4-20-2001 NEVADA APPEAL by Staff and wire reports

FOUR MORE HORSES SHOT ON PUBLIC LAND...Southwestern Utah near the southeastern Nevada shootings that left an orphaned foal)

Pioche - Four more wild horses were discovered shot last weekend on public lands in Lincoln County.  A Bureau of Land Management Utah employee discovered the horses while on a weekend excursion.  The horses were found off a county road in the Wilson Creek Herd Management Area, eight miles from the Atlanta Junction at the south end of the Limestone Hills.  The Utah employee reported that three of the horses were dead and one was wounded.  The incident occurred approximately 30 miles east of the Pony Springs area, where seven wild horses were found shot dead in late March.  The newly discovered horses are near the Utah/Nevada border, near where four stallions were found shot dead in Utah earlier this month.  The National Mustang Association, the Friends of Red Rock and the Nevada Commission for the Preservation of Wild Horses have joined with BLM in offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the identify of those responsible for the shooting of these wild horses.  BLM law enforcement officers are investigating the latest shooting.  Individuals with information on these wild horse shootings are asked to contact BLM law enforcement at either 1-800-521-6501, toll free, or (775) 289-1820.  Callers may remain anonymous. 

Colt recovers following wild-horse massacre near Pony Springs

April 4, 2001-Reno Gazette Journal- Associated Press.

  CEDAR CITY, Utah ---A newborn colt that was the only known survivor of a band of wild horses massacred in southern Nevada last month is back on his feet.  The foal, who has been named Patrick, likely escaped the gunfire that killed six other mustangs because he was too weak to keep up as the horses tried to flee, said David and Annette Hirschi-Boden.  The bodies were found near Pony Springs, not far from Panaca near the Utah border about 100 miles northeast of Las Vegas.  It was believed the horses were shot the weekend of March 17 (2001). The bodies were found by a rancher.  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Mustang Association are offering a combined reward of $3000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooters.  The colt was found barely alive near its dead mother and was first cared for by a Nevada family and veterinarian.  (See original article below -3-24-2001)

UPDATE  6-3-2001 - NEVADA LEGISLATIVE “SESSION REPORT”, NV Appeal, Carson City.

 Horse Bill Goes Through Paces – 6-3-2001 -The return of the bill (AB 219) seeking to make the mustang Nevada’s (2^nd) state animal occasioned more than a little horsing around in the Senate on Saturday (6-2-2001).  The bill was amended (No. 1001) by Senate Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, turning it into a resolution asking the federal government to do a better job of managing wild horses in Nevada but the Assembly refused to concur.  When the bill returned, Senate Ann O’Connell’s’ Government Affairs Committee agreed to the (original) Assembly version. She said five members of that committee have students from the school (Aggie Roberts elementary), which proposed the bill as a class project in their districts.
  
     Senate Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said one state animal, the bighorn sheep, is enough and that, if more are added, “pretty soon we’ll have a state zoo.”  

     Senate Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, said he supports the original version making the mustang Nevada’s second state animal along with the bighorn sheep.  “I have a difficult time relating to a bighorn sheep as a state animal although those here who are a little bit hard-headed can,” he said.  “I can relate to the mustang,” he also said. 
 
    A few minutes later, Raggio said he had figured out why Neal can relate better to the mustang.  Reading from the description of the mustang enclosed with the legislation, he said, “It identifies the mustang as hard to control, difficult to train and runs loose.”  (Actually, Senator Raggio-R's description is typical of himself and the others, including Senator Rhoads-R, who turned against America's mustang/wild horse as Nevada's 2nd state animal.)

In the end, Rhoads won out and the Senate refused to convert Assembly bill 219 back into a bill designating the mustang Nevada’s second state animal.  You might say the “neighs” had it.  But Senate Bill O’Donnell, R-Las Vegas, served notice the battle would continue in the conference committee.  

Children Want Mustang Honored...
         Students Crusade for new (Nevada) state animal.

 March 21, 2001, Nevada Appeal, Carson City, Nevada –by Staff reports: The big horn sheep may get company as Nevada’s official state animal.  A group of about 100 4^th Graders from Henderson (NV) is pushing for the addition of the mustang to Nevada’s law designating as official beast.  Members of the Assembly Government Affairs Committee head some of the Aggie Roberts Elementary School students testify on Tuesday morning.  Under the bill introduced by Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, and backed by a majority of legislators in both the Assembly and the Senate, the big horn sheep would have to scoot over and make room for its equine equivalent.  Aggie Roberts Elementary School teacher, Penny Bichsel, escorted her students north to Carson City to testify before the Legislature.  Half-dozen students, including 9-year-old Jordan Dowell (photo not shown), testified before the committee. The students approached Buckley after deciding the mustang would make a good symbol for the state.  They gathered 1000 signatures in Las Vegas and brought them to the Legislature where about 30 of them attended the first hearing.  Photo caption: Aggie Roberts Elementary School teacher, Penny Bichsel listens to her student Jordan Dowell, 9, testify before the Assembly Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday. The students approached Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, to create legislation that would designate the mustang as an official state animal.  

Assembly Bill No. 219–Assemblymen Buckley, Cegavske, Anderson, Arberry, Bache, Beers, Berman, Brown, Carpenter, Chowning, Claborn, Collins, de Braga, Dini, Gibbons, Giunchigliani, Goldwater, Gustavson, Hettrick, Humke, Koivisto, Lee, Leslie, Manendo, Marvel, McClain, Mortenson, Nolan, Oceguera, Parks, Parnell, Perkins, Price, Smith, Tiffany, Von Tobel and Williams
                                                                 February 22, 2001 

 Joint Sponsors: Senators Titus, O’Donnell, Neal, Wiener, Carlton, Amodei, Care, Coffin, James, Schneider, Shaffer, Townsend and Washington (However, the senator's names in bold later turned against America's wild horses and voted against this bill.)

 Referred to Committee on Government Affairs

 SUMMARY—Designates mustang as official state animal. (BDR 19‑1119)

AN ACT relating to state emblems; designating the mustang as an official state animal; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

       1-1    Section 1. NRS 235.070 is hereby amended to read as follows: (blue notes the new language of the law and red the old language) (blue notes the new language of the law and red the old language)  
1-2    235.070  The animal known as the desert bighorn sheep (Ovis
1-3   canadensis nelsoni) [is] and the wild horse known as the mustang (Equus
1-4   caballus) are hereby designated as the official state [animal] animals of 
1-5   the State of Nevada.

  SENT:  Saturday, 2-17-2001 1:53AM         
(You Can Help! )  See below -Australian government under pressure from overseas emails. 
See below how the name "brumbies" originated for Australia's wild horses.
Australian Governmental Brumby Slaughter... Animal welfare's worst nightmare
2-17-2001  
Dear Sir/Madam,
Introduction:  My name is Lyall Sempf. I study brumbies (Australian wild horses) and their habits.  I am writing a book on my findings and those findings of other people I have contacted.  I have studied brumbies for many years.  The brumby is Australia's wild horse.  I have been studying brumbies in the Guy Fawkes River National Park, New South Wales, Australia, from time to time.  In late October of last year hundreds of brumbies were slaughtered in the park by the government department known as the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW NPWS).  I am writing to ask for your help.  No money is required, just a small amount of your time to protest to those responsible, two government ministers and possibly the Australian Embassy in your country.  I am sending emails out to literally hundreds and hundreds of animal welfare groups and contacts world wide.  I thank God for the internet.  I don't belong to any animal welfare group.  I have been so sickened by the event of last October that I felt compelled to do the web and emails every night for a couple of months.  

THE STORY:
      Hundreds of brumbies were shot from the air over a few days by three gunman in helicopters.  Due to the nature of the terrain being rough and covered with trees, this slaughter of the brumbies resulted in more than one bullet being needed for many of the horses.  One unfortunate horse was found with eleven bullet holes in him.  The day after the slaughter had ceased, an acquaintance of mine found horses still alive and dying an agonizing and painful death.  This acquaintance of mine also told me that he found bullet holes in the brumbies in every possible part of the body - the head, neck, withers, shoulder, chest, back, stomach, rump and legs.  When I was in the park a few weeks ago I found a stallion with a bad lameness in his front left leg.  I was unable to get close enough though to see whether it was a natural wound or a bullet wound.  I will have to go back again and find him.  I spoke with one of the Park Rangers in January 1998 while in the National Park.  He is the one who was partly responsible for the organization of the slaughter, and he was one of the three who fired the bullets.
    I never advised him at the time why I was in the park.  The discussion of brumby culling was brought up when one of my friends talked about the brumbies in the park.  He told my friend and myself that the National Parks and Wildlife Service were scared to shoot the brombies due to fear of public opinion.  This slaughter went ahead in October secretly with no advice given to, or consultation sought from the Australian public or Animal Welfare Groups.  When the slaughter was discovered, one of the claims of the NPWS was that the brumbies were starving and dying from lack of food in the park due to bush fires that has gone through the park.  There were bush fires in the park, but the brumbies were well and had shiny coats as can be verified by photos. The slaughter was carried out quickly, in fact so quickly that a proper check wasn't done to ensure that people weren't in the park during the slaughter.  The famous National Horse Trail goes through this park.  Two ladies from New South Wales rode their horses right into the slaughter zone.  They were quickly advised to leave the park and were told that the rifleman were shooting feral goats and pigs.  Estimated numbers of remaining brumbies has been put at about 45.  I have seen 10 alive, and signs of about another 10 in the area in which I searched a few weeks ago.  The well respected Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (R.S.P.C.A.) has laid legal charges against the National Parks and Wildlife Service.  They have a good case, but as they are fighting the government, it will be difficulty.  If the government does win the court case, it will be a hollow win in the eyes of many Australians.

WHAT TO DO:
    1.  Contact the Australian R.S.P.C.A. (see below) to confirm what I am saying is true.  Get the facts from them.
    2.  Let your protest be known to New South Wales Government ministers, and the government department New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service who were responsible for the slaughter.
    3.  Let your feelings be known to the Australian Embassy in your country.
LASTLY:   If you would like any more information please feel free to email me.  I have the names of the three men who fired the bullets.  I also have access to photos taken after the slaughter.  To those of you who don't speak English and need a translator, I am sorry.

Yours sincerely,
Lyall Sempf
21 Range View Drive
Gatton, Queensland
Australia 4343
email:   lksempf@iprimus.com.au
Phone:  your overseas access code + 61 7 5462 2337

2-27-2001 UPDATE:  Lyall stated that independent investigator, Dr. English, employed by the National Parks Department (NPW), stated in his "independent" report, "That the shooting was carried out in a humane way, under approved protocols designed to kill horses as quickly as possible".  Lyall said his report was incorrect and biased in favor of the NPW.  Lyall added that Dr. English at a meeting a few weeks ago mentioned that Australia is under international pressure, so all emails from overseas must be having some effect.  Dr. English's email is anthonye@camden.usyd.edu.au.   If anyone would care to drop him a line about their feelings to "down under". 

Wyoming Mustang Shootings Probed
BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE

    In what federal officials say is one of the worst random killings of wild horses since they were protected by Congress 30 years ago, a reward of almost $13,000 has been offered to find out who shot 34 mustangs in southwestern Wyoming recently.
    Since Dec. 15, Bureau of Land Management officials in Rock Springs (WY) have discovered 30 dead wild horses, while BLM rangers in Rawlins (WY) have found another three north of Rawlins and a fourth near Baggs. The most recent discovery was Monday, when officers found 16 dead horses about 30 miles northeast of the town of Rock Springs, 180 miles east of Salt Lake City.  Investigators are unsure whether the shootings are related but believe they occurred in the same time period.
    "It appears all of the horses were shot, and one horse was still alive when we found it Friday, but due to its injuries the officers on hand had to put it down," said Mary Apple, Wyoming BLM spokesperson in Rawlins. "We are asking for the public's help in solving this."
    Several national and local humane groups have donated money to a reward fund, which currently stands at $12,600.  "We've been told that investigating these types of cases can be very difficult unless someone steps forward, so we hope this reward will help ensure that those responsible for these gruesome attacks will be apprehended and brought to justice," said Andrea Lococo, Rocky Mountain coordinator of the Fund For Animals. "Wild horses have been the unfortunate victims of senseless cruelty for too long."
    Anyone with information about the horse shootings is asked to contact BLM law enforcement officers in Rock Springs or Rawlings.  Under the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act, any person who maliciously causes the death or harassment of a mustang shall be subject to a fine of up to $100,000 and/or a one-year prison term per violation.  Two previous cases of mustang shootings may be compared in scale with the Wyoming killings now under investigation.
    In September 1988, BLM officials reported 128 wild horses had been gunned down near the central Nevada town of Austin in Lander County. No one was prosecuted for those horse deaths.
    During Christmas 1998, more than 30 wild horses were shot near Virginia City, Nevada. The feral horses were managed by the state of Nevada and did not fall under the protection of the federal wild horse act. Two Marines stationed in Fallon and a Reno man were arrested and charged, but a judge ruled that there was no case against the three men except for a single horse-shooting to which each admitted. The trio are awaiting trial on gross misdemeanor charges, although prosecutors asked the Nevada Supreme Court in October to overturn the lower judge's decision and clear the way for 22 felony counts to be filed against the men. The court has yet to rule.  The two Marines received "less-than-honorable" military discharges because of the shootings.

(Wild Horse Spirit pledged $100 toward the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator(s).)

December 27, 1998 -Nevada Slaughter

34 Virginia Range wild horses Shot & Killed - 1998 Christmas Holidays
Story and Continued Update -March 6, 2001

See Below  
UPDATE 4-7-2001 and 4-13-2001.  Trial date
set for 1-7-2002.  Then plea-bargaining to lesser charges with sentencing 2-11-2002 by Judge Griffin. Final Chapter??