SPCA vows to pursue charges in case of starving horses
Animals left to fend for themselves
JOSH WINGROVE

March 17, 2009

The B.C. arm of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is looking to send a "message" to livestock owners by pursuing charges in the case of dozens of feral horses who were found either starving or dead on an inner-B.C. native reserve last week.

The unbranded horses were released into a large swath of land on Canim Lake reserve and left to fend for themselves earlier this winter. It's considered a common practice among livestock owners, who typically leave out bales of hay as feed.

But with a cold winter and no hay provided, the horses on the reserve had little food. Many starved to death, and those that didn't survived only by eating what they could dig out from under snow. It's unclear who owns them.

Although the practice of "turning the animals out" is widespread, the SPCA is looking to use the high-profile case to push for better conditions for B.C. livestock.

"This is a practice that has been ongoing probably for years. And not just on the reserve, I mean it's right across the interior of British Columbia," said Shawn Eccles, chief animal protection officer with the B.C. SPCA.
"It's getting a lot of media attention. Certainly, if we find out who it is, they'll be charged. And maybe just the sheer fact that people are going to be charged with an offence for what is generally considered a regular practice, maybe that's enough of a message that's being sent out there."

The Canim Lake Band, which says it has as many as 60 wild horses owned by 10 or more people, issued a statement last week saying that keeping feral horses is a tradition of its people, but that over-feeding has reduced the amount of hay produced. The band doesn't own any of the horses itself, but has now taken in those that survived.

"The Canim Lake Band will be working with the SPCA and the individuals that own the horses to deal with them in a humane nature," Chief Michael Archie said in the statement.

An area resident and horse owner said the practice of turning the animals out is common, and that the SPCA only responded after the case appeared in national television and newspaper coverage.

"This has been an ongoing problem for years and years and years, but the SPCA has hidden it," resident Diane Harris said yesterday. "This [case] outraged this area like you wouldn't believe, but the outrage was [directed] at the band reserve as well as the SPCA."

The SPCA continues to care for 13 of the surviving horses, which Mr. Eccles said yesterday were in "poor" condition. If the SPCA can determine who owns any of the dead horses, Mr. Eccles wants to pursue both Criminal Code charges and charges under the province's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

"I think this is a situation that needs to be addressed long-term," he said. "It's a practice that needs to be stopped. I don't know how we're going to go about doing that, but certainly this is one step in the right direction."

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