Reward for slain horses, burros grows

Jace Radke

Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

The reward for information about the killing of four wild horses and two burros near Lee Canyon is nearing $15,000.

The reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for shooting the animals near a dirt road along Lee Canyon Highway was raised to $14,750 on Monday.

The Virginia Range Wildlife Protection Association, U.S. Forest Service, Nevada Humane Society, National Wild Horse Association, a St. George, Utah, horse club and anonymous sources have contributed to the reward.

Investigators have been receiving phone tips about the dead animals and are following them up, Forest Service officer Melody Stehwien said.

The four horses killed were a 10-year-old black stallion, a 15-year-old black stallion, a 8-year-old sorrell mare and a 3-year-old sorrell whose sex remains unknown. The horses and the two burros are believed to have been killed within the last 30 days, Stehwien said

The animals were found a few miles up State Route 156, west of U.S. 95, off a dirt road in the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The animals have been identified as part of the Wheeler Pass-Wallace Canyon herd, one of three herds roaming in the Lee Canyon area.

Anyone with information on the animals killed in Lee Canyon can call Forest Service officials at 888-818-8177 or leave an anonymous message after 7 p.m. at 435-652-3119.