Protesters rally to aid wild horses

CARSON CITY -- About 50 demonstrators showed up Wednesday outside the Capitol to protest what they fear could be a state Agriculture Department roundup of about 1,200 wild horses near the old mining town of Virginia City.

The demonstrators waved signs that said "Save the mustangs," "Stop roundups now" and "Honk for wild horses."

Cindy Phelps even brought a yearling named "Ginny" that came from the herd that she is now training

Several people carried toilet plungers and brooms.

"What we're trying to say is clean up this Department of Agriculture and give us some people we can work with," said one organizer, singer-songwriter Lacy J. Dalton.

Dalton also said support from outside Nevada is growing, with the addition of rapper Snoop Dogg to a celebrity list headed by country singer Willie Nelson. Nelson and Snoop Dogg have done radio spots urging people concerned about the horses to call Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Dalton said the horses help draw tourists to Nevada and should be preserved, rather than rounded up for eventual livestock sales, where they could be sold for slaughter.

"It's a little bit of theater, obviously, but we want to illustrate what the issue is," said another organizer, Willis Lamm. "There's some dirty dealing going on in state government."

Debate over the horses has been ongoing, but racheted up recently when Nevada's new agriculture director, Tony Lesperance, said the state, faced with the prospect of a $900 million-plus revenue shortfall, couldn't afford to buy hay to feed the animals even though some might be starving.