A disturbing video that ricocheted around social media on Saturday appears to show a horse being dragged behind a white single-cab pickup moving through an East Las Vegas neighborhood. Neighbors later found the animal dead in front of a home in the 1300 block of Ringe Lane and alerted authorities, prompting Las Vegas Metropolitan Police to open an animal-cruelty investigation and ask the public to help track down whoever is responsible.
The footage, which has been widely shared online, appears to show a dark-colored horse with white markings hitched or tied to the back of the truck as it rolls down a residential street, a scene that has horrified people living nearby, according to 8 News Now. Metro investigators say they are trying to identify both the horse’s owner and the driver or drivers of the white pickup, and they are specifically asking anyone with doorbell cameras, security systems or dash cams that may have captured the truck to come forward. Police have not announced any arrests.
Police ask for tips
Investigators urged anyone with information about the case to contact LVMPD’s Animal Cruelty Section at 702-828-2907 or email [email protected]. People who want to remain anonymous can send tips to Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555, as noted by KTNV. Metro says images or clips of the white single-cab pickup are especially critical to narrowing down possible owners in the valley’s rural-zoned areas. Detectives are reviewing social media posts and any additional footage that is turned in.
Neighbors and the scene
Residents told reporters they came across the dead horse near Nellis Boulevard and Washington Avenue and called police once they realized what they were looking at, 8 News Now reported. Officers at the scene said the condition of the animal suggested it had been dragged before it died, and the site remains under active investigation. Authorities have not released the name of the horse’s owner while they complete background checks and confirm details.
What the law allows
Nevada lawmakers previously approved “Reba’s Law,” which stiffened penalties for willful and malicious acts of cruelty that result in an animal’s death, upgrading some offenses to a Category B felony that can carry one to six years in prison, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The case unfolds amid heightened concern over horse welfare in the region after police in early June arrested a teenage competitor accused of stabbing three horses at an event at South Point, the Associated Press reported.
LVMPD’s Animal Cruelty Section says the investigation into the dragged horse remains active and that any video, license plate details or eyewitness accounts could be key to identifying the truck and whoever was driving it, as reported by KTNV. Detectives have asked community members to save any potentially relevant footage and to avoid posting images that might interfere with the ongoing case, instead directing material to Metro or submitting information anonymously through Crime Stoppers.
