US man offers reward after horse shot in field

A horse owner in South Carolina is offering a $1,000 reward for information about who killed his horse.

Monte Beasley found his quarter horse shot dead in a field in Anderson last week.

Seven-year-old bay mare Katie was found dead on Friday morning (28 August).

She had a single hole in her forehead which police described as “consistant with a bullet wound”.

Mr Beasley believes she was shot with a captive bolt.

Katie had been turned out overnight with several other horses

“It’s normal for us to turn the horses out at night, because it’s hot during the day. Whoever did this knew exactly what to do and how to do it,” Mr Beasley told local press.

“They use captive-bolt pistols to euthanise large animals,” he said. “Instead of firing a bullet, it fires a fixed rod that never leaves the weapon.

“It’s just sickening that someone would do this. It’s like losing a member of the family,” he said.

The horse’s body has been taken to the University of Georgia for a necropsy.

“They’ll look for metal fragments in the wound. If they don’t find any, we’ll know whoever did this used a captive bolt,” Mr Beasley said.

“None of our neighbours, who are all people we trust, heard anything. There’s no sign of anyone coming or going, but with nearly 20 acres, it’s hard to tell. We just hope someone will step forward and help us find who did this.”

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