Thanks to people ignoring the rules to stay away from the Currituck Outer Banks’ wild horses, one mustang with a non-critical medical condition is in danger of being removed from the beach.
“We are trying to prevent his removal and it takes a lot of time, work, and worry on the part of our staff and vet team,” Meg Puckett, her manager for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund said in a Facebook post Saturday. “We are making progress but this morning he’s been constantly annoyed by people trying to get a closer look at him. How devastating would it be to have to remove him due to habituation after working so hard to keep him wild?”
As tourism season begins, the CWHF is literally begging visitors to follow the rules and stay at least 50 feet away from the wild horse herd that roams the the northern beaches. And they’re reminding people that feeding wild horses is potentially deadly for the horse.
“Last year we lost a yearling colt that was fed a whole apple and choked on it, aspirated, suffered for days, and then died. All because someone thought their one apple wouldn’t hurt,” Puckett said.
It is illegal to come within 50 feet of the wild horses, and the law is strictly enforced by the Currituck County Sheriff’s Office.
This story originally appeared on OBXToday.com. Read More local stories here.