Friendly Matilda found slaughtered

Apr 17 2003 Chris Wathan * Newsdesk@Wme.Co.Uk, The Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales

A HORSE that would let children ride on its back has been brutally killed in a mysterious attack. Matilda, a six-year-old black and white mare, was found dead in her field on Tuesday morning with multiple stab wounds and a slit throat.

The killing is being investigated by both the RSPCA and Bargoed CID.

Owner Mark Harrison, 34, from Abertysswg, Rhymney, said, "I just can't believe anyone could do such a thing to an animal. It was absolutely horrific.

"I'm just glad it wasn't my children who found her." The dead horse was found by Mr Harrison's father-in-law, Josh Jones.

Mr Jones, 54, said, "I was on my usual walk to check on the horse when I saw the door was ajar on the stable and the horse was lying in the field.

"I never saw such an awful thing in my life.

"It begs belief why anyone would do this."

The horse had been locked in its stable the previous night but is thought to have bolted as she was attacked.

The walls of the stable were covered with blood.

The attacker stabbed the horse with such force that the weapon passed straight

through the horse's chest.

Mr Harrison said the loss of Matilda was like a death in the family and his sons Liam, six, and Kavan, three, were particularly upset.

The approachable horse had been special to many people in the area, with children often calling by the field to feed it and ride on its back.

The crime is not the first of its kind - numerous attacks on horses have been reported around the country in the past few years - but RSPCA inspector Rachel Jones described this latest incident as the worst she had ever seen and one that she could not understand.

"I have heard of similar attacks on horses, whether through an act of revenge or some sort of satanic ritual, but nothing as bad as this," she said.

Miss Jones also considered the attack strange because none of the other horses in neighbouring fields or stables had been harmed.

However, a spokesman for the International League for the Protection of Horses, Dave Guy, said there could well be a reasonable explanation behind the death.

"It doesn't appear to be a mad rage because the attacker wouldn't have singled out this particular horse," said Mr Guy, a former mounted policeman and equine investigation specialist.

"And we've all heard the stories about satanic killings, although I've never encountered it personally.

"But 99% of the time it is normally a tragic accident and we usually have enough evidence to prove that. That's not to say this isn't one of the exceptions and all the factors have to be looked at."

Detective Sergeant Gwyn Pidgeon, of Bargoed CID, said he and his officers had been sickened by the incident and were urging anyone with any information to contact the police or the RSPCA.