Joe Arpaio's Headless Horse to Be Buried; Dispute with State Representative Ensues

Dotty, a wild Salt River horse, was left headless on a sandy bank by Sheriff Joe Arpaio's animal investigators. After months of decomposition, Dotty will finally be buried by volunteers. This incident has sparked a dispute between horse advocates and a state representative over responsibility.

Simone Netherlands, president of the non-profit Salt River Wild Horse Management Group, announced that her organization received permission from the U.S. Forest Service to bury Dotty's remains.

"We don't do anything without their authorization," Netherlands told New Times. "Now that we have their authorization, we will be burying [Dotty] this Saturday."

The Forest Service has not yet confirmed the authorization for the burial of the animal, which is mostly skin, bone, and hooves.

Netherlands' statement follows a recent New Times column that highlighted the horse's carcass decomposing in a heavily trafficked area of the Tonto National Forest. The MCSO neglected to move the carcass after a necropsy in October.

The announcement has been marred by a blame-game, with Netherlands accusing state Representative Kelly Townsend of responsibility for Dotty's condition.

In an interview with ABC Channel 15, Netherlands claimed her group had not removed the body because Townsend and others erected plastic orange fencing around the horse, allegedly preventing nature from taking its course.

"Kelly Townsend went and put the orange fencing around Dotty and the predators couldn't get to it," Netherlands told ABC 15.

Townsend responded to the allegations via a statement on her Facebook page, explaining that the fencing was erected "out of respect for the horse, and for the visitors" to the area.

...myself and a few others brought rebar and orange fencing down to the river and protected the area so she was out of view of the 'unsuspecting.' We left the side of the fence closest to the river elevated two feet so that coyotes could get under, and the top was open for any vulture who may be interested. However, in the unnatural state of the horse having had been in the river for a week, putrid and covered in sand, the animals were not taking care of it.

When New Times visited the Tonto National Forest's Coon Bluff recreation area in January, the orange fencing had been removed. Only a couple of rebar posts remained.

Netherlands stated that her group "does not bury wild animals," but it was necessary now because predators "are no longer interested in the dried-up remains."

The 12-year-old mare was discovered on October 1 by members of Netherlands' non-profit, floating lifeless in the Salt River near the Coon Bluff campsite. The MCSO was notified.

SRWHMG members reported bullet holes in the horse's head and body, but the MCSO initially left the matter to the U.S. Forest Service, according to a recently released MCSO report.

Pressure from equine enthusiasts and Representative Townsend forced the MCSO's hand. Detectives with the sheriff's animal-crimes unit took airboats to the area where Dotty floated, legs up.

Dotty's head was removed by MCSO deputies, and the carcass left drifting in the water, the report states.

The following day, the MCSO contacted a vet about examining the skull, only to discover that this vet and another were en route to Coon Bluff to examine the carcass, at Townsend's request.

The MCSO accompanied the vets and moved Dotty's decapitated body to the Salt River's south bank, where the vets performed a necropsy, finding the body to be that of a "well-nourished" female, sans head.

"The remains of the horse were left on the beach to be disposed of," reads the report.

The MCSO later delivered the head to one of the vets for examination. The actual necropsy report has yet to be released.

Despite an $8,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Dotty's killer, the MCSO's report states that the investigation into the horse's death has been "inactive" since November.

The MCSO recently confirmed to New Times that all leads in the case have been "exhausted."

Originally posted by Phoenix New Times