Free Republic

SUNDRE, Alta. -The killing grounds extend for 1 kilometres along the top of Parker Ridge, a rugged landscape 40 kilometres west of Sundre where grizzlies, wolf and cougars prowl. Sixteen wild horses have died here since 2004, but not in the jaws of predators. The horses have been shot by a human enemy, their carcasses left to rot and be scavenged. For one horse, the bullet entered its withers, just behind the neck, causing instant paralysis and an agonizing death. Its slowly escaping body heat melted the snow around it, leaving a perfect impression of the horse in the frozen...

On a Friday afternoon, Leroy Baker stands on a wooden walkway above a sea of horses. Sunlight beams through slits in the stable walls as he looks down upon the maze of dusty pens. The small ones hold groups of young steeds and mares. The larger pens, about 10 by 15 feet, are packed with as many as 30 less-desirables. Baker frowns as he pulls back the cuff of his cowboy shirt, gazes at his watch, and shakes it. He's agitated. Today's auction is an hour behind schedule. "I'm all business about this stuff," he says in his farmer's drawl....

Wild Horses Sold by U.S. Agency Sent to Slaughter Maryann Mott for National Geographic News May 5, 2005 The U.S. government has halted its sale of wild horses while it investigates two separate incidents of mustangs being resold for human consumption. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for managing the 37,000 wild horses on public lands, mainly in Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming. The agency's mission changed in December, when Congress passed a bill that made it legal for the BLM to sell wild horses outright. Supporters of the law said its goal is to reduce the number of...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. RENO, Nev. - For the first time in more than a generation, the mustang - the very symbol of the American West - can be slaughtered for horsemeat. In December, Congress repealed the 34-year-old ban on the slaughter of the wild horses that run free across the West. The move has brought a powerful backlash from activists, who want to reinstate full protection for the mustangs. "It is really a slap in the face to the American people," said Betty Kelly, co-founder of the horse protection group Wild Horse Spirit in...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. While waiting for a helicopter to make another sweep at driving wild horses into a trap, Gary McFadden pondered the circumstances Friday for rounding up the herd that roams near Cold Creek, 50 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "It's kind of a pre-emptive strike," he said after the first 30 of the herd of some 200 crammed into a corral. "They're in pretty good shape, but their country's not. There's too many animals on it, so they'd just dwindle away," said McFadden, a Bureau of Land Management wild horse specialist. A...