Someone Is Shooting An Iowa Man’s Zebras And He Doesn’t Know Why

OELWEIN, IA — Someone has been shooting Mike Henninger’s zebras — yes, several of the African equine species freely roam his Iowa farmstead — and he doesn’t think the zebra sniper will stop until all of his animals are dead. Four zebras have been shot and killed over the past several months, and so has Henninger's pregnant mare, Dreamy.

Only three of the zebras, which Henninger acquired about four years ago as support animals, remain in a herd that once numbered seven. He also has alpacas, a camel and a watusi, an African bovine species, on his Oelwein farm.

The death of his animals “hurts more than me being shot,” Henninger wrote on Facebook. He was shot in the leg around Halloween and considers himself lucky to be walking around. The wound was closed with 27 stitches.

‘I barely remember calling 911,” Henninger told Cedar Rapids television station KCRG. “I was bleeding really bad and had to have three blood transfussions ... I about lost my leg and they saved it."

The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the animal shootings, but no arrests have been made. However, court records show a man in Dysart, Iowa, located about 60 miles away, pleaded guilty to harassment charges in October after police said he sent Henninger threatening text messages and videos — including one that showed the shooting of a stuffed zebra, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.

The video, which also showed the stuffed zebra on a barbecue grill, was “sadistic stuff,” Henninger said. The threats weren’t just against him and his animals, but his family, too, Henniger said.

After the first zebra,Tazz, was shot on Oct. 31, 2017 — Henninger’s birthday, no less — the shootings picked up again this past August, he said. Since then, zebras Zoey and Razzle have been shot and killed. Henninger is certain tests at Iowa State University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory will show that Zena, an 8-year-old female discovered dead this past weekend, was also shot.

“I don't understand what the point is other than hurting me,” he told KCRG.

Henninger, who is out $30,000 because of the shootings, wants to create on his farm a place where children can come to interact with rare and exotic animals they’re unlikely to see outside of a zoo or on safari. But as his menagerie dwindles, the dream is slipping away.

“I just like them,” he told the Courier of the zebras and other animals. “They are unique. … We get kids out here all the time.”

Here is Henninger’s Facebook post about the latest zebra shooting:

File photo of zebra by Ian Walton/Getty Images