N.M. worker films himself fatally shooting a horse

An employee of a southeastern New Mexico slaughterhouse has posted a video online showing him fatally shooting a horse in the head. / KOAT.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. An employee of a southeastern New Mexico slaughterhouse that is seeking federal approval to slaughter horses has posted a video online showing him fatally shooting a horse in the head, sparking outrage among animal activists and prompting death threats to the Roswell meat company.

A maintenance contractor with Valley Meat Co. is shown in the video bringing a horse out of its pen, swearing at animal activists, then killing the horse with a single gunshot.

The Albuquerque Journal reports the state Livestock Board executed a search warrant Thursday at the Dexter home of Tim Sappington, who worked in maintenance for the company.

Chaves County Sheriff Rob Coon, whose agency is supporting the Livestock Board, told the newspaper the shooting is being investigated as an animal cruelty case.

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Rick De Los Santos, a part-owner of Valley Meat Co., said he has been inundated hate calls and death threats since the video hit the Internet.

"I didn't have anything to do with that video. That's the honest truth," De Los Santos said.

De Los Santos told KOB-TV that Sappington was a contract worker who made the video on his own time and at his own home.

"He shot a horse. That's what he eats. It's not against the law to slaughter your own horse," De Los Santos said. "Now, putting it on YouTube, I would not have done that."

Last year, De Los Santos sued the USDA to resume the inspections necessary to open what would be the nation's first horse slaughterhouse in more than five years.

The USDA earlier this month said it has no choice legally but to move forward with the application of Valley Meat and several other companies since Congress lifted a ban on the practice. And the company's attorney, A. Blair Dunn, said earlier this week a final inspection of the plant by USDA officials is expected in early April.

Many animal humane groups and public officials are outraged at the idea of resuming domestic horse slaughter, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez.

But others — including some horse rescuers, livestock associations and the American Quarter Horse Association — support the plans.

They point to a 2011 report from the federal Government Accountability Office that shows horse abuse and abandonment have been increasing since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter by cutting funding for federal inspection programs in 2006.

[andie52]

Please be aware that filming inside animal factories is being made illegal. If you find this video offensive just think of what the industry doesn't want you to see.

[tsigili]

Filming violence, simply demonstrates a disregard for decency, whether at a slaughterhouse, or in Hollywood. It is ALL the same. It is violence to make money, one way or the other.

[thinkdeeply8]

This is why I'm vegan. I don't want people like this guy to have any of my money so he can spread his evil around the world. Empathy is the most important characteristic a person can have, and we shouldn't set it aside just so we can appear manly in front of a bunch of people on the Internet.

[cheapster512]

I think I betted that horse @Sunray in Farmington

[Ulgnud]

The man shoots his own horse on his own property using his own gun and eats what he kills. So What? These liberal idiots think meat packages show up at the stores by magic? Horse is a large animal and is quite edible.

Mind you posting a video may be poor taste, but the facts remain.

[facelessdrone2005]

A good part of the world eats dogs and horses and has done so for millenia. I see nothing wrong with it. Nor do I see any need to administer IQ tests to animals before deciding whether they can be eaten. Does that make me a smart liberal, Ulgnud? LOL

TheFuji, if you can't figure out the difference between eating dogs and horses versus eating human beings, you are beyond any help that Ulgnud & I could provide.

[KPeters_from_UK]

Mind you posting a video may be poor taste
--------
I'm not against anyone hunting for food. Living near France, I know what horse meat tastes like; it is sweeter than beef. What worries me is how it is done. There is a fine line between being humane and being abusive.


The video is a red flag that this guy is mentally unstable. When someone boasts,shows off and starts swearing at animal activists you have to wonder what is wrong with this guy. Remember, psychopaths start off their violence against humans with abusing animals.

[cpmp08]

I agree this guy should not have fimed the slaughter of his horse or posted it online, but lookup the slauther of other animals that we eat on a regular basis.

Here is just one site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_slaughter

[cpmp08]

The site below details a method for the do-it-yourself slaughter, and a detail of a commercial house

http://www.wikihow.com/Slaughter-Cattle

[MerrellSheehan]

More glue sticks.

[Rafterman11]

Roswell...Hmmmmm.

[nursedeb49]

if your gonna spend money on livestock for food, cows are sooo much better, horses are muscular and their meat would be very tough, as bad as you guys think this is, and it appalls me too, there have been a number of neglect cases involving horses in our area that make him look like a sweetheart, I mean horse so starved they can no longer stand,and dead ones lying around the area. I notice they never got national attention, but it was horrendous the way the horses suffered.

[rwsmith29456]

They probably won't be able to prosecute him but that doesn't mean he isn't a sorry piece of crap.