California authorities are hoping the offer of a cash reward will help identify those responsible for shooting a pony in its Sonoma County pasture.

Megan Backus, spokeswoman for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), said the owner of a pony reported to the Sonoma Sheriff's Department on Sept. 6 that a passing cyclist discovered the 16-year-old animal bleeding in its pasture near Crane Creek Regional Park. The pony later died, Backus said.

Backus said the incident likely took place Sept. 5 or 6. The pony's body has been submitted to the University of California, Davis, for a necropsy, she said.

The case remains under investigation, Backus said