A Horse Suffered From a Massive Wound for Years—Have Police Pushed the Case Aside?

(Warning: graphic image)

Brace yourself: This apparent case of neglect has shaken even PETA’s experienced caseworkers. Reportedly, a horse in Arnaudville, Louisiana, was left to languish from a snakebite to the face for a torturous two years. By the time animal control officials were alerted to her plight, the wound had allegedly festered into an enormous oozing mass that was reportedly filled with insects and debris. Apparently, the horse had never been examined or treated by a veterinarian for this wound. She was confiscated, and a veterinarian determined that euthanasia was the only humane course of action.

Louisiana Revised Statutes Title 14 Chapter 1 Part VI § 102.1. B. (4) states, “Any person who intentionally or with criminal negligence mistreats any living animal whether belonging to himself or another by any act or omission which causes or permits unnecessary or unjustifiable physical pain, suffering, or death to the animal shall also be guilty of aggravated cruelty to animals.” LA Rev. Stat. § 14:12 states, “Criminal negligence exists when, although neither specific nor general criminal intent is present, there is such disregard of the interest of others that the offender’s conduct amounts to a gross deviation below the standard of care expected to be maintained by a reasonably careful man under like circumstances.”

St. Landry Parish officials have apparently declined to file criminal charges against the person responsible for the suffering that this horse endured. Authorities need to understand that cruelty to animals is unacceptable and that their constituents—as well as the rest of the world—won’t stand for passive handling of cruelty cases. Please use this form to contact the sheriff and district attorney and urge them to thoroughly investigate, charge, and prosecute this matter as appropriate. Be sure also to comment on the sheriff department’s Facebook page, and finally, share this alert far and wide!