Two Canadian men have been charged with animal cruelty over the alleged starving and hanging of an elderly appaloosa mare named Jalupae.
The men, from Vancouver Island, are alleged to have hanged the 27-year-old horse using an excavator bucket.
They are to appear in court on November 30 to answer the charges.
The charge carries a fine of up to $C10,000 and up to five years in jail. They could be banned from owning animals.
Investigators allege the horse died from strangulation when lifted after its neck was tied to the excavator bucket.
The Victoria Times Colonist reports that one of the men admitted to SPCA investigators that, on September 15, he used the excavator to kill the horse.