Horse euthanized after pit bull attack in Central Oregon

OREGON --  A La Pine man says he had to shoot a neighbor’s pit bull to try and stop an attack. But the horse still had serious injuries and had to be put down.

Deputies were called around 12: 30 a.m. Wednesday to a home on Pine Forest Drive on a report that two adult pit bull dogs had attacked a 27-year-old mustang-quarter horse cross, a mare named Princess, owned by Richard Beck of La Pine, said Lt. Mark Eggert.

Beck fired a warning shot in an attempt to scare the dogs away, but when one continued to attack the horse, the horse owner shot and killed the dog, a 3-year-old neutered male named Bully, Eggert said. The other dog, a 3-year-old female named Bailey, ran away.

The horse sustained “significant injuries” in the attack, “requiring the horse owner to euthanize the horse,” the lieutenant said in a news release.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s office says the attack was reported shortly after midnight yesterday and involved two Pit Bulls that had apparently escaped from a fenced area in their own yard.

Deputies found the dog and the owner surrendered it to the Human Society of Central Oregon.

The dog owner, Tony Maxwell was cited for: 2 counts of “killing, wounding or injuring livestock and 2 counts of Animal Nuisance.

Anyone who tries to say that these dogs aren't any different than Collies, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Poodles and Golden Retrievers are kidding themselves. How many dogs attack and kill full grown horses?! I'm not talking about dogs getting loose and chasing horses. I'm talking about a sustained attack - a mauling like lions with a wildebeest with slashes and bites to the groin, the belly, the legs, the throat.

(kgw.com - March 13, 2015)