COURTESY KAUAI HUMANE SOCIETY A dead horse was found yesterday in Hanapepe Valley. Horses are not supposed to be tethered during fireworks shows. One strangled itself but this one survived.

Dead horse’s owner called cruel

The mare became tangled in a tether and strangled, says the Humane Society

HANAPEPE, Kauai » One horse was found dead and another unable to reach food or water in Hanapepe Valley yesterday when their owner apparently left them tethered over the Fourth of July.

Their owner, Richard Corr, 31, of Hanapepe, was cited by Kauai Humane Society officials for misdemeanor animal cruelty when he showed up on the property yesterday as they conducted their investigation.

The two adult horses became tangled in their tethers. The mare appeared to have choked to death, officials said, when its 20-foot rope got caught between her legs and pinned her to the ground.

The other horse, a male, was tangled up tight to a tree, Humane Society officials said, and was unable to reach food or water. That horse, however, was unharmed and not dehydrated, said Kauai Humane Society Director Dr. Becky Rhoades.

Corr said yesterday that the death was a tragic mistake and that the horses are comfortable on tethers. Another horse of Corr's died last New Year's, he said, when neighbors' illegal fireworks spooked it. So he moved the horses to the other side of the property for this holiday.

"My horse got spooked and now he's dead," Corr added. "It's my loved one. I raised (her) like my baby."

Rhoades said the mare's death was preventable. "If horses are tethered, which I strongly disapprove of, they must be checked multiple times a day for their safety."

Corr said he has seen thousands of horses tethered and had no idea it was illegal.

He was cited for one count of animal cruelty, a misdemeanor punishable by a $2,000 fine or one year in jail.