Wild horse populations in southern West Virginia are on the rise and problems are increasing because of it.
In Tuesday’s meeting, the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Subcommittee heard from a West Virginia horse rescue executive director on problems the state is experiencing. The committee also heard advice from a Kentucky horse rescue executive director on how Kentucky is handling their free-roaming horses.
Tinia Creamer, executive director of the Heart of Phoenix Horse Rescue, said the free-roaming horse population in southern West Virginia is a problem – with about 2,000 horses in Mingo and McDowell counties in 2014. This is more than the state can geographically handle, Creamer said.
“Horses just can’t be sustained by the land in West Virginia,” Creamer said. “We can hardly maintain 500.”
Creamer has been involved with the care and assistance to these horses for 10 years. The Heart of Phoenix Horse Rescue is the largest horse rescue in West Virginia and the only equine training program in West Virginia.
Wild horses also cause a lot of danger on the roads, not just in crossing. In order to get nutrients they need to survive in the winter months, horses will stay in the roads to lick the salt off the surface. This presents a danger for drivers and horses.
Creamer also said that there are rescues nationwide and vet schools willing to help in the humane and safe removal of some of these horses to adoption shelters and sanctuaries.
“These horses are not coming from owners. Owners actually care about and take care of their horses,” Creamer said. “These horses are coming from horse traders who have thin, sick horses and are trying to increase their weight by releasing them on mine lands. These lands are not safe for horses and we have found horses either dead in spaces where they couldn’t get out or with catastrophic injuries.”
Ginny Grulke, executive director of the Appalachian Horse Center of Kentucky, spoke to legislators about her work with free-roaming horses and how they are cared for in Kentucky. The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources is researching how other Appalachian states are caring for free-roaming horses.
Creamer asked the committee to consider legislation to create a legal fee for abandoning horses and to make changes to the stray holding period.
Gary Foster, Assistant Chief for Game Management, presented the Big Game Report for 2018. Foster said national surveys show West Virginia averaged $400 million in revenue for hunting. In his report for the archery and crossbow season, crossbows are half the harvest legally collected and have become more popular since crossbow legislation passed in 2015. The buck firearm harvest had about 250,000 hunters participating as well.
Some new seasons are also coming in the spring, one would only allow the use of more primitive weapons such as muzzleloaders and bare bows.
Foster also updated legislators on elk introduced to West Virginia. He said West Virginia’s elk are doing well on reclaimed mine lands. He said he is looking to bring in more elk in 2020 and look for another release site.
Sen. Mark Maynard, R-Wayne, asked Foster whether he took a position on baiting bears. Foster cited one of his agency’s surveys that showed the public was not accepting of baiting bears. He said although baiting is highly effective for killing bears, there is a very high risk of disease and parasites spreading to other big game animals. He also said there have been a few cases of mange seen in some black bears in West Virginia.
