ST. GEORGE — Police are investigating the death of a young horse that the owner believes was dragged behind a vehicle, causing injuries extensive enough to have the animal put down Sunday night.
“We are investigating a suspicious incident involving an injury to a horse that was found with two broken back legs, and we are following every lead that we can dig up,” Sgt. Sam Johnson, interim chief of the Colorado City Marshal’s Office said.
The incident occurred between 8 p.m and 8:30 p.m. Sunday on a property just west of Colorado City, Arizona, where an unknown individual allegedly entered a privately owned field where cows were grazing, along with the 2-year-old horse.
The gate to the pasture was left open, property owner Jacob Hammon said, allowing the cows to leave the grazing area and wander along the roadway, while the filly either wandered out of the pasture on its own or was removed from the area intentionally.
Hammon said he believes the horse was tied to the back of a vehicle and dragged from the property. The horse’s hind legs apparently became caught in the cattle guard and fractured as the vehicle continued over the guard without stopping.
The horse was dragged at least 20 more feet, Hammon said, until it was left on the side of the road where it was found a short time later by a passerby who contacted police.
“It appears the horse was dragged looking at the way the legs snapped and the drag marks and blood found along the road,” Hammon said. “They proceeded to drag her out of my place about a quarter of a mile with her thrashing, where they took their rope off and left her.”
Officers then contacted Hammon’s wife who responded along with a Mohave County brand inspector. They found the horse alive but in shock, and the animal was put down at that point.
Hammon said he has no idea why anyone would do something like that.
Johnson said the investigation has yielded multiple leads that are being investigated, but added that there are details that may not align with the scenario of the horse being dragged behind a vehicle. He said, however, that it’s too early in the investigation to eliminate anything as a possibility.
“We have information that we are following up on that came in today, and we can only assume what happened to the horse until we have the evidence to determine what actually happened.”
The Marshal’s Office has additional resources to investigate the incident, and Johnson said they are working with agencies and livestock officers with Mohave County as well.
No further details are being released at this time, as any information released prematurely may jeopardize the investigation, he said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Colorado City Marshal’s Office at 928-875-2695.
This report is based on statements from police or other emergency responders and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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IF that evil act was intentional maybe someone could tie HIM/THEM up and drag them behind a truck. I volunteer to drive.
That poor horse, the fear it must have felt.
Somebody needs taken out in the desert and done away with.
I hope they find the perps.
I saw the horse owner’s post on Facebook about this. He had pretty graphic pictures. It was awful. It did appear that the horse got stuck in the cattle guard and the perps continued on anyway. It snapped the horse’s legs off (not broke, snapped clean off) at the ankles. Seriously, you can see it’s leg bones in the picture on Facebook. The poor creature must have been in so much pain. 🙁