The animal was killed on November 6, in Isenay, in Nièvre. The breeder and the owner of the mare decided to file a complaint and an investigation was opened.
“They came to tell me that there had been an accident at my house and that they had killed one of my horses”confides Diane de Charmasse, a breeder who, on November 6, learned that a mare on her private property had just been shot dead by a hunter.
The events took place in the department of Nièvre, in Isenay. “They (the hunters) started by telling me that they were outside my meadow. I told myself that they were wrong and that the horse was injured, so I ran off to treat him “, she adds to our colleagues from France 3 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
But now, once there, the breeder can only note the death of the animal and accuses the hunter concerned of having killed it directly on his property, and not outside as he had previously indicated. The latter would also have ensured “that he had killed a wild boar at the same time” before his version changes once the gendarmerie is present.
“He shot the mare 70 meters away in open ground […] An accident is a ricocheting bullet or something, but here it's a guy who entered private property, who saw a herd of horses and who fired.” she laments.
A mare estimated at 30,000 euros
Still according to our colleagues, the animal which was killed is estimated at nearly 30,000 euros, was 14 years old, and was known to the equestrian world for its participation in several show jumping competitions at the national level.
For his part, the owner and rider of the mare adds: “In Val-d'Oise, I had already dealt with hunters who shot near horses. But here, what I find very worrying is that the hunter was able to confuse a 1.70 m gray mare with a 70 cm brown boar. Someone needs to explain it to me because it’s still something that makes me angry.”
An investigation was opened and entrusted to the French Biodiversity Office (OFB).
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