A recently announced provincial government plan to allow the capture of up to 200 free roaming horses west of Sundre is not necessary, says Bob Henderson, president of the Olds-based Wild Horses of Alberta Society (WHOAS).
"Considering the weather conditions and the snow conditions out there in the West Country, Mother Nature is a very harsh manager of her environment, and we're going to lose a lot of horses due to weather conditions,î Henderson told the Gazette.
"There is no need to have a capture season. We're totally against it. Mother Nature is going to do a heck of a job this year.
"The government says the populations are growing and the numbers are expanding, and unless they're kept in check, that they're going to overpopulate and completely destroy everything. But they have no proof of that.î
WHOAS calls the free roaming horses west of Sundre wild; the province says they are feral.
According to government officials, the newly announced capture season is necessary to relieve pressure on plants and wildlife in the area.
"The reason behind this is that feral horses aren't native wildlife and for that reason they don't have natural predators and they share the same food source as wildlife and livestock,î said Carrie Sancartier, spokesperson for Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development.
"This puts quite a bit of pressure on our native plants and animals.î
An advisory committee was established by the government in the fall of 2013 to provide advice and help design an effective feral horse strategy, she said.
"This committee recommended a capture season for this year to help manage the feral horse population and our minister has agreed.î
The capture season is expected to start right away and will run until March 1, she said, adding that the horses captured will be from the area west of Sundre.
But Henderson said the statement that the horses have no natural predators is "ludicrousî.
"That's so ludicrous. Out there the wolves and the cougars, and especially the cougars, take their share of them. And every once in a while even a bear will take one down. They do have natural predators out there,î said Henderson.
He added that there are many people against the capture season, and that some of the horses are slaughtered after they're captured.
"Right now we're just trying to rally the troops. The amount of emails I've got this morning and last night, and phone calls, is astounding, from all over the province,î he said Jan. 22.
He has also received phone calls from people and organizations outside of the province, specifically from Saskatchewan and the east coast.
Sancartier said 200 is the maximum number of horses that will be captured.
"But we expect with the short time period that it will be less than that,î Sancartier said, noting that the capture season is starting late this year.
Henderson counters: "Whether they can catch that many doesn't matter, but 200 head of horses from a population is ridiculous, with most of them going for slaughter.î
There was no capture season last year, but in 2011-2012 there were at least 218 of the horses removed from the area west of Sundre, he said.
"Most of them went for slaughter,î he said.
Sancartier said some of the horses taken in the new capture season might be slaughtered, among other things.
"It's a possibility, yes, that some of those would go to slaughter. But I don't have numbers on that,î said Sancartier.
"Once a licence holder has captured the horses and they have been looked at for identifying marks, the horses belong to the licence holder, and they are frequently given over to recreational uses or as workhorses and other uses as well.î
Henderson doesn't believe government officials have the scientific evidence to go through with the capture season.
"We get upset that they just don't have the evidence to back up their philosophies and it's all based on just old prejudices against the wild horses,î said Henderson.
"It's frustrating. They just don't use scientific facts to base their arguments on.î
Over the last two years, the foal mortality rate has been "extremely highî, he said.
WHOAS will offer the capturers the opportunity to give the horses to the association to foster and adopt them out, specifically the younger ones, he said.
"The government is just not listening,î he said. "They don't listen to Albertans and they don't take in consideration our facts and how we feel.
"And whatever gets into those pens, they take. So a lot of those mares that are under a lot of stress carrying a foal within them will end up in these traps because they're baited with hay and salt and guess where they'll end up.î
Sancartier said in order to capture horses legally in Alberta a person has to apply for a licence.
"All applicants are carefully screened to ensure that they have an operational plan in place, they have experience in capturing horses, that they have a safe and humane method of capture and they have to provide information around the number they propose to capture,î said Sancartier.
Henderson has been involved with horses for most of his life and says he is passionate about animals.
"I have a passion for animals and I just see the cruelty that has been inflicted on wild horses due to ignorance,î said Henderson. "The horses need a voice and I want to be their voice. They own my heart and I'll do whatever I can. And if nobody likes me for what I'm doing, I'm sorry, but I'd do the same for any ñ like those animals in Calgary, the dog and the cat ñ I would help and rescue anything that I could that I felt was being mistreated or misaligned. And I will continue to do it until I go someplace else.î
There is a petition floating around the Internet against the capture season.
For more information on WHOAS, visit www.wildhorsesofalberta.com or the Wild Horses of Alberta Society Facebook page.
"No matter what, the government will tell you different things,î said Henderson. "According to what we see out there, there will be hardly any horses left.î
