AUTHORITIES CALL ON THE PUBLIC FOR HELP IN TRACKING DOWN CULPRIT
Cross-posted from San Antonio Express
Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News / © 2012 San Antonio Express-News.
WRITTEN BY JOHN TEDESCO
A horse that was tied to truck and dragged more than 100 yards down an asphalt road last month — scraping big chunks of hide from its side — is recovering at a rescue shelter, and authorities are searching for the man who drove the pickup.
Bastrop County is pursuing an animal cruelty case against Mariano Resendiz Villafuerta, 43, who has not been found. A previous warrant for cruelty was replaced Wednesday with a stiffer charge of cruelty to livestock animals by tripping, a state jail felony.
“This is something beyond horrible,” said Darla Cherry, president and executive director of Meadow Haven Horse Rescue in Nixon, where the horse is recovering and doing well.
According to the Bastrop County sheriff’s office, a deputy responded to a call of animal cruelty on Nov. 10 in Del Valle near Austin. A witness said he had spotted a lost horse on the road when a white Ford F-150 pickup truck pulled up. The driver, identified as Villafuerta, took control of the horse and tied it to the truck’s hitch.
The driver took off and accelerated to a “high rate of speed with the horse still tied to the hitch of the truck,” the sheriff’s affidavit alleges. The horse had trouble keeping up, fell on its side, and was dragged about 100 yards.
The driver got out of the truck and kicked the horse in the neck until the animal stood up. He then grabbed the horse’s lead rope and ran it down the driveway of a nearby house, the affidavit says.
Authorities are asking for the public’s help in tracking down Villafuerta. The license plate of the Ford F-150 is BU1-3787.
Tuesday's Horse 
What a sick, sick man!
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Thanks goodness someone reported him and he’s now been charged.
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/Man-arrested-for-kicking-dragging-horse-in-Bastrop-County-182250391.html
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you’re exactly right… he’s most likely being hidden by friends. this is horrific. as soon as my faith grows in humanity, it’s over-the-top episodes as this that really make me wonder WHAT the human species has in its head, at times. here’s to catching the perpetrator and potential abetters. thank goodness this lovely is now in the hands of caring people.
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I just wanted to say that Meadow Haven is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization, operating solely on donations. Darla has many more horses at the facility, like “Dragster”, with similar stories of abuse and/or neglect. Please find it in your heart to donate $5, $10, $20, whatever you can afford…because every little bit helps! Rehabilitating horses is very expensive and time consuming…but so very rewarding! There are also many horses available for adoption, or you can even foster a horse. Please go to http://www.meadowhavenrescue.org and find out how you can help these horses! Remember, all donations are tax deductible!
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I imagine this creep took off for Mexico till things cool off. But the bad thing about this is you never catch people like this one in the act it’s always after the fact.
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PLEASE CATCH THIS B_____D and STRING HIM UP. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNCONSCIONABLE. I’m praying for this poor horse. Please God, bless him.
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When he is found, let’s drag his a55 behind a semi and see how he likes it!
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For heaven’s sake, give the horse a name that won’t constantly bring up this horrendous incident.
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That’s what I thought too Nina, but sometimes you just go with the story as is, and hope it will help officials catch this guy.
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That’s the least of my worries. THIS HORRENDOUS INCIDENT NEEDS TO BE STUCK IN PEOPLE’S MINDS. Shouldn’t be too hard to catch this b_____d with all the info they have for him. There’s something fishy if he isn’t caught soon.
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Hopefully he isn’t being hidden by friends; that’s usually how these kind of people get away with it. For awhile anyway.
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Thank GOD you said that Nina…..when I read about this story elsewhere for the first time THAT was my first THOUGHT! REALLY, that is the most stupid name & the offender is probably celebrating it…..?
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AGREED! What a HORRIFIC thing to do to an animal! CRUEL AND SADISTIC…I hope the perpetrator is caught. JUSTICE BEFITTING THE *HORENDOUS* CRIME!
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