 Horse shot
Katy, TX (US)Date: Aug 7, 2005
County: Harris
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
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Before Aug 7, Blue, a 5-month-old filly, would frolic through the fields of her owners' 13-acre spread in Katy. The quarter horse is now being treated at Elgin Veterinary Hospital for a gunshot wound to the head from a small-caliber weapon.
So far, investigators with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office have no suspects in the case, which has prompted the family owning the horse to offer a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Only days before, Blue "was running around. She's very playful," said Sunny Allgaier, whose family has owned their homestead in the 2200 block of Katy-Flewellen Road for more than a century. "She's got lots of energy and she's real sweet.
"It's just meanness," she said of the shooting. "You wouldn't shoot a horse."
Allgaier said she was awakened about 3 a.m. Aug 7 by a loud noise outside her home.
"All the dogs were barking, and I could hear people talking outside our window," said Allgaier, a self-employed hair stylist. "As I was going outside, I heard a car pull off. But when I got outside, there was nothing there."
That morning, Allgaier's husband, John, went out to feed the animals. He said he immediately knew something was wrong.
"The filly was walking around. The motor skills were fine," said John Allgaier, 46. "When I went to turn the (water) hoses off, I saw blood on both sides of the head."
After determining that Blue had been shot, John Allgaier struggled to make sense of the senseless act. It seemed like only weeks ago that the filly was born, earning her name because of her bluish hue.
"Words can't describe what I think of the person who did it," said John Allgaier, national account manager at Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems. "Was it a random act? I don't think we were directly targeted.
"I think someone saw an opportunity to stop a vehicle and be undetected," he said. "It looks like they shot from the road."
An examination at the veterinary hospital determined that the bullet passed through the side of Blue's head, missing the filly's brain by 1/8th inch, Sunny Allgaier said, noting that veterinarians are hopeful for a full recovery.
Blue is still able to nurse from her mother, Jennifer, a 13-year-old quarter horse.
Blue shares the family homestead with her siblings, Brownie, Star and Dude. Also living there are another horse, Cacahuete, and two dogs � Cheyenne, an Australian shepherd, and Dot, a Jack Russell terrier.
Sunny Allgaier said her 13-year-old son, Lex, is trying to come to grips with what happened.
"He was very upset because it's actually his horse," she said of her son, an eighth-grader at Beckendorf Junior High School. "I told him, 'This is meanness. I think it was kids. That is why I tell you that you have to be careful in everything that you do.'
"It's a shame. It's horrible. But he's doing better because he knows she's doing better."
Anyone with information about the case may call Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers at 281-342-8477, or reach John Allgaier at 713-899-5577. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top If you have information on this case, please contact:
Fort Bend County Crime Stoppers
281-342-8477
References« TX State Animal Cruelty Map
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