Horse spooked with fireworks, resulting in injury - Suffolk, VA

Saturday, Apr 5, 2008

County: Suffolk City

Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged:
» 17 year old female
» 14 year old male

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Two juveniles are facing Cruelty to Animals charges after witnesses saw them light off firecrackers, to spook a horse.

According to the criminal complaint, this incident happened shortly after 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. A witness stated that she observed the two suspects standing at a shed located in their yard while the complainant's 12-year-old daughter lead his horse down the driveway.

The witness reported that when the girl and the horse approached the area of the shed, the suspects ignited the fireworks and spooked the horse. The horse pulled away from the girl and ran away.

The person who filed the complaint reported that the horse was so frightened, it tore through several yards of hot wire and damaged several fence posts used to corral his animals. The complainant stated that the horse received several cuts from the wires just above its front legs.

The two juveniles, a 17 year-old-female and her 14-year-old brother, were arrested and charged.

Case Updates

Suffolk police have filed animal cruelty charges against a 17-year-old girl and her 14-year-old brother for using fireworks to intentionally frighten a horse. That horse was so scared it ran off and injured itself. Police say the horse was being walked on a lead by a 12-year-old girl. When the animal heard the noise it got frightened and ran into a live hot wire. Police say it injured its front legs, but the injuries were not life threatening. The girl's father Ray Norman tells WAVY.com, "that it was done intentionally to scare the horse. The horse got hurt. My daughter could have gotten hurt. If the horse had ran into the road multiple people could have been killed." The parents of the teens involved declined an interview, but say off camera it's an ongoing neighborhood dispute. Police say animal cruelty is a misdemeanor. Ray Norman says he hopes it doesn't happen again.

Source: WAVY - April 7, 2008 Update posted on Apr 8, 2008 - 5:47PM

References

• NewsChannel 3 - April 7, 2008
• WAVY - April 7, 2008

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