Woman finds horse tied-up and abandoned on west valley road

A horse was found tied up, malnourished and injured, left to die in the middle of a west valley road.

Now there is an investigation underway to find the person who did this to the animal.

The Arizona Department of Agriculture has launched a criminal investigation into the incident.

The woman who found the horse said it either fell off a trailer or left it in the road. She's named the horse Miracle because she says it's a miracle that the horse is alive.

This battered brown mare was having a hard time walking over to a trailer that the Dept. of Agriculture brought to get her.

"That's 1000% better than she was the night we got her here, she could only take a half step at the time," said Tandra Hefley.

Hefley was driving around 1:30 a.m. Friday when she said she found the horse tied-up, lying in the road at 331st Avenue and Sunland in Tonopah.

"I almost hit her, I thought she was a roll of carpet or a cardboard box, I was about 6-8 feet from her when she lifted her head two inches and nickered at me, to be honest I almost threw up, I couldn't believe it," she said.

"Each front leg was tied up, and they were pulled back, there was this metal umbrella stand. Her front legs went between her back legs, over and to her neck, so if she tried to move her feet at all it would choke her," said Hefley.

Hefley called MCSO, and then a friend who helped load up the horse. The horse was missing sections of skin and had gouges on her legs.

"You can see her ribs, you can see all her ribs, her bones on her spine," she said.

Officers from the Department of Agriculture say they are now investigating, and they seized the mare from Hefley's house. The mare will go to a vet and then to their stray pens while the officers investigate.

"She's going to be safe; they're taking her to the vet right now, as long as she's safe, that's all I care about," sand Hefley.

Just this week someone reportedly called MCSO saying the horse was stolen. Hefley says that still doesn't explain why the horse is so thin.

The Department of Agriculture says they have yet to talk with the alleged owner.

If no owner comes forward, the horse may be auctioned off.