THE HISTORY

Wild Horse Protection Began in Nevada

Velma "Wild Horse Annie" Johnston was born in Reno, Nevada in 1912. She grew up around horses from an early age since her father used them for his freighting service.

When she was 11 years old, she tragically caught polio — the experience left a huge impact on her and made her very empathetic to animal suffering. After she recovered, she devoted her time to caring for the animals on her father’s ranch.

One morning while on her way to work, Velma witnessed a terrible scene — a truck full of injured wild horses recently captured from Nevada’s Virginia Range. Bravely, Velma followed the truck to its final destination, a slaughterhouse.

After this experience, she learned that ranchers, hunters, and “mustangers” would capture these horses for slaughter using airplanes and trucks, often with no regard for the injuries they caused. Velma was horrified.

Once she saw the brutality, she could not ignore it. From that day forward, she dedicated her life to stopping the inhumane treatment, abuse, and slaughter of wild horses.

Velma organized a huge grassroots campaign to put an end to the mistreatment, abuse, and eradication of wild horses, driving national attention to this issue. Her efforts were successful and resulted in the passage of the Wild Horse Annie Act of 1959.

This Act, which prohibited the use of motorized vehicles to hunt wild horses and burros on all public lands, did not include her recommendations for federal protection and management of the wild horse population. So, Velma kept fighting in Washington.

She inspired thousands of schoolchildren to write letters to their elected officials and even testified before Congress herself!

After another decade of advocacy, Congress finally passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, the most significant and influential piece of legislation affecting wild horses in the United States.