Horse Crime of the Year

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    I don’t often dwell on morbid stories about animal abuse for fear of sensationalizing such horrid cases. The last thing I want to do is give a sick minded individual some form of notoriety. But this latest one about a misfortunate horse just really got to me.

    Last week a man that lives at the far reaches of my county was arrested and charged with animal neglect and abuse. He resided on a windswept, barren plot of land far off the main paved road. A pack of his (barely) civilized dogs roamed the acreage, along with an assortment of other farm animals. Add a couple of ramshackle dwellings and you can probably envision the scene. Neighbors who had a view of the property had made several phone calls to animal control authorities and, apparently the sheriff, but not much had been done until this final incident.

    According to reports, the man had beaten his horse to death by repeatedly whacking it in the head with a sledgehammer. He then cut off the horse’s head with a chain saw, with the intent of feeding it to his pack of canines. No, I’m not kidding.

    When investigators arrived on the scene, the man claimed that the horse had been attacked and mauled by his dogs and he took steps to euthanize the horse to prevent its suffering. That whole horse-head-in-the-dog-pen thing was just a misunderstanding. Fortunately, the authorities didn’t buy it, especially when an inspection of the horse’s carcass revealed that it had not been bitten by the dogs. Its only injuries were those that led to its death, caused by the effects of the sledge hammer.

    Once this guy was hauled off to jail, animal welfare groups swooped onto the scene and confiscated the other animals. That led to a spanking of sorts from law enforcement, who said something along the lines that no one should just come on someone else’s land and take their property. That “property” would be the animals who may or may not have been next in line for the sledge hammer.

    I’m sharing this tale because it’s just so incomprehensible to me, as I’m sure it is to horse lovers everywhere. Not a week goes by that I don’t witness or hear about some misguided individual who is doing something questionable to or with their horse. But this saga wins the dubious honor of being the Heinous Horse Crime of the Year. And it’s only the end of April.

    When I went outside to feed Joey his breakfast—he was snuggled in his daysheet to keep him cozy during our chilly spring night—I gave him an extra pat on the nose. He so depends on me for everything: To keep him fed, to look after his welfare, to give him enough exercise yet not over-work him, to make sure he’s kept up to date on his vet and hoof care. He trusts me. How could anyone betray such devotion?

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    14 COMMENTS

    1. That brought tears to my eyes! I will never understand the type of human who would do something like that. I rescued my Percheron mare from a farmer who blatantly told me to my face that the reason why she was in such poor shape was because he chose to feed his cows instead of his horses because they were more important. The minute I left his farm with Emma, I called the sheriff and told him what happened and that I was not leaving until I saw them show up. They did, Thank the Lord, and arrested the gentleman. 4 years later she is a healthy mare who just gave birth 4 days ago to a precious Percheron/Tennessee Walker cross colt named Elijah Moon.
      I apologize for the long comment, but this upsets me so much.

    2. I read your blog and it just maked me sick,How could anyone be that cold hearted to do that to a horse or any animal? He needs a cold jail cell for 20 years or more!!

    3. Wow I’ve heard horror stories on animal abuse, but that’s got to be the worst. That man is not just abusive to animals, he’s sick in the head.

    4. Somebody should take a chain saw to this sick b_____ head and let him bleed to death. That’s all I can say about it. He’s dog food to me!!!!

    5. What’s worse if there IS anything WORSE than doing this to a horse and or other animals IS-these people are usually like this with people too-very horrible and sad for the undeserved suffering.

    6. That guy is sick. i wish i could cut his head off and feed it to a pack of dogs so he can feel like that poor horse.

    7. I think that what that guy did to that horse is being cruel to animals and that someone should stop other people from treating animal badly.

    8. That is such a terrible waste of a wonderful animal. In my community last week someone slit the throat of a horse and took the halter, maybe as a trophy. What’s wrong with these people.

    9. I have a friend and her family has 5 horses. All were abuse victims. One of the horses, beleive it or not, had gotten shot in the neck. The horses are ok now, and that one horse now has an indent on where the shot was. I love horses, and I sure hope that someday soon, animal abuse will have a more severe punishment. They spend less time in jail than a person who killed another.

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