Two dogs — pit bulls — are being held in quarantine, suspected of killing a miniature horse in Yuba City.
Gloria Maddox, who lives in the Tierra Buena area in west Yuba City, found her pet mauled and dead in his corral on Monday morning.
"He had been chewed up pretty bad," Maddox said of the family's beloved "Big Ed."
"He had a hole in his nose from bites ... and his legs were chewed down to the bone."
A day-long investigation by Sutter Animal Services Authority personnel took into account various bits of information in an attempt to find the animals responsible for the mauling, including a reported sighting of a wild cat in the neighborhood and dog tracks, discovered by one of Maddox's friends and her daughter, that led from the corral to a nearby abandoned house.
Diana Barrett, shelter manager with the animal authority, said staff went to the location multiple times Monday, and sent out a tracker, who confirmed the tracks belonged to dogs.
"We can put the mountain lion (idea) to rest," she said.
Initially, someone who was suspected of owning the dogs was not honest and said he only had an old dog, Barrett said. But they didn't quite believe him and after a second contact he produced two dogs, pit bulls, which had gotten loose in the night.
"We have no proof," Barrett said, of if the dogs were responsible.
But, she said, "the dogs are rather dirty. They have what appears to be dried mud or possibly dried blood.
"We're going to consider them the suspect."
Maddox was distraught by the loss of the 3-foot horse, which she had for about 31⁄2 years. Her grandchildren rode in a cart he pulled and a family friend said "Big Mr. Ed was the best pony ever."
Maddox said she was also concerned for her other animals, neighborhood livestock and children.
She said it looked as though Big Ed put up a fight. She also thought the attack may have come from pit bulls she had seen wandering loose in the neighborhood. In addition, she said a neighbor heard dogs barking in the night.
The dogs will be held in quarantine for 10 days to make sure they're not rabid. After that, the owner will get the dogs back if he can keep them contained, and will have to pay fines associated with the quarantine. If the owner does not pick up the two pit bulls, they'll be evaluated and possibly adopted out.
Barrett said any legal action related to the attack would have to be in the form of a civil lawsuit, because it happened from one private property to another.
Barrett said the behavior is not necessarily due to the breed.
"It's a dog thing, versus a breed thing," she said. Statistically, pitbulls don't bite more frequently, but when they do bite, it causes more damage.
"It takes quite a lot of savvy and initiative to go after something that size," Barrett said of the kill. Despite the fact that the pet was a "miniature" horse, it was estimated to have weighed a few hundred pounds.
CONTACT reporter Monica Vaughan at 749-4783 and on Twitter @AD_Vaughan.
