No Leads Yet On Psycho Ely Horse Slasher, Reward $1,000

With no leads to the vicious mutilation of a horse at the Ely Corrals a $1,000 reward has been offered by concerned citizens.

Mel, a six year old mare, owned by Tanya and Jason Nelms was found December 30th in her pen with an 18 inch gash in her side at the Ely Corrals.

The stricken animal was transported to Elko for emergency surgery and now a month and a half later her owners are still at a loss to explain the barbarity.

“I think it should turn everyone stomach,” said family friend Patricia Prenatt. “That someone could do this to a defenseless animal.”

According to the White Pine County Sheriff’s Office there are still no firm suspects despite a month and half after the crime.

Until 2011 animal abuse was treated as a misdemeanor but now cruelty to animals now carries a felony charge with the passage of Senate Bill 223, also known as Cooney’s Law.

The bill was named after a northern Nevada shelter dog who was brutally tortured with a box cutter and killed by his owner- A crime that only came with a misdemeanor charge.

A felony charge for animal abuse will come with a one-to-five year prison sentence and a fine of up to $10,000.

The change to Nevada law follows a national trend at least partly based on new psychological evidence that those who abuse animals often progress to looking for human victims.