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(Photo courtesy Linda Osborne)TOOELE COUNTY -- A horse owner has stumbled across a dumping ground for apparently unwanted and possibly poached animals. It's on public land in the Stansbury Mountains near the Grantsville Reservoir.
Linda Osborne documented the 24 rotting carcasses with her camera, along with a number of shell casings she found on the ground nearby.
The animals included five horses, three sheep and about 16 elk and deer, possibly poached, Osborne notes, because of the way the meat had been stripped away.
Osborne is a lifelong horse lover who inspected the horses closely, concerned about their manner of execution. She noted tire tracks in the area leading up to where the bodies were found.
"The horses had to have been walked to where they died," she explained. "So, I'm pretty sure they were alive when they were brought up there."
What makes this a possible crime is the location and the lack of burial. It is legal for a horse owner to shoot a horse on his or her own property, but if the shooting occurred on BLM land, it would be illegal.
Also, the health department requires animal carcasses to be covered under at least a foot of soil for health reasons. With the Grantsville Reservoir so near, Osborne says that's a real concern.
Osborne says what bothers her most is the inhumane treatment. She says if you must euthanize a horse using a gun, there is a "right" way to do it. She says the evidence she saw on the site did not support that method of death. "It's a lack of comfort and dignity," she said.
The Bureau of Land Management and the state health department are investigating Osborne's discovery.
Tooele County Sheriff Frank Park tells KSL he is aware of the carcasses and that the area has a reputation as a dumping ground for unwanted animals.
Park says his animal control officer is out of town this week but is looking into it. In the meantime, he's waiting to see what the BLM does, as it is BLM land.
If the BLM puts up a sign to let people know there's no dumping in the spot, Park says his department will enforce that.
E-mail: bbruce@ksl.com
