Horse found tied to tree, fatally shot east of Prineville

Crook County sheriff’s deputies said Thursday they are looking for whoever tied a horse to a tree along Highway 26 east of Prineville and shot it several times. An ODOT worker found the abandoned remains Thursday afternoon.

A sheriff’s deputy responded around 2:42 p.m. Thursday to the highway near milepost 40, about 18 miles east of Prineville, where the worker had found the dead younger male horse, tied to a tree near a creek about 200 yards off the road, sheriff’s Sgt. James Savage said.

Savage said the all-brown, medium-sized horse did not appear to be ill. They are looking for its owner, and-or who shot and left it by the creek.

The owner or person involved could be charged with animal abuse, unless the horse was ill, and-or offensive littering for leaving it by the creek, Savage said.

Anyone with information on a horse trailer being in the area within the past week or information on the animal’s death was urged to contact Savage at 541-447-6398 or U.S. Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Mark Ditzel at 541-416-6500.