"Somebody Stabbed my horse!"

Let me start out by saying that this was a new one. I'm never surprized by what some people do to animals (such as HERE ) and I've seen plenty. Like the time someone shot their horse for getting into the garbage, honest I saw it. "I was just tryin' to scare him", sure you were, just tell that to the officer. But last night I got the "stabbed" call. The owner had riden the horse up to the local convienence store and while inside....the deed was done. The horse was tied to a tree and had blood pouring from a wound in the center of the chest while someone(we'll call him the Perp) was running away. It's never a good sign when you arrive to treat an animal and there is a significant police presence, but I did feel better with a "horse-stabber" on the loose. After an exam which revealed a DEEEEP hole in the left pectoral muscle and alot of subcutaneous emphysema (air under the skin along the left side of the body). The good thing was that it did not appear to penetrate the chest cavity. It's said in trauma circles that "chest wounds suck"...for alot of reasons.I couldn't find any sucking sounds around the wound. After packing the wound and closing the skin he was treated with antibiotics and moved to a stall. I wanted to have the horse hospitalized but the owner couldn't get the horse transported. Not sure what actually caused it since I wasn't there so I can't say whether it was accidental or a malicious event, either way the horse was doing OK. After we were finished I said my goodbyes and went to shake hands with the officer in charge " you don't have any blood on your hands do you, doesn't look good for a cop to have blood on their hands". I guess the "detective" didn't notice the clue that I had been wearing surgical gloves. Hmmmmmm.

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