Horse Advocates Sue Over Transfer of Virginia Range Horses

The American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign) is taking legal action against the state to prevent the Department of Agriculture from transferring Virginia Range horses to a private organization. The group fears this move could lead to the horses being sold for slaughter.

The AWHC argues that the plan would result in the horses, described by the group as wild mustangs, being sold for slaughter. However, legally, these horses are classified as estrays or feral livestock and are not protected under the federal wild horse and burro protection act.

The lawsuit, filed by the national firm of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman and Dicker, claims that the state's plan to transfer ownership of the herd violates state law and constitutes an illegal breach of contract by canceling the cooperative agreement with AWHC to manage the herd.

"Only the state has the ability to manage rather than dispose of the horses because, while the state is immune from liability, the new owner of the horses would assume the risk of any injuries or damage," said William Hake, the lawyer representing AWHC.

He charged that due to potential liability, if the horses are transferred to a private group, "they will be systematically rounded up and slaughtered."

The conflict began after the Agriculture Department canceled its cooperative agreements with AWHC to manage the estimated 3,000 horses in the Virginia Range. AWHC officials report they have not been informed why the agriculture department decided to end the agreement.

Lawyers for the California-based American Wild Horse Conservation and Cynthia Ashe of Silver Springs, who fears her missing horse could end up at a slaughterhouse, have joined the lawsuit. One of her mares escaped from a fenced enclosure and "took off with a band of wild horses" in the Virginia Range in 2016, according to AWHC.

Originally posted by Nevada Appeal