Kentucky lawmakers are considering a bill that would reduce the number days counties must hold estray horses while their owners are located or until the animals are declared unclaimed.
Biologist David Ledford, PhD, president of the Appalachian Wildlife Foundation in Corbin, Kentucky, said that since 2009, thousands of horses have been turned out on private lands in several areas of eastern Kentucky including Bell, Perry, Floyd, and Pike counties. Some of those horses belong to owners who, without land owners' permission, turn the animals out to graze on property belonging to either individuals or to coal mining companies, he said, while other horses are permanently turned out by unknown owners without property owners' permission.
“There are horses everywhere,” Ledford said. “And because there are so many horses, these areas are overgrazed and there is nothing for them to eat.”
As a result, the animals wander through populated areas, damage homes and crops, and pose traffic hazards, Ledford said.