BREVARD COUNTY, FL — A Florida woman is accused of repeatedly stabbing a horse with a knife and whipping it in front of a child who was visiting a Brevard County horse ranch for therapy last month, authorities said.
Shirley Zimmerley was arrested by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office on a felony animal cruelty charge, Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a news conference on Monday.
She also faces two misdemeanor animal cruelty charges.
The child reportedly witnessed the alleged abuse while visiting the ranch on July 27 and later told their parents, who contacted the sheriff's office, Ivey said.
Zimmerly allegedly became frustrated with the horse's behavior, stabbed it with a knife and then struck it with a whip, he said.
"She stabbed a freaking horse," the sheriff said.
Animal cruelty investigators found that in addition to having been stabbed multiple times, the horse was severely underweight, scoring a three out of nine on a body-condition scale, Ivery added.
Investigators also found other horses at the property with open sores. Zimmerley was issued additional citations related to those animals, and authorities required veterinary care for the horses.
When investigators questioned Zimmerly about the horse's injuries, she allegedly told them that a cat had caused them, Ivey said.
She was taken into custody and booked into the Brevard County Jail.
"Who stabs a horse?" Ivey said during the news conference. "Whoever does it goes to jail in Brevard County."
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