Horse put down after being shot on Whanganui rural property

Awakeri the horse stands with goat friend. Photo / Supplied

WARNING: Graphic image

A horse had to be put down after being illegally shot on a rural property near Whanganui.

Three-year-old Awakeri was staying at a property in Matatara Rd for a few weeks when he was shot on the night of Good Friday. The injury to the horse's lower leg was so damaging he had to be put down.

"We are absolutely broken over it," Michelle Amlehn, one of Awakeri's owners, said.

Awakeri was a loving, calm and gentle boy, the owner said. Photo / Supplied

"Awakeri was the most loving, calm, gentle boy. He would be our babysitter to other horses young and old."

Amlehn and Wayne Raymond are owners of 5 Star Horse & Pet Transport, a business that specialises in transporting horses, pets and small livestock around the country.

"We've owned horses our whole life," Amlehn said.

They've had three other horses stay with the family in Matatara Rd, and nothing like this had ever happened to Awakeri's owners or the people he was staying with.

"It's absolutely horrific and we're very angry. We just want everyone to know what happened."

The vet could see the entry and exit wounds, shattered bones, tendons and muscles, suggesting the gunshot wound, Amlehn said. There was no saving Awakeri with that amount of damage.

The gunshot wound caused shattered bones, tendons and muscles. Photo / Supplied

The owners are offering a monetary reward for information leading to a prosecution.

"We just don't want this happening to anyone else's horses," Amlehn said.

They urged anyone who had horses near the road to put up hunting cameras and trespass signs.

It wasn't an instant kill, so Awakeri would have been in pain all night, Amlehn said.

"Why would you do that to an innocent animal? Something that's sitting there grazing in the middle of a paddock with other horses.

"What I'd like to say to them you couldn't publish."

They urged the culprit to own up.

"Tell us what happened and why it happened."

Whanganui police have opened an investigation. Anyone with information should contact police by phoning 105 or email Amlehn at kiwifilly@gmail.com.

"We really want justice for Awakeri," she said.