Two dogs brutally attacked a horse on Friday night in Hawaii, leaving the horse bloodied and badly wounded.
June Pires, the owner of Roxy, a 10-year-old quarter horse, came running when she heard the "boom" and "bam" of things slamming in the barn. Pires told KITV that she found one dog still holding on to Roxy while the other dog ran away.
"We found the dog and [Roxy] was going nuts, nuts because she was already hurting," Pires told KITV.
Pires said that the dogs "grabbed [Roxy's] cheek" and then "grabbed the nose" tearing it open. Overall, the horse suffered from more than five bites on her face, mane, hoof, and the flank area above her leg. A veterinarian was called to tend to Roxy's injuries on the night of the incident and spent more than three hours working on her.
"The vet had to lift up the nose and sew it up," Pires said.
According to Pires, Roxy was being trained to be a show horse, but her injuries have put those plans on hold. A full recovery is expected to take up to eight months. In the meantime, Pires wants the dogs' owner to reveal himself and help pay for the veterinary costs of more than $1,000.
Prior to the incident, Pires had noticed that hunters were parking at the end of her block and illegally hunting in a nearby area. In Hawaii, it is common practice for hunters to train and use dogs to hunt wild boar.
"I don't blame the dog who was trained to kill," said Pires. "I blame the owners. They shouldn't have animals if they can't control them because if I had my grandkids here or my small dogs, those hunting dogs would tear them apart."
This isn't the first attack on a horse by dogs in that area. In 2012, a pack of at least four hunting dogs attacked a 1,700-pound bull in Waimanalo, sending it into a tailspin and hospitalizing a nearby neighbor. The bull was eventually put down.
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