Brazo County, Texas, is rural horse country and it’s often a wellspring of unusual horsey news stories. A case in point is the recent shooting of a Miniature Horse that had gotten loose from his own pasture and invaded a neighboring herd of full-sized equines. The randy little stallion then began attacking the horses. At least that’s the story from the horses’ owner, an off-duty cop who was tired of the scenario. This was the second time that the wayward, aggressive Miniature stallion had come calling at his ranch. The Mini, which stood just over 30 inches tall, was shot and killed by local police officer Damian Anderson. He claimed that he was simply protecting his livestock, and was prompted to take the action after his horses had been injured by the Mini, named Santi, eight months ago. Back then, Santi’s owner had offered to make amends by paying Anderson’s vet bills. The type of injuries Santi had inflicted, if any, were not revealed in news reports.
Brandi Hamlin, Santi’s distraught owner, told news sources that the Miniature stallion was a pet that ate carrots and treats out of her hand and was easily subdued. Law enforcement officials are investigating to see if Anderson violated animal cruelty laws. However, under Texas state law a citizen does have the right to protect their livestock from harm.
That’s horrible
It seems there could have been a better way to resolve the problem.
How much damage can a mini inflict on a full size horse. Not much horse can out run minis and can out fight or kick, it wouldn’t matter really that the minis a stallion or not. The owner of the horse was out of line shooting the mini. Did he even try to remove the little stallion form his horse herd. And how did the mini get in with the other horses. Taking into account that the mini was a stallion, and assuming that the other horses where either gelding or subordiante animals he would not have been attacking (i think) out of meaness but showing the other aniamls who’s boss. There was no reason for the cop to shoot the stallion and i hope he gets charged with animal crulty and gets the max (which unfortunatly isn’t all that much)
I thought that the artical was great EXCEPT for the
part where Santi was shot and killed by the officer. I have very strong feelings about horses and think that shooting an animal is very cruel,
LIVESTOCK OR NOT!
I think that offecer needs to be dealt with by the Houston SPCA. No horse should be shot and killed for following his instects.
Thats a pretty SICK thing to do…..
thats just EVIL. U shouldn’t hav killed it gosh ur EVIL. that officer should talk to the houstan ASPCA.
Oh,that’s so sad!How Could he shot the poor pony!I feel so bad for the pony and its owner!There are definitley other ways of protecting livestock!That was cruel!!!!
If Santi was such a pet, they should have kept him confined better instead of letting him get out. I do realize however that minis can be hard to keep in a pasture.
That cop is sick minded and there are better ways than killing an inoccent animal to resolve problems. That is just plain wrong and it really really bugs me how heartless people can be. Shame on you you so called “cop”
The mini’s owners should have had he properly contained, esp. being a stallion. But there was absolutely no reason the policeman should have shot and killed him. He was not a rabid animal. How awful.
I agree. He should have at least tried to use carrots or something to calm the mini stallion. Still though the owner should have done something a little more then pay off the vet bills. Perhaps geld him if possible. A good fence would have done though.
The police officer should have done something different like trying some food to get the little pony. I think that it’s the owner’s fault to because they didn’t try to stop this from happening by fixing another spot for the pony. I do know that everyone handled this the wrong way and a lovely animal lost his life for something they did not fix in the first place.
This is interesting. I think it’d be an awfully hard call to make.
This was a terribly handled case. Although a stallion – no matter what size – should be carefully restrained to avoid such occurances, there is no exuse for Mr. Anderson taking this matter into his own hands in this manner. How sad.
If it was a nasty pony that was harming his horses and potentially harming the officer, which it was, the officer did the right thing, and happily, he is protected under law. I’m TIRED of people’s animals running amok because the owners can’t get a sturdy fence.