But it's likely to be a while before the little pony, named Storm, will rejoin the six other ponies at O.J. Watson Park in giving rides to children. The Wichita Eagle reports that Storm still has a triangle-shaped wound on his side where saddle straps would rub.
“I think he's going to come along all right,” said veterinarian Jenny Sullivan. “A couple more bite wounds to the head and I think he would have been gone.”
“Storm” has been recovering at Sullivan’s Blair Doon Veterinary Hospital since he was attacked by a pair of pit bulls.
More than 40 staples have been used to close his wounds. When Sullivan first saw Storm on Saturday morning, she thought the pony would have to be put down.
“It looked it went right into his throat and I thought, ‘Well, as soon as the infection and swelling get going he's not going to be able to breathe, he's not going to be able to swallow,’” said Sullivan.
On Tuesday, Storm was out in the field eating grass for the first time since the attack. He had been leaving on a ‘slurry soup’ of food pellets, grass clippings, and water.
The attack is believed to be the first of its kind in the three decades that ponies have been housed at Watson Park.
The pit bulls' owner faces municipal charges of letting her dogs run at large. [That's it??? Running at large? A poodle that comes and pees in my yard is "running at large". These dogs tried to kill and eat a defenseless pony. What's to stop them from going after a child next? Your tax dollars at work.]
A year ago, city leaders considered an outright ban of pit bulls in Wichita but settled on an ordinance forcing dog owners to microchip as well as spay or neuter their pit bulls. It also limits ownership to just two pit bulls.
(Wichita Eagle - July 5, 2011)
Earlier:
