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Missoula resident urges county action after dangerous feral‑horse encounters in Miller Creek
Summary
A Miller Creek resident told Missoula County commissioners that recurring feral‑horse incidents have endangered people and property and urged ordinances banning feeding, a county response agency, and humane population‑control and rehoming plans. She said state statutes and unclear jurisdiction hamper emergency care.
Vanessa Fink, a Miller Creek resident, told the Missoula County Commissioners during public comment that repeated encounters with feral horses have put residents and animals at risk and that existing agencies have declined to intervene. "I think it's time as a community that we take responsibility for these animals," she said, recounting incidents from 2021 through this year, including injured animals, a foal stuck in barbed wire, and collisions on Lower Miller Creek Road.
Fink described a 2021 filly found with deep gashes and said she contacted Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), the Bureau of Land Management, the brand inspector, the county sheriff and animal control but was told none were responsible. She recounted hauling a nonambulatory horse to a private veterinarian only after protracted calls with a brand inspector and said statutes governing 'abandoned horses' complicated care and treatment.
She also described traffic‑stopping rescues on a blind curve where the speed limit is 35–45 mph, a child kicked by a mare who required medical attention, and two collisions on Miller Creek Road that totaled trucks and resulted in an animal being euthanized after a broken leg. "It took over an hour and a half for the highway patrol officer to get permission to shoot the horse and end his suffering because they aren't under anybody's purview," she said.
Fink asked the county to consider specific steps: adopt ordinances to make feeding, watering or keeping feral horses unlawful; designate a county agency responsible for responding to feral‑horse incidents and creating an injured‑animal response plan; support a volunteer‑led education effort in schools; and develop a humane management plan that includes options for removal and rehoming rather than defaulting to auction. She noted current statute sends rounded‑up horses to auction and said the community should discuss population‑control measures and hazing to keep horses off residential streets.
Fink offered four letters from other Miller Creek residents who could not attend and left contact information with county staff.
The commissioners did not take formal action during the meeting; staff replied that the comments were "good food for thought" and requested Fink's contact information for follow up. The record shows Fink's request raised jurisdictional and animal‑welfare questions that would require interagency clarification and possible ordinance drafting before any enforcement changes could occur.
