While Preparing this Post, We were Informed that Rebel Died
The pregnant mini horse, Chocolate, seen from one side of her stall after the dog attack.
Chocolate Died
UPDATE 08/27/22: We were informed on Saturday, August 27, that Chocolate, who was pregnant, was found dead in the family's pasture at about 5:00 pm. Both of the family's mini horses died due to injuries from the vicious dog attack on August 5. "Chocolate is dead, she was just found dead. Both of our horses are dead just thought I would inform you," Hinson wrote in. Rebel, the male mini, was discovered dead on August 26 after suffering extreme injuries to his genital area.
"Another Painful update, Chocolate, our sweet girl has passed away one day after Rebel. Both of my children’s pets were killed by this vicious pitbull attack any further funds received will be strictly for horse replacement or legal advice fees. Thank you all." - Erica Hinson, GoFundMe, August 27, 2022
Chocolate, who survived nearly a month after a vicious dog attack, was found dead August 27.
08/26/22: GoFundMe for the Mini Horses
Bethune, SC - On August 20, Erica Hinson, the organizer of a fund supporting two mini horses attacked by a pit bull along with two other dogs, sent an email into our Press Alerts. The injuries inflicted by the dogs truly are "like something from a horror film." Rebel's mutilation injuries are shown in one photograph. Chocolate, who is pregnant and fighting for her life, suffered multiple deep lacerations to both sides of her neck, torn tendons and gashes to her abdomen and legs.
"On Friday, August 5, 2022, my Father’s miniature horses were viciously attacked by a neighbor’s pit bull along with their two other dogs. The injuries were like something from a horror film. The male stud, who’s name is Rebel, was mutilated in his genital area resulting in an emergency at home vet visit where he tragically lost a testicle. He is torn from where his leg meets his stomach all the way down to his private area, he has flesh tears to the neck, legs and nose as well. The female, named Chocolate, is pregnant & fighting for her life. She has a foot long, two inch deep laceration to her neck with torn tendons on one side of her neck on the other side she has two 6 inch long slashes to the neck along with gashes to the abdomen and legs, she is retaining fluid..." - GoFundMe/Erica Hinson
We asked Hinson several more questions and she responded. The vicious attack occurred in Bethune, a small town of less than 500 people in Kershaw County, South Carolina. Hinson's father is disabled. The primary attacker was a pit bull; two other dogs belonging to the same owner were also involved. The owner was fined $400 for owning a vicious animal, made to pay the emergency veterinary bill of roughly $720 and was ordered to rehome all three of the dogs in 30 days.
Hinson provided a detailed update about the condition of her mini horses. Both continue to suffer gravely from their injuries. Many more veterinary visits are expected. "Daily treatment consists of 15 minute wound wash per wound, followed by antibiotic spray. The vet did no stitching as the wounds are so open and missing meat in several areas," she wrote. "Antibiotics are administered by mouth daily along with pain medication, all these cost fall on my family," Hinson wrote.
On August 26, just before we published this post, Hinson told us, "Rebel was so strong but he was found dead this morning around 8:30 am."
Hinson's family also has to face the cold, hard reality of a civil case, which often requires waiting until all of the injuries have stabilized or healed before filing a lawsuit, "so that we could have an accurate number to present to the court system." In the meanwhile, her father and family have to pay all of the veterinary medical costs. "I don’t understand how so much of this is falling on my father while the dog owner is given a petty fine and only one emergency vet bill," Hinson wrote.
There were no media reports about this attack. Hinson hopes to spread the word of her GoFundMe on different social media platforms. She mentions Reddit, which is an excellent choice. We encourage readers to share Hinson's GoFundMe on your favorite social media platforms, especially with groups that are horse-related. Making a donation, however small, ensures that you will receive updates about Rebel and Chocolate, as well as developments in the civil case.
"Daily treatment consists of 15 minute wound wash per wound, followed by antibiotic spray. The vet did no stitching as the wounds are so open and missing meat in several areas. I will attach photos, they are graphic though I must warn you. The incident happened in Bethune, SC and the police agency in charge was Kershaw county law enforcement along with Kershaw county code enforcement. A citation was made to the dog owner and a hasty trial was held at the trial the dog owner was only fined 400 dollar for owning a vicious animal, made to pay the first vet bill which was roughly $720 dollars and told the dog must be rehomed within 30 days. My family was shocked as many more vet visits will be necessary, our stud lost a restocked and is in high risk of losing the second one as well, all it would take would be for him to brush across something in that area and the other would fall out of the sack holding it, we are trying our best to prevent this from happening. The female is pregnant and severely mauled in her neck area (both sides), abdomen and knees, she is swollen (the vet says it is from air entering her body through the large lacerations). Antibiotics are administered by mouth daily along with pain medication, all these cost fall on my family. The judge said we would have to sue at a later time in civil court which would be months away, as we cannot pursue a civil case until all vet care, medication cost, the cost of a farm hand when needed is accumulated and that would be after the horses are healed at least to a point that the daily regimen of cleansing and care and healing has taken place so that we could have an accurate number to present to the court system. I don’t understand how so much of this is falling on my father while the dog owner is given a petty fine and only one emergency vet bill. There has been no media attention just word of mouth in a small town of a population less than 500. I'm trying my best to spread the word on GoFundMe I’ve never used the platform before, someone suggested posting to Reddit and I have gotten around $400 worth of support which I am grateful for but I just don’t know how long we can go on like this, the cost and care are draining and our beloved horses never saw this coming and they will never be the same. Thank you for the email, I appreciate your concern and taking time from your day to ask about our minis." - GoFundMe/Erica Hinson
These poor little minis have a long road ahead of them, assuming they both survive. Their injuries are savage. When Hinson writes, "I just don’t know how long we can go on like this," it makes our heart break. All of it is heartbreaking; the attack, the injuries and what will be a prolonged aftermath. If Rebel and Chocolate do survive, "they will never be the same," she writes. Horses are known to carry traumatic experiences with them for many years, a form of equine PTSD.
The vicious dog attack inflicted mutilation injuries to the genital region of Rebel, the male mini.
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$400 fine, my arse!
This horse owner needs to file a lawsuit so big that it will need a beacon to warn passing aircraft.
Call it BSL — Breed-Specific Litigation.
If you haven’t seen pitbull bites personally, you cannot perceive the damage these dogs cause. I’ve seen it. There is the kind of bite normal dogs do and a different, horrifically bad type of bite inflicted by pit bulls. It’s sad about the horses. Unfortunately, farmers cannot afford to construct pit bull proof fences to keep pit bulls out.
I unfortunately have! When my children were toddlers I lived beside one of these monsters that the owner would let lose to run the neighborhood because “they didn’t have a fence” after attacking a neighbors dog while people beat him in the head with a shovel which seemed to make him become more violent eventually they got it to let go by pushing a water hose in its mouth until it nearly drowned! Her dog survived the attack only because she had used a thick leather belt as a collar & the pit bull didn’t make it through the leather to the jugular vein. That night after animal control let them have a pass they put it outside to terrorize the neighbors again and some hero ran it over! I personally was quite relieved when the animal control officer took the time to go door to door trying to find out who ran over the dog! They certainly couldn’t care less about it making the neighborhood unsafe for children and others pets but become aggressive about finding out who ran it over! That’s when I learned about pit bulls& animal controls mission to put everyone’s lives in danger for their cause!
Rose, the world turned upside down.
My father, a cattle farmer, would have shot those dogs on sight.
Thanks for this article. So sorry for the Hinson family in their loss of Rebel and for the injuries to Chocolate. Infuriating inequity between the costs of healing care to the Hinsons compared to the dog owner’s fines. Disturbing to learn about equine PTSD. These horses generally live a long time.
As a zoo docent, I enjoyed the annual Farm in the Zoo day. An eye-opener outing for children–and adults–in the large city of Chicago. In the Barn were breeds of cows, including Jersey, Guernsey, Texas Longhorn, Holstein. A miniature horse was brought in to delight the children. We learned about chicks losing their egg tooth, and a woolly sheep was sheared into a corduroy sheep.
The Canadian TV series “Heartland,” out on DVDs at some libraries, includes miniature horses. Fun to watch.
The pit owner should pay ALL the ongoing costs associated with getting these animals back to health.
And the dogs should be euthanized, not shipped somewhere else to maul again.
PLUS the cost of a new male horse to replace Rebel. It sounds like Chocolate is now the only miniature horse left, until her foal comes.
The owner can sue for the value of Rebel, the cost of veterinary care, and the cost of body disposal. By law, he/she has a legal right to these. I hope the owner of the dogs has the money to pay for the damages. It could well exceed the financial limits of small claims court.
My condolences to the Hinson family on the loss of their two miniature horses. I had hoped that Chocolate might pull through.
Five years ago, in 2017, 20,000 horses and other farm animals were killed by pitbulls. That annual number is undoubtedly higher now.
– Pitbulls: Facts and Figures
By Attorney Kenneth M. Phillips, author of Dog Bite Law
That number is only the number reported. Many people just pick up the pieces (sometimes literally) and move on without making a report. I know that when a neighbor’s pit killed eight of my ducks I didn’t know that ALL dog attacks should be reported. After all, they were only ducks, I was told, and the dog was only playing, they said. Like it was no big deal and I was being a drama queen. When a different pit attacked my cows a few years later, causing one to be euthanized, we did report it. However, Animal Control was all about the dog. I don’t think the death of the cow and all the other injuries even made it into the report. Everything is always about the dog, not the victims. They’re so careful to make sure the dog gets a hearing and has a voice. I was not notified of the hearing given for the dog that attacked my cows. The owners were given a few fines and had to rehome the dog outside of the county. Where is that dog now? AC has no idea.
Farmer Jayne, the world turned upside down.
When I’ve commented about my dog which died as the result of a pitbull bite, I’ve never said that I waited too long to put her down.
I was selfish and tried to get her to live. These pitbull bites can be soooooo severe as was hers.
The top of her neck was eaten down to the vertebrae. The damage was horrific. There are normal dog bites and there are pitbull bites. They are not the same. I don’t expect any animal to survive a pitbull bite. The grabbing and shaking their heads while biting greatly increases the damage. I listen for a few days to see if the victim appears to be making a good recovery before I consider the victim to be a survivor.
Please fight to have these dogs euthanized. They will do it again.
Im so sorry for your horses.
Rose and Farmer Jayne, with your excellent reports of your bouts w Animal Control, you will be interested to read about a Putnam County woman’s experience.
Putnam County is the locale in which Pam Rock, USPS, was murdered by pitbulls.
Perhaps Putnam County, a poor Florida county, doesn’t have a capture wagon. See what happened with a request to pick up a loose dog and how the persevering woman actually complied. We have to admire her tenacity. The link is currently at the end of Comments.
https://blog.dogsbite.org/2022/08/rural-postal-carrier-vicious-attack-pack-of-dogs-putnam-county-florida.html#comments
Make pit bulls illegal and destroy any who have attacked.