adopt or purchase the horses to ensure that the animals are not released back to the range. Also under the agreement, RTF would work with agricultural authorities to develop birth control, fencing, and diversionary feeding strategies that would to eliminate the need to remove the animals from their range.

Bob Conrad, PhD, NDA public information officer said about 58 horses have been gathered from the Virginia Range since August

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Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

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