Four people have been cited for willful abandonment of a horse in connection with an incident earlier this month in Nuevo, a rural community east of Perris, authorities said.
Witnesses saw someone drop off the horse, which had an injured knee, on Aug. 2 in 21900 block of North Drive and wrote down the vehicle's license plate number, said John Welsh, spokesman for the Riverside Dept. of Animal Services.
Animal control officers linked the abandoned animal to Rigoberto Luna, 36, of Ontario; and Damian Marquez, 28; Rafael Cortez, 23; and Alejandro Cortez, 27, all of Riverside.
Horse abandonment is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine or jail time, Welsh said.
Sarah Burge
sburge@pe.com
Editor's note: The horse was adopted by the witnesses who wrote down the license number of the vehicle.
