At the same time as the horses are getting their supper, the ponies Bubbe and Carisma are shot to death in the paddock. A hunter mistook them for wild boar. Aileen Köpper, whose children lost their horses, was nearby when she heard the shots.
– Det is so unreal, like a damn nightmareshe says.
When Aileen Köpper and her daughter are going to feed the horses in the evening, they suddenly hear two powerful shots from the horse paddock next door. A moment later the hunter calls and tells that he shot a pony by mistake.
– I felt the panic in my body considering the shots we heard before. We ran out into the pasture and there was our little mare that had been shot in the leg, she says.
The daughter found the pony
Under a starry sky, the children’s Shetland ponies Bubbe and Carisma are seriously injured by a hunter who thought the horses were wild boar.
– Her (Carisma) leg was bent in all directions, it was terrible. I asked the hunter to shoot again so she didn’t suffer, says Aileen Köpper.
At the same time as she calls the vet for emergency slaughter, the daughter goes off with a friend to look for Bubbe. They find him shot in the stomach.
– He stood trembling and was close to collapsing. He probably had a lot of internal bleeding, says Aileen Köpper.
“Never allowed to shoot in the pasture”
Both horses were so badly injured that they had to be euthanized on the spot. The hunter had received information that there would be wild boar near the farm a kilometer away.
– Before, we have always collaborated. The horses have not been around and the hunters have used silencers. But the hunters have never been allowed to hunt in this paddock because it is a loose operation, here the horses run all the time, says Aileen Köpper.
When the shots were fired, there were people inside the stable, which is right next to the paddock. The hunter himself called the police, who have now drawn up a report on hunting offenses and causing danger to others.
– I hope he is never allowed to have a weapon in his hand again, says Aileen Köpper.
TV4 News has searched for the hunter.