2 Nevada men plead guilty to killing wild mustangs

By SCOTT SONNER

RENO, Nev. (AP)—Two men changed their pleas June 16 and acknowledged that they shot and killed five wild mustangs in Nevada in a case that flooded U.S. prosecutors with thousands of e-mails from around the world expressing outrage at the slaughter.

Todd Davis, 45, admitted in federal court in Reno that he and Joshua Keathley, 36, had been drinking and used "poor judgment" when they shot the horses with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in November near the Nevada-California line.

Prosecutors said they offered no plea bargain and intend to seek the maximum penalty of one year in jail and $100,000 fine for each at the sentencing set for Sept. 14.

"The intentional and malicious harassment, abuse and killing of federally-protected wild horses should not and will not be tolerated," said Dan Bogden, U.S. attorney for Nevada.

In changing their pleas, the two Lovelock men admitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert McQuaid that they shot the horses about 150 miles northwest of Reno, a violation of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971.

"We'd been drinking a little," Davis said. "We saw some horses and used poor judgment and shot a few of them."

Keathley said the two were looking for places to do some trapping when they came across the horses in the rugged high-desert rangeland on the edge of the Sierra Nevada.

"We seen the wild horses," Keathley said in his brief explanation to McQuaid. "We killed a few of them and then we left."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sue Fahami said they shot into a herd of eight to 10 horses and watched at least four fall to their deaths.

"We feel justice has been served at this point," Fahami told The Associated Press after the court appearance, adding that she and Bogden combined received a total of approximately 24,000 e-mails and letters.

"There has been great public interest in this case. And it's not just in Washoe County, not just in Nevada, not just in the United States," she said. "We've received e-mails from all over the world."

The men were charged in January with "maliciously causing the death of a wild horse" after the U.S Bureau of Land Management offered a $10,000 reward and the Humane Society of the United States added $2,500 for any information leading to criminal convictions in the case.

Activist Terri Farley, author of the popular "Phantom Stallion" series of children's books, attended Wednesday's hearing in support of prosecutors seeking the maximum sentence.

"I really hope the judge nails them big time," she told AP. "They are adult men, not kids. They are out there drinking on public land and using it as their own private shooting gallery."

Some horse protection advocates had criticized the government's decision to charge the two men with only one horse's death. Fahami said that was due in part to the inability to determine which man shot which horse.

"We charged the case based on the provable facts we had. (One horse) is what we could prove," she said.

Whole story is here.

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Long time no see!

Sorry for the delay in posting on the Stayin' In The Loop blog. Been busy, busy around here.

There's lots of news on the STIL site for your reading pleasure. Check out the latest news and information in the horse world collected by High Plains Journal editors.

In the May 3 issue of HPJ, read about the $3 million dollar gift to the American Quarter Horse Association; the Alltech animal health and nutrition symposium coming up May 16 to 19; Extreme Mustang Makeover; and the Tri-City Horse Short Course in Newcastle, Okla., May 20, 27 and June 3.

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Tying a hackamore knot with Pat Hooks

There's a little more to the following knot tying instructions than meets the eye. I had the pleasure of working with Ray Hunt on several occasions and this one particular time he shared with me the hackamore knot. Now other than just chewing the fat, what I didn't have figured out at the time was why Mr. Ray shared the knot with me.

I had started a colt that weekend and little did I know, Mr. Ray had watched me pretty close like. After the first ride was in Mr. Ray gathered me up during the break and shared the knot with me--pretty close to the same instructions you see below. Now as Ray rolled his toothpick into the corner of his mouth he said "get that working for you good enough you can get it at the lope."

Next time I worked with Mr. Ray he asked how my knot tying skills were coming along, so I took my piggin' string out and showed him. With a smile as broad as Texas, he was curious to see if I could tie it at the lope? Well beings I was full of pride and in the ripe old age of my twenty's I threw a leg over the same colt I had started previously and showed him I could tie the hackamore knot at the lope.

Read the rest of the story here.

Controversial ad targets Oklahoma equine dentist bill

A group of veterinarians in Oklahoma are hoping a controversial advertisement will convince state legislators to kill a bill that would allow horse owners and their employees to buy and administer veterinary prescription sedatives used in teeth floating procedures.

HB 3202 also amends the Oklahoma Veterinary Practice Act to allow individuals who are not licensed veterinarians to float horses' teeth if they meet state certification requirements.

The advertisement that appeared in Monday's edition of The Oklahoman newspaper links the measure to illegal use of the drugs clenbuterol, a steroid allegedly misused for weight loss, and ketamine, a tranquilizer sometimes used as a "date-rape drug." Four veterinarians who oppose the bill sponsored the ad, which claims the legislation would facilitate illegal drug sales.

"There are unscrupulous people in every profession," said J. Mike Johnston, DVM, one of the advertisement's sponsors. "Someone could become certified and never float a tooth, just to be able to get their hands on the drugs,"

The state's House of Representatives passed the bill earlier this month. The state Senate is expected to vote on the measure later this week.

If passed, the measure would be the third change to Oklahoma's veterinary practice act since 2008 when an amendment established felony charges for anyone practicing equine dentistry without a veterinary license. Lawmakers stripped the felony charges from the act in 2009 after professional rodeo rider Bobby Griswold was charged with the felony.

Griswold, who graduated from an equine dental school but is not a veterinarian, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges. He was sentenced to serve eight months probation. Griswold said equine dentists do not routinely use the drugs in their work. The advertisement represents some veterinarians' final effort to prohibit dentists from practicing in Oklahoma, he said.

Story from The Horse website, www.thehorse.com.

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Equine dentistry bill gains Oklahoma House approval

A spat lasting more than a year between veterinarians and equine dentists may be galloping toward a conclusion.

Veterinarians for the most part aren’t pleased with House Bill 3202 because the state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners was left out of a compromise that led to passage of the bill March 4 in the House of Representatives, said Rep. Brian Renegar, a veterinarian who is opposed to the bill.

Renegar and Rep. Don Armes, who is backing equine dentists, often called "tooth floaters,” verbally sparred on the House floor before members passed HB 3202 by a vote of 71-25. It now goes to the Senate.

The bill would allow equine dentists, or horse teeth floaters, to practice in the state without facing criminal charges. They now face misdemeanor charges.

Armes, the author of HB 3202, said the veterinary board would certify equine dentists if they have at least 80 hours of training from recognized schools. Equine dentists would be certified annually as nonveterinary equine dental care providers. They would be charged a $200 certification fee and would be required to have four hours of continued education to have the certification renewed.

Read more here.