2 horses dead after dog pack attacks in Maple Valley

Patricia Clark was so distraught she couldn't face leaving her home: Two horses she had rescued and that were still nursing their foals had be put down Saturday after all four animals were viciously attacked by a pack of dogs.

Only the foals survived.

"They are missing their mommies very much," said a sobbing Clark, who runs an animal rescue farm called Serenity Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation in Maple Valley where she cares for abandoned horses, goats and pigs.

The King County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of dogs attacking horses near the intersection of Southeast 216 Way and 288th Avenue Southeast, near Maple Valley, shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday.

According to the sheriff's office, the investigation was turned over to King County Animal Care and Control.

The dogs' owner surrendered them to animal control and requested they be euthanized, said Christine Lange, a King County spokeswoman. The dogs were euthanized this morning, she said.

Clark cried about that, as well.

"It's not their fault. It's the owner's fault."

Michelle Ammenwerth, who volunteers with Serenity Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation, said the dogs belonged to Clark's neighbors.

Ammenwerth said the dogs started circling the foals and attacked the mares when they tried to protect their young.

According to Clark, the problem began about four months ago when new people moved in next door.

The Seattle Times was unable to confirm the neighbors' identities early today or reach them for comment.

Although animal control had originally said the dogs were pit bulls, Lange, the King County spokeswoman, said that the five dogs were mixed breeds. One or two were pit bull mixes, one was a Chihuahua mix and the other two were mutts, she said.

Clark said none of the neighbor's dogs were spayed or neutered. And they had a hole in their fence, Clark said.

Several weeks ago, Clark said, the adult dogs chased her up her driveway.

Another time, she said, they blocked her path to her well house.

About two weeks ago, Clark caught the neighbor dogs chasing her horses in her pasture.

She'd already spoken to the man next door, she said, but she went back to him to complain again.

"I told him you have got to fix this fence," she said. "And he told me he didn't have time, he works 18 hours a day and had already spent $400 fixing the fence on the other side so his dogs wouldn't get out and fight with another neighbor's dogs."

"And I said, 'Well, if you don't have the time, you shouldn't have dogs,' " Clark said.

Clark called the King County Sheriff's Office, and a deputy responded. She said he told her that it was legal to shoot dogs that chase livestock.

"I said, 'I can't shoot their dogs. I can't shoot animals. I'm in rescue. It's not their fault. It's the people's fault.' "

The neighbor reportedly told the deputy that he would fix the fence, but he didn't, Clark said.

The mares, 5-year-old Kat and 12-year-old Kiara, were so seriously injured in the dog attack, they had to put down by a vet. Kat's suffered wounds to the throat and chest, while Kiara had a 3-inch long gash near her muzzle, Clark said.

The foals, Cloud and Braveheart, suffered puncture wounds to their legs. They were treated and are expected to recover, Clark said.

She said one of the mares had been rescued from a slaughterhouse when she was 8 months pregnant.

"She had her baby here, and this is what happens to her.

"It's disgusting," she said. "All of these animals (the two horses and five dogs) have been, or will be, killed because of these ignorant and careless people."

Seattle Times reporter Sanjay Bhatt contributed to this story.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com