Feral Horses in Alberta
Last review/updated: July 15, 2008
Shooting
or hunting horses is illegal according to section 444 of the Criminal
Code.
Albertans have a strong emotional connection to “wild” horses due, in part, to their role in settling the West. Wild horses have been captured and tamed for centuries in North America to provide people with a means of transportation, to help with labour in the fields and, in general, to improve quality of life in a variety ways.
Alberta’s free-ranging horses which are primarily located west of the town of Sundre, are descendants of domestic horses that were used in logging and guiding/outfitting operations in the early 1900’s. When the horses were no longer needed, they were set free. Since then, these horses have produced several generations of offspring and continue to occupy the area around the original operations west of Sundre and Rocky Mountain House. These numbers were added to over the years by escaped and illegally released horses. Early attempts to round up the horses (in the 1920’s) were unsuccessful. Today there continues to be a viable population of free-ranging horses in this area.
Following concerns about mistreatment of horses being captured on public land in the early 1990’s, the Alberta government created the Horse Capture Regulation under the Stray Animals Act. This regulation was developed to ensure humane treatment of feral horses during capture. The Horse Capture Regulation restricted the use of inhumane methods of capture, such as the use of snares. It also provides the government the ability to regulate the issuance of licences for horse capture in designated areas of the province where horses are impacting the range, wildlife habitat, forest regeneration, or for the safety of the public or the horses (if horses start straying onto highways). Conversely, the issuance of licences may be restricted if it appears the horse populations are declining.
In January of 2008, following a review of the legislation several minor amendments to the regulation were approved. These amendments provide clarity between designated and public lands, provide better protection of the feral horses by ensuring weapons are not used to capture feral horses, removing any reference to “hunting”, and providing the ability to waive licence fees to ensure horses are removed from areas where they are creating safety hazards. The regulation continues to prohibit the use of snares as a method of horse capture and provides for limits on the number of horses that can be removed, when they can be removed, where they can be captured and in what manner they can be captured. As a result, provisions of the regulation continue to ensure an adequate balance between sustainable feral horse populations and protection of other resource interests.
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions please contact Feral.Horses@gov.ab.ca.
| Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Feral Horses in Alberta | FAQ Feral Horses | Number of Pages = 4 File Size = 347KB |
| Feral Horse Capture on Provincial Crown Land (Stray Animals Act and Horse Capture Regulations) | Feral Horses Capture | Number of Pages = 5 File Size = 114KB |
| Map of Designated Horse Capture Area in Alberta | Feral Horses Capture Map | |
| Application for Horse Capture Licence | Feral Horses Capture Map | Number of Pages =1 File Size = 81KB |
| Standard Conditions for the Horse Capture License | Feral Horses Capture | Number of Pages = 2 File Size = 363KB |
