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Sheriff's office investigating horse's death |
| By Laurent
Bonczijk, Newberg Graphic reporter |
On the morning of June 20
Michelle Michelsen found her children’s 10-year-old miniature
gelding horse, Shooter, dead. They had left him in a fenced pasture
field near their home on Chehalem Mountain the night before.
At first Michelsen didn’t notice anything special about Shooter’s
body. She thought he had died of natural causes. Then she realized
he had been shot in the eye and that another horse in the field was
injured.
Michelsen reported the incident to the Yamhill County Sheriff’s
Office. A preliminary investigation found that a car had been parked
on the side of the road by the pasture and that somebody had scaled
her fence to enter the field.
“I am sure that whoever entered the pasture (Shooter) just walked
right up to them,” Michelsen said. “He was like a big dog,” she
said, describing him as an affectionate pet.
Cpt. Ken Summers of the sheriff’s office said that the weapon used
was likely a pellet gun. Nevertheless, he said the department would
search for possible shell casings and conduct tests on the bullet
fragment retrieved from Shooter’s head by Michelsen’s veterinarian
to verify that lead.
Although Michelsen doesn’t rule out that the killing could be the
work of rowdy teenagers, she worries it could be linked to her vocal
opposition to Measure 37.
Michelsen has been embroiled in a legal battle with her neighbor,
John Kroo, over his Measure 37 claim. She is fighting it, she said,
because she believes that building a subdivision near her property
would be detrimental to her horse rehabilitation business.
Michelsen testified against the subdivision during county hearings
and recently appealed the commissioners’ approval of Kroo’s Measure
37 claim to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
Yamhill County Planner Ken Friday said that Kroo’s claim calls for
a 10-lot subdivision with parcels ranging in size from two to five
acres.
Kroo’s son, also named John, said is “dad won’t talk to anybody.”
He added that “it’s a horrible thing what happened over there to
that little pony,” adding, however, that there have been other
livestock shootings on Chehalem Mountain in the past.
“You can point fingers at whoever you want,” he said, adding that
the shooting “has really done a disservice” to Measure 37. He
characterized Measure 37 claimants as older people which “very few
or none of them are criminals.”
Kroo said he had spoken with sheriff’s deputies and told them his
family had nothing to do with the shooting. He added that deputies
came and took a look around their house and emerged empty handed. “I
hope the sheriff can find who did it,” he said.
She said her children were devastated by the death of the horse.
Her daughter, Kailee, 11, was planing to take him to Seattle for a
competition last weekend.
Summers said that if Measure 37 was the motive for the crime it
would be the first such case in Oregon. He said the crime fell under
aggravated animal abuse, a Class C felony that can carry a penalty
of up to five years in prison and $5,000 fines. Summers said that
anybody with information regarding the case should call
1-503-434-6500 and ask to speak to a deputy.
|
Published
June 27, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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