RENO, Nev. (AP) — A northern Nevada woman who claims a neighboring tribe stole her horse during a roundup last month has dropped her lawsuit because she's convinced the horse already had been sold to a slaughterhouse in Mexico.
A federal judge in Reno canceled a hearing scheduled Monday on Colleen Westlake's suit after the woman who lives in Palomino Valley north of the city withdrew the litigation.
U.S. District Judge Miranda Du earlier extended a protective order preventing the slaughter of the horse named Lady that has been missing since the tribal roundup in early January.
Horse advocates investigating the whereabouts of Lady and as many as 270 horses that were taken told the Reno Gazette-Journal that they had discovered evidence the animals already had been shipped from Nevada and likely already transported to Mexico for slaughter.
