BOERNE, Texas — A family in Boerne is speaking out after their miniature horse was brutally killed by two pit bulls.
The dogs were not put down. Now, Linda Dozier and Jim Castrellon are worried about the safety of those living on the far northwest side.
Starla was much more than a miniature horse. Dozier says she was part of the family.
“We’ve had her for 12 years,” she said. “Starla was really good, a total sweetheart. Lots of kids would come see her, she was very popular.”
At about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, the couple was jolted by the sound of someone pounding on their front door.
“It was our neighbor who called to alert us that something was going on with our little miniature horse in the back yard,” said Dozier. “He had gone to check his propane tank and saw some dogs run out of her corral. They actually kind of ran towards him. He got scared, got in his car and drove over to our house. We immediately ran outside. We found that Starla had been attacked in her stall.”
The family says Starla, who was less than three feet tall, didn’t stand a chance.
“[The dogs] had her captured in her corral,” said Castrellon. “She had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.”
“They basically ripped her throat out,” said Dozier. “It was horrible.”
Dozier held Starla as she died in agony. It’s an image that never leaves her.
“I am heartbroken it was my little miniature horse who was a gift from my sister,” said Dozier. “But I am happy it wasn’t a child.”
A bus stop on Buckskin Drive is just feet from where Starla was killed.
“Kids go off to school at that bus stop in the morning,” said Dozier. “I shudder to think what the dogs could do to a child. The two pit bulls are still in the neighborhood. We have a lot of families that walk, an elderly neighbor goes for walks by our house with a cane. We don’t know what triggered [the dogs], but I am worried they will do it again. Animal control and the sheriff’s office were super nice, but there’s nothing they can do because a human wasn’t involved.”
The couple is pushing for change. Dozier says she reached out to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office. The two have also been encouraging neighbors to contact state law makers.
“We don’t want to wait until they kill a child,” Castrellon said.
According to the incident report from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), two pit bulls were running around the neighborhood when they attacked the miniature horse. The dogs showed aggressive behavior to a resident who came to check on the horse. Deputies arrived on scene before the miniature horse succumbed to her injuries. A man identifying himself as the owner of the dogs arrived on location, and the dogs were returned to him. Bexar County Animal Control was notified.
According to the report by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO), two pit bulls were running around the neighborhood when they attacked the miniature horse. The dogs showed aggressive behavior to a resident that came to check on the horse. Deputies arrived on scene before the miniature horse succumbed to her injuries. A man identifying himself as the owner of the dogs arrived on location, and the dogs were returned to him. Animal control was notified.