When the Bergerons heard animal control had found starving, injured and neglected horses years ago, they rescued them as pets. A few times every day they visit and care for Star, Chula and Dancer.
As prey animals, horses see drone as predator
Owners of three rescued horses that have been injured because a drone has been swooping down on them, spooking them and sending them running into fences, want the person flying the drone caught and forced to pay veterinarian bills.
Now, the couple is distraught because someone is intentionally harming their horses with a drone.
According to the Bergerons, a swooping drone has caused injuries, pain and suffering to their horses and they have taken the case to police.
First, four-year-old Chula went through the horse fence, the electric fence, and then she bent a T-Pole in half. Chula needed 40 stitches to repair her injuries. "We don't know how she didn't break her leg."
"The following Monday, we go out there. Dancer's gone through 10 feet of fence, wires wrapped around his leg. All the poles are down. Dancer is still at the vet. While he is scratched up, he is also being treated for another foot problem."
The next week the Bergerons believe they got their answer to what was happening when a large white drone showed up.
"I hear this horrible sound. At first, I thought it was hornets. It swooped down on them. It came away from them. It came over to Dancer, swooped on him. Then it swooped down on me and I had to run."
"It seemed as though once I looked up at it, whoever was operating this thing, saw that we were looking at it and trying to see where it was going and that's when it took off down the road," said Warren Bergeron
They want the person caught and forced to pay their mounting veterinary bills. According to their equine veterinarian, Dr. Charles Kleinpeter in Prairieville, horses are creatures of habit. They don't like their environment to change, and something like a drone swooping down, could spook them and scare them enough to run through a horse fence.
Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's office says it questioned one person in the nearby neighborhood, who said he wasn't flying his drone on the days in question. They are still looking for other potential suspects.
"There is no way that anybody is going to tell me that this is not one sick human being," Myrell said of the unknown drone operator. "I don't want them (my horses) hurt. I made a promise when I took them they would never hurt. I mean, I made a promise," she said, as tears came to her eyes.
The suspect could be charged with reckless operation of a vehicle if there is criminal intent. The fine is $200, or three months in jail, or both. The fine and jail time are much higher for the second offense.