Blaine Overson confirmed the 13-year-old horse died on Friday after he collapsed in the street due to colic on August 17 while pulling a carriage through downtown traffic in sweltering heat.
Jerry was left lying for several hours on the scorching pavement, before his owners eventually moved him via forklift to a nearby stable.
Annette Overson released pictures to the media over the weekend of a horse she claimed was Jerry, but an equine expert said it was not, due to its color and distinctive white marking on his upper lip.
She admitted on Saturday that it was not Jerry and said she sent the photos of a different horse because she was 'sick of seeing my horses laying down and so I sent a picture of a horse standing up'.
Annette told the Salt Lake Tribune on Saturday that Jerry was still alive and healthy. Blaine Overson explained he did not break the news to his wife until Sunday because he was out of cell phone range.
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| Readers were quick to see that this horse looked nothing like Jerry, who is seen in the top photo |
Ever since a video of Jerry's struggle went viral, animal rights advocates have called for new city laws to address practices surrounding carriage horses.
The Oversons, who own the business Carriage for Hire, said their 17 horses are well cared for and are not abused or overworked.
'We loved Jerry,' Blaine Overson told the Salt Lake Tribune. 'We love all of our horses. We cried between the two of us, we were sorry to see him go.
Officials in the mayor’s office said the Oversons should have announced Jerry’s death earlier.
'We are...extremely disappointed that the owners of Carriage for Hire chose not to publicly share this information in a timely manner.
'Following this series of events, the appropriate action for the City is to decide whether or not continuing to license carriage businesses is a good fit for our community.'
Salt Lake City Councilman Charlie Luke went to the stables and asked to see Jerry, who was dappled gray, after the uproar over the fake photographs. That's when Blaine told him he was dead.
Blaine told Deseret News the couple have been receiving death threats which have been pretty hard to take.
'It's really a sad thing that some of the people out there don't understand that over 500,000 horses a year die of colic.
'That's what Jerry died of. They want to blame it on the fact that he was out there on the street.'
The incident attracted a great deal of attention and had animal rights advocates both in and outside of Salt Lake City calling for an end to the ‘cruel industry’of horse drawn carriage rides.
'After reviewing the video footage of the incident and consulting with equine experts and veterinarians, we question the diagnosis of colic and subsequent reports from Carriage for Hire,' said PETA research project manager Jeremy Beckham.
'We urge animal control to enter and inspect the stable where Jerry was allegedly housed, as authorized by Salt Lake City regulations, and to subpoena veterinary records.
'We fear that Jerry may have become another victim of the cruel horse-carriage trade.'
Jerry was near the end of a tour when he suddenly kicked his stomach and collapsed to the ground on August 17.
‘[He] just didn’t want to move,’ city resident Ronald Schulthies told the Salt Lake Tribune. ‘His eyes were open and when we’d move him, he’d neigh and whinny.’
Schulthies was among some 60 concerned passersby. Veterinarians would also soon come to the 1,800 pound horse’s aid.
[It says Jerry laid there FOR HOURS before anything was done for him.]
At first, all they could do was try to comfort the animal.
‘It was distressing because lots of people there wanted to do something, but didn’t know what to do,’ Schulthies said. ‘Obviously, the carriage company didn’t have any plan for that type of thing.’
Schulthies said Jerry would attempt to stand but quickly fall back down. He emphasized that the horse was treated with only the utmost concern for his health and well-being.
(Daily Mail - Aug 27 2013)
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