AR-News: (FL - US) Horrific sexual assault on horse in West Boca

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

`Horrific' attack on horse investigated in West Boca

By Nancy L. Othón 
Staff Writer 
Posted February 20 2004 

WEST BOCA · Sheriff's deputies are investigating the sexual assault of a 
horse earlier this week, while the mare's owner has gathered enough donations from 
fellow horse lovers to offer a $10,000 reward.

The horse, a 31-year-old Arabian named Rosie, is on intravenous antibiotics 
and is expected to recover within a few weeks but will require surgery.

<IMG  SRC="http://adcreative.tribuneinteractive.com/ads/cube/advertisementht.gif" WIDTH="310" HEIGHT="15" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="598">    
    

    <EMBED 
SRC="http://adserver.trb.com/localads/southflorida/adelphia/adelphia_newyears_300x250.swf?clickTAG=http://adserver.trb.com/event.ng/Type=click%26
FlightID=57659%26AdID=101909%26Custom=adelphia%26TargetID=9957%26Segments=246,
582,685,686,812,1093,1480,2168,2776,4376,4709,4891,5041,5554,6461,6528%26Targe
ts=1147,889,933,2811,8602,9868,9957%26Values=31,43,51,60,72,80,101,110,150,287
,289,301,310,392,583,591,593,903,1016,1191,1686,1737,1758,1839,1872,1887,1888,
1987,2036,2161,2192%26RawValues=%26Redirect=http://www.sun-sentinel.com/extras
/adelphia2004/index.html" NAME=GA swLiveConnect=false WIDTH=300 height=250 
QUALITY=high BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF MENU=false LOOP=false 
TYPE="application/x-shockwave-flash" 
PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></EMBED>   
    
    
<IMG  SRC="http://adcreative.tribuneinteractive.com/ads/cube/advertisementhb.gif" WIDTH="310" HEIGHT="15" BORDER="0" DATASIZE="598">    
    

    
"I still don't believe it," said Rosie's owner, Kim Boros. "It's just 
sickening."

Boros, of Pompano Beach, has owned Rosie for about 13 years and boards her at 
a barn on Horseshoe Acres off Clint Moore Road west of Boca Raton. A 
13-year-old girl taking care of Rosie found the bleeding horse in an adjoining pasture 
at about 5 p.m. Sunday. and her mother immediately called Boros.

"My first thought was, she's going to die -- that's a lot of blood," Boros 
said.

After doing a thorough examination, Dr. Jerry Rudnick told Boros that Rosie 
has been sexually assaulted. A tree branch used in the assault was found in the 
pasture and taken as evidence.

Animal-cruelty investigator Cassie Kovacs is pursuing the case as 
aggressively as she can, said sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller.

"She has not seen anything like this," Miller said. "This is horrific."

In his 18-year career caring for horses, Rudnick said, he has seen this type 
of incident just once before, several years ago in Broward County. That attack 
was not as violent as the one inflicted on Rosie, Rudnick said.

Together with friends and acquaintances who share her love for horses, Boros 
has gathered $10,000 for a reward.

"Some people might think we're crazy for putting up $10,000 for a horse, but 
to me, she's my baby and she's part of our family," Boros said. "[The suspect] 
picked the wrong horse to mess with."

Boros is distributing fliers at saddle shops and feed stores, hoping to 
generatetips on the case.

Boros thinks the attack happened about 1 p.m. Sunday because neighbors 
reported hearing whinnying about that time. The teen taking care of the horse saw 
Rosie at 11:30 a.m. and returned at 4:30 p.m. Rudnick also narrowed the time 
down by examining the level of swelling on the horse.

Property owner Kerry Goldman, who lives next to the horse barn, said the 
suspect must have known that she would be out of town. Goldman already has sent a 
letter to all of her neighbors, advising them of the assault and asking for 
information.

Anyone with information about the case should contact Palm Beach County Crime 
Stoppers, 800-458-8477. Callers can remain anonymous. The $10,000 reward is 
available for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Nancy L. Othón can be reached at nothon at sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6633.   
    
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040222/0e61d9cb/attachment.html