wild horses shot to death in nevada

[Joie Rowles <Rowles.Joie@mayo.edu>]

The recent post from Karen Clanin about the killing of these horses filled
me with such emotion; tears to outrage and about everything in between.  I
can't recall when I have ever wanted to do SOMETHING about something as
much as I do now; the only thing is, What do I do?  My first response was
to kill the person(s) that did this, but this goes against my pacifist
nature(and after some reflection, I truely don't think this would solve
anything).  If it is true what the authorities think, that it was done by a
'sadistic sickie' (see articles below), I am left to question what is
happening to our world.  Perhaps the best thing that I can do is to teach
to all that I come in contact with as much love toward our selves and the
other animals (and plants) with which we share our home (the earth) as
possible.

Joie, Arizona

the following are the full length articles:

Psychologist Ponders Horse Killer 

                  By Scott Sonner
                  Associated Press Writer
                  Thursday, December 31, 1998; 12:43 p.m. EST

                  RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Investigators completed the last field
autopsis on 34 wild horses slaughtered in northern Nevada today and began
trying to figure out what kind of person would shoot dozens of mustangs,
leaving them for dead. 

                  ``It's hard to guess who would do something like this,''
Washoe County Sheriff's Lt. Janice Lee said today. 

                  ``You don't get a good feel for it until you get up in a
helicopter and see they are just randomly littered along the mountains.'' 

                  Law officers found the 34th victim late Wednesday when
they widened their helicopter search because dead horses were turning up
miles from
the original shooting scene, apparently limping away wounded before they
died. 

                  ``I believe we will probably find a few more,'' said Paul
Iverson, administrator of the Nevada Division of Agriculture. 

                  Leaders of the investigation in the hills five miles east
of the Reno-Sparks area were expressing growing confidence they would
capture the horse killers as total rewards for a conviction grew to more
than $35,000. 

                  ``We have some very good physical evidence,'' said John
Tyson, a Storey County range management officer and deputy state brand
inspector. 

                  ``I have enough good leads to fill up a folder. There's
no question in my mind we're going to catch this guy or persons,'' Tyson
said. 

                  Iverson, Tyson and other investigators have dismissed the
possibility that the shootings stem from a dispute between ranchers and the
government over wild horses competing for feed for livestock. 

                  ``I think this is just an act of wanting to kill
something,'' Iverson said today.
                  ``It has nothing to do, I don't think, with the ranching
community.'' 

                  A leading psychologist in the area suggested a sadistic
personality was at play. ``This is someone who takes pleasure in the pain
of other creatures,''said Ole Theinhaus, chairman of the Psychology
Department at the University of Nevada-Reno, told the Reno Gazette-Journal. 

                  All of the horses appeared to have been shot multiple
times. 

                  Investigators started discovering the horse carcasses on
Sunday about five miles east of Sparks. Several young colts and pregnant
mares were among the victims, including one filly that was clinging to life
but had to be destroyed. 

                               © Copyright 1998 The Associated Press
___________________________________________________________________________
CBS News
Correspondent
Bill Whitaker
Reoports
                33 Horses Shot Dead In Nevada
                 Horses Were Tortured And Shot At Close Range
                 $25,000 Reward Offered For Information

                                AP
            RENO, Nevada
            Wednesday, December 30,1998 - 08:01 PM ET 


            (CBS) They were shot at close range with a high-powered
            rifle. Thirty-three wild horses slaughtered over the weekend -
            each shot numerous times by killers unknown...apparently
            shot for target practice. CBS News Correspondent Bill
            Whitaker reports. 

            Members of a local animal rescue group were some of the
            first at the scene. They made a video, which was obtained
            exclusively by CBS News. 

            "We only saw two horses at first," said Bobbi Royle, of
            the horse adoption group Wild Horse Spirit. "Then, oh my
            God, we saw another one. And then a fourth and a fifth.
            It was horrible." 

            By Wednesday, the death toll had grown to 33, the biggest
            single shooting of wild horses in Nevada since as many as
            600 were killed during a two-year period in the mid 1980's. 

            "All of the horses appeared to have been shot multiple
            times before dying," Washoe County Sheriff's Sgt. Bob
            Towery said Wednesday after a helicopter search discovered
            the two latest bodies. 

            A $25,000 reward was offered for information leading to the
            arrest and conviction of the killers who apparently used the
            horses for target practice several miles east of Reno. 

            "This kind of stuff is just sick and absolutely
            senseless," said Paul Iverson, administrator of the Nevada
            Division of Agriculture. "Some of them were shot and left
            to suffer for a long period of time." 

            Several young colts and pregnant mares were among the
            victims, including "one little filly still alive, probably just
            8 or 9 months old," Royle said. 

            "She was shot in the back and paralyzed," Royle said.
            "She could only move her front a little, her head. She
            had to be put down." 

            Twenty-five of the horses were found in and around a valley
            known as Devil's Flat on Sunday and Monday. Six additional
            horses were discovered Tuesday. 

            "I think it's absolutely tragic that somebody would
            come up and do this. These animals, you know, they're
            fine here. They're not bothering anybody," says one
            official. 

            Some of the horses were maimed and at
            least one was tortured with sprays to the
            head from a fire extinguisher after being
            shot, Towery said Tuesday. 

            "There's no rationale for it," Towery
            said. 

            The horses were not technically considered wild horses as
            defined by the Federal Wild Horse and Burro Act because
            they did not descend from horses living on public land at the
            time the act was passed in 1969. 

            Investigators do not believe the killings are related to
            long-standing tensions between ranchers and managers of
            wild horses over limited desert food, said John Tyson, a
            Storey County range management officer. 

            State officials used a metal detector Tuesday to locate and
            remove bullets from the carcasses to be sent to a forensics
            lab. 

            "There's just total outrage. People are so upset," said
            Lydia Hammack, president of Virginia Range Wildlife
            Protection Association. "These animals are magnificent
            animals and I really can't understand how somebody
            can do this. It's a real sicko out there."