Cross-posted from Global Edmonton 16:9
WRITTEN BY CAROLYN JAVIS, GAIA WILLIS-OWEN
Wild horses still roam free in Alberta’s foothills. Small herds of hardy survivors, their coats still shaggy against the winter elements – they are a picturesque reminder of Canada’s Wild West past.
These horses seem like a natural fit out west, but not everyone thinks they belong. And some may be taking extreme steps to show their disdain.
In January, 2011, the RCMP charged three men and a youth in the shooting of a horse near Sundre, AB. It’s the first time RCMP have laid charges for the shooting of a wild horse but it’s not their only case.
Over the past four years, the RCMP have opened files on 13 horses shot and left to rot in Alberta’s West country. Sgt. Percy Leipnitz told 16:9 The Bigger Picture Alberta’s vast expanses make it particularly difficult to investigate this type of shooting.
“It’s vast,” Sgt. Leipnitz said, “Even to have witnesses out there at the time would be very rare.”
No witnesses, no known motive and 13 horses dead. The president of the Wild Horses Society of Alberta, Bob Henderson, told 16:9 there are many more.
“People have been getting away with it for quite a long time,” he said. He told 16:9 that, to his knowledge, 32 wild horses have been shot and killed in Alberta the last decade. Continue reading >>
Tuesday's Horse 