Escaped horses struck by vehicles in Stearns County, Minnesota
Horses graze in a field as temperatures drop across the country on December 27, 2017 in Rigside, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
EDEN LAKE TOWNSHIP, Minn. (KMSP) - Two escaped horses were struck by vehicles and injured after escaping through an unsecured gate in rural Eden Lake Township, Minnesota. According to the Stearns County sheriff’s office, deputies were called to an animal complaint of three horses loose on the road near County Road 9 and 165th Street on Tuesday, Jan. 9.
While en route, deputies learned two of the three horses were struck by two separate vehicles. An SUV driven by a Richmond woman struck one of the horses just north of the intersection of County Road 9 and County Road 21. The woman was not injured, and the horse was examined by a veterinarian and will recover with minor injuries.
A Watkins teenager was driving a car and struck the second horse near the Eden Lake public access. The driver was not injured, but the two-year-old horse had to be put down by its owners due to a broken leg.
The owners of the horses responded to the scene and retrieved their animals from the roadway. The owners told deputies the horses got out by a gate left unsecured.