RCMP investigating after dogs maul miniature horses near Kindersley, Sask.

Horse owner says dogs should be euthanized for community safety

Warning: This story contains graphic images of injuries to horses.

The owner of miniature horses nearly mauled to death by two pit bulls on a farm last week near Kindersley, Sask., says the dogs should be euthanized.

"I think there's a responsibility of the owner to do the right thing and put those animals down," veterinarian Kaitlyn McIntyre said during an interview with CBC.

"Nobody wants to have that happen, but how can you risk that they're not going to do it again, or worse, do it to a small child or adults?"

The mauling happened Sept. 8 at McIntyre's rural property south of the Town of Kindersley, about 200 kilometres west of Saskatoon. Three horses were bitten a combined hundreds of times across their legs, torsos and faces, McIntyre said.

The attack injured Monty, a Pintaloosa, Rascal, an American Paint, and Finley, an Appaloosa filly. McIntyre said she is particularly worried about Finley.

"They tried to rip her face off," McIntyre said. "They bit under her chin, and I can only imagine that they hung off of her in order to cause the damage that they did because they ripped so much of the muscle away."

RCMP confirmed the Kindersley detachment is investigating a report of miniature horses attacked by two dogs at a rural property in the RM of Kindersley, a spokesperson confirmed in an email. The RCMP did not release any more details about the incident.

On Sept. 8, McIntyre returned home from work and discovered the wounded horses. She did not see the attack, only the aftermath.

"I noticed that my one little guy came out of the barn and he was covered in blood. But I could tell right away that it wasn't his because there were no open gashes on his back and he's kind of mostly white," McIntyre said.

She knew something was wrong when two other horses didn't greet her at the barn.

"They always come out. I got into the barn and I started calling people because I'm like, this is not something minor. This is major, major trauma and I needed help."

McIntyre said she is getting a lot of help from the community. The horses require around-the-clock care to combat infections, while long-term injuries could include torn ligaments and partial facial paralysis, McIntyre said.

"[The injuries] very well still could be fatal," McIntyre said. "And if they're not fatal, there are a lot of people that would probably have already euthanized this filly, because I don't know what kind of quality of life she'll have if we can't get her moving better on those hind legs."

The dogs reportedly scared people in town later that day, McIntyre said.

"They left my yard and went back to town and then people started reporting them because they were covered in blood and they were running around the bus stop where the kids are."

McIntyre said she doesn't know who owns the dogs and no one has reached out to her to apologize and take responsibility, but she did find out that bylaw officials had identified the owner.

"These dogs were absolutely covered in blood when they were picked up and returned home with no questions asked," McIntyre said.

The Town of Kindersley fined the owner of the dogs for letting them roam at large in the municipality the same day McIntyre's horses were attacked. The town's animal control bylaw states the fine for having an animal at large is $50 for the first offence, rising to $100 and $250 for subsequent offences.

While McIntyre's farm south of Kindersley is not in the town's jurisdiction, the mayor and council planned to discuss the matter at Monday night's council meeting, according to a town spokesperson.

Jeremy Warren is a reporter in Saskatoon. You can reach him at jeremy.warren@cbc.ca.