Woman says horse killed by big cat

Weeks after a reported lion sighting in north Georgia, a Jackson County woman says her horse was killed by a big cat.

JoAnn Hitman told the Web site accessnorthga.com that she found the horse Thursday morning on her property near the Hall County line.

She called her veterinarian, and “he found evidence of where this cat that must have weighed 300 pounds came in and got on the horse’s back and brought the horse down,” she told the Web site.

She said several neighbors also believe a big cat is on the prowl.

“A neighbor of mine about a week ago had a cat that was killed and gutted by some kind of animal,” Hitman said. “Another neighbor about two months ago actually saw the cat.”

An official with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources isn’t convinced there’s a lion or tiger on the loose.

Ken Ridleberger with the DNR said his office has reviewed photographs of Hitman’s property and of the horse itself, he told the Web site.

“It looks like it had just been eaten on post-mortem to me,” he said.

Hillary Hamilton of Murrayville in Hall County reported seeing a lion near her house June 10 as she was leaving for work.

Hamilton described it as “an animal the size of calf with a long tail on it, three to four feet long … and it was definitely a lion.”