Pepperjack was attacked Monday morning in his paddock by two unknown dogs. Kauli Sparks heard a pounding at her door around 7:30 A.M. A neighbor told her two dogs were dragging the horse around.
Sparks' owns the mini-horse as well as two others and says she was shocked to see it happen again.
"I was holding pressure on his wounds and I was just in shock that this could happen again" Sparks said.
Pepperjack fell victim to another attack back in 2008 when two pit bulls went on a violent rampage, killing two miniature horse and seriously injuring four others. The horses were part of Hearts and Hooves of Lubbock, a non-profit organization that provided them to patients for therapeutic purposes.
Pepperjack suffered most of his wounds on his face and throat. He was rushed to the veterinarian, who said he had never put so many stitches in a horse. Sparks says Pepperjack still has a long way to go, but she is hoping for another full recovery.
"I was surprised they got to do so much damage to him because he's so strong" Sparks told us.
Sparks believes the dogs that were involved in this attack were not strays. She described one as a brown German shepherd mix and the other as a black pit bull. Animal control was called to the scene, but was not able to locate the two dogs. She's concerned they are going to come back.
"I haven't slept... after they get that taste, they continue doing that and we are so afraid they were going to come back" Sparks said.
Tim Polk has been a veterinarian for eleven years. He doesn't believe the attackers were strays.
"They could be somebody's pets, they could be pets that people dumped because they didn't want they anymore, we see that a lot. The chance of them being wild is there, but probably not since they were in city limits" Polk said.
Sparks' says it hurts her to see her horse in so much pain, but that he's been eating and holding up his head. She says although there is a long road ahead of him, she is confident he will make a full recovery.
(KCBD - Feb 29, 2012)
