Horse owners in Honomu, Hawaii, were devastated Monday morning after waking up to find their horse had been killed.
The steed, Onyx, was allegedly shot by a pig hunter that a neighbor hired to reduce the feral boar population while trying to sell his property, KITV reported. The prized Frisian horse leaves behind his 18-week-old foal named Uhane, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Meat Industry Takes Heavy Hit As Over 2,000 Cattle Die From ‘Heat And Humidity’)
“They were there in the field and when I saw that she was dancing around the mother,” horse-owner Craig Burkholder said, according to Hawaii News Now. “I whistled and she never picked her head up, I knew something was wrong.”
A veterinarian removed a bullet fragment from the horse’s body, the outlet reported.
The neighbor sent a text around 10 p.m. Sunday informing Buckerhold that the light in their yard was a hunter he hired and that he was warned about the horses, the outlet reported. Buckerhold claimed he didn’t see the message, and otherwise, he would have locked up the horses.
‘This loss is horrific’: Family mourns nursing horse shot and killed in Hilo https://t.co/gwoIRaVg26 #HNN
— Hawaii News Now (@HawaiiNewsNow) September 21, 2022
“That guy he should have waited, now he gotta own up to it. Hey you did the crime, you gotta pay the time,” the neighbor said, according to Kake.
The hunter’s night-time escapade was also criticized by the Pig Hunter Association of Oahu President Roy Kaino. “You shouldn’t be using at night-time guns, especially guns,” he said, according to Hawaii News Now. “It’s a no, no and that’s just common sense.”
Onyx’s owners have filed a police report and are considering legal action, they told the outlet. They have not left the foal alone since her mother died.
The owners have also created a GoFundMe to get the foal milk replacements, KITV noted.