Reno students release wild horses from corral next to school

Sunday, Jan. 23, 2005 | 12:55 p.m.

RENO, Nev. - A group of high school students may have broken the law when they released about a dozen wild horses from a temporary corral next to their Reno school, state officials said.

More than 30 Damonte Ranch High School students took the action Friday because they mistakenly thought the horses were going to be sent off to slaughter, said Steve Mulvenon, spokesman for the Washoe County School District.

The horses were herded into the state corral for their protection after heavy snowfall forced them into the city for food, said Ed Foster, spokesman for the state Agriculture Department.

Dense fog has made it difficult for motorists to see the animals over the last week, he said.

Plans call for about 30 horses near the high school to be taken to a state holding facility in Carson City and put up for adoption. Only a dozen horses were in the corral at the time.

The students might have been guilty of trespassing, Foster said, but no arrests were made.

"The kids thought they were doing a good thing. It's an idealistic thing," Foster told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "We aren't pushing legal issues. But there are some."

Damonte Ranch freshman Richard Obregon insists the horses should stay, saying the horses were in the area before the school and houses.

"I just think it's not really cool," Obregon said. "All this stuff is here. It's not really cool to keep them contained."

Junior Jeff Capurro agreed: "Once you got out (of class), it's sad to see them being taken away."

Mike Holmes, who manages wild horses in the nearby Virginia Range, said he has received calls from several motorists who almost hit horses.

"It's a safety factor for the public as well as the horses," Holmes said. "That (releasing horses from corral) puts them right in danger."

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Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com