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Kimberly Houk Reporting Three horses were found dead in a barn in Taylorsville today. The owners of the horses went out early this morning to feed them and found all three of them dead. Investigators say they were electrocuted.
All three horses were in an all metal barn. Their water buckets are heated to keep the water from freezing. Something went wrong and the water bucket and the barn became a deadly combination.
The investigator immediately felt the electricity the minute she put her hand in the horse's water bucket. Then she started piecing together what happened by starting with the horse's metal shoes.
Troy Wood, Investigator, Animal Services: “If the horse is drinking the water and leans up against the metal wall - like we tested, we stuck our fingers in the water and touched the wall, and we were getting an electric zap."
Investigators believe the water bucket could have had a short, but they're also looking at a brand new breaker box that was recently installed in the barn.
Wood: “There could have been a power surge through the night that caused it. With all the cold weather and everything, we've been having the power surges."
Wood says the breaker should have tripped, but it didn't.
Alex Bradshaw, Owner: “It’s terrible. We’re just glad it wasn’t a malicious act.”
Alex Bradshaw owns the horses; he and his wife are very saddened by this. They used the horses in summer camps to help kids with autism.
Alex Bradshaw, Owner: “We just teach them to ride horses, teach them how to saddle them and take care of them.”
Bradshaw says he'll still run the summer camps. He still has two other horses that are still alive; he keeps them a wooden barn.
