A showdown recently escalated between different wild horse advocates, residents of southeast Reno, government officials and the Damonte Ranch developer Sunny Hills Ranchos over the fate of two dozen captured horses and access to water for other horses.
While volunteers had been trying to relocate horses who kept going inside a current construction zone, they were angry that boulders were blocking a gate to keep them from going back in, resulting in the Nevada Department of Agriculture to do a removal themselves last week.
The boulders were initially placed so that while vehicles couldn’t go in and out, horses who frequent South Meadows and Rio Wrangler Parkways, could get to a main water source. However, this put them back in danger if they were trapped inside the construction area.
The developers have been assuring advocates and the City of Reno they are trying to figure out how to make sure horses can still access a water source at Steamboat Creek. However, that access was recently further complicated by new developer-built pedestrian gates.
With the horses still going into the construction zone, the Nevada Department of Agriculture decided to act, surprising advocates who have been keen on keeping the lines of communications open at all times.
“The Nevada Department of Agriculture took action based upon language in the cooperative agreement with Wild Horse Connection to remove the horses from the site to protect them from the dangers of an active construction zone, including heavy machinery, sharp objects and trenching,”a spokeswoman said.
"Only horses on the development property are being removed. Any horses fenced outside the property will remain on the Virginia Range,” an NDA statement added.
One group, American Wild Horse Conservation, has been working on reducing horse numbers in the area with a darting program to avoid any roundups such as the one which took place last week.
The NDA says 24 gathered horses were moved to the Northern Nevada Correctional Institution to be put up for adoption.
“The horses were transferred to Northern Nevada Correctional Center where they will be advertised per Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 569 to confirm there are no other legal owners of any of the horses gathered and will then be made available for adoption. Horses will be microchipped and identified to ensure they are not returned to the range and for future documentation and proof of ownership. More information on how to adopt one of these horses will be available at agri.nv.gov This process will occur over the next 60 days,” the NDA indicated in a statement.
Advocates fear that could be mean they could eventually be slaughtered by so-called “kill buyers”, even though that’s illegal.
Sunny Hills released this statement to the media: "The Sunny Hills property is currently under construction to build a bridge over Steamboat Creek, extend South Meadows Parkway and extend and construct a waterline under Rio Wrangler… We understand the State is very concerned about the health and safety of any feral horses located in an active construction zone and intend to relocate them to a new safe location with plenty of food and water. Sunny Hills has always prioritized the health and safety of the feral horses and are grateful they will be removed from the dangers of the current construction activity."
Following the roundup, a protest was held in Carson City asking Governor Joe Lombardo to quickly intervene in the matter, so that the horses could be instead relocated to a different part of the range and to avoid this fate for more horses.