Deputies are looking for the owner of a horse, nicknamed Teddy Bear Highway, after it was found injured on Interstate 75 Friday morning.
Deputies hypothesize he either fell out of a trailer or wandered into the road and was grazed by a vehicle before he was found between the Micanopy exit and Wacahoota Road, said Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Brett Rhodenizer.
Deputies are investigating who Highway belongs to and what happened to him, Rhodenizer said. Rhodenizer did not know Highway’s exact injuries.
The horse was taken to the Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry.
The clinic started a GoFundMe page Friday to raise $7,500 for surgery to treat his injuries.
Within a day, 152 people raised $8,829.
Thea Mathen, a 63-year-old resident of Flagler County, said she saw the fundraiser on her Facebook feed and decided to donate to Highway’s cause.
Mathen’s $273 donation was the fourth highest contribution to the fundraiser.
“I’m a sucker for hurt animals, and it looked like they were getting a lot of responses,” she said. “And I wanted to help them get to the next level.”
The sheriff’s office announced Highway’s surgery was successful on Facebook Sunday morning. The post said Highway was munching on carrots and taking antibiotics in the meantime.
Highway does not have a microchip or tattoo to identify him, but Rural Services Deputies determined that he is not a wild horse, Rhodenizer said.
Anyone with information can call the Combined Communications Center at 352-955-1818.
Contact Kyle Wood at kwood@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @Kkylewood
Highway the horse
