Posted on 08/07/2006 9:05:09 AM PDT by BenLurkin
LANCASTER - Pirate's life still hasn't returned to normal, not even close, his owner lamented. Nearly two weeks have passed since Pirate, a 12-year-old gelding, fell prey to two neighboring pit bulls that escaped from their yard in the 3000 block of Avenue L-8 the night of July 23 and tore apart the horse's flesh, practically killing him, had it not been for the intervention of some bystanders.
"We're still struggling," Karen Picard, the horse's owner, said. Her horse refuses to eat and continues to lose weight.
"I'm sitting for hours next to his feeder, talking to him, petting him. He'll pick up one strand of hay," she said. Her veterinarian has tried every possible treatment known to animal medicine and nothing worked. Now he recommended an over-the-counter human antacid as a last resort.
Meanwhile, out in Llano, two horses belonging to Marta Yeomans are on the mend from a pit bull that attacked them that same day, in the Largo Vista area.
Picard said what bothered her most was hearing from neighbors that those two pit bulls had escaped from their yard numerous times, at least five that she determined from the neighborhood stories.
In one episode, they killed three neighboring cats and in another instance they went after a 10-pound Pomeranian. The owners of the cats and the Pomeranian allegedly complained to Animal Control, but still the pit bulls remained in the custody of their owners, Picard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
We actually go through stages, this year we had a lot of stray dogs and we told my brother, who was parked w/his RV on one of our farms to shoot them. He wouldn't because he likes dogs. One night those strays attacked his horses and they broke out of the pen and in their panic got on the highway and one of them got hit. Thankfully, the people who hit her were all right but the horse was dead and our insurance had to pay for a pick-up and there is always a chance that we will get sued. I think the only reason they didn't is that they were Mexican Nationals and aren't as sue happy as Americans. I could tell you many more horror stories so you don't just think I'm being cruel or paranoid.
Some years back we had an orphan weanling colt attacked by wild dogs. It was in a pen just a few feet from our house. But dogs are more fearless than wild animals. The poor thing had large chunks of flesh eaten out. He was lucky to survive and we had to treat him for months.
Dogs in packs can be very vicious.
Pets are animals. They do not have human traits. Dogs who have genetics which make them prone to destructive behavior do not learn such behaviors from humans.
It can be taught, but it cannot be totaly supressed.
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