[KHTS] – Two dogs allegedly attacked a pair of horses while their owners rode them through a wash near Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country on Friday.
Natalie Lilley, of Saugus, was horseback riding with her 12-year-old daughter at 8:30 a.m. Friday when an unidentified woman “lost control” of her two dogs and they began chasing the horses and riders, Lilley said.
“I turned the horse to see the dogs coming when I realized these dogs were in attack mode,” she said. “I screamed for my daughter to take off in the opposite direction. The dogs then took off after her, I ran interference and the dogs then came after me and my horse.”
The dogs, which Lilley identified as pit bulls, bit at her stirrups before she jumped off the horse and attempted to fend them both off, she said.
One dog managed to bite the horse in the abdomen before Lilley was able to urge her horse to run away without her, both dogs in pursuit.
“I thought the horse without me could outrun the dogs,” she said. “I’ve never been faced with that kind of danger. I felt completely out of control and there was nothing I could do. I had no way to defend myself, I had no way to defend my daughter or my horses… It was traumatic.”
Neither Lilley nor her daughter were injured in the attack, she said.
The owner of the dogs, who allegedly refused to give Lilley any form of identification, and the dogs themselves “disappeared” before Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies arrived at the scene.
Deputies encouraged Lilley to contact the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, she said. Animal Control investigates most animal-on-animal attacks, according to officials.
“I don’t know how soon the dogs came back to (the owner), or if they ever came back to her,” Lilley said. “People in that particular area (should) be on the look-out.”
In addition to filing a Sheriff’s Station report, Lilley also filed a report with Animal Control officials, who told her they needed the identification of the woman in order to seize the dogs, Lilley said.
The horse suffered puncture wounds to the abdomen and had “chunks” taken out of its legs, but is currently recovering at a veterinary facility.
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8 Comments
Could you please narrow down the location a little? There are a number of washes feeding into the Santa Clara River bed, which itself could be called “a wash”, and the river parallels Soledad Canyon Road for approximately seven miles in Canyon Country (Shadow Pines to Ruether) some of us would like to have a better idea of where this took place.
Please blame the dog owner and not the dogs.
Am I seeing double?
Anyway, it’s an article about a serious problem.
Annnnd here come the Pitbull Apologists!
One thing, that woman is really lucky because those dogs, being in attack mode, could just as easily decided she would be the prey once she was on the ground. Very scary!
Thankfully the mom, daughters and horses are ok!
The owner should be prosecuted and the dogs taken away, rehabilitated and re-homed to someone who knows how to keep a dog well balanced so they don’t become so frustrated they turn that into aggression….it’s the owners fault!
PIT BULLS are NOT the problem…ignorant people who own them are….they are a strong breed that have to have and need a structured life and a human that is a good pack leader! Pit bulls are the sweetest breed when they have the right home.
Any dog can attack, any dog can be aggressive if in a home with ignorant irresponsible people who don’t care!
Stop blaming breed and place the blame where it should be placed…the owners!
It would be nice to have a description of both the woman and the dogs….
this wouldnt of happen if they were trespassing on private property it clearly states not tresspassing