The Bureau of Indian Affairs has spent $182,000 to round up and process 829 horses on the Crow Reservation in Montana, regional director Ed Parisian said.

The BIA hopes to recover the money through sale of the horses, which were formerly owned by Jim Leachman, a non-Indian rancher who has been charged with animal cruelty. The sale takes place this weekend.

"The decision was made that the public sale would go forward and we would not take one bid for all the horses," Parisian told The Billings Gazette. "It's too late for that because we have people coming in from all over the country."

The BIA paid the Crow Tribe $45,000 to round up the horses.

Get the Story:
Leachman horse sale a go, for now (The Billings Gazette 4/1)

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