Horse Dies After Being Dragged Behind Truck – Owner Has Been Charged With Animal Abuse

HARRISONVILLE, Mo. — A Harrisonville man is facing an animal abuse charge and a horse is dead after it was allegedly pulled behind a truck and suffered severe injuries.

Roy V. Hammond, 74, was charged on Tuesday with animal abuse – torture and/or mutilation while animal was alive.  A sheriff’s deputy was following up on a report that a horse was being dragged behind a truck. The Police Officer noticed an extensive trail of blood in both lanes of the road as he approached the scene. When he arrived at the scene, Hammond was standing behind his truck with his horse lying in the lane of the road.

Blood was coming from the horse’s feet and the officer said the horse was breathing heavily, soaked in sweat and appeared physically exhausted. Reportedly, Hammond was trying to get the horse to stand back up. After the horse stood, blood was pooling at his feet and Hammond continued to try and make the horse walk.

Hammond told the officer the horse had broken away from him five times and that was the reason for tying his horse to the truck and driving. According to court documents Hammond said, the horse would be “okay with some oil on her feet and rest.”

The horse was seized as evidence and transported to Pleasant Hill Veterinary Clinic. Hammond was arrested.

“This is a pretty severe case, it wasn’t a matter of neglect where the animal wasn’t fed or cared for, there was an intentional act by a human being to drag the animal down the road way causing ultimately for the animal to die. It’s pretty bad,” said Major Jeff Weber from the Cass County Sheriff’s Department.

Police were able to follow the trail of blood on the road and the total distance reportedly measured 1.2 miles. He DRAGGED the horse behind his truck for over a mile, then he said she just needed oil on her feet and rest. That is absolutely disgusting.

Sadly the horse’s injuries were too severe for the horse to survive. There were open wounds and fleshy portions of the hoofs. One veterinarian said that the woulds were like “cooked meat,” which makes sense because of all the frictional heat from being dragged on the road.

The poor horse had been through so much and was scheduled to be euthanized on Wednesday morning, but sadly passed away on its own before that happened.

Hammond says he was just trying to get the horse under control. According to him the horse went berserk and was a danger to people at the time. He said that he’s taken care of horses his whole life and he’s never had one act this way before. Hammond was released from custody after posting $10,000 bond. A court date has not yet been set.

Article Source, Fox4KC.com. It makes me so sad to think someone would actually do this.  Please report all cases of animal abuse, it could save a life.