Donkey abused, dragged behind vehicle - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

A man is behind bars on accusations he tied a donkey to the back of his SUV and dragged it behind his moving vehicle.

Several people watched in horror.  Taylor Fralic, 20, was in the back of that very SUV, dragging the donkey down the road.

"I keep envisioning it.  It's hard to think about," Fralic said.

The donkey, named Suzy Q, is Rachel Jackson's pet.

"It's a horrible, horrible thing that happened," Jackson said.  "I'm very upset.  I sing to her sometimes saying, ‘Suzy Q, I love you'."

Thursday, Suzy Q wandered out of the yard when Fralic and Mark Richard Saunders, friends of Jackson's family, found her.  Fralic was walking Suzy Q home when Saunders suggested tying her to the SUV and leading her back.  Fralic said he only agreed when Saunders said he would drive slowly, but that's not what ended up happening.

"He just took off," Fralic said.

"Some of the neighbors there I asked, ‘did y'all see what happened?'  They said, ‘we saw a black SUV go by about 35 miles per hour dragging her'," Jackson said.

"The driver just wouldn't stop," Montgomery County Precinct 4 Constable Kenneth Hayden said.

Some told investigators the driver dragged Suzy Q by a rope while going 40 miles per hour.

Fralic said he was yelling, begging Saunders to stop.

"He (Taylor Fralic) was so terribly upset yesterday.  That poor baby cried all day," Jackson said.

"The passenger (Fralic) was visibily shaking and crying," Hayden added.

The nature of the allegations elevated the charge from misdemeanor animal cruelty to felony animal cruelty.

As Suzy Q was being dragged, she tried to run to keep up.  Fralic said she put her front legs straight out, trying to stop.

"And then she fell," Fralic said.

"He (Saunders) pulled it (the donkey) about 20 to 50 more feet at which time he (Saunders) got out of the truck.  He saw the condition of the donkey.  He untied it and drove off," Hayden said.
 
"He gave me like two smokes.  He was like, don't say anything.  I was like are you serious?  Then he burned off," Fralic said.

Suzy Q was treated by a veterinarian on the side of the road.  Her hooves were ground down to flesh and bone and she was bleeding profusely.

Several people built a makeshift sled to slide Suzy Q home after her legs were bandaged.

"She looked lifeless.  She looked like she was giving up," Fralic said.

"I'm a firm believer in God and I think God is going to make her just fine," Jackson said.

Jackson said she has known the man arrested for dragging Suzy Q since he was just 12 years old.

"I'll never probably trust Mark again.  In fact, I don't want him around me anymore," she said.
               
The veterinarian said Suzy Q is in a lot of pain and should be euthanized.  The doctor and the family will give it 10 days to see if she gets any better before making a decision.

Mark Saunders was arrested at home.  Investigators said he told them he didn't hurt the donkey and only left the scene because he had to pick up his daughter from school.

Fralic slept outside with the donkey Thursday night.  He even gave Suzy Q his pillow to sleep on.  Fralic said he will never forget how Suzy looked right at him for help as she was being dragged behind the SUV and there was nothing he could do.