Who cut out the horse's tongue? Nobody. Sheriff's Office now says it was an accident

The Thurston County Sheriff's Office now says that a horse's tongue that went missing last week was not cut out of the animal, but was an accident.

"After considerable deliberation and several expert opinions, this injury is determined to be an accident," the sheriff's office said in a post on social media Tuesday morning.

Annie, an adult horse in the Yelm area, was euthanized last week because she was unable to eat without her tongue. The tongue was found in a pasture in the 9500 block of Bridge Road Southeast on June 19.

Sgt. Carla Carter, citing a report about the injury, said the horse's tongue might have become lacerated on its lower front teeth. After her tongue became lacerated, the horse might have pulled its head back, or panicked in such a way that caused the horse to drop her tongue in the field.

"None of the veterinarians (who looked at the horse) had seen an injury like this before," Carter said.

Tuesday's announcement also runs counter to the findings of a recent necropsy, which showed "there is no way the horse could have severed her own tongue, as her teeth were degraded at the back of her mouth."

This story was originally published June 26, 2018 at 9:56 AM.