Maricopa County, Ariz., law enforcement authorities are investigating the shooting of a mare found wandering in the desert earlier this month.

Deputy Joaquin Enriquez, Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department public information officer, said deputies responded to a call that a mare had been discovered in a rural portion of Maricopa County on Dec. 7. At the scene, deputies found an elderly mare estimated to be 20 or 30 years old that had been shot in the head, he said.

“Despite the injury she was in good spirits and sifting the ground for food,” Enriquez said.

The horse is now in sheriff’s department custody and under veterinary care, Enriquez said