Alan Gathright | Email Me
Owner doesn’t want shooter punished
LYONS, Colo. – A month after someone used a high-powered rifle to kill a miniature donkey in an otherwise peaceful pasture near Lyons, the animal’s owner Bobbie Watson still asks why?
For six years the Watsons — Bobbie and her husband, Tim — have raised two miniature donkeys, Kaitlyn and her brother, Tucker.
“We’re very close to our animals,” Watson told 7NEWS photojournalist Major King. “The donkeys were our companions. And they were joyful and they were lovely and they were fun to watch and they were fun to play with.”
“They have excellent memories,” she said. “They kept the coyotes off the property. They kept the grasslands down.”
But that all changed — suddenly and violently — on Dec. 21.
Bobbie Watson knew something was wrong when Tucker came up to her without his usually inseparable sister, Kaitlyn.
Watson went looking for the small donkey and found her dead.
“She was lying there and she was cold,” the owner said. “I’m a nurse…and I saw the bullet holes. Somebody shot my donkey.”
Watson believes the shooter fired from Rock Wedge Drive, hitting the donkey grazing about 75 yards from the road.
“Kaitlin got shot once straight through the chest and once up through the neck ,” Watson said.
Yet, Bobbie Watson said, “I don’t want to see this person punished.”
“I would love to see them caught, just so that I could explain to them what they took away — that sense of peace and some of the beauty of this valley is gone,” she said.
“Just to say, ‘Would you think twice?'” Don’t do this again. Don’t do this again,” Watson said. “Because anger doesn’t get you anything… Forgiveness pays forward and that’s a valuable price.”
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said it has not identified any suspects in the shooting.
Bobbie Watson said sheriff’s investigators told her the best hope to solve the case is if the shooter tells someone what happened and that person comes forward to authorities.
Click (HERE) to visit Channel 7 and to Comment
Categories: Horse News
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
This is so sad.
LikeLike
Don’t think I could be that forgiving so quickly. Donkeys can be the best pets around. Ours always make us smile when we go out to feed them and the horses.
LikeLike
Is there no end to mans atrocities to Man and animal??????? l would and could not be so forgiving , there are so many things in life to deal with , and is wonderful to have animals to help us through, they are our ROCK, they give unconditional Love , whomever did this should be punished , only then can they think of what they have done !!!!!!! Reflect on the beauty and peace and pleasure they have taken away from this family , I ask WHY also!!!!!!
LikeLike
WHY????? Senseless.. Our pet animals are near and dear to us!!! There is a large void for this family!!! Whoever did this, should suffer the same treatment!!!
LikeLike
Is it illegal to shoot a gun in that area? There are laws restricting illegal shooting! Personally, I feel there are TOO MANY GUNS. Other countries don’t have the gun violence we have here.
LikeLike
Heartbreaking.
LikeLike
If i were the owners, id be really working hard to try to find out who did this because they could go on to kill other innocent animals or maybe even people! Could be someone that may have something against the owners or just may be a sick individual who derives pleasure from killing. Getting tougher on animal abuse laws would help a lot as most of them who hurt or kill animals just dont get the punishment they deserve and just go on to keep harming animals.
LikeLike
I’m still working on the kind of forgiveness that she is showing. If it was my horse, I would want to personally watch the MF die painfully. Like I said I’m working on it.
LikeLike
Smiles..i hear ya.
LikeLike
I do not know how she’s holding it together so well. If someone shot one of my dogs I’d leave no stone un-turned until they were caught and punished to the full extent of the law.
LikeLike
Same here….
LikeLike
What a horrible and senseless death! Forgiving such an act of violence is hard to comprehend, but only he can make that decision. The person responsible for the death of this innocent donkey, in my opinion, should be held accountable,
LikeLike
Blessings on those of the human species who protect, care and give voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. Blessings on the souls of all species who suffer and die at the hands of violent men.
LikeLike
These are the kind of peope who shoot people just because they can. I agree with some of the other bloggers…Could I forgive and forget if one of my pets were shot? My one cat was shoot directly in the face one summer when he was out in my yard. He almost had to be put to sleep, but the veterinarian was able to save him. I believe it was a kid in the neighborhood, but I never found out for sure. Weapons do not belong in the hands of people like this. So loving I bet she was …these people are just evil beings and care nothing for other people or animals. Very Very sad!! I hope if they find the person, they prosecute them.
LikeLike
You hear of this sort of thing all the time, dont understand how someone could get a kick out of killing somones pet…
LikeLike
I hope someone does rat the killer out. It’s sad that there is such a small penalty for murdering someones pet. They should throw the book at whoever did it. Hell, throw the gavel too!
LikeLike
I would have to say that they should be punished. How about saving the tax payer some money and just shooting once in the hand and once in the kneecap of the offender. That would make them think twice as next time the other hand and kneecap would be the punishment. Prison, fines and probation are to easy for killers.
LikeLike
Painful…may they reap their just rewards!
LikeLike
terrible and wrong, sorry I hate guns for this reason as well as what is done to innocent people
LikeLike
Bobbie Watson’s love for her dear goat (easy to feel) comes from the same big heart that forgives the shooter (not at all easy to feel).
I pray Kaitlyn’s killer reads this story and lets her magnanimity wash him clean. A repentant, regenerated hear is what we all want to witness; jail time or a fine do not necessarily induce a change of character.
Here is a remarkable story of forgiveness: http://www.scribd.com/doc/34142230/Wild-Bill-Cody
LikeLike
So sad to hear of this, Sweet Donkeys and he will be missed. This person knows who they are and must come forward. I hate to see this person get away with this donkeys killing. I know they don’t want to prosecute but this person must know there are consequences here. This is animal cruelty and abuse. Killed in cold and meditated murder. People are angry and they hate animals. Shame on this person for doing this senseless act. Rot in hell, no rest for the wicked, sorry.
LikeLike
Takes a real man to kill a pet donkey….i use this term very loosely. He probably beats his wife or girlfriend too. I hope he or she goes bragging to somebody and they do something to him or at the very least turn him in. I cannot tolerate people like that in society. They don’t deserve to be running around loose.
LikeLike
In agree Terri…………………………… The worst of it all it walks amongst us freely, there is something very wrong with that !!!!!!!
LikeLike
Just because one is forgiven doesn’t mean that one doesn’t have to pay the price for their evil deed. I think Bobbi needs to get beyond her forgiveness to the reality of her situation. Even if she forgives the murderer, he should still pay for his deed.
LikeLike
Perhaps Bobbie meant that she doesn’t want to “punish” him herself; that she doesn’t feel vengeful. I can’t imagine she doesn’t want the law to do the job it is designed to do — for the purpose of, if nothing else, thwarting such sad, criminal incidents in the future. My impression is that she wants the shooter to reform — not something that a judge can just “order” and have the defendant readily “obey.”
Gosh, I hope the Wild Bill Cody story has moved some hearts here!
LikeLike
What a coward to shoot an innocent creature for the sheer thrill of killing. What a senseless act of hatred and malice. The humans and the remaining animals will be forever changed by this.
LikeLike