NEW RIVER -- Two New River residents were arrested for animal cruelty after a horse was killed by pool acid injection and another was found starving.
Laurel George, 54, and John Henkle, 54, were booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on Tuesday. They are facing multiple counts of animal cruelty.
According to the Maricopa County sheriff's animal crimes detectives, a 26-year-old female Arabian horse was killed in early March.
An examination determined the death was administered using a homemade injection of pool acid and sodium bicarbonate, which reportedly caused extreme distress and pain to the animal.
Detectives believe Henkle carried out the killing.
A 15-year-old male horse was found alive but very thin. The horse was suffering from extreme malnutrition and starvation. It was taken to the sheriff's MASH unit to be housed and cared for by inmates.
