Saturday candlelight vigil for Virginia Range mustangs at Capitol in Carson City
Submitted by Brett Fisher on Sat, 01/06/2018 - 9:57am
Local citizens will gather Saturday afternoon for a candlelight vigil calling on Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to reverse the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s cancellation of the humane management cooperative agreements and current plan to sell the estimated 3,000 Virginia Range wild horses who fall under the state of Nevada’s jurisdiction to a private entity, according to a press release from local wild horse advocacy groups.
Saturday's candlelight vigil, held at 5 p.m. in front of the Nevada State Capitol located at 101 North Carson Street in downtown Carson City, will feature local residents who have lived with the Virginia Range horses for decades telling stories and showing photos of the beloved free-ranging horses currently the topic of debate, the press release said.
The candlelight vigil is meant to urge the state to reinstate the successful humane management cooperative agreement, which includes humane birth control, the press release said.
The Nevada Board of Agriculture, appointed by the governor, voted on Dec. 12, 2017 to transfer ownership of all Virginia Range horses to a "non-profit animal advocate organization through a request for proposal process."
According to wild horse advocacy groups, no definition has been given for "animal advocate organization," opening the door for nonprofit organizations that may be pro-horse slaughter to take ownership of the Virginia Range wild horses.
Virginia Range horses are legally defined by Nevada Revised Statue (NRS) as "feral/estray livestock," the press release said. But advocacy groups insist the animals "are wild, free-roaming horses that are not provided federal protections."
Advocates say Gov. Sandoval allowed the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA) to terminate the world’s largest, successful birth control program for wild horses last month.
"The horses’ habitat is decreasing in size due to development," the press release states. "Because of a shrinking habitat available to the horses, coupled with the termination of the birth control program, it is expected that there will likely be an increase of vehicle-horse accidents and more horses will be rounded up and removed from the range."
The state's humane management cooperative agreement with the American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) was implemented by local organizations, including the Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association, the Wild Horse Connection and the Wild Horse Preservation League, the press release said.
First-year results showed the humane birth control program reduced the reproductive rate of Virginia Range horses by approximately 27 percent in 2017, according to the wild horse advocacy press release.
Local organizations have rescued approximately 250 Virginia Range horses over the past four years, the press release said, preventing nearly 150 births in 2017 and an estimated 200 pregnancies in 2018.
The number of horses removed from the range since the cooperative agreements have been in effect have reduced year after year, the press release said, including more than 116 horses in 2014, 44 in 2015, and 35 in 2016.
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