UPDATE RESCUED: 23 Wild Horses Sent to Slaughter Auction by the State of Nevada

American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign

September 20, 2012

We'd like to apologize for some inaccurate information contained in yesterday's ENews regarding the 23 wild horses who were captured by the State of Nevada and removed from their homes on the Virginia Range. Here is the accurate update on this situation:

Over the last three weeks, the Nevada Department of Agriculture has reportedly removed at least 60 wild horses from public state lands near Reno. The state sent 23 of those captured mustangs (pictured in photo) to a livestock auction in Fallon, Nevada where kill buyers are known to purchase horses for slaughter. The additional captured mustangs (exact number unknown) are being held by the state and are expected to come up for auction in the near future.
Last night, local Nevada wild horse advocates orchestrated the dramatic -- and expensive -- rescue of all of the horses, who are now known as the "South Reno 23."All of these horses are now in new homes or foster homes --16 are available for adoption. Purchase of the horses cost the local groups approximately $11,000. To read an eyewitness account of the auction and rescue, please click here.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
1. Call Nevada Governor Sandoval (775-684-5670 or 702-486-2500).
Politely ask the governor to instruct the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDOA) to work with wild horse advocacy rescue groups to protect wild horses on state lands. Tell the Governor that it is not acceptable for the state to dump wild horses at auctions where they can be sold for slaughter and ask him to instruct NDOA to work with local organizations in the future to mitigate the need to remove horses from the range. Wild horses are an integral part of Nevada's history and culture and tourism industry; they deserve to be protected, not rounded up and sold for slaughter.
2. Donate to help local advocacy groups in Nevada with this rescue.
To help with the cost of this rescue and the ongoing care of these horses, please click here. Rescuing the South Reno 23 has strained the resource of local rescue groups, who must now care for the horses and prepare to purchase additional captured mustangs when they come up for auction in the future.