A spokesman for the American Wild Horse Campaign says it was taken by surprise when the Nevada Agriculture Department canceled the cooperative agreement it has to manage Virginia Range horses.

Grace Kuhn said AWHC has “always adhered to the letter and spirit of the cooperative agreement and never refused to execute any portion of the agreement.” She said at a meeting with agriculture director Jim Barbee in March, he said he was pleased with the progress of the program and they hadn’t been told that had changed until they received notice the agreements were being terminated this week.

She said AWHC is asking the department work with them to continue the cooperative agreement and continue to implement humane birth control to reduce the population growth for the horses in the Virginia Range.

In a release issued earlier this week, Barbee said the agreement was terminated because AWHC announced it would no longer fulfill parts of that agreement.