BOGALUSA, LA — The use of horses in Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans goes back in time to the earliest years of the celebration in the city. To this day, many parade krewes still use horses for their lieutenants or other krewe leaders.

Each year, to meet the demand, horses are brought in for the krewes to rent. But when the season is over, the horses could face an uncertain future as some could be sold at auction, perhaps even to slaughter houses.

At the end of this carnival season Dodi Browett wanted to make sure one of the horses was spared the uncertain future. So she adopted one through a program from the Humane Society of Louisiana that aims to find homes for the animals.

Browett brought a quarter horse name Dijon home to her 8 acre property in Washington Parish where the horse fit in perfectly with the goats, dogs, donkey and other horses that were already there.

But on July 18, when the Browetts were away from their property, someone shot Dijon. When they returned, they couldn’t find him. But then they followed a series of collapsed fencing to the spot where the animal collapsed and died.

“You can’t describe the pain,” Dodi Browett told WGNO. “You never think your animal was shot. First thing you think is he got out, someone stole him.”

Washington Parish deputies and officers with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry are investigating the death. Browett says she’s still in the process of reviewing hours of surveillance camera footage. She also says there’s a reward in the case that had reached $3,000 at last word.

If you know anything about the person who shot Dijon, you can reach the Washington Parish Sheriff’s Office at 985-839-3434.