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Last updated on Wednesday, January 13, 2016
(ADAMS CO.) - The owner of a horse found dead in its stall Saturday morning believes the horse was targeted.
Police in Adams County are investigating after Roany, a 14-year-old quarterhorse was found dead, in a pool of blood at Crossroad Stables in Decatur.
WANE reports, Steve Hughes is the owner of the horse and the stable. Hughes said he and his daughter were taking care of chores at the stable that morning.
"We noticed it was kind of quiet which is odd for early in the morning," said Hughes. "It was eerily quiet. None of the horses were making ruckus like they usually do."
As they made their way down the main aisle, the two made the gruesome discovery just before 10 a.m.
"I have never in my life seen a scene this gruesome," he said. "For that sight to have been what it was, it was just pure sickening."
Roany was one of 13 horses that the Hughes family owns. All of them, they considered family. Roany had been a member of the family for the last eight years.
"Our horses is apart of our family," said Hughes. "Every last one of them. They all have different personalities, they all have specific jobs. It's just like one of your kids. We've used [Roany] in our lesson program when my daughter was teaching. He is just one of those horses that anybody could ride and everybody just wanted to be around."
The family took the case to Facebook in a weekend post that said that Roany was "murdered" and that around 1 a.m. someone came into the horse's stall and killed it, according to the post.
Hughes and his family believe the horse was targeted. Someone was leasing Roany for the last few months. Whoever did this may have wanted to hurt the person who leases the horse.
"The person who is responsible for something like this, there's truly no other way to describe it other than to describe it than pure evil," he said. "Why would you intentionally harm an innocent animal? You may have directed your frustration at one person but you have totally affected an entire family and community."
They filed a report with the Adams County Sheriff's Department, but authorities did not release additional details about the case. Sheriff Shane Rekeweg said the incident is under investigation.
While police look into the incident, Hughes has offered a $1,000 reward for information "that leads to the arrest and conviction of our horse's killer."
Police have asked that anyone with any information contact the Adam's County Sheriff's Department at (260) 724-5346.
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