LETTERS

Horses aren’t the biggest threat on Bush Highway

David Heekin
There are dozens of wild horses which live along the Salt and Verde Rivers northeast of Mesa. This location is at the Coon Bluff Recreation area which is one of several recreation sites along the lower Salt River.  Tonto Forest officials have announced a plan to remove the horses from their environment. Red Mountain is in the background across the Salt River.

When I was an airline pilot based in Guam, a friend’s cat was shot and killed by his Guamanian neighbors. They were going to pour a sidewalk and did not want the cat to leave tracks in the wet cement.

I thought this was the stupidest logic I had ever heard until I listened to a Forest Service spokesman lamely tell 12 News that the Salt River wild horses were being removed for safety purposes.

MORE: Wild horses near Salt River to be removed

He said horses were seen at Butcher Jones while children played nearby. One of them might get hurt by a horse. In a desert rest area populated by rattlers, scorpions, tarantulas and javelinas, a child might be injured by a horse?

How about if parents watch their children and tell them “Don’t go near the horsies,” as if the horses would let them approach anyway? These magnificent animals are some of the last vestiges of the West.

The biggest dangers I have seen along Bush Highway are portly bikers on loud Harleys, rude bicyclists in loud spandex, and drunken tubers trying to find their way in or out of the Salt River area. Why don’t you manage them and leave the horses for people to enjoy?

David Heekin, Fort McDowell