News
Sports
Weather
Classifieds
Opinions
Obituaries
Special Reports

Home
About Us
FAQ
Links
Advertising

Carstairs Courier
Didsbury Review
Innisfail Province
Mountain View Gazette
Olds Albertan
Sundre Round Up

Commercial Printing
Great West Newspapers

A third man has been charged in the case of a pregnant feral or wild horse shot and left to rot west of Sundre last year.

Gary Cape, 35, a Calgary resident, faces charges of killing cattle (a horse) and careless use of a firearm, and possession of a weapon contrary to a probation order.

Two other men, Jason Nixon, 29, and Earl Anderson, 40, and a 13-year-old boy also face the same charges.

Nixon also faces charges of assault, uttering threats and obstruction of a peace officer. The first two charges stem from an alleged incident on November 6, and the third charge stems from an alleged incident on Jan. 4.

The charges relate to the shooting of a horse west of Sundre sometime between May and October 2009.

All four accused were scheduled to appear in Didsbury provincial court on March 1. However, agents appeared for all four, with each of their cases adjourned until March 29 for plea.

Following court, Crown prosecutor Roy Smith said a decision may be made on March 29 as to whether to try the accused men together or separately. The boy would have to be tried separately in any event.

Doreen Henderson, with the Olds-based Wild Horses of Alberta Society, attended Monday’s court appearance.

Outside court she said she is pleased that the case is now before the courts and that WHOAS officials will be attending subsequent related court appearances.

Many of the feral or wild horses west of Sundre are not afraid of humans, leaving them particularly vulnerable to illegal shooting, she said.

WHOAS, which has been monitoring and watching over the horses west of Sundre for a decade, is calling on the province to pass special legislation for the horses.

WHOAS says the horses west of Sundre area wild; the province says they are feral.

Other animal rights activists, including members of the DAISY animal protection group, also attended Monday’s court session.

More than two dozen feral or wild horses have been shot and killed east of Sundre since 2001. Police and Fish and Wildlife officers are continuing the investigation into those killings.

Anyone with information about the unsolved horse killings is being asked to call Sundre RCMP at 403-638-3675.