$7K reward offered in fatal shooting of wild horse near Nevada border
The Bureau of Land Management and a wild horse advocacy group are offering a $7,000 combined reward for anyone with information about the fatal shooting of a wild foal near the Nevada-California border.
The BLM learned of the dead foal when the incident was reported on Friday, June 6, east of Mono Lake in Mono County, California, according to a news release from the American Wild Horse Conservation advocacy group. Hawthorne, a community in Mineral County about 300 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the closest community across the Nevada border.
A necropsy, or animal autopsy, found that a gunshot wound caused the foal’s death, according to the news release.
“This act of cruelty is both heartbreaking and unacceptable,” Suzanne Roy, executive director of the wild horse group, said in a statement. “These wild horses are federally protected and deserve to live free from violence. We hope this reward encourages anyone with information to come forward so justice can be served.”
Roy’s group is contributing $5,000 to the initial $2,000 BLM reward, totaling $7,000. The foal was a part of the Montgomery Pass wild horse population, located within the Inyo National Forest.
The BLM is planning a roundup of 300 to 500 wild horses from that herd, though Roy’s organization and local Native tribes have asked for a two-year delay while more tribal consultation happens. Wild horse roundups are common yet controversial throughout Nevada, where the BLM uses helicopters to circle herds and capture them.
Though groups like Roy’s advocate for more humane methods of roundup, the BLM maintains that too many horses can have a detrimental effect on the environment, especially in the desert, where limited water resources can prompt competition. Adoption events, where the public can buy wild horses for $125 each, are common.
Anyone with information may report it on the 24-hour WeTip anonymous crime reporting hotline at 1-800-78-CRIME (1-800-782-7463), or by visiting www.WeTip.com.
Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
