Feds vow prosecution in slaughter of horses

Jace Radke

Thursday, Jan. 13, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

If those responsible for the slaughter of four wild horses and two burros near Lee Canyon are caught they will face prosecution by the U.S. attorney's office.

"When we catch this person we will prosecute to the maximum extent of the law," Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Zlotnick said. "What was done to those animals was intolerable and there will be prosecution."

The case will be hard to prosecute because of a probable lack of witnesses to the crime, but Zlotnick said that won't be a problem.

"You can be assured that we will find a way to prosecute those responsible," Zlotnick said. "I don't agree that this will automatically be a hard case to prosecute. We are prosecuting a similar case in Northern Nevada, and it really depends on the evidence."

U.S. attorneys are prosecuting three men in connection with the 1998 shootings of more than two dozen mustangs in the hills east of Reno. The men accused of killing the mustangs on Dec. 27, 1998, will go to trial on April 17 in Virginia City.

The reward offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for shooting the animals near Lee Canyon has ballooned to $14,750.

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.

The four horses killed were a 10-year-old black stallion, a 15-year-old black stallion, an 8-year-old sorrel mare and a 3-year-old sorrel 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.

The animals have been identified as part of the Wheeler Pass-Wallace Canyon herd, one of three herds roaming the Lee Canyon area. The Wheeler Pass-Wallace Canyon herd includes about 50 horses and around 40 burros, according to a 1997 Forest Service census.

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