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Gruesome Sight: Why Did Dead Horse Remain Along Hwy 29 For Hours?
May 15, 2012
A sight so gruesome we can’t show you pictures greeted drivers in Molino Tuesday morning, prompting dozens to ask NorthEscambia.com “why?”.
A Pensacola man was killed about 8:30 Sunday night when he hit a horse on Highway 29 near the Victory Assembly of God. Sunday night, the remains of the horse were removed from the southbound lane of the highway and pushed into the grassy median. The gruesome remains of the horse were not removed from the median until about 10 a.m. Monday.
“Very sad, but don’t you think they could have removed the mangled horse out of the median?”, one resident wrote in a comment to NorthEscambia.com. “That was awful.”
Lt. Steve Preston of the Florida Highway Patrol said his agency notified the Florida Department of Transportation and their contractor Transfield Services on Sunday night that the horse needed to be removed.
“We were not able to get it removed that night,” Preston said. He said the FHP started making arrangements first thing Monday morning for the removal.
“I believe the problem was miscommunication,” Preston said. “I am not blaming DOT, the county or anyone else.”
Ian Satter, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Transportation, said that he believed his department was waiting for the FHP to finish their investigation before removing the horse.
“There was an effort to try to find and see who was the owner,” Satter said.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has a livestock officer that responds to incidents on county roads, but not state roads like Highway 29, according to Sena Maddison, ECSO spokesperson.
Preston reiterated that the problem was to be blamed on “miscommunications”.
Pictured above: Emergency workers on scene of a fatal accident Sunday night in Molino where multiple vehicles hit a horse. NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge.
Comments
34 Responses to “Gruesome Sight: Why Did Dead Horse Remain Along Hwy 29 For Hours?”
If it was so easy to move something of this size everyone would do it. It was best to wait till daylight for everyones safety.
First off condolences to the families involved. I passed by minutes after the wreck took place and when I seen the horse right away I knew it was bad. Yes I could tell it was a horse it was pretty obvious and the horse was on the road not in the median for people that dont have the facts straight. Also, if the officials took the time to move the horse to the median they could have just as easily removed it completely. They removed the wrecked cars and hauled them away without they being much of a safety hazard…
The owner did go up and claim the horse he asked if he needed to have the horse removed was told the FDOT would have to do it also the horse was not removed till 10:00 am it gets light out at what 6:00 am so safety really was not the problem was it. The horse jumped the fence it could happen to anyone.Just pray for the man and he’s family that lost his life.
no one ever says any thing about dead deer or dogs on the side of the road or in the road . i seen the the horse and could not tell it was a horse untill i read this story
I was introduced to this site by a coworker and I think this site is more informative than the PNJ!!
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Harbor Freight, I keep them in my vehicle all the time, good for all kinds of stuff. PS I didn’t pass the horse and I’m glad. I just asked the question.
The point I was tiring to make:
Hwy 29 is very dangerous, seems like a wreck occurs at least twice a week.
If the horse was just injured, and not killed, then an attempt to remove it and save the horses life would of deemed in someway putting a human life in harms way.
Just saying, why risk the chance of another possible wreck at night , to remove a DEAD animal, that could wait until the next day.
Couldn’t the horse have been covered with a tarp??
Like the owner of the horse was going to step up and claim the horse?Give me a break!
@van Well, there should be. The agency that covers animal abuse might or might not have the time, I don’t know. Your point is well taken, in any case.
@whatthehay Trains, planes, & autos don’t break out of their enclosures & cause accidents and deaths, they take a human operator most of the time. Gates can be padlocked, & children can be denied access to those gates. An unlocked gate on an enclosure that holds livestock could be another fine-worthy offense as well. So no excuse there.
I agree with you on accidental breaches, they will happen & are not to be blamed on the owner. Perhaps standards on fencing could be adopted that livestock owners would need to adhere to, not that they would need to be car-proof.
For the record, I know there are many fine equine facilities & livestock farms in the area that maintain their premises to the utmost.
I keep hearing the same argument. Why didn’t someone cover the dead horse. here is my question, Why didn’t you cover it? You obviously saw that the horse was not covered and you drove right on by. Oh, you will saw it is not your job Guess what, It is not FHP job either. The horse was in the medium so it was no road hazard, JOB DONE. If it bothered you then you should have taken care of it because if I was the officer and the horse was out of the road and I had reported it to the road dept. I would have left to. My point is If the horse bothered you, then you could have stopped and covered it or you could drive on by and complain, guess you choose the later.
a dead horse in pieces is a whole lot different than a dead deer who weighs maybe 100lbs. Maybe the owner should have come and gotten his horse and buried it..when I had horses and one died..we buried it own our farm…why becacuse I loved my horse ..apparently he thought it was garbage at that point or was to afraid to come get what was his…
Mike “I’m sorry, but no one should have to die because someone wants to ride a horse.”
Well with that said, goodness I guess no one should ride in a car, plane, train or any other thing for that matter. Fences get knocked down, cars run through them, kids leave gates open, I can go on and on. Accidents happen, now if negligence can be proved ok then thats a different matter.
@ mike – No one goes around and checks the animals. If a complaint is filed about neglect then there are agencies who check up on them. No one has time to ride around and babysit every horse / animal owner in the area. Get real.
Things are not always beautiful and perfect in this world. People need to buck-up. Sho-nuff is right. No job like that needs to be done at night, not even with generator lights. It will keep until morning. Kids see worse things on tv every day, they just aren’t bloody so no one is paying attention
Whatever agency goes around checking livestock & the care of should also check the enclosure thereof. Any faults in the fence found should result in the livestock being rounded up & sold at auction & a fine levied against the owner.
I’m sorry, but no one should have to die because someone wants to ride a horse.
SHO-NUFF I totally agree. As someone who has worked on the local roads around here, I can understand waiting until morning to have the carcass removed. First you must think of the workers safety,(a dead horse is not worth another life) FHP and the fire department can’t stay there all night. If you were to set up a work zone for something that was no longer a hazard you have to have the proper signage and equipment. (county and state requirements differ)This is not an everyday work task, I know when a donkey was hit on Quintette a while back they had a hard time getting people to slow down so they could load the animal in a dump truck. So you saw a dead horse, well there are dead deer all over the place. Death is a part of life and the fact is that sometimes its not pretty. As far as the kids I bet most of them have watched a movie that had far worse in it.
First, I am so sorry for this tragedy that has happened and I pray for all involved.
Second, I would like to see any of you with your hands drag and move a horse, or even, pick it up and load it into a truck! I do believe the only thing big enough to do this is a loader with a bucket.
And to talk about the health department? They have nothing to do with this.
Very sad story, Sorry for the loss of life.
I, for one, dont like “cop out’ s. Ahazard is on the hiway.A truck and a chain would have been able to pull the carcass on to the median. Dont play the bleme game. Regardless of State or County hiway —-as Larry the cable guywould say…. GER ER Done!! Im too goo d to get my hands dirty on a bloody dead horse is not an excuse! get it off the hiway and post a trooper or state road worker with flashing lights until it is removed! COMMON SENSE!
@ taxpayer – Your snide comments aren’t really necessary. I am almost POSITIVE that the owner or caretaker of this horse didn’t say “hey, I think I am going to go turn him out and chase him onto 29 and stir up a little fun.” It was a FREAK accident. And no, you can’t feasibly build a fence to keep anything in. A 12′ fence is not reasonable. The horse could have gotten lose from the person handling it, got spooked, and taken off running. You never know what happened, so don’t be so quick to assume that the owner of the horse just let his or her fences get dilapidated enough that the horse just walked over it and left. Extenuating circumstances always come into play in strange things such as this. None of my animals have ever killed anyone either and we live on a major road with a SENSIBLE 5 foot field fence; we are just fortunate that our horses have never felt the urge to leave and run amok. We have had a horse hit by a car before. Fortunately it was my aunt that was involved and she wasn’t injured. Her truck was totaled but that was it. The horse that got out was the most calm and laid back horse we have ever owned. She was being chased around by another horse who usually didn’t stir things up but he felt froggy that day I suppose. He chased her THROUGH the fence and she got out on the road and got hit / ran into the truck. We are very fortunate not only that my aunt was fine, but also that the horse lived through it and we still have her today. Accidents happen and with the weight of a horse hitting a car, the outcome will never be good. I don’t disagree that the horse owner or caretaker should be somewhat responsible, but they shouldn’t be thrown under the jail either. Don’t assume that everything is someone’s fault directly.
Some are so quick to take sides with the ones that are wrong, did not do their job. Is that the way you do your job? The horse was dead, The cops were there. The fire dept. was there. The ambulance people were there. The remains of the horse was there for several hours, uncovered. There is a BIG difference in a deer that got hit by a car with no one called. Someone did not do their job and I think the first one is the FHP.
Where was the overpaid health department if everyone was so worried? I see that blue truck all the time driving up and down hwy 29. Not to mention the health dept office is right down the road from where this happend. I hope they do hold the owners of the horse accountable for the death in this horrific tragedy. If you live next to a major Hwy and want to have horses you need to have a good enough fence to keep them in. Don’t say they can get out of any fence, they can build fences to keep anything in. But hey what do i know i haven’t killed anyone with any of my pets yet.
FHG,
Where are you finding a tarp big enough to cover a horse for 99 cents?
Miscommunication……no excuse. When the FHP works a fatal wreck, the officer is there for hours. The officer saw that the removal service had not arrived. The officer should have made another call. The best thing you can do in a situation like this is take responsibility. Say, “we dropped the ball and are sorry”. Learn from this mistake. Also, DOT, if you received the call, get off your duff and get your job done.
Also, I am so sorry for the family’s loss.
Hey folks, It was a horrible accident and a person died tragically …our troopers and emergency responders have their hands full. Do we really expect them to be responsible for covering dead animals along the side of the road? Any one of you that saw that animal could have gotten a tarp and covered the animal….Or better yet, perhaps the person responsible for the roaming animal could have provided cover? Sometimes I think we expect to much from the very people we want to protect us from harm and help us when we are suffering. Sometimes I think we have become so helpless that we can not help ourselves….The people out there that night did a great job….they gave their all…….We should be Thanking them!
People are so quick to be so negative. Have they never driven down the road and seen a dead deer on the side of the road or other wildlife. Moving such a large animal is not an easy task. Yes, they could have put a tarp on the animal ,but if not covered correctly you would have another accident if blown into the oncoming traffic.
I am so sorry for the family that lost there beloved family member. Bless them.
they could have covered it for sake of kids going by.
I didn’t drive through that area so i didn’t see it but i would have thought they would have covered the beast. A good sized tarp could have used pending removal and would have been better than leaving the remains exposed for all to see.
Why did the not use a tarp to at least cover the remains of the horse, nobody wants to see a destructed animal along the roadway or in the median.
It was very gruesome. If it couldn’t be moved someone should of covered him. All I could think of when I passed it was the school buses that passed it with kids on it.
If the horse could not be removed, it should have been covered at least. All the excuses about safety, miscommunications, ect. is not acceptable. Just say, We did not do our job. Thats the truth!
Why on Earth does it not occur to someone to throw a 99 cent tarp over it once the sun comes up. I am 46 but have a horrid, vivid memory of seeing a dead horse like this when I was 5 years old on the bus to kindergarten.
First of all,
My condolences and prayers go out to the families involved.
It appears that the horse remains were in the median out of harms way. It is not an easy task to remove a deceased horse from the roadside, and would require some sort of heavy equipment to do so.
Attempting this task in the dark hours really was not a logical decision due to safety concerns in my opinion. So why not wait until daylight hours to remove the horse?? I feel it was a good call from a safety standpoint.
It was a gruesome thing to see at 8:30 Am for sure