The owners of Wild Eyed and Wicked, one of the American Saddlebreds attacked and subsequently euthanatized after his condition debilitated in the summer of 2003, have asked again that the horse’s body be exhumed from its burial site on Double D Ranch in Versailles, Ky. The exhumation issue was held in abeyance at the conclusion of an Aug. 13 U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky hearing (see www.TheHorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=2485) pending receipt of affidavits that would indicate that the proposed exhumation would not hinder or interfere with the criminal investigation of the attacks and that the veterinarians who treated the horse do not have any blood or tissue samples in their possession.

Counsel for Sally and Joe Jackson, owners of Wicked, submitted eight affidavits on Sept. 17 that addressed issues raised by the Court; several of those affidavits included testimony that exhumation and forensic examination of Wicked’s remains would be beneficial in an investigation of the nature of the injections.

Woodford County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordie Shaw testified in his affidavit that exhumation and forensic testing of Wicked’s body “would not hamper or obstruct the on-going KSP (Kentucky State Police) criminal investigation, and I believe that it may be of benefit, to assist my office and the KSP in the conduct of the criminal investigation. As a result, I have no objection to the exhumation or the testing.”

John Cummins, DVM; Carol McLeod, DVM; and Ric Redden, DVM; all Central Kentucky veterinarians who treated Wicked and the other attacked horses, testified in their affidavits that they do not have any bone, blood, or tissue samples from Wicked or any of the other affected horses and did not conduct testing on such materials from Wicked, fulfilling the second affidavit requirement of the Court. It had been argued that if samples were already available for testing, then exhumation would not be necessary