by Pat Raia
Equine Rescues blew the Whistle and Saved the Mustangs
The Mustang Paint, Voodoo, stood and looked up to Jerry Finch when he first flew over 3-Strikes
Jason Meduna, the former Nebraska training ranch operator convicted on multiple felony animal cruelty counts involving the maltreatment of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mustangs, will appear in Morrill County District Court on Feb. 23 for sentencing.
Meduna was charged with 149 counts of class 4 felony animal abandonment and cruel animal neglect resulting in injury or death last April after Morrill County law enforcement authorities and personnel from equine welfare agencies removed more than 200 allegedly malnourished mustangs from his 3-Strikes Ranch in Alliance.
Shortly after the seizure, the BLM cited Meduna’s wife, Anissa, for treating an adopted wild horse inhumanely. She paid a $325 fine, said BLM spokesperson Cindy Wertz.
Habitat for Horses, a rescue based in Texas, and the Lifesavers Wild Horse Rescue in California received custody of seized animals. All the animals received veterinary and other rehabilitative care. They are all currently residing in adoptive homes.
On Jan. 15, a Morrill County jury found Meduna guilty of 145 of the charges. He was acquitted on four counts pertaining to horses discovered dead on his property, said Morrill County Attorney Jean Rhodes.
“Meduna faces up to 5 years in jail and up to $10,000 in fines for each guilty count,” Rhodes said. “The judge can also put limitations on his future ownership and contact with animals.”
Meduna’s attorney declined to comment on the verdict.
Habitat for Horses President Jerry Finch said cooperation among law enforcement and animal welfare agencies figured significantly in the case’s outcome.
“People came together and saved the lives of over 200 horses, and thanks to the persistence of the justice system, the person responsible will be punished instead of receiving a slap on the hand,” he said.
“Stay tuned – an Op-ed coming, soon, on who got away and who remains at large – R.T.”
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Categories: Equine Rescue, Horse News, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
RT, Thanks for reporting on this significant horror. mar
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February 23rd cant come soon enough!!! I hope those 70 tortured souls of the horses that died haunt him until the day he dies. Thanks RT
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What I want to know is have the folks who rescued these animals been reimbursed? Veterinarian care, feed, transport, etc. Will they recieve compensation from Meduna and all the others? Since rescue organizations are in it for the money…LOL !!! what about the expenses Habitat For Horses and Lifesavers incurred? Not to mention all of the people who donated hay from their own personal supply.
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Great work.
Inspiring and heartwarming. Thank you RT.
This should be taught to our children in school: How to care about animals and save them from an uncertain fate. Kids should grow up and be able to recognize when something is wrong and learn what to do and who to contact.
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The pix from the 3 Strikes Ranch Mustangs look something like the weaker Mustangs at Fallon; the same type of thin mustangs lying in sand @ Fallon as there are at the 3 strikes ranch…
Why don’t they take those stupid plastic neck tags from the Mustangs; don’t those impede eating?
why do the Mustangs have to have a plastic neck tag AND a Freeze brand AND spray paint ?
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yes, the wild horses housed by the blm look much worse than when they were first rounded up. and does the blm give anything for sand? where are the mineral/salt blocks?, i hope they give those.
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I don’t see any difference between the 3 strkies ranch and Fallon NV;
at the 3 strikes i think they said about 67 mustangs perished
at Fallon 90 mustangs perished; so that is a greater number than @ 3 strikes ranch !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buPvB-JcXQY – 98k – Cached
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There is a connection because BLM sent (by their records) over 200 mustangs to 3 strikes. The mustangs they sent were like the older wild horses in Fallon. That devil imo killed 400 or more, remember the horses were breeding and there are bones everywhere from years past.
With the BLM its the fast death by helicopter running, slow deaths, a 40 year history of ‘thousands of mustangs’ missing. yeah similar because horse killing equals the devils work. How many over a 40 year history ?? fallon is the slow death the blm is famous for and note how many died that the blm doesn’t report?
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I am astonished with the cruelty humanness place on animals. If only we could justly turn the tables on their vicious attacks on innocent horses!
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