Arizona: Baby horse killed, mutilated along Salt River, suspects sought

ARIZONA -- A family of Salt River Wild Horses went from 9 to 8 members after one of the band's youngest foals, a 6-month-old horse called Kai by local observers, was chased down shot and killed.

"This is absolutely horrible to us, these horses are our family," said Simone Netherlands, the president of the Salt River Wild Horses Management Group.

SRWHMG is a non-profit that tracks and watches over the various bands of wild horses in the area.

Netherlands says shots from what's believed to be a shotgun also injured two other horses, and the horrific brutality didn't end there.

"We can't imagine who would do such a thing and the most horrible part of it is that the genitals were removed off of the dead horse," she said.

Volunteers say someone mutilated Kai after the baby horse went down from multiple gunshot wounds, some to the head and neck.

MARICOPA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE INVESTIGATING

Authorities are searching for a man suspected of fatally shooting at least one wild horse in the Pirate Islands area of the Salt River in Tonto National Forest.

Witnesses told deputies they saw the gunman shoot three horses shortly before 6 p.m. Friday, and a foal was found dead Saturday in the area of the shooting, according to the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio said Monday evening that he will send a "mounted posse" of seven to 20 volunteers into the Salt River area starting Tuesday morning.

The posse members who ride horseback typically aid in searches for missing people, according to Arpaio.

"We are going to launch the posse in the morning and build it up," he said. "My mission here is to see if there are any more dead horses."

The sheriff also asked for the public's help in identifying and finding the shooter. The gunman was described as a male wearing black shorts and a dark green shirt, and witnesses said two other people were with him.

Deputies searched the area for hours, by air and on the ground, but did not find the gunman Friday evening, the Sheriff's Office said.

A foal, about 7 to 10 months old, was discovered Saturday with apparent gunshot wounds to the head and neck. Two other horses are believed injured or dead, but they had not been found as of Monday.

"This is a crime that goes beyond animal cruelty. Killing an innocent horse is as dangerous as it is disturbing. What else is this person capable of doing? We need to end this senseless slaughter of wild horses," Arpaio said.

“I’m going to keep enforcing these animal cruelty laws
as long as I’m the sheriff,” Arpaio said. “Everybody
needs to know that if you’re going to abuse animals
in Maricopa County, you’re going to get busted.”

John Schill of the Schill Law Group is offering a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest. There is a GoFundMe page in an effort to raise the reward amount, hoping that will lead someone to name the suspect.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 602 876-1011 or 602-876-1681.

(AZ Central - Oct 24, 2016)