Police are still searching for the person or persons responsible for the killing of 17 feral horses about 65 km west of Kamloops and north of Highway 1 near Walhachin.
The horses were discovered on March 10 by people who were out for a back country outing on their side-by-sides, says Cpl. Cory Lepine of the RCMP’s Provincial Livestock Section. The horses were in two groups — one of six horses and one of 11 horses — on Crown Land, and there was a considerable distance between the two groups and between the individual animals.
Lepine says that it is difficult to tell if the two groups of horses were killed at the same time, noting that investigators don’t know if the horses were followed and shot one by one. He does say that it is not a case of poaching: “I can’t even begin to imagine what the rationale [for the killings] was.”
Investigators also do not know precisely when the horses were killed.
“It’s been quite cool, so it’s difficult to determine when they died,” says Lepine, who for nearly two years has been the acting detachment commander for Ashcroft RCMP.
“We had a vet there, who performed some field autopsies and gathered some evidence, but with the temperatures the way they’ve been it’s not easy to determine the length of time they’ve been dead. They had been picked over quite heavily by predators, so we’re guessing it was within the last two to three weeks [before they were found].”
The horses were part of a feral herd that ran between Skeetchestn rangeland and Crown rangeland. Lepine says that they did not belong to the Skeetchestn Band, but that residents of that band were used to the horses being around.
“We’ve had a couple of calls about the horses being on the highway, but haven’t heard any complaints about them. There are several feral horse groups throughout the province, and they get a bit of a bad rap. They eat a lot of grass that’s normally eaten by cattle, and people take out leases on grassland [for cattle], but there’s no reason to do what was done here.”
Lepine says that the herd may have been living in the area for hundreds of years, and are not simply the result of abandoned or escaped domestic horses. The feral population has a unique genetic makeup compared with other horses in Canada, and they appear to be descendants of a wild population that travelled to North America from Russia prior to European exploration and colonization.
Lepine adds that the herds do need to be controlled, and that the government has specific, science-based methods of managing the population of feral horses in B.C.
On March 17 the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council — of which the Skeetchestn Band is part — issued a statement condemning what it called a “senseless act” and stating that the SNTC stands with and supports the Skeetchestn community.
“Our Secwèpemc traditional stories and laws teach us how the horse is a sacred animal, bringing many teachings to our people with healing, and symbolizes a powerful entity of strength and freedom,” the statement says. “Secwèpemc people have a connection with all living beings and have been taught that all animals should be treated with utmost dignity and respect.”
In a brief statement, the Skeetchestn Band also mourned the loss of the horses.
“While these horses did not live on Skeetchestn’s land and the crime occurred outside of our community, we are mourning the unnecessary loss of wildlife that we share this beautiful landscape with,” the statement says.
“At this time, the search for the culprits is still underway and we are cooperating with the RCMP and their investigators to find the individual(s) responsible for this heinous crime. Until such a time that this person (or people) are identified, we have no further statements to make on this matter.”
Lepine says that the person or persons involved could be facing 17 Cruelty to Animals charges. If convicted, the perpetrator(s) could be facing a fine and/or jail time.
Anyone with any information about the killings is asked to call RCMP livestock section Cpl. Cory Lepine at (250) 299-7462, or email cory.lepine@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
editorial@accjournal.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter