An Itawamba County woman says one of her horses was severely attacked by a couple of pit bulls.
She was there when the horse was born and she's been training it for shows for almost three years.
When the Fulton resident went to feed her on New Year's Eve she couldn't believe the animal's condition.
"As soon as I saw her and stepped out of the car, I knew there was something wrong," said Crystal Bickerstaff.
"She's not just a horse to me, she's not just a show horse to me. She is my baby I love her."
Bickerstaff filed a report with the sheriff's department, saying the dogs came through an area of trees and under the barbed-wire fence.
She spoke to people in that area who said they're keeping the dog for another friend and were unable to get in-touch with him.
Bickerstaff had more questions for authorities.
"I asked them 'were the dogs going to be euthanized?' and they said that they did not know," she added.
"I said well are the Humane Society or anybody going to be contacted, that's what I thought would have happened. I thought they would've called the Humane Society or whomever and the dogs would've been euthanized, but that's not the case."
Itawamba County Sheriff Chris Dickinson said unfortunately there is no such ordinance against vicious dogs in the county.
Dickinson said during his term in office he's brought the subject up several times to the board of supervisors who in his words 'shrugged it off.'
For the horse, Bickerstaff fears severe tendon damage which as she put it would ruin Suki. Now that she's seen what harm vicious dogs may cause she fears what could happen next to someone else.
"People just need to be responsible for their animals," Bickerstaff said.
"If they know they have an animal that is likely to be a threat to humans, children or other animals they need to be responsible and take measures to not only protect themselves legally but protect others."
It wasn't until after a Randolph man was mauled and killed by dogs that Pontotoc County took quick measures to adopt a vicious dog ordinance.
Sheriff Dickinson added he hopes it won't take something that extreme before his county takes similar precautions.
As for neighbors who are caring for the dogs, they did offer $100 for the horses antibiotics before it visits a veterinarian on Tuesday.
(WTVA - Jan 3, 2012)
