FERAL NEVADA HORSES BOUGHT BY ACTIVISTS

With the backing of a California winery and Madeline Pickens, a group called Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue bought 172 horses rounded up from federal rangelands in Nevada Saturday. The horses likely would have been sold to slaughter plants in Canada or Mexico if the group hadn't bought them for $31,415.

Unlinke other horses rounded from federal lands — and then usually put up for adoption — these horses weren't considered "wild" under federal law that protects wild horses and burros. Instead, they were considered feral horses or strays — animals that had recently escaped or been turned loose by their owners in Nevada's Pilot Valley.

To read more from the Associated Press, click HERE.