ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP, Ohio - Two dogs that were part of a pack that killed miniature horses in St. Clair Twp. have been put down, according to Butler County Deputy Dog Warden Supervisor Kurt Merbs.
Merbs said that sheriff’s office detectives questioned a suspected owner of the dogs and he confessed the animals were his, the Journal-News reported.
“He has no idea they were getting out or were going off the property,” Merbs said Tuesday. He added the owner, Terry Foister of Sipps Lane, thought the dogs may have killed raccoons.
When Foister learned of the death of the horses, he killed the dogs, according to detectives.
Foister was cited for failure to restrain a dog. He is scheduled to be arraigned next month in Hamilton Municipal Court.
A trio of dogs, described as either pit bulls or a pit bull mixed breed, attacked and killed one horse and mortally maimed another horse Dec. 16 at Mike Powell’s farm in the 1900 block of West Elkton Road, according to Merbs.
Eight-year-old Bella and 6-year-old Pablo were “ripped to pieces," Powell told WCPO.
Powell said he shot and killed one of the dogs. The remaining two dogs, one still stained with blood, attacked another miniature horse at a neighboring residence in the 2100 block of West Elkton.
“They went after his face and his tail. Just tore him up,” Howard Campbell told the Journal-News about the attack on his miniature horse, Simon.
“I was at work, my wife was out there. She was throwing rocks at (the dogs) trying to get them off (the horse).”
A veterinarian came to the aid of Simon, sewing him up, but by Saturday morning it was apparent the 16-year-old horse would not make it, according to Campbell.
“I was out there all night trying to get him up, working with him,” he said. Eventually, he said he called the veterinarian to end Simon’s suffering.
Campbell said the dogs were bred for “hunting or fighting.”
Merbs said the most important thing is they are no longer a danger to people or pets in the area.
