Witnesses needed to help find whoever shot and killed family horse named Champ
SACRAMENTO, CA (May 9, 2007) – United Animal Nations (UAN) today pledged a $2,025 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever shot and killed Champ, a family horse, in Palmerdale, Alabama on Wednesday, May 2. UAN’s pledge brings the total reward being offered in this case to $10,000.
“Sadly, in cases of violence toward animals people are reluctant to come forward without a financial incentive,” said UAN President and CEO Nicole Forsyth. “Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money, and we hope that the reward will encourage someone to do the right thing and help local law enforcement catch whoever committed this senseless act of cruelty.”
Champ was shot around 10:15 p.m. on Wednesday, May 2 near his family’s home in the 7900 block of Brookwood Road in Palmerdale. His owner reported hearing several gunshots and saw someone shining what she described as a spotlight. Law enforcement officials believe Champ may have been a victim of spotlighting – a practice poachers use to locate animals and freeze them in their tracks, making them easy to shoot. Another horse belonging to the same family was unharmed, but is reported to be mourning Champ’s loss.
Anyone with information in this case should call Deputy Dwight T. Sloan at the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office at (205) 249-1291.
According to Jacque Meyer, Executive Director of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, similar shootings of goats, sheep and dogs have occurred recently in the usually quiet suburb of Palmerdale. “We are determined to find whoever is responsible for killing Champ,” Meyer said. “We are confident that the rather large reward, combined with this community’s concern for Champ’s family, will result in some solid leads in this case.”
UAN is offering this reward through its Zig Zag Memorial Reward Fund, designed to encourage witnesses to step forward with information about animal cruelty crimes and to advocate the need for harsher punishments in such cases. Research now shows that people who abuse animals are more likely to be violent toward humans.
“Given the connection between violence toward humans and violence toward animals, our society can no longer take animal cruelty cases lightly,” Forsyth said. “We issued the Zig Zag Memorial Reward in this case because law enforcement officials in Jefferson County are clearly determined to find out who committed this crime and to punish them to the full extent of the law.”
The Zig Zag Memorial Reward is named for a Los Angeles dog who was burned, beaten and tortured for hours before dying, and whose assailants were apprehended but received scant punishment.
MEDIA CONTACT: Alexis Raymond, (916) 429-2457.
Now celebrating its 20th year, United Animal Nations (UAN) is North America’s leading provider of emergency animal sheltering and disaster relief services and a key advocate for the critical needs of animals.
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