What a sad sight to see, four miniature horses attacked. The youngest, a baby just four months old is barely hanging on, but another baby is dead. They were all found after being attacked by what the owner called a pit bull mix.
"We've got some tears right there at the base of the skull, just a big open wound. We see a lot of attacks. It's a huge problem around here," said Dr. Jim Ridenour with the Terry County Vet Hospital.
For more than six hours, Dr. Ridenour nursed the miniature horses back to life.
"The little guy is touch and go. The two bigger ones are doing great, they are going to be fine, we're going to have to just see how it goes with the little one though," said Ridenour.
Their owner, Tommy Smith was shocked when saw what happened.
"They are just like a pet, it is disgusting to see this happen and nobody is here to foot the bill other than us," said Smith.
All of Smith's eight miniature horses stay at a nearby farm. When they were discovered Wednesday morning the dog was still roaming around the pen before he was shot. Now Smith is urging pet owners to be responsible.
"Somebody just dumping off a dog is the biggest thing. Why do we have to continue to do this and have these situations here," said Smith.
Dr. Ridenour says especially out in rural areas it's far too common for dog owners to just let them go free when they do not want to take care of them anymore.
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| What's going on with his front hooves? Look overgrown |
"They've got to find a way to survive and unfortunately sometimes they turn to attacking livestock," said Ridenour.
"Don't just dump these guys off and expect someone else to take care of this dog, because this is what happens," said Smith.
THURSDAY UPDATE:
On Wednesday KCBD NewsChannel 11 broke the story that a stray dog attacked miniature horses in Terry County, killing one and injuring others. The owner of the horses found the dog, a Pitbull mix, roaming around the horses' pen and he killed it.
On Thursday the owner, Tommy Smith, gave us an update on the surviving horses, one of which was at grave risk as of Wednesday evening. He says they are doing well, just slow moving and sore. He thanks everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.
FRIDAY UPDATE:
Friday morning, the owner of the miniature horses in Terry County contacted KCBD NewsChannel 11 to let us know that the little foal passed away during the night. He says that the others are doing ok, but they are still very sore.
(KCBD - Oct 4, 2010)