In Arizona, state law may not protect horses from slaughter

In Arizona's Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, advocates say ranch hands working for Black Canyon Cattle Company have removed dozens of wild horses since April after the Forest Service reclassified the roughly 400-strong Heber herd as stray livestock, stripping protections under the 1971 Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act. Advocates say some horses end up trucked to Mexico or Canada for slaughter, while the ranch's owner, Nelson Shirley, says the animals are simply damaging his grazing allotment and that he is following state stray-claim procedures.

A federal judge issued an injunction in July halting further Forest Service removals while the herd's legal status is litigated, but that order does not stop ranchers from claiming horses that wander onto private land or into fence traps. Arizona does not require branding of privately owned horses, and a state agriculture department spokesperson said ranchers retrieving a stray horse from federal land have no obligation to report it.

That combination, a federal reclassification plus a state law with no branding or reporting requirement, has effectively left oversight of the herd to whoever reaches the fence trap first.

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