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Pit bull terror on trail
Dog attacks, fells horse near Auburn
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Traffic was halted for a short time Thursday on Foresthill Road near Auburn to protect a riderless horse that was galloping down the center of the thoroughfare to escape an attacking pit bull terrier.
The horse, earlier ridden by Lincoln's Odette Parker on an Auburn State Recreation Trail about 4 miles east of Auburn, was attacked by a dog witnesses described as an unleashed, 100-pound pit bull.
Parker said the dog, followed by two other smaller dogs and a man who stayed silent and apparently fearful during the attack, ran yelping at the horse as it approached in a run, circled it and then jumped onto the horse's flank, biting into the tail area.
Parker's horse - a 916-pound Morgan-Arabian named Dancing Dandi - kicked its attacker away. But the dog continued to look for an opening, Parker said.
"He was feinting, he was definitely out for the kill, there was no question," Parker said. "I was yelling and screaming at the dog."
The dog moved in again, leaping at the face of the horse and grabbing him with its jaws across the nose.
The horse lifted the dog up and flung it into a tree. Parker tumbled off the horse as it lost its balance. With Dancing Dandi on the ground trying to regain its footing, the dog attacked a third time, moving in on the rump area and biting down on a pack hanging from the saddle.
The horse lurched upward and took off down the trail, with the pit bull in pursuit.
Meanwhile, the man - the apparent owner of the dogs - was soon loading the other canines into his car. Parker said the man refused to help as he silently drove away, even after she asked him for a ride to find the horse.
Parker would learn that the horse took a loop around the trail and the dog chased it to Foresthill Road. A woman told her that she had almost hit the dog with her car.
The dog apparently gave up the chase after that and was subsequently picked up by its owner as he drove toward Auburn, Parker said.
By about 12:30 p.m., the Placer County Sheriff's Department was holding traffic after drivers phoned in that a frightened, bleeding horse was galloping along the roadway. Cool's James Anderson, whose wife is a Tevis Cup endurance ride participant, eventually caught the gelding near the Foresthill Bridge, about 3 miles from where the attack occurred.
Parker and Debbie Torres, a Lincoln equestrian who was out on the trail with her, said they regretted not getting the license plate number of the man with the dogs. The vehicle he was in was a small, silver SUV. He's described as in his mid- to late 20s, balding, with a short fringe of black hair near the ears, stocky and about 5 feet 5 inches tall. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, with what looked like a sweatshirt tied around his waist.
Parker said that the dog that attacked her horse should be euthanized. Her horse was treated at the Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center for a swollen knee, lacerations to the face and inner side of the nose, and puncture wounds on the underside of the tail and thigh.
Veterinarian Dr. Olivia Inoue said she'd treated horses attacked by a mountain lion and a coyote but never a dog.
Parker said that the roaming pit bull terrier could have caused more harm.
"If that dog had been anywhere near children they wouldn't have been able to get it off," Parker said.
And Parker, an experienced rider who has participated in ultra-endurance events, said she'll stay away from the Driver's Flat area trails.
"People are suggesting I carry a gun or pepper spray but I won't be back," she said. "It has bad memories for me now."
The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.
pit bull, attack, james anderson, odette parker, debbie torres, olivia inoue, foresthill road
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We have leash laws, but no one obeys them nor is there any enforcement. It is the reason why my family and our neighbors no longer use our public lands trails where dogs are allowed. As soon as dog owners get into the woods, they take the leashes off. Any law-abiding dog owners with dogs on leashes are targets for these kinds of encounters.
But never mind all this tragic law breaking; Placer County residents still want to cut taxes and not provide for even the most basic protections. The next step has to be to BAN all dogs from any trails--this is already done in Yosemite--for the safety of all. We must either ban dogs or increase taxes and/or use fees.
Another way to raise funds is to arrest offenders and hit them with heavy fines to pay for the necessary enforcement. We must removed the scofflaws from taking over our public lands so that we all can safely enjoy them; otherwise public lands become the sole playground of lawbreakers.
Leash laws are for ALL dog owners, not just for those that are responsible owners. When are the slackers going to be punished? This poor horse and the rider were traumatized all because a jerk refused to obey the leash laws. To top if all off, he did not accept responsibility for his animal's actions or even help the rider. If this dog had attacked a child in the same manner, the child would be dead and the man would be looking at murder charges!
Poor Dandi! What a beautiful & kind-looking horse. I hope he's not going to be traumatized around all dogs now. The guilty dog should be put down as he's a danger to society and the owner should be prosecuted. I also feel sorry for the dog though, having an owner who obviously didn't care to train him and probably hadn't neutered him (neutering cuts down on aggressive behavior). Irresponsible trash like that shouldn't be allowed to own animals. I don't think dogs should be banned from trails, but owners should definitely adhere to leash law.
I'm guessing the weasel of a dog owner has shot and buried the dog.
Having ridden the trails with Odette and Debbie, we have encountered many people with their dogs on leashes. Thay are as a rule very courteous and we also try to be the same. This was a horrible, tramatic tragedy that should never have happened. The fear still in Odettes eyes and the pain of her wonderful horse Dandi was gut wrenching as we stood at the vets with him. And as Debbie told me she was trying to maintain her seat on her horse and screaming at the dog.......something she will see in her mind forever. .Someone must know who the owner of this dog is, PLEASE COME FORWARD. Had that dog gone after Odette.or a child on the trail...........they would be dead.
This wonderful little horse tried to come back to Odette........only to be chased off into the woods by this dog. It is a wonder he wasn't killed.
That's horrible what happenned to the horse and even more so, how the dog owner responded. Unfortunately, they should both be euthanized due to the owner. Best of luck to Dandi's and Odette's recovery from that experience.
Most dog owners are responsible and many of them equestrians. Many of the dogs I see off leash on the trails are running alongside the horses and do not cause issues with others sharing the trails.
To be sure, leash laws and taxes aren't the answer. No one should be so dependant that they need government to decide what is 'safe fo all'. That's probably what led the idiot to be so ignorant in the first place. He was likely looking for a sign with all the 'rules', and not seeing one, was incapable of making a good decision. He's probably suffered all his life depending on the government to make choices for him. Common sense and a consideration for others should take precedence over dependance on the govenment to play mommy.
Why did she not get the license number of this idiot? She saw the car close. And to all the dog owners who think its cute to have their dog run free on the trail without leashes, be prepared to be admonished for your selfish behavior. When I walk my dog on a leash and a dog running free comes running up to my dog I yell at the owner, and I hear "oh he doesnt bite, or she is fine" trouble is my dog does not care, and when a dog fight ensues, I have to pay for the vet service...Ill keep my dog home from now on..
A lease law, or a person needing to be told by the govenment what to do is not the issue here. It is idiodic people with dogs they shouldn't own because they can't control them. Somehow these types of people seem to gravitate towards dogs like Pitbulls, who can be quite loving and nice if trained properly, but when left in the hands of morons become attack dogs. The unfortunate result in recreation areas, like our beloved ASRA is people being chased out. I am afraid another incident like this may force the State to outlaw dogs in the park, which punishes those who have their animals under contro and on a leash. I, however, am in favor of heavy fines for leash law violators instead of outlawing dogs all together.
Odette and Dandi have my sympathy. I doubt either of them will ever forget the experience. 35 years ago when I was a child, my pony and I were attacked by 3 dogs on a main road in Penryn. I will never forget how it felt as the pony tried to evade and escape the lunging dogs without throwing me off, even though she was bitten mulitple times. Fortunately, her wounds eventually healed. But the memory has always stayed with me. It took a long time for me to like any dogs again.
Everyday's a slow news day in Auburn. Umm.. this wasn't BREAKING NEWS when it came out yesterday.
shredsavage you need to quiet down. that long sad story i just wrote was something out of a short i read recently. that horse looks like hamburger now
harrynoots: stop it! this is your mother and i am sorry i accidently posted under your name, but that is no excuse for saying the story isn't true. it is true and i do send my regards and sympathy to Odette.
Lets keep our dogs on a leash.
Harry, please be nice to your mother. Jayber is my favorite aunt.
I think we need to be concerned about the driver's flat area. Last summer, my daughter and friends were hiking there and we smelled pot and it just felt creepy. Like someone was sitting in the woods guarding something..
Didn't someone die there recently as in murdered? Don't drug dealers/growers have attack trained pit bulls?
I think that the county deputies need to do a sweep through that area and get rid of the pot farms back there.
I am so sorry that your horse was so brutally attacked. The owner should go to prison over it. The dog, unfortunately, has not been brought up right and needs to be put down.
I recentky took my three year old Pit Bull to the pound about ten days ago because I had seen that he was becoming more and more aggressive to other animals. I had two attacks with him where he broke loose out of my truck and attacked someone's dog. The first time it happened I was shocked that he did that and thought that I will have to make sure to be more careful about restaining him but after it happened again I knew that I had no control over him. He was breaking leashes to get to other dogs and I knew that I couldn't take the risk with him. I could not control him any longer. I didn't want to even take the time to try to train him better because I knew that I was risking someone or some animal if I even tried to keep him and train him better. It broke my heart to take the dog that I raised from the day of birth to the pound but I think I did the right thing. I'm not a moron or an idiot, I knew that I couln't risk people and other animals lives for one more day.
Now THAT'S responsible dog ownership Venusgirl! My husband had to make the same choice with a dog he owned as a teen. He never bit but the aggression was escalating and it was clear he probably would attack a person so he was put down. It was painful but much less so than if a child had been attacked! I agree that it's not the dog it's the owner but the dog does need to be put down. And the owner needs to go to jail and pay for the Vet and any costs the County incurred from his irresponsible behavior! Glad the rider and Dandi are recovering and regrets that they had this experience!
According to the accounts, the dog's owner waitsa ways off until the dog is finished, then gathers the dog and flees the sean. Unless you are much cooler under pressure than most people carring a gum would be foolhardy. Maybe carring a camera when riding in small groups would be adviable.