For the second time in 10 months, Suffolk police are investigating the apparent sexual assault of a horse.

Mitch and Karen Zawaski, who live on Whaleyville Boulevard, noticed on June 5 that their 21-year-old Arabian mare, Sassy, was walking around with her tail lifted up in the air.

Mitch Zawaski went over to see what was wrong and found one of the most shocking sights of his life.

“She just had a massive amount of blood coming out of her,” he said. “It was obviously something that cut her externally and cut her internally also.”

The Zawaskis called a veterinarian and the police. The doctor confirmed that the injuries appeared to have been inflicted by a human using some sort of object.

According to city spokeswoman Debbie George, the injuries could have been caused by the horse rubbing up against something, but there was nothing in the enclosure that could have caused such injuries.

“It leads you to believe someone inflicted this type of injury on the horse,” George said.

In September, police investigated a similar incident in the Whaleyville area. A 16-year-old mare was assaulted in that incident in the 100 block of Babbtown Road.

A witness in that incident reported seeing a silver Ford dually parked in the victim’s driveway, but a suspect was never arrested.

“We’re still trying to comprehend how somebody could even do this,” Karen Zawaski said.

Zawaski also said she has heard of two other incidents, one in Isle of Wight County and one in Corapeake, N.C.

“The main concern is that other people at least are informed, because there’s somebody that’s hurting horses,” she said.

The Zawaskis’ veterinarian told her the assaults are happening only to very docile mares, leading to the suspicion that someone could be watching the horses to learn their demeanor before the assaults occur.

Anyone who has information is asked to call Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP. Callers to Crime Line never have to give their names or appear in court, and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.