Update from Hidden Valley on Damonte Ranch and other Reno news

Posted on by

Virginia Range wild horses

December 6, 2012

Hi Everyone,
It was another messy day in Damonte Ranch with another corral trap set up by the DiLoretos in the Damonte’s big field off of Veterans Pkwy across from the DiLoretos Homes development site. But some good things happened despite the Ag’s efforts to remove 13 more horses. The trap was spotted early this morning and Mike DiLoreto was spotted protecting it. Volunteers quickly showed up, along with the DiLoreto’s private security force and the Reno PD. The Ag showed up later in the morning and try as they might, they couldn’t get the horses to load. Finally after an hour or so, the stallion and 3 mares escaped the trap! The brand inspector and his team of henchmen spent the rest of the afternoon chasing the 4 of them around the 100 acre field of alfalfa and surprise, surprise…..they couldn’t catch them!!!
In the end, they didn’t get any horses loaded today but will be returning in the morning to try again.They did attempt to load the 2 week old foal onto the trailer with the 12 adults – a recipe for death? Remind you of the story told by Wild Horse Annie? We have requested that they bring a separate trailer for this baby and the mare.The Reno PD was there and they were fantastic!! While they couldn’t stop the round up because DiLoreto had permission from Damonte to put up his own trap on the property, they didn’t interfere with the advocates and concerned citizens who stayed watch, monitored the situation, and handed out flyers to help inform the public passing by.On the positive side, some good relations were created today and talk of stopping this insanity – others have noticed that the inept efforts of the Ag are having no positive affect and just causing an uproar. The brand inspector made quite an impression on many people again today…none of it positive.

On the sad side, he now has 25 horses plus the baby so they will be advertised in the next week or so and should be going to the livestock auction in several weeks. Please spread the word – our organization can no longer buy any more of our beautiful spirits of the West!!! Our resources have been stretched to the brink and we need to budget what is left for the 80+ horses we still have and need to feed and care for and gentle them. If you are interested in buying any of these 26 horses, or know someone who is interested, please let me know. We will gladly help at the auction, but will need you to take possession of the horse(s) right away.

We can rescue/buy more horses only after we have adopted out more horses or unless we receive a large amount of donations for hay and care to cover us through 2013.

Please don’t forget the Board of Agriculture meeting scheduled for Tuesday, December 11th. We would like to have as many people as possible from across the Virginia Range attend as a show of support for the horses and in protest of the policies affecting our horses. We are targeting the public comment section of the meeting – any person interested in speaking will be allowed to speak for 2 minutes. The final agenda for the meeting should be available on their website tomorrow, Thursday.

Best wishes,
Shannon

President, Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund

All the money allocated to the rescue of our wild horses comes from donations received from local, national, and international sources. The HVWHPF is an all-volunteer registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the Virginia Range wild horses. Find us at www.hiddenvalleyhorses.com or on facebook at Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund.

Hidden Valley Wild Horse Protection Fund, PO Box 20052, Reno, NV 89515