Bill to Protect Salt River Wild Horses Passes in AZ

This post is from the American Wild Horse Preservation.

We have fantastic news to share!

The bill to protect the famed Salt River wild horses in the Tonto National Forest near Phoenix cleared its last hurdle in the Arizona Legislature this afternoon. On a vote of 53 to 3, the Arizona House of Representatives passed HB 2340, which criminalizes the killing or harassing of a Salt River wild horse. The bill specifies that the horses are not stray livestock, and establishes a process for their humane management through cooperative agreements between federal, state, and local authorities and the community-based Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. 

Today was a great day for wild horses in Arizona!

Congratulations to our coalition partner, the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group and its president Simone Netherlands, for their unwavering dedication and tireless work to protect these amazing horses, and to Arizona Representative Kelly Townsend, the bill’s sponsor, for her dedication to the horses and her hard work in getting the legislation passed.

Special thanks to our supporters, who have given us the resources to fight for passage of this bill alongside the Salt River Wild Horse Management Group. Thanks to you, we were able to organize and deploy the necessary resources to work with Rep. Townsend and others to shepherd the bill through its many twists and turns in the legislature. Now onto the Governor’s desk for signature!

With last month’s victory in the U.S. Senate for North Carolina’s historic Corolla mustangs and this win for the Salt River horses in Arizona, it’s turning out to be a great spring for wild horses and those who advocate for them!

Thanks to all who make this work possible…We are making a difference and it feels so good!