You may
remember around February 2003 nearly 1000 horses were being removed from BLM
land in northern Nevada. These horses were in danger of being sent to
slaughter. They rightfully belonged to 2 Shoshone sisters who claimed that they
had the right to run their horses on the BLM land, but the BLM disagreed. They
battled in and out of court for 30 years before the BLM finally won.
The Shoshone women were ordered to remove their animals from the land or the BLM would do it for them and dispose of the horses accordingly. Several horse rescue groups lined up to absorb the confiscated horses to avoid them going to slaughter.
At the 11th hour, just before the BLM would take control, the Shoshone women made a deal with a California rancher who offered to take all the horses and put them on his rambling ranch. This seemed like the best outcome for the horses, so all the horse rescue groups sighed in relief and Lifesavers even contributed funds to transport 100 of the horses to their new home in Central California.
Then something went terribly wrong. Not all the horses made it to the sanctuary destination. Approximately 150 mares and foals were left behind in Nevada because they were not strong enough to make the trip to the new ranch home. The plan was that they would stay on a private Nevada property until they were in better health and the babies big enough to move. But, the rancher forgot to send money to the caretakers for feed. The caretakers were an elderly couple and not prepared to take on the responibility of feeding the horses as much as they needed, so they fed only a little bit of hay each day waiting for the rancher to resupply them with more hay. Unfortunately it was not enough.
The mares starting wasting away and aborting their foals. Many foals were still born and premies who didn't make it. Even some of the mares succumbed. This situation was building since Feburary. Eventually 47 horses died.
Neighbors and other people who had an interest in the horses contacted Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue. They were crying for help and we came to the horses' aid as quickly as we could. Sadly it was too late for many of the foals and mothers, but we vowed that we would do everything in our power to save the rest of the group.
The first thing we did was convince the current owner, the California rancher, to legally turn the horses over to Lifesavers. At the same time we arranged for more hay to be fed so the horses could gain weight and get strong enough to move to our ranch in southern California where they would be properly monitered and brought back to full health.
Only 2 weeks into the rescue, we had already spent $6000 on feeding the horses and that was just the beginning. There were other costs of vet, brand inspections, and transportation. Once safely at our Lancaster ranch the horses were fed a higher grade of hay and supplements . The costs got higher and higher.
This was the most complicated horse rescue I've ever been involved with. There were so many parties involved with their own agendas it was hard to know who to trust and who not to. It was like walking through a house of mirrors. Each day the path changed and a new development arose. But, our perserverence paid off as we finally were able to tie up all the loose legal ends and the horses were safe.
We have to thank our committed and compassionate supporters who made this lifesaving rescue possible. Without the heartfelt contributions we would not have been able to accomplish such a daunting project and undoubtedly many more, if not all, of the Fish Creek mares and foals would have died.
READ THE STORY OF "LITTLE FAWN" - one of the casualties of Fish Creek
Send donations to: Lifesavers, Inc., 23809 East Avenue J., Lancaster, California 93535
Phone for more information: 661-727-0049 or email lifesavers@wildhorserescue.org
© 1997 Lifesavers, Inc.