Nevada tribe dismissed as defendant in horse roundup lawsuit
RENO — A federal judge has dismissed claims against a Nevada Indian tribal government over a disputed horse roundup in Washoe County.
U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du said that even if claims the roundup swept up horses that shouldn’t have been included are true, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe’s status as a sovereign government shields it from legal claims, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
But Du says a Jan. 17 order to refrain from sending horses to slaughter continues while the search for Lady, a privately owned horse thought to have been wrongly herded away, goes on.
Lady’s owner says that in the immediate aftermath of the roundup she begged officials to allow her to search temporary holding pens for her horse, to no avail.
The case stems from an effort by nonprofit American Wild Horse Campaign to recover at least 271 horses in Palomino Valley.
