Let's Kill a Horse Today

Horse OK after being struck with hatchet
August 15, 2007
Associated Press

ADAMS, Tenn. --A horse is expected to recover after it was found Wednesday with a hatchet stuck in its skull between the eyes. The hatchet used for cutting tobacco plants was removed by veterinarian Dan Hitch, who stitched up the wound. The blade did not strike her brain and just missed some vital nerves.

"It was a quarter- to half-inch into the skull itself," Hitch told WTVF-TV in Nashville.

"It's unfortunate," he said. "It's an awful thing. No creature deserves that kind of treatment."

Owner Sheila Wilborn said she couldn't understand why someone would attack her animal.
"I mean someone came by with a tobacco hatchet and said let's kill a horse today. This was planned," Wilborn said.

Robertson County authorities were searching for a suspect who could face felony animal cruelty charges.

"I've never seen anything like this," Sheriff's Sgt. Tom Ryan said.