The Chief of the Canim Lake reserve, where abandoned horses are dead or dying of starvation, admits some were within plain sight of the tiny community and has signed an order to take responsibility for the surviving animals.
Chief Mike Archie said several of the horses were on a major route where he and many other residents could see them. He said that some of the animals belonged to him.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the RCMP were called in earlier this week to investigate reports that a herd of 60 to 90 horses were not being fed or sheltered and at least a dozen had already frozen to death, in part because of an unusually cold winter. Photographs taken before officials intervened show emaciated horses knee-deep in snow drifts. One community member claimed to have discovered 19 carcasses.

Chief Archie and another council member offered to sign the SPCA order to provide adequate food, water, shelter and veterinary care for the animals to keep them in the community. I'm looking for some kind of positive outcome from here,' he said. "One of my animal totems is the horse.... I believe in this instance that the horses came to help me and others in the community."

Shawn Eccles, chief animal protection officer of the B.C. SPCA said his organization is "absolutely" still investigating the possibility of animal-cruelty charges.
The council had stated in a press release that it did not have the resources to feed livestock and that it owned none of the horses as an organization.

A local volunteer has donated two tonnes of hay for the horses' upkeep. Chief Archie also said members of neighbouring communities had come forward to clear the land so the animals could graze.

Mr. Eccles stated that if the community could not continue to provide for the animals, his organization would take possession of the herd. Yesterday, he said that the B.C. SPCA could not care for so many horses. "We would have to try and find that space," Mr. Eccles said. "We're trying to work with the band at this point."