Spud and Misty

Revised: Nov 11, 2012; 06:06 GMT
Revised: Nov 11, 2012; 17:06 GMT

On Monday November 5th two pit bulls attacked a horse in Yuma County, Arizona. The horse was subsequently euthanized. We have copied below the entire news story as it first appeared on the KSWT news web site:

YUMA, AZ- A horse is dead after a pit bull attack. The Yuma County Sheriff's Office says it happened Monday afternoon in Foothills.

YCSO says the two pit bulls got out of the house while the owner was helping his son who was stuck in the desert. They say the pit bulls attacked the neighbor's horse during that time. The horse was seriously injured to it's legs. A vet had to euthanize the horse.

Yuma County Animal Control cited the pit bull owner for dogs at large but allowed the owner to keep the dogs.

Subsequent news revealed that the horse, named Spud, was a 29-year old quarter horse, and suffered attacks to the legs, stomach, and nose. After his working career was over he became a 4-H horse and a favorite among the local children.

Spud's caretaker, Carolyn Knowlton, said the pit bulls had previously attacked another horse, which survived the attack. On Monday, after their attack on Spud, the pit bulls also attacked a dog. Knowlton's husband, who witnessed the attack and drove the dogs away, said

. . . . there wasn't even excitement, the dogs weren't wired, they weren't angry, or in a frenzy. It was just eating the horse and that's what freaks my husband out. It was just there . . . eating the horse.

Less than a week later, on November 11 in DeSoto County, MS, three family pit bulls attacked and killed Misty, the family's seven-year old horse while the children looked on in horror. The pit bulls had previously attacked a different family horse. According to Alexis Amorose, the executive director of the Memphis and Shelby County Humane Society:

This can and does happen regardless of breed. . . . it is difficult to offer any insight into what led to this happening.

Ms Amorose's first thoughts are not sorrow, or of the horrible death of Misty, or of the children who witnessed their horse being slaughtered, or of negligence or child endangerment; her thoughts are of defending the pit bulls that killed Misty. She pivots the discourse by claiming any dog could have done the same. Blame the deed, not the breed. Ms Amorose should be informed that canine homicides are breed related, and if anyone has information of Golden Retrievers or Black Labs or Yorkshire Terriers killing horses please forward the information to SRUV.

These needless deaths need not have happened. Dangerous dog laws which allow dogs to kill a horse, then return to the safety and comfort of their home as happened in Yuma County, and which offer no recourse to the victim, are disgraceful. They protect vicious dogs and fail to protect the public safety.

To explain away the murder of a horse by pit bulls, as Ms Amorose did, borders on lunacy. Unfortunately, this response to tragedy has been institutionalized by animal welfare executives.


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Notes:

News Sources:
Yuma horse pit bull attack aftermath (KSWT)
Horse caretaker reacts to pit bull attack (KSWT)
Family Horse Dies after attack from pit bulls (KAIT8)

Google News Today's pit bull attacks

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