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Last September a quarter horse in Ivins, a small town in the southern part of the state, was shot about 50 times with a small-caliber gun in what authorities called "a senselessly cruel" act of animal torture. All the wounds were inflicted in the animal's abdomen and back.
 The horse, whose name was Crookneck, was found dead when his owner arrived at the corral to feed him on an otherwise ordinary Sunday morning. Washington County Sheriff's Lt. Jake Adams said, "I doubt that (Crookneck's killing) was a quick process. A small handgun is not going to bring a horse down, especially when he was shot in the midsection."
According to HSU Executive Director Gene Baierschmidt, "Crookneck died a slow, agonizing death. This is a clear case of torture, where the animal suffered intense pain over a prolonged period of time." The Humane Society of Utah immediately offered a reward of $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who shot Crookneck, and the amount has since risen to $9,000 with contributions from private citizens.
Under current Utah animal abuse law, the maximum penalty that could be handed out if a conviction were to be obtained would be that of a Class A misdemeanor. The Humane Society wants to see crimes like this made a third-degree felony on the first offense. "Anyone would agree that this was a deliberately malicious and egregious act," says Mr. Baierschmidt. "It should be regarded as the serious offense it is, and the perpetrators obviously require psychological counseling. We need a law that has some teeth in it, one that will help prevent things like this from happening in the first place." |