Protesters rally against plan to capture Alberta’s wild horses
CALGARY- Dozens of people marched and chanted in downtown Calgary on Thursday, rallying against a plan to capture about 200 wild horses.
The province has approved a capture and cull of the feral horses, and while some will be kept for breeding others won’t be so lucky.
“The majority of these wild horses that are going to be captured are going to end up at a slaughter house, and that’s just the sad reality,” says Anita Virginillo from Calgary Animal Rights Effort. “We want to see humane alternatives.”
The capture has been going on for less than 24 hours, and protestors hope to stop the capture before it goes any further. However, the environment ministry says the program is necessary to maintain equilibrium between food sources and animals.
“In order to keep balance on the land we need to ensure species are in balance, and not one group of either wildlife or livestock or feral horses that are overrunning the land and thereby eating all of the food sources,” explains Nikki Booth from ESRD.
The province says nearly one thousand feral horses were counted in 2013—a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.
Wild horse capture underway northwest of Calgary, say ranchers