Family’s beloved miniature horse dies after being attacked by 2 dogs

A local family’s beloved miniature horse died after being attacked by two dogs.

“Just devastated. I’ve never seen anything like it before, especially in my own yard,” said Loree Keister.

The Beaver County family describes it as a massacre in their own backyard.

“I saw my horse getting ripped apart by two dogs,” said Keister.

Their beloved pet horse, Willie, passed away after a scary attack. The family shared a video of Willie’s face, arm, and back stitched up.

Keister said just before 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, two unfamiliar dogs somehow got inside their fenced backyard and attacked Willie.

“I don’t know how they got in. I don’t know if they found a crack, and both squeaked in. I don’t know if they scaled the fence,” said Keister.

Keister’s dog started barking and luckily alerted her of what was happening, and she ran outside to try and save Willie.

“I saw the dogs tear my horse apart. I just grabbed the closest thing and was beating them off of him and he was all bloody. There was blood everywhere. It was horrible,” said Keister. “I screamed for help for like five minutes and then I had to barricade my horse and run out into the street covered in blood to get help.”

A neighbor helped her, they called 911 and Willie was rushed to Rainbow Vet Hospital. They were planning to move Willie to a bigger facility in Ohio for special treatment while he was stable. The family was hoping he would pull through, but the family said Willie died from his injuries on Thursday evening. He has been part of their family for 18 years. He was born with one eye. Keister said he was the sweetest, so playful and meant everything to them.

”Everyone loves him. Everyone who knows him loves him. All the kids, they come to see him. He’s just a joy,” she said.

The family said they’d never seen the neighbor’s dogs before. Right now, Darlington Township police are investigating and handling this case.

Editor’s note: Unfortunately, Willie died after our original report, shown in the video below. If you would like to donate to help the Keister family, you can do so by clicking here.

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