Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nevada resumes fertility control for free-roaming horses

RENO — The state of Nevada is resuming a fertility control project for a herd of free-roaming horses south and east of Reno in a new agreement with the same mustang protection group that filed suit last year when the state pulled out of a similar deal.

Nevada Department of Agriculture Director Jennifer Ott announced the new agreement Tuesday with the American Wild Horse Campaign.

Ott says she looks forward to working with the group in their shared goal of a sustainable, long-term solution for managing the more than 2,000 state-owned, estray horses in the Virginia Range.

The California-based group and Cynthia Ashe of Silver Springs filed suit last April to block what they said would be "a giveaway of a valuable and cherished Nevada asset" after the state canceled their existing agreement and tried unsuccessfully to sell the animals.