She saw three pit bulls attacking a horse so badly that the horse had to be put down.
The woman who owns the horse is heartbroken. So upset she said she can't even talk about it on camera.
The woman who witnessed the attack said the whole thing has been haunting her ever since.
"They attacked her head, many lacerations to her face, a piece of her tongue was gone. I mean, they just wouldn't stop," said Shari McLaughlin.
McLaughlin boards her horse at "Horse Sense Riding School" in Damascus.
Last Friday was just another regular day, she said, until she rounded the driveway and saw three pit bulls attacking one of the horses, a 13-year-old horse named "Paisley."
"I screamed. My car has a siren, I drove it into the gate, anything to distract them. But, after they went at me I was grabbing rocks and a stick and whatever I could to try and distract them," she said.
McLaughlin frantically called 911.
911 Dispatcher: "Okay, tell me what's happening?"
McLaughlin: "There are three pit bulls in one of the pastures and they're eating; they're attacking the horse."
911 Dispatcher: "Alright, alright. Listen, try to calm down, okay?"
The dog's owner eventually came up the driveway and admitted accidentally leaving her gate open.
The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office responded and filed a report.
McLaughlin said the owner told her, "I didn't know they got out - oh my God."
We tried to contact the owner but this time, the gate was closed to their home, and there were two signs posted: No Trespassing and Beware of Dog.
"[The 3 dogs] caused enough injuries that this horse had to be euthanized and lost her life for no purpose. A completely unprovoked vicious attack on an animal that's in a pen. She wasn't even running, just standing there enjoying the sunshine and having some hay," McLaughlin said.
Mike Bezner, interim director of Clackamas County Dog Services, said two of the dogs have been given back to the owner under a "conditional release" meaning that, until a hearing, they have to be indoors or on a leash at all times.
At least one of them has been moved to a property in Portland, away from livestock.
The third pit bull is still being held at Dog Services.
There's a hearing on December 17 to determine what happens to all three dogs, but McLaughlin worries about what the dogs could do to a person between now and then.
"They can be released back to their owners as long as it's not in a rural or livestock area. The owners have property in Portland which is not rural livestock and so they can go back to them to their place in Portland. One of my concerns is that's all fine and good but if they get out again now you're in a more densely populated area that's maybe not livestock but dogs, cats or even children," she said.
"What is going to prevent [another attack] in the time until we have the hearing?" said McLaughlin.
Bezner said several things could happen at the hearing next month when witnesses and the dogs' owners present their cases.
The dogs could be relinquished to the county, they could also be euthanized. There are several scenarios, said Bezner.
Horse Sense Riding School is a nonprofit. The school works to rehabilitate horses that have been rescued.
They have programs where children with disabilities ride the horses. The cost to euthanize and dispose of a horse isn't cheap.
McLaughlin said the dogs' owners said she'd pay back the costs and hopes that's still the case.
(kgw.com - Nov 17, 2014)
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