A non-profit organization that works for the preservation and protection of wild horses and their habitat filed a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy between Placitas-area residents and the New Mexico Livestock Board (NMLB) to remove free-roaming horses from the eastern foothills of the Sandia Mountains.
The lawsuit filed by Placitas-based Wild Horse Observers Association (WHOA) alleges that at least four horses were unlawfully corralled on private property by residents in the area and transported out of the area in violation of the state’s Wild Horse Act. It further states that the horses may have been taken out of state or otherwise auctioned off – and that two people affiliated with a homeowners association may have profited from the sale.
Filed in the First Judicial District in Santa Fe on Nov. 20, the lawsuit alleges people affiliated with the San Pedro Creek Estates Homeowners Association and NMLB regional supervisor Benjamin Gonzales “are planning to capture and relocate or sell additional wild horses from the Sandoval County area.”
The lawsuit also claims that Sandoval County Sheriff Jesse James Casaus and the New Mexico Livestock Board were aware that horses were being hauled off but did nothing about it in violation of their mandatory duties under state law.
Patience O’Dowd, WHOA’s president, did not return messages from the Signpost. The organization’s website says it has 300 members throughout the state.
O’Dowd has been an outspoken critic of Sandoval County’s management of wild horses, including adopting an ordinance passed this year that made it ilegal to feed them without a permit.
Darron “Shawn” Davis, deputy director at NMLB, declined comment on the lawsuit, saying a response will come when the board’s attorneys answer the lawsuit.
Sandoval County provided the Signpost with a short statement: “The accusations contained in the WHOA filing lack merit.”
The alleged plot
Defendants in the case include Andre Baine, president of the homeowners association; one of its members, James Carroll; and David Gonzales, who is identified as a security officer for the homeowners group. It says San Pedro Creek Estates consists of 375 home lots of a minimum of 10 acres apiece in the foothills on the eastern “green” side of the Sandia Mountains.
According to the complaint, Baine and Carroll conspired to use food and water to “lure” horses into a temporary corral on private property adjacent to an open space frequented by free-roaming horses. “The plan was to take captured wild horses to a ‘horse broker’ who might distribute them to other states, slaughter them or put them down in ‘humane ways,’” the complaint states.
The suit claims that four horses, including a foal, were captured in a corral on Carroll’s property on March 30, and the next day NMLB’s Gonzales came to the site and took photos. The lawsuit says Gonzales determined the horses were not livestock, so the NMLB had no jurisdiction. He allegedly told Carroll the horses didn’t belong to anyone and “hauled them off” from protected land without a transport permit.
WHOA’s lawsuit says that it believes at least one horse went to Colorado to be sold and others were sold at auction in Belen “with a portion of the proceeds from the sale going to Defendenat David Gonzales or Defendant Carroll.”
Efforts to reach Baine, Carroll and Benjamin Gonzales through the homeowners association were unsuccessful. Online court records this week didn’t show that they had acquired legal counsel.
Represented by Steven K. Sanders & Associates and the Pia Gallegos law firm, both of Albuquerque, WHOA asks for Judge Francis J. Mathew to order writs of mandamnuses and declare injunctive relief that would order the Livestock Board, Benjamin Gonzales and Sandoval County and Sheriff Casaus to comply with the Wild Horse Act. It also asks for compensatory and punitive damages to be levied against Baine, Carroll and David Gonzales and disgorge them from money they gained from horse sales.
Ongoing issue
Wild horses have been a controversial topic in Sandoval County. Some argue horse populations have grown too big for their habitat. The county contracts with a non-profit group to monitor the health of free-roaming horses north of Placitas on the western side of the mountain.
Earlier this year, the Sandoval County Commission approved a ban against feeding free-roaming horses without a permit. The County contends the ordinance was in the interest of public safety, as horses wander into neighborhoods and onto roads in search of handouts. Opponents of the ordinance said the feeding ban amounted to animal cruelty.
O’Dowd, WHOA’s president, has clashed with Deputy County Manager John Garcia at public meetings regarding the wild horse feeding ban. She’s also accused the County of falsifying a report about a horse fatality on NM 165 earlier this year, suggesting the accident was staged just prior to the 2023 state legislative session for political reasons.
thank you for the article on WHOAs lawsuit. Please keep us up to date on further developments.
As a horse owner & Placitas resident of 46 years, this horses on the road & in our gardens was never a problem until alfalfa hit $14 a bale, about 10 years ago shady people set up non profit fronts to supposedly feed the NOT wild horses. These liberal new comers sued the livestock board, who for years did an excellent job. These non profit groups endanger us all by forcing their open range upon Placitas, while pocketing what ever they don’t buy feed with. If these people want to keep these horses, they should in a fenced in area like all of us do that love our horses. Alas that
would cost them quite a lot of money, if they collect donations for feed of these horses how much goes in their pockets? They are not horse people, they are opportunist, that is quite clear, & care nothing for our safety.
God bless our law enforcement & the livestock board, may they prevail.
Is there REALLY a Watering and Feeding Ban of Wildlife-WildHores in Sandoval County as Mr. Last implies? https://whoanm.org/wordpress/watering-and-feeding-wild-horses-is-legal-in-sandoval-county/
The Complaint is public record and can be viewed here : https://whoanm.org/wordpress/