In a Facebook post Sunday, Carly Rudd, of Fort Worth, Texas, advised horse owners not to keep their animals at the Evanston fairgrounds after her husband said he spotted a local man, later identified as James Botkin, “essentially raping” one of their mares during a layover stop early that morning.

At approximately 4 a.m. Sunday, Carly’s husband, Levi Rudd, stepped outside to turn off lights that had been left on outside of the couple’s trailer. He heard noises coming from the stall barn and went to investigate, allegedly discovering Botkin “with his arm inserted inside” their horse. After Levi Rudd yelled at him, Botkin fled the stall and was chased. He turned around and allegedly attempted to strike Levi Rudd, who then tackled him. Botkin was arrested for suspicion of bestiality and animal cruelty, according to Uinta County Sheriff Andy Kopp.

According to the Facebook post, after Botkin’s arrest, the mare was acting strangely and bleeding from the vaginal area. When the horse was taken to a veterinarian in Utah, it was covered in hives and had much vaginal trauma, as discovered by ultrasound, though nothing was torn. The mare was medicated and given a feeding tube.

Charging documents weren’t available by press time, but animal cruelty can be either a felony or misdemeanor, while bestiality is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year incarceration and a $1,000 fine.

Bestiality was legal in Wyoming until 2021, when the legislature passed a law making it illegal and determining punishments for the crime.