Imposter! PETA offers $1,000 reward for whereabouts of Jerry the carriage horse after his owners try to pass off a photo of another animal as the injured mare



13-year-old Jerry collapsed earlier this month due to a bout of colic

More than a week after Jerry the carriage horse collapsed in Salt Lake City, PETA is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to his whereabouts.



The 13-year-old dapple-gray half-Thoroughbred/half-Percheron horse collapsed while pulling a carriage through downtown traffic in sweltering heat.



Jerry was left lying for several hours on the scorching pavement, before his owners eventually moved him via forklift to a nearby stable.



WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

The wrong horse: Annette Overson admitted last week to MailOnline that the horse in this photo isn't Jerry

The real Jerry: Blaine Overson admitted the horse died last Friday due to colic

The incident attracted a great deal of attention and had animal rights advocates both in and outside of Salt Lake City calling for an end to the ‘cruel industry’ of horse drawn carriage rides.

In response to concerns about Jerry’s recovery, Annette Overson, who co-owns Carriage for Hire, the company that carries out the rides, provided The Salt Lake Tribune with a photo that she claimed was Jerry standing up in a stable.

But animal rights activists at PETA weren’t convinced by that the horse in the photo.

According to PETA research project manager Jeremy Beckham, Jerry is dappled gray - a description also mentioned in an Animal Services report - but the horse in Overson’s picture had a different coloring pattern called 'flea bitten' gray.



Collapsed: The 13-year-old carriage horse collapsed near the end of a tour in Salt Lake City earlier this month. His leg was scraped as rescuers tried to lift him from the street

He sought the opinion of an expert and contacted Jennifer Hack of the United States Equine Rescue League.

She pointed out that while the horse in Overson’s image has a white mark, called a snip, above its lip. The horse in Beckham’s images did not.



'These markings do not change over time as they come from the color of the skin,' Hack wrote to Beckham, 'so a horse that is born with a snip can not suddenly not have one, and vice versa.'



Overson has since admitted to Mailonline that she had tried to pass off another horse as Jerry and described her actions as ‘stupid’.



She confirmed that Jerry had been moved to another farm where he was continuing his recovery, but refused to give any further details. She also said that company employees had received threats.



Now PETA are offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of Jerry.

Happier times: Witnesses at the scene of Jerry's collapse say he was treated with the utmost concern for his safety by caretakers and veterinarians. Here, Jerry is pictured relaxing at his barn before his collapse

Stubborn: Around 60 concerned people gathered at the scene. Each time they tried to get Jerry up he 'whinnied and neighed' and refused to move

'After reviewing the video footage of the incident and consulting with equine experts and veterinarians, we question the diagnosis of colic and subsequent reports from Carriage for Hire,' said Beckham.



'We urge animal control to enter and inspect the stable where Jerry was allegedly housed, as authorized by Salt Lake City regulations, and to subpoena veterinary records.



'We fear that Jerry may have become another victim of the cruel horse-carriage trade.'

Jerry was near the end of a tour when he suddenly kicked his stomach and collapsed to the ground on August 17.

Changes? The animal reportedly suffered a bout of colic, which caused the collapse. Animal advocates are now calling for a ban on horse drawn carriage rides in the Utah city

Controversy: This photo provided by PETA shows Jerry being lifted into a barn with a forklift

‘[He] just didn’t want to move,’ city resident Ronald Schulthies told the Salt Lake Tribune . ‘His eyes were open and when we’d move him, he’d neigh and whinny.’

Schulthies was among some 60 concerned passersby. Veterinarians would also soon come to the 1,800 pound horse’s aid.



At first, all they could do was try to comfort the animal.

‘It was distressing because lots of people there wanted to do something, but didn’t know what to do,’ Schulthies said. ‘Obviously, the carriage company didn’t have any plan for that type of thing.’

