The devastated owner of a pony that was brutally assaulted and left for dead has quadrupled her reward to find those responsible.
Blaze, an 18-year-old female horse, had been grazing near New Pitsligo overnight on Sunday, August 16, when she was stabbed twice in the chest and sexually assaulted.
An autopsy later found that the mare had suffered internal bleeding as a result of the attack.
Owner Zoe Wright, 30, is now offering £4,000 to anyone who can provide information that leads to an arrest.
Ms Wright had previously offered £1,000, but has since been boosted by heartbroken horse lovers who learned of the tragedy in the Press and Journal and have handed over their own cash to help catch the person responsible.
From her home last night, Ms Wright said that she just wanted closure.
She added: “The police are following a few lines of inquiry but I don’t think they have much to go on.
“I’m just hoping that someone knows something and has a guilty conscience and still might come forward and tell on someone.
“I don’t feel like I can have any closure until the person is arrested.
“The fact someone is out there getting to live their life, they don’t deserve to. They should be locked up for what they have done.”
The mare, a retired showjumper, was found on her side in a pool of her own blood the morning after the attack. Despite efforts from vets, however, she had to be put down.
Ms Wright has five other horses which also use the field Blaze was attacked in. They were uninjured.
“It has taken its toll on my other horses who have been really affected by it,” she said.
“The young one is more sensitive and she hasn’t eaten in two weeks.”
Detective Inspector Norman Stevenson, who is leading the case, has appealed for anyone who was in the area, and saw anything suspicious at the time, to come forward.
Branding the attack as “unusual” for the area, he asked members of the public to call police on 101.