Baby horse reportedly shot and killed in Kananaskis; RCMP investigating
Posted May 28, 2026 1:56 pm.
The Alberta wild horse watching community is reeling after reports that a baby foal was shot and killed Kananaskis over the weekend.
RCMP confirm they are now investigating the incident, which was reported Sunday in the McLean Creek area west of Calgary.
Mounties say they do not have much information and did not attend the scene. They did receive a call from Kananaskis Emergency Services about a foal that had been seriously injured and later euthanized.
The report indicates the foal was shot somewhere near the five-kilometre marker in McLean Creek. It’s not yet clear exactly when the shooting happened or who may be responsible.
Patti Miyazaki is a photographer who tracks and documents a band of wild horses near Moose Mountain. She says she had just seen the foal a day earlier, and believes it was just a day or so old.
“I was out there Saturday. I’ve been following these horses all winter, this band,” says Miyazaki. “They’ve had three foals so far this season. This was the fourth foal born and she was just born on Saturday because I was out there on Saturday and there she was.”
“So she was born Saturday and shot on Sunday.”
Miyazaki says she learned about the shooting from a contact in the area.
“Somebody had come into the store and reported that a foal had been shot,’ she says. It was not killed from that shot. It was trying to stand up. And I didn’t ask any more questions after that. I didn’t want to know.”
The Alberta Wild Horses Facebook group, where Miyazaki is an active member, has been sharing the information and calling for accountability.
RCMP say under Alberta law, wild horses are considered feral animals, and it is illegal to shoot them under the province’s Stray Animals Act.
While investigators have not confirmed where the shot came from, they note that discharging a firearm from a vehicle is also illegal.
Kananaskis Emergency Services referred the incident to RCMP because a firearm was involved, but beyond that, police say they are still working to gather basic facts.
For those who follow and advocate for Alberta’s wild horses, the impact is devastating,
“Oh, it’s just totally heartbreaking,” Miyazaki says. “Like you can’t explain it. Like, how can somebody kill a harmless little foal? The person who did this is heartless.”
