09 August 2011
HELPER, UT - AUG 8, 2011 An alleged wild-horse-smuggling ring that authorities believe was attempting to ship animals out of the country for slaughter has been busted by the federal Bureau of Land Management.
On Friday August 5, 2011, law enforcement officers from several state and federal agencies seized 64 horses in two separate cases. Seventeen horses were found in Willard, Utah in a corral and another 47 horses found near Helper in a trailer on U.S. Highway 6.
The 64 horses were safely delivered to the BLM’S wild horse and burro facility center in Herriman while the investigation continues.
The Herriman facility accepted 64 animals from the seizure, the largest one of its kind so far in Utah.
The horses involved in the seizure were part of the agency’s sale program and not its adoption program.
According to the BLM, horses that have not been adopted after being processed three times through the Wild Horse and Burro Adoption Program can be purchased or are 11 years or older may be purchased for use for private equestrian pleasure, brood mares or just put out to pasture by the buyer.
The BLM sales agreement prohibits the use of the horses for slaughter or sale of the horses to anyone who intends to slaughter them.
Read more:
Feds bust Utah horse-smuggling operation, By Christopher Smart, The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com/csp/cms/sites/sltrib/pages/printerfriendly.csp?id=52347937
47 wild horses seized in Utah pending sales probe, Utah Daily Hereld, http://www.heraldextra.com/news/state-and-regional/utah/article_d0354ab0-5ec2-5979-8140-83d01517046b.html#ixzz1UWrCkci3
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