Authorities say Maximo Rodriguez, 59, and Martin Padilla, 50 were reportedly striking a horse in the head with a sledghammer in the area of 800 E. Date in Porterville. The horse was tied down to a flatbad trailer in the driveway of the residence there.
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| Martin Padilla, 50 and Maximo Rodriguez, 59 |
When sheriff's deputies as well as Tulare County Animal Control responded to the scene, the horse was still alive but the injuries were severe enough that the horse had to be euthanized.
UPDATE: An article in the Fresno Bee says the owner of the horse is using the excuse that the horse was sick, couldn't stand and that they were simply trying to euthanize it.
euthanasia /eu·tha·na·sia/ (u″thah-na´zhah): an easy or painless deathExactly how did these two morons think that repeatedly beating a tied horse in the head with a sledgehammer accomplish "an easy or painless death"??
"Lupe Valadez, the horse's owner, said he was in Sacramento over the holiday weekend when his son called and told him the horse had fallen down. The horse had been losing weight for several months, Valadez said.
"Valadez said he telephoned a friend and asked him to check on the horse. The friend sent Padilla, who allegedly hit the horse with the sledgehammer.
"'Padilla exercised his own judgment,' Valadez said. 'That's not the way you handle things.'"
Also, the owner blathers on about how this horse "like a pet" and that he owns four other horses. If that were the case, why didn't he have a veterinarian come out to euthanize the horse correctly? And if this horse was so sick that it couldn't stand, how did they drag it onto a flatbed trailer and tie it down?
(KSEE - May 28, 2012)
