PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado family is searching for answers after their beloved horse, Nickel, was butchered.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports the family found the 22-year-old animal Friday morning essentially in pieces, with all the meat carefully stripped from its bones. The horse's heart and liver also were removed.
The lock to the front gate of the family's Pueblo-area ranch was cut. A lock on a semi-trailer on the property also was cut, and a portion of fence was taken down.
Neither the family nor neighbors heard anything out of the ordinary prior to discovery of the carcass.
The family believes the animal was killed for the purpose of human consumption.
Pueblo County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Gayle Perez says an investigation is underway.