Dozens of horses slowly starving to death

KATE ALLEN

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

March 11, 2009 at 10:23 PM EDT

VANCOUVER - Dozens of skeletal horses are slowly starving to death in the
snowy fields of Interior B.C., victims of an uncommonly frigid winter and
chilly indifference from the local residents.

Nineteen horses are reported dead and as many as 40 more are lost or lie
buried beneath the 60 centimetres of snow that still blanket the Canim Lake
reserve near 100 Mile House.

Photographs of the scene show carcasses frozen in the snow and animals with
plainly visible ribcages.

Resident Laird Archie discovered the full extent of the carnage after he
noticed five dead horses along one road. Setting out by snowmobile, he found
fewer than 30 of the herd alive out of the 90 head he counted last fall.

"The people that own them, they see them every day pawing around in the
fields because they're within sight of the main village. They see them
pawing, but nobody ever threw them out a bale of hay."

However, it is unclear who, if anyone, owns the animals. The Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was called in to determine whether the
horses are feral and how they should be treated. They are not branded, which
will make ownership difficult to prove.

Mr. Archie said the animals have been emaciated for years, but managed to
stay alive until this winter's deep freeze.

Shawn Eccles, a senior official with the British Columbia SPCA, said his
organization sometimes hears accounts of animals being turned out for winter
with the attitude that "if they survive the winter then great, and if they
don't, then so be it.

"Unfortunately, with it being a very severe winter, these animals are not
able to survive."

If the horses were turned out by their owner, the SPCA will investigate the
possibility of animal cruelty charges. If not, Mr. Eccles said, the SPCA
will work with the reserve's council to maintain the animals' health.

He insisted the SPCA has neither the resources nor facilities available to
remove the horses.

Local residents are sparring over who is to blame.

Mr. Archie alleged that the herd belongs to members of the Canim Lake
council, with one council member owning the majority.

"They're throwing hay out now, but that's because we were there. They
weren't throwing hay out the day before, and they won't throw hay out the
day after," Mr. Archie said.

In a news release, the Canim Lake council said that the reserve's 60 untamed
horses are owned by 10 separate individuals. That figure does not include
"tame and trained horses that are cared for by several families."

The release also stated that the council as an organization owns no
livestock and "does not have the means to feed livestock, including untamed
horses."

Mr. Archie, who is a hay supplier, said he offered to provide hay for the
horses for free.

The band, however, claimed it first learned of the starving animals on
Sunday, the day before RCMP and SPCA officials arrived to investigate.

The incident has provoked outrage in the region. "I've lost sleep. I've
cried. You get to the point you're so mad you can't cry," said Becky
Langlois, the owner of a horse-riding camp and one of Mr. Archie's
customers.

In December, two horses abandoned in deep snow near the community of McBride
were rescued by the B.C. SPCA after a week of digging a path through the
drifts.

Their owner, Frank MacKay, was charged with three counts of animal cruelty.
The two horses were placed in care elsewhere in the province.