Ranch owners are charged with animal cruelty after shocking video of a pick-up truck dragging horse

Colorado ranch owners are charged with animal cruelty after distressing footage emerges of horse being dragged behind a pick-up truck

  • John Saldate, 59, and Amber Rose Saldate, 33, were charged Tuesday with animal cruelty – a class one misdemeanor 
  • A clip showed Trigger the horse being pulled at least 100 yards along in snow
  • A woman narrating the disturbing footage is heard saying: ‘This a**hole refuses to leave the ranch, so John’s pulling him across because he’s being a douchebag’
  • Suspects were named by someone who had been sent the video and outraged community called for prosecution 
  • The woman said Monday: ‘I’ve lost my job over this, I’ve upset a lot of people. I made our horse go through something that he shouldn’t have. I was wrong’  

A couple in Colorado have been charged with animal cruelty after distressing footage emerged showing a horse being dragged behind a pick-truck.

John Saldate, 59, and Amber Rose Saldate, 33, were charged Monday with the class one misdemeanor under Colorado Law for the incident that shocked viewers on Sunday.

A clip showed Trigger the horse being pulled at least 100 yards along in the snow by its reins.

A woman narrating the disturbing footage is heard saying: ‘This a**hole refuses to leave the ranch, so John’s pulling him across because he’s being a douchebag.’

A clip showed Trigger the horse being pulled at least 100 yards along in the snow by its reins

John Saldate, 59, and Amber Rose Saldate, 33, were charged Monday with the class one misdemeanor

John Saldate, 59, and Amber Rose Saldate, 33, were charged Monday with the class one misdemeanor

It was posted by an animal lover with a disclaimer that she wasn’t present at the time of recording and that she is not friends with the owners.

Naming the alleged culprits, Alison Richards posted a caption reading: ‘I’m just going to leave this right here. Volume on…’

The video had been viewed approximately 40,000 times by Tuesday and outraged viewers requested police investigate and charge the owners.

The Grand County Sheriff’s Office initiated an animal cruelty probe near Grand Lake and the Grand County Animal Control, Colorado Human Society and 14th Judicial District Attorney’s Office assisted.

The horse was seized by law enforcement, and is now safe. But two other horses were reportedly left at the ranch.

On Monday Mrs Saldate spoke out but asked not to be named or pictured.

‘You make one bad decision sometimes and it can destroy your life,’ the woman told CBS4. ‘I’ve lost my job over this, I’ve upset a lot of people. I made our horse go through something that he shouldn’t have. I was wrong.’

A woman narrating the disturbing footage is heard saying: 'This **hole refuses to leave the ranch, so John's pulling him across because he's being a douchebag'

A woman narrating the disturbing footage is heard saying: ‘This **hole refuses to leave the ranch, so John’s pulling him across because he’s being a douchebag’

The video had been viewed approximately 40,000 times by Tuesday

Outraged viewers requested police investigate and charge the owners

The video had been viewed approximately 40,000 times by Tuesday and outraged viewers requested police investigate and charge the owners

Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin tried to encourage patience as the animal lovers fumed in response to the video.

The Sheriff told CBS4 Monday: ‘Cases involving kids and animals are obviously very emotional. We need to do our part of the investigation which sometimes takes a little bit longer than what the community is hoping.’

But the pair were officially charged Tuesday afternoon.

The community had been seeking updates prior to the announcement Matt Karzen said in a statement.

‘Our phone lines and email accounts are getting covered up with inquiries from people interested in the case. Because these events are now the subject of an active prosecution, our ethical obligations prohibit us from discussing it, but interested persons can attend the public court proceedings if they choose,’ he said reminding the public that they were merely dealing with allegations at this point and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

The defendants are scheduled to appear in County Court in Hot Sulphur Springs late January and the case is being prosecuted by Chief Deputy District Attorney Kathryn L. Dowdell.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk