Horse shot to death in Hall County.

AM NOTE: Animal abuse continues to be a big problem throughout the state. Horses have not only been harrassed and abused here in Milton Georgia without any repercussion to the offenders, they are now being shot and killed in other areas of the state. Please support Liberty's Law to help put an end to this cruelty once and for all. You can sign the petition here..

By Alexis Stevens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Hall County farmer can't imagine who would want to hurt his animals.

"It's pretty downright sorry," Carroll Saxon told the AJC. "I can't figure out why anyone would want to shoot a dang horse."Two of Saxon's three horses were shot last week on his farm, killing one and seriously injuring the other, Sgt. Stephen Wilbanks with the Hall County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

Saxon, who describes himself as a chicken farmer, told the AJC he found the dead animal, a triple registered Tennessee walking horse, Thursday morning in his pasture on West County Line Road in Lula, where he's farmed for 26 years.

The 15-year-old, black-and-white horse had been shot five times, Saxon said.

Another horse, a 14-year-old black quarter horse, was shot in the neck and has a 50-50 chance of surviving, Saxon said. A veterinarian was able to remove the bullet from the horse's neck, but there is still a risk of infection, he said.

A third horse and cows and chickens on the 75-acre farm were not harmed, he said.

Saxon said he never heard any shots fired, but believes it happened in the late night or early morning hours. He said his home is about a quarter-mile from where he found the dead horse.

Saxon said he hopes the bullets, along with a shell casing he found down the road from his home, will help Hall County investigators find out who shot the animals.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Investigator Scott Lilly at 770-531-6879.