(Editor's note: BassFan received the following statement from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department regarding the account published earlier today of some dead and dying horses near Falcon Lake observed by Bassmaster Elite Series angler Jeremy Starks. The statement is reprinted in its entirety.)
A Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game warden had begun collecting information in regard to distressed horses on a ranch adjacent to Falcon Lake in Zapata County two days prior to Jeremy Starks' web posting on the situation.
On Dec. 4 Game Warden Colby Hensz, stationed in Zapata County, had seen the emaciated horses and began looking into the case. He talked to an adjoining property owner in an effort to determine who owned the animals and intended to continue looking into the matter.
The two game wardens Starks said he saw on a boat ramp near the horses had been patrolling the lake and were not involved in the investigation initiated by Warden Henz. Starks did not make contact with the two wardens.
While Starks had no contact with the two game wardens he saw at the boat ramp last Thursday, when he talked with Game Warden Jake Mort on Friday, Dec. 7, Mort immediately reported the situation to the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office.
TPWD game wardens and Zapata County deputies are continuing their investigation of this incident.
As a state conservation agency committed to sustainable and ethical hunting and fishing, TPWD respects life and deplores the unnecessary suffering of any living thing.
