They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Sally Dumont :

I read that interview you did. 

Sounds like you felt sorry for him. 

Frank Black :

I feel sorry for Sally Dumont and 

the man who died here tonight. 

I'm just working to find out 

why he does it. 

Why he kills horses. 

Normally I would say that they were 

used as a proxy for someone he hates... 

A Mother, a Father, an abusive, 

controlling figure. 

Sally Dumont :

"Normally", huh? [snickers] 

Frank Black :

I just don't think that that's the case here. 

I think the horses are 

An End unto themselves.

 Why do you think he does it? 

Sally Dumont :

Well, for a lot of girls, their 

first love was a horse. 

Frank Black :

You're saying he's jealous? 

That the horses cut him 

off from women? 

From sexual intimacy? 

Sally Dumont :

Were any of the dead horses drugged? 

Frank Black :

No. Why? 

Sally Dumont :

They just stand there and 

let him do this to them. 

They could really damage him. 

They could kill him 

with a single kick. 

But they just stand there. 

It's because they're reared 

to Trust in Man. 

I've seen horses trapped in 

the killing box at the slaughterhouse. 

They can smell the blood and 

the death of the animal that 

was in that box before them. 

But despite that, 

they Trust in Man. 

Their Executioner is standing 

above them with a bolt gun, and 

they look to him for help, and 

he fires a steel bolt straight 

into their heads. 

I know why they stand still for him.

Where are they headed? 

Claudia: 

Slaughterhouse.

Frank Black :

Foals? 

Claudia: 

Yeah, they're from the P.M.U. Farms. 

We're the only state that still has them.

Frank Black :

P.M.U.?

Claudia: 

"Pregnant Mare's Urine." 

It's rich in estrogen, which is the main element in hormone replacement therapy. 

It's also the most prescribed pharmaceutical in the united states. 

In North America, up to 80,000 mares 

are kept pregnant, and their urine collected 

so that women can stay healthier longer. 

But each time a mare gets pregnant, 

she has a foal. 

The quickest way to make money off of 

80,000 foals is to kill them and 

sell The Meat to Japan and Europe. 

Frank Black :

The horses that were attacked... 

They were usually mares. 

How many of these farms are in this state? 

As far as anybody can tell, 

we've got about 15 farms 

in the west end of the state. 

Many of them have shut down. 

There were four in our area. Haverly, july '94. Redner, october '95. Borgsen, december '94 and sandberg, january '95. 

Peter Watts :

Forensics, on the apron, showed 

human sweat and horse urine.

The urine was rich in estrogen.

The guy could've worked on 

any one of these farms. 

Frank Black :

I think he lived on one of these farms. 

Part of the ritual is wearing clothes 

that bring him back to that time. 

Peter Watts :

If he grew up on a P.M.U. Farm, 

his earliest memories would've been of horses 

held captive, foals slaughtered. 

He learned that's how food was 

put on his table, clothes on his back. 

Farm closes, he loses his livelihood. 

He loses the means to 

gratify his impulses. 

Frank, a lot of people work on these farms. They're decent, ordinary people. 

I'm not talking about decent, ordinary people. I'm talking about one man with a twisted mind. 

First horse attack was in february '95. 

Which one closed nearest that? Borgsen, december '94. Sandberg would have been the nearest... January '95, one month before the first attack. The phone call to you, Frank, came from prefix 774. That's this area. Borgsen.