Friday, March 18, 2005
The Associated Press
RENO, Nev. - Although a new law lets the federal government sell certain wild mustangs for horsemeat, the first ones auctioned off have been spared from the slaughterhouse.The 200 animals from Nevada that Wild Horses Wyoming bought from the Bureau of Land Management are roaming free on thousands of acres near Laramie, Wyo.
“We are in the business of saving horses,” said Sean Mater, one of five partners in the company.
In December, Congress replaced a 34-year-old ban on slaughtering any mustang with a statute that allows the sale of older and unwanted horses for their meat. The animals up for sale are captured during periodic government roundups aimed at reducing the wild population. |
Wild horses like this one on the Utah Range have thrived, but the U.S. Bureau of Land Management argues their numbers are now too large,
and that some need to be sold off. Jerry Sintz / Bureau of Land Management |
