A 12-year-old pony has been savaged by two dangerous dogs in Derbyshire.
The child’s pony, Bramble, is believed to have been attacked by two dogs put into her stable on Friday night or early Saturday morning.
She has suffered severe injuries to her legs, shoulder and face — including losing part of her nostril. Her teats have also been bitten off.
Derbyshire police have confirmed to H&H they have taken statements from the owners of the dogs believed to be behind the attack.
“The dogs are a pit bull and a Staffordshire bull terrier. We have taken statements from the owners and are investigating,” said a police spokesman.
“One pony has suffered minor injuries and another more severe injuries.”
He said there could be “ongoing issues” between the owners of the dogs and the pony.
“We could potentially prosecute [the owner of the dangerous dogs], it depends on the circumstances — whether we can establish that it was those dogs in question, how they came to be on that land and whether they were unsupervised,” added the spokesman.
The pony’s owner, Shane Lee, told the BBC that he discovered Bramble had been mauled on Saturday morning when he took his daughters — aged nine and 13 — down to the stables to ride.
“The girls are mortified, how do you explain that to them — their little pony has been ripped apart,” he said.
“I was not expecting to see what I actually saw.”
* Has your horse or pony been injured in a dog attack? Email abi_butcher@ipcmedia.com