Wild horses shot dead

Bureau of Land Management officials in Cedarville are investigating the shooting deaths of six wild mustangs.

Carcasses of the animals were found on Dec. 5 along the Nevada-California border in Washoe County, according to ABC affiliate KOLO-TV. The horses are thought to have been deceased for a couple of weeks.

Wild horses are federally protected, but the animals have been targets many times before. The shootings come amid controversy surrounding a federal plan to round up thousands of wild mustangs in Nevada.

In Defense of Animals, a California-based animal-protection agency, has filed a lawsuit in an attempt to block the government from conducting helicopter-assisted roundups. The group maintains that the plan violates the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971.