The RCMP is looking for one or more people who wantonly slaughtered 17 wild horses about 60 kilometers from Kamloops, British Columbia.
Corporal James Grandy explained in a statement sent to local media that the Tk’emlúps Rural Division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was called on Friday to a remote area north of Walhachin, where the carcasses of the slaughtered animals were discovered.
An RCMP animal crime investigator, Corporal Cory Lepine, told CBC News that the horses were found shot about two kilometers away in difficult-to-reach terrain.
RCMP said a herd of feral horses are known to roam the area. These are of great cultural significance to the nearby Skeetchestn First Nation, authorities said.
“The motive behind this heartbreaking gesture could not be confirmed at this time. However, investigators continue to collect and examine all possible elements,” said Corporal Grandy.