【新唐人2009年5月22日訊】上週二包括一匹懷孕母馬在內的共三匹野馬被發現死在距Sundre30公里遠的地方。經調查證實，四匹馬是被人有意槍殺致死的。事件一發生就引起了卡爾加里民眾的關注和憤慨。

亞伯塔野生動物協會對這一行為表示譴責，不斷增加線索獎金，號召目擊者提供有用線索，幫助政府將這些隨意踐踏野生動物生存權的壞人早日抓獲。據統計，有多達20起野生動物被殺事件因缺乏有效的目擊證據而無法抓捕嫌疑人。

截止目前，此次野馬被殺的線索獎金已經高達2萬5千元，野生動物協會期待著重賞之下，有良知的知情人能勇敢的站出來，為無辜死去的動物討回公道。

此次的野馬被殺事件也引起了國際社會的廣泛關注，世界各地的人們通過郵件、電話等多種方式時刻關注事件解決的進程。

Police and wildlife officials are investigating the fatal shooting of three wild horses, including a pregnant mare, near Sundre, northwest of Calgary.

The animals were found Tuesday night near the Mountain Aire Lodge motel and campground west of the town, about 500 metres from a mountainside road, the RCMP said Wednesday.

It appears the horses were shot from the road late in the afternoon, police said. Evidence at the scene indicates that the mare went into labour after she was shot, said Bob Henderson, president of the Wild Horses of Alberta Society.

“For the first time in a long time, I actually cried this morning. It hurts your heart when you watch them out there, the way that they are and live out there. They’re such a beautiful, magnificent animal, and to see this needless, senseless act just sickens the heart," said Henderson, who visited the scene on Wednesday.

The pregnant mare looked ready to foal within a day or two, Henderson said. A stud, about two to three years old, and a yearling colt were also found dead.

“He suffered a long, agonizing death by the look of the scene," Henderson said of the stud, who was found dead on his back with his legs in the air, tangled in some trees.

The deaths bring the total number of wild horses killed in Alberta to more than 22 over the last four years. The society is offering a $10,000 reward for information on the killings.

Anyone convicted of killing cattle, which is the category feral horses fall under, faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison under Canada’s Criminal Code.

The Alberta government estimates there are about 300 feral horses in the Sundre area. Provincial biologists don’t consider them true wildlife because they originated from domestic horses used in logging and mining operations in the early 1900s. Horses were often turned loose or escaped, leading to several generations of offspring that still live in the area. Other feral horses in recent decades may have been illegally abandoned by owners, according to provincial officials.