Four horses shot in the face with .22, one dead
Saint Louis, MO (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Apr 3, 2008
County: Saint Louis

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Dan Iffrig

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Even though no official charges have been filed against him, Dan Iffrig did not deny that he was the man who shot four horses along County Road 155 last week.

"I said if they don't do something about the horses I would shoot them," Iffrig said. "I could have shot them 10 days earlier but I waited.

"I wasn't hiding anything - I left it all out in the open."

One horse has died and another is still missing after the incident in which four of the animals were shot in the face with a .22-caliber rifle. The horses belonged to Al and Patti Supinski of St. Louis, who own a farm across the road from Iffrig.

Iffrig said the Supinski's horses have been a perpetual problem for many people in the rural area and that they have been damaging his farm for years.

"They knocked down my fences and got in with my cattle and for a while I had 140 cattle without a fence," he said. "They were in my crops and they were heading back to my crops.

"It's a heck of a feeling to know there was someone else's animals causing trouble for your animals, fences and crops."

Iffrig claimed that poor upkeep of the animals drove them to seek sustenance from other sources.

"The horses would stay on their property if they had something for them to eat and a fence," he said. "They had been mistreated all winter long and I was paying the feed bill because they were eating my wheat fields. They would be (on their own) 10 days before someone would come out and feed them."

Patti Supinski said that she was aware of who shot her horses.

"Dan Iffrig supposedly did it," she said. "They were out on the road and evidently he was looking out his window, saw four horses and snapped and got his gun and started shooting them."

Supinski acknowledged there were some damaged fences, but said that the horses were well taken care of.

"Trees had fell on the fences and we didn't know it, and we had been working to repair some of the them," she said. "We live in St. Louis but my husband and my son make a lot of trips out there.

"There is someone there every weekend taking care of the horses."

Supinksi also said that this was not the first time they had a problem with Iffrig.

"We have been living across the road from him for 30 years and he has been a nutcase," she said. "Over 20 years ago my mother was living near him and she had pigmy goats and he shot them.

"Nothing has ever been done to him."

Sheriff Dennis Crane did not name Iffrig as the perpetrator because no arrest has been made yet, but acknowledged that he spoke with someone related to the incident.

"Mr. Supinski called in and claimed his horses were shot and we are looking into it," Crane said. "We have talked with witnesses, we have talked to the alleged suspect in this, and since there has been no arrest we are not identifying the individual."

Later this week, charges should be filed in the case.

"As we speak I am finishing the final report to send to the prosecuting attorney," he said. "There will be an affidavit for the warrant for four counts of property damage."

Case Updates

References

• « MO State Animal Cruelty Map
  « More cases in Saint Louis County, MO

  Note: Classifications and other fields should not be used to determine what specific charges the suspect is facing or was convicted of - they are for research and statistical purposes only. The case report and subsequent updates outline the specific charges. Charges referenced in the original case report may be modified throughout the course of the investigation or trial, so case updates, when available, should always be considered the most accurate reflection of charges.
  
  For more information regarding classifications and usage of this database, please visit the database notes and disclaimer.