SUMMERLAND, B.C. — At least one orchard in Summerland has had its crops damaged by feral horses, according to its owner.
Jean Lauer says she’s spent hours putting up caution tape as a make-shift fence to try and keep the horses out.
“They put manure where you don’t want it, they trample the soil, they damage the fruit,” explains Lauer, who says she can’t afford to put up fencing around her entire orchard.
She says the horses also pull off branches from fruit trees.
She adds trying to keep them out or chasing them out of the orchard is taking away from valuable working hours.
A nearby farmer says he’s also seen the horses, but hasn’t had as big of an impact as Lauer.
“We’ve got fencing around for our sheep, so we are not too affected by the horses,” says Stefan Bienz.
Bienz has lived in the area for a decade and says it’s gotten worse over the years.
He says he has seen between 10 and 20 horses roaming in the area all at once.
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“They are beautiful to see but they probably do a lot of damage to the fruit in the orchards,” says Bienz.
Both the Penticton Indian Band (PIB) and the Regional District of the Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) say they’ve heard numerous complaints over the years.
RDOS program manager, Zoe Kirk, responded to Global News via text message saying they are working on the issue with the PIB.
She adds it is a very complex issue as “horses are not like an invasive weed, they are living, breathing animals.”
However, Lauer says that solution, putting up the fencing, is easier said than done.
“I’ve heard it all before, it’s fine for them, they don’t have to put the money out. Farming is not a lucrative business,” says Lauer.
She says her bottom line is being affected and she has had enough.
“If they come in here again, I can put them in one of the pens over here and round them up, I don’t know, nobody seems to have the courage to do anything, and nobody will admit who they belong to, so if they want to call them feral horses, they should be up for grabs for anybody.”
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