As Navajo Nation officials struggle to decide how to deal with free-roaming horses, two New Mexico residents have started a Facebook group dedicated to finding solutions other than slaughter.
The Navajo Times reports that Ron Jackson and Sharron Berry launched the page “Indigenous Horse Nation Protector Alliance” after noticing a herd near his home in Todilto Park had disappeared. On their page, Jackson and Berry say they fear horses are being rounded up and sold for slaughter. Meanwhile, the Times reports that Navajo officials say a horse hunt is an option, but they are looking into alternatives such as fertility control. At a meeting in Fort Defiance, Arizona, officials reportedly said an estimated 30,000 to 45,000 feral horses are wandering the reservation and it could cost tens of millions of dollars to treat the mares with birth control.
