Family Wonders if 'Execution Style' Horse Killing Was Hate Crime

[Judi Lynn]

Source: NBC News

Family Wonders if 'Execution Style' Horse Killing Was Hate Crime

by Frances Kai-Hwa Wang
Jul 1 2016, 11:21 pm ET

A 17-year-old Tennessee walking horse owned by a family in Nashville, Tennessee, was found shot to death, "execution style," on their farm Tuesday morning.

"She had a bullet hole right here in the temple, small hole, and we were devastated by that," owner Devinder Sandhu, who is Sikh and wears a turban and beard as articles of his faith, told NBC affiliate WSMV. "I hate to think there would be a hate crime directed against me who's been part of this community."

The horse was a family pet named Misty Blue after the misty morning that she was born on the family's farm, where she grew up with the family's children. "She was a Tennessee walking horse, a natural, big, broad," Sandhu said. "She always greeted us with her personality. She had a huge personality. She was our joy."

The killer would have had to drive a mile down a dead-end private road to reach her, and the family said that she would have likely walked up to anyone who approached. Nashville's north precinct detectives and the department's specialized investigations unit, which examines possible hate crimes, are both working on the case, the Nashville Police Department confirmed to NBC News.


Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/family-wonders-if-execution-style-horse-killing-was-hate-crime-n602771

[LonePirate]

1. WTF is wrong with people? Shooting a horse in cold blood?

This SOB really pushes me to my limits with regard to my opposition to the death penalty.

[ret5hd]

3. Not just any horse...a terrorist horse!

[lonestarnot]

11. killer.

you forgot a word.

[AllyCat]

2. Horrible. My condolences to the family.

[sangfroid]

4. If and when they catch this alleged human

a suitable sentence would be full restitution and to spend a year on that county's Dead Animal Pick-up team.

[brush]

5. It would be helpful to mention in the OP why there is a suspicion of it being a hate crime.

[sinkingfeeling]

7. Because half of America don't know the difference between

Sikh and an Arab?

[brush]

8. Unfortunately that's true. Mentioning the family are Sikhs would give meaning to the headline.

[AngryAmish]

6. The horse business is a dirty business with many unsavory characters

Was this a competition horse? If just a pet it is probably hate.

[csziggy]

9. The horse was a pet - 17 years old nt

[IronLionZion]

10. The horse is probably not guilty of anything

and is definitely not religious. What a shitty thing to do to an innocent animal.

[csziggy]

12. The placement of the gunshot is odd - "in the temple" is not where to shot a horse

Usually shooting a horse in the side of the skull will not penetrate to the brain and will only injure it, not kill it. Information on euthanizing horses indicates the placement is on the forehead in a specific location so the bullet will penetrate, not ricochet.

The Emergency Euthanasia of Horses

<SNIP>

Gunshot
The proper location of gunshot penetration is important in the destruction of the brain and minimizing suffering. The optimal site for penetration of the skull is one-half inch above the intersection of a diagonal line from the base of the ear to the inside corner of the opposite eye.
The firearm should be aimed directly down the neck, perpendicular to the front of the skull, and held at least 2-6 inches away from the point of impact. When performed skillfully, gunshot induces instantaneous unconsciousness, is inexpensive, and does not require close
contact with the horse.

A .22 caliber long rifle is recommended, but a 9mm or 38 caliber handgun will be sufficient for most horses. The use of hollow-point or soft nose bullets will increase brain destruction and
reduce the chance of ricochet. If a shotgun is the only available firearm, the use of a rifled slug is preferred.

Experience in the use of firearms with large animals is helpful. Care must be taken to minimize the danger to the operator, observers, and other animals. Personnel must comply with all laws and regulations governing the posession and discharge of firearms; local ordinances may prohibit the discharge of firearms in certain areas.
http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vetext/local-assets/pdfs/pdfs_animal_welfare/emergeuth_horses2-2.pdf

Not only shows where to place the gun, he also goes into a rant about when to put a horse down and when to NOT do it.

Horse owners should know this in case of a need to put down a horse that is badly injured. I didn't when we had a horse that broke his leg. We had to wait over an hour for the veterinarian to get there, while the horse was in horrible pain and tried to walk on a non-functional leg. That was 39 years ago this weekend.

After that I researched how to euthanize horses in an emergency, and that is when a friend helped me buy a gun. I'd totally forgotten that this was a major reason I own a gun - I guess I had blocked it from my mind. Luckily I have never had to use my gun for this purpose.

[bklyncowgirl]

13. The shooter was likely not a horse person.

It's a pretty common misperception. I once embarrassed my family in a movie theater. The hero was about to put his beloved horse down. As He pressed his pistol up to the side of the horses head, right about where his sinuses are, I blurted out rather loudly "that's not how you shoot a horse"

Needless to say heads throughout the theater turned in my direction.

Hope they catch the guy.

[csziggy]

14. What sticks out to me is that misperception

Not only will attempting to shoot a horse in the side of the head not be effective for a quick euthanasia, it can be dangerous with a ricochet. It kind of sticks out to me because it was a plot point in a mystery I read years ago (not Dick Francis' "Bolt" which had as a plot point the use of a specialize pistol often used in the UK for euthanasia).

I hope they catch whoever killed the horse.

LOL about your comment in the theater!

[bklyncowgirl]

15. It's esoteric knowledge but I hate movies where they don't do their homework.

Dick Francis as a steeplechase jockey had probably witnessed quite a few horses being put doe by that method.