Animal control officers seek public’s help in case of emaciated horse dumped on South Gate street

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The Southeast Area Animal Control Authority is asking for the public’s help in locating the person or persons responsible for dumping a severely emaciated horse on a South Gate street last month.

Animal control officers received a call notifying them that a female horse was lying near the gutter in the 5400 block of Gardendale Street, near Gardendale Park, just after 6 a.m. on July 22. No one has come forward to report who abandoned the horse there, but a witness did recall seeing a dark SUV pulling a light-colored horse trailer in the area about 1 a.m. It’s unclear if the SUV and trailer are related to the horse-dumping incident.

When officers arrived, the horse was motionless but alive. ‘An officer took an apple from her lunch and fed it to the horse, and she was so excited to receive this treat,’ said Aaron Reyes, the Southeast Area Animal Control Authority’s director of operations. ‘Two neighbors brought a small amount of hay and fresh water and the horse clearly enjoyed it for as long as she could keep her head up.’

An equine veterinarian rushed to the scene, but found the horse in such poor condition that she was euthanized to end her suffering.

A reward of $7,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for dumping the horse is being offered by the Humane Society of the United States, EAG Sports Management Chief Executive Denise White and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen. Anyone with information is urged to call the animal control authority’s investigators at (562) 803-3301, Ext. 229.

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-- Lindsay Barnett