LAKE HELEN, Fla. — A Lake Helen resident is mourning the loss of one of her horses after police say her neighbor's dog attacked.
- Woman claims her neighbor's dog attacked, killed her house Gracie
- Alleges one of the neighbor's dogs attacked another horse in 2016
- Police says no crime was committed, but neighbor could face fine
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Ann Marie Blair, who lives on a farm in Lake Helen, first discovered that something was wrong with her horses after getting home Monday night with her young granddaughter.
“We get out to the horse field. She’s got the food, she dumps the food, and she is calling for the horses, and she says, ‘Penny, Gracie, Penny, Gracie,’ and she looks at me, and she says, ‘Mimi they’re not coming, they are not coming,’” Blair said.
Blair went looking and found her 31-year-old horse Penny, shaking.
“She was limping and when we got her up here we could see she was covered in blood,” said Blair, who quickly called a vet to come look at her.
It wasn’t long before they found Gracie, their grandchildren’s beloved pony.
“Gracie was gone, and I had to tell my 5-year-old granddaughter," said Blair, in tears.
Blair said she knew immediately what happened, claiming her horses were attacked by her neighbor’s dogs. Blair alleges one of the dogs attacked her horses in 2016, hurting Penny and killing another pony. Gracie was the replacement for the pony that died.
“How could this happen again? How could these horses be attacked in their own field? This is supposed to be a safe haven for them,” Blair said.
While Lake Helen Police say they can’t confirm the first attack or the involvement of a second dog, this time they found dog fur on a hole in the fence protecting the horses.
One neighbor admitted their dog came home covered in blood. However, police claim that under Florida law, no crime was committed.
‘The responsibility of the owner is they have a responsibility to keep their dog in their yard. If that dog gets out, it falls under our city ordinance so they could be in violation of our city ordinance for having an animal at large,” said Commander Robert Mullins with the Lake Helen Police Department, while trying to make contact with the dog's owner and alert them that the dog now needs to be quarantined.
If the dog had attacked a human, Mullins said they would have to take the dog, but attacking a horse is different.
“Animal-on-animal first incident. We’ve never had an incident with this particular dog so the dog will be placed on quarantine at his home,” he explained.
But for Blair — that’s not enough. She's worried it could happen again.
“I’m in fear right now because of these dogs," said Blair. "What is next? Is my grandchildren going to be out here playing in the yard with their animals, and they get attacked and killed? Is that what is next?”
According to police, the dog's owner could now face a citation. Police will take this evidence to the magistrate who will them determine if this dog is dangerous. If the dog attacks again, the owner could face criminal charges.