General News
21 August, 2020
Horse owners offer reward
The owners of a stallion that was shot dead in July have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
The owners of a registered Quarter Horse stallion that was shot dead in July have offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
The Wolf of Wall Street, was in a paddock at the Burlington Station homestead with four mares when he was shot through the lungs sometime between 8pm on Tuesday, June 16 and 3.30pm on Thursday, June 18.
Detectives from Major Organised Crime Squad Rural in Mareeba are investigating the shooting.
The owners of the stallion, Ray Heslin and Kelli Thomas have offered a sizeable reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
The horse was purchased for $65,000 in 2015 and now say that he was worth $150,000.
"We could have sold him many times," Ms Thomas said.
"He was a pure gentleman, easy to have around and easy to ride.
"It's a pretty lowlife act to shoot an innocent animal - the person might as well have shot someone in our family.
"We just want justice for that."
The Wolf of Wall Street and the four mares he was with were in the property's paddock that fronts the public road between Mt Surprise and Chillagoe, 53km from Mt Surprise.
Ms Thomas said they had been checking on the horses every day, except the day before they found the stallion dead when they'd gone to Atherton for the day.
She believes the shooting was deliberate, as none of the other horses in the paddock were targeted, and said it was unlikely to have been an accident.
"Roo shooters and pig hunters know what they're looking at," she said. "He had a clipped mane and a shiny coat and he was a long way from looking like a brumby."
Police are urging anyone with information in relation to the offence to contact Policelink and use the online suspicious activity form, quoting QP2001269328.
Information can also be reported anonymously to Crime Stoppers 24 hours a day.
