Third slaughtered horse found Monday
By Kristen Mangum,
Friday, April 20, 2007 9:15 AM EDT
Local resident Alton Davidson kneels beside his dead thoroughbred horse, Red, whose throat was slit earlier this week by an unknown assailant. Red was the third horse Davidson has had killed in three months. He pleads with anyone with information about the slaughters to contact law enforcement. Staff/Kristen Mangum
This week marked the third time in about three months that local resident Alton Davidson came upon a gruesome discovery.
On Monday, he found his 14-year-old thoroughbred horse, Red, slaughtered - his neck slit from one end to the other.
"Someone had cut his neck and then reached in there and cut his wind pipe," an obviously upset Davidson says.
"He was like a big ole' baby and really belonged to my 15-year-old sister, Kayla," he says. "Red was her favorite. She couldn't believe anybody could do such a thing."
And neither could Davidson, who currently has about a dozen horses roaming the 35 to 40 acres of pasture on Chase Road where Red and two of Davidson's other horses have been viciously slaughtered since February.
What makes the situation even worse is that Davidson has "no clue, "no idea" who is responsible. Despite losing plenty of sleep over the situation he is, however, sure of one thing.
"They need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he says. "They're sick. There's no amount of money that could have bought any of those particular horses."
At the beginning of February, an 18-month-old colt, Zeus, was found with a cut along its belly, "its insides spewing out."
Then Davidson thought, perhaps, another animal was the culprit. Though saddened by the loss, he tried not to think much more of it.
But in March, Davidson's favorite animal, a 4-year-old registered black-and-white paint horse named Skipper Chubby Duster, was found with a cut on its left side leading down its belly.
"At that point, I think I knew something was going on, but I didn't want to accept that someone could do that," Davidson says in retrospect.
He believes all the slaughters have occurred at night.
Red, who "wasn't scared of anything" and the third horse found dead, was killed between 7 p.m. Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday.
A neighbor had last seen him standing in the pasture, lined with a barbed wire fence, around that time Sunday.
In addition to Davidson and his family, neighbors in the area also are unnerved by the recent events.
"They just can't stand the thought of somebody like that on the property," says Davidson, who wishes to thank the Sheriff's Office for its work and advice.
His six children, though, are probably taking the losses the hardest.
Ranging in ages from 6 to 15 years old, Davidson's children have been raised around horses, often helping nurse sickly ones back to health.
"My baby boy, he's 6, it makes him feel good that when [the horses] aren't 100 percent up to health, up to par, we get them back up to health," Davidson says. "It's just a good feeling. It's good to know you've brought them back to health."
He calls the recent slaughters "a shame," adding that the person responsible is "really hurting the kids and my sister."
"It's hard, just real hard."
Davidson, his family and friends want justice, fearing if the killer goes uncaught the horrendous slaughters will continue.
He thinks the horses, most of which are tame and loving, are being lured and petted by the killer before being slaughtered.
A reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.
