15 horses shot and killed after being hunted in Eastern Kentucky

From a Report filed by NPR

It’s being called an ‘Act of Evil’.

Fifteen horses were shot and killed in the woods of Eastern Kentucky in what authorities call a cruel and inhumane crime that they’re now working to unravel. Local authorities are offering a $1,500 reward — an amount boosted by donations from people who want the killer brought to justice.

The horses were found in the area of a rehabilitated strip mine near Floyd County’s border with neighboring Pike County. For years, locals say, 30 or more horses have roamed the rough and isolated terrain there. But that changed horribly this week.

It looked like a battlefield for just horses — we counted 15 that we found dead. All 15 appeared to us to have been shot,” Floyd County Sheriff John Hunt told local TV station WYMT.

“This is very inhumane,” Hunt says, “and it’s a very cruel act of somebody who just apparently had nothing else to do or whatever, just to go back on a strip job and shoot down horses who were — one of them obviously was feeding, had grass in [her] mouth.

At least two of the slain horses were pregnant and miscarried after being shot, says Megan Goble, who lives near the site. Her family owns part of the land that has become home to the horses. She says the horses lived in two main herds, and she describes them as a mix of animals that were brought there by their owners and those that were born in the secluded area.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Floyd County Sheriff’s Dept
149 S Central Ave
Prestonsburg, KY 41653
Phone No: 606-886-6711

FEATURED IMAGE:
Megan Goble