BLM/Cattors covertly loading and shipping wild horses from Sheldon ~ Photo by Leslie Peeples |
Plaintiff in several suits against the BLM for lack of transparency and violation of First Amendment Rights, Laura Leigh of GrassRootsHorse, was tipped off that there was illicit activity taking place at Sheldon as many roads were closed due to a “wild horse gather”. |
On September 22, 2010 Ms. Leigh discussed this situation with wild horse advocate Leslie Peeples, who was already on the road to visit another wild horse herd, and Ms. Peeples immediately changed plans and headed to Sheldon to investigate as no such “gather” was indicated in any public records. |
On the morning of Sept. 23, 2010 Ms. Peeples phoned the Lakeview office of the USFWS and when asked if a wild horse gather was being conducted she was told, “yes”. |
Cattoor Truck at Sheldon ~ Photo by Leslie Peeples |
Ms. Peeples headed out to Sheldon on back roads when she encountered an oncoming semi-truck with a livestock trailer being towed behind it at a reasonable speed. Ms. Peeples intended to ask the driver where the stampede was taking place so she pulled her car over to the side of the road and stepped out into her lane of traffic to flag the driver down for information. Upon seeing this, according to filed court documents, the truck driver aimed for the center of the road, speeded up and missed running over Ms. Peoples by only inches. |
"From my earliest memories, I have loved horses with a longing beyond words." ~ Robert Vavra
