Rescue of 30 Nevada Mustangs from Slaughter
In a remarkable show of support, 30 Nevada mustangs, including Sandy and her family, were rescued from a livestock auction. These horses, once roaming freely on state lands, faced the threat of being sold for slaughter. Thanks to the efforts of wild horse advocates and the support of the American Wild Horse Conservation (formerly American Wild Horse Campaign), these horses were saved from a tragic fate.
Sandy, a Virginia Range wild horse, was among those rescued. Advocates had been watching Sandy since before she was born and mobilized to save her after the state captured her and her band.
Yesterday, as dusk settled over the Fallon Livestock Exchange, 30 terrified wild horses—23 adults and 7 foals—were put up for auction. These mustangs, who had lived peacefully in the foothills surrounding Reno, were captured by the Nevada Department of Agriculture and sold by the pound, risking purchase by kill buyers for slaughter in Canada or Mexico.
However, wild horse advocates, including Willis Lamm and Shirley Allen of Least Resistance Training Concepts and Shannon Windell of the Hidden Valley Horse Protection Fund, were present to purchase and rescue the horses. Thanks to the dedicated supporters of the American Wild Horse Conservation, they had the resources needed to save every horse from slaughter.
Two of the rescued foals, pictured the morning after their rescue, happily munching hay, unaware of the fate they narrowly escaped.
The morning after the rescue, Virginia Range mustangs in temporary quarters await permanent homes.
We are overwhelmed by the support and concern for these horses. On Tuesday afternoon, Nevada advocates were in despair due to a lack of funds to purchase all the horses at auction. By Tuesday evening, after an appeal for funds, enough money was transferred to the Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund to ensure every horse could be rescued!
"Tuesday morning we felt defeated. We were in tears because we just didn't have the funds, and these horses—who we'd come to know and love after years of watching them—were going to slaughter. Within a few hours, a miracle happened, and the funds were there, thanks to the outpouring of support. We are so grateful to AWHC and deeply touched by the fact that so many people care about our wild horses! From the bottom of our hearts, thank you to everyone who helped make this rescue possible." - Carrol Abel, Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund.
Click here or on the photo below to see a video of the rescued horses taken this morning at their temporary home.
A special debt of gratitude goes to all the Nevada wild horse advocates who have worked tirelessly to secure a safe future for these horses. Now comes the hard work of feeding and caring for the horses, along with the 23 rescued last week from the same auction, and finding them permanent homes. They must also remain vigilant for more Nevada mustangs who may be put up for auction in the coming weeks.
It took a village to save these horses, and the events of the past two days show that our village is global and very strong! Thank you so much for the generous support! We can and will stand together for our iconic wild horses and burros and against the forces that would see them destroyed!
What You Can Do
- Donate to our Virginia Range Mustang Rescue Fund. All funds will be used to help with the care and feeding of Sandy, her family, and the other rescued Virginia Range horses while permanent homes are found. If enough funds are raised, they will also be used for the rescue of additional Virginia Range horses expected to be put up for auction in the coming weeks and to secure a humane management policy for all wild horses living on state lands in Nevada.
- Permanent homes are needed for these horses. If you or anyone you know can offer one, please contact Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection immediately by clicking here.
- Contact Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval today! (775-684-5670 or 702-486-2500) and send him a message through his website. Tell the governor politely but in the strongest of terms that his Nevada Department of Agriculture's (NDOA's) policy toward the state's iconic wild horses is shameful. If you are from out of state, remind him that tourism is Nevada's number one industry, and tell him that you will not spend your tourism dollars in his state until this policy is changed. Inform the governor that the continued dumping of wild Nevada mustangs at livestock auctions to be sold for slaughter is unacceptable. Ask him to direct the NDOA to work with local wild horse groups to place captured horses and to implement management programs aimed at keeping the Virginia Range horses in the wild, where they belong.
Virginia Range mustangs at Fallon Livestock Exchange. Photo by Cat Kindsfather
Editor's Note: This webpage will be updated as pictures and new information about this group of 25 horses is made available.
The State of Nevada—under the leadership of Governor Brian Sandoval—has sent a second group of 25 wild Nevada mustangs to a livestock auction frequented by kill buyers who purchase horses for slaughter. Like the 23 mustangs sent to auction last week, the horses were captured in the Virginia Range just outside of Reno and sent to the Fallon Livestock Exchange, where they will be put up for sale on Wednesday, August 26.
Local Nevada rescue groups—including Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, Least Resistance Training Concepts, and others—are on the ground rescuing these horses from a gruesome fate. Many of the horses rescued to date are in foster homes and available for adoption.
Below is the State's notice of the second group of 25 horses going up for auction. Each horse is sexed, aged, described, and given a number. All stallions have been gelded by the state.
What You Can Do
- Donate to local rescue groups or provide a foster home to rescue the captured Virginia Range horses from slaughter. Purchasing and maintaining these horses is expensive, and these groups can use our help. Please click here to donate.
- 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.
- Learn More. Read about last week's rescue of wild horses from the livestock auction by clicking here. For a history of events which led up to the current situation, please visit Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund's summary by clicking here.