Mysterious death of horse abandoned in Sylmar was an accident, not animal cruelty, police say
It seemed at first to be a shocking example of animal cruelty -- a dead horse had been found with its tail tied to a telephone pole in Sylmar. The animal, an L.A. Police Department spokeswoman said, appeared to have been shot in the head.
The April 9 discovery shocked the area, where horse trails and equestrian events are popular. The area’s councilman declared the death horrific.
But now police say tests show the horse was the victim of an accident. A necropsy found that the animal was neither shot nor beaten, Officer Rosario Herrera said Monday.
Detectives believe the animal may have become entangled in a horse trailer and strangled itself, she said. She declined to release more details, including how the horse could end up on the side of the road if it had strangled itself and who might have left it there.
Its lifeless body was found about 7 a.m. in a cul-de-sac in the 11700 block of Kagel Canyon Street near the 210 Freeway.
L.A. City Councilman Felipe Fuentes, whose 7th District includes Sylmar, issued a statement soon afterward calling on local residents to cooperate with police and expressing confidence that authorities would get to the bottom of who was responsible.
“Animal cruelty, to any degree, will not be tolerated,” the statement said. “In Sylmar, one of the largest equine communities in the city, we value our horses.
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