Advocates for wild horses accuse federal land managers of illegally approving plans for the largest U.S. holding facility for thousands of mustangs captured on public rangeland in 10 Western states, including Arizona.
The group Friends of Animals said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Reno, Nevada that up to 4,000 horses would be held captive inhumanely for months or years at a time in dusty, manure-filled pens without shade in Nevada’s high desert.
They say it’s part of the government’s effort to appease ranchers by accelerating roundups of mustangs competing with private livestock for public forage across much of the drought-stricken West.
The suit says it will cost U.S. taxpayers millions of dollars a year. Federal land managers had no immediate comment.