UNION COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) -- Joe Kizer watched as a neighbor's pit bull charged at his donkeys again, barking and biting at the donkeys' heels.
"I think it's a crying shame," said Kizer.
Kizer said the same dog, along with two other dogs, attacked his horse Thursday nearly pulling it to the ground.
"So I took my rifle, and I shot the dog," Kizer said.
He said one of the owners put away their two dogs, but the other dog continued to bite at his horse. He said he had no other choice but to shoot the dog.
"I went down there and told them that I shot their dog and I would be happy to get them another dog but he (the dog) was after my horses," Kizer said.
Kizer said what happened next surprised him.
"We left and went on to work. When we were coming in from work that evening about six, the white horse was laying down there with his legs stretched out kicking," said Kizer.
Investigators later found the horse had been shot.
"It (the wound) was about as big as a quarter, and it was a hole. It was right in front of his flanks, and it just killed it," said Kizer.
Union County deputies are investigating.
Neighbor Brenda Russell said something needs to be done about the dogs who are allowed to run free through the neighborhood.
"You can't bring your dog out in your yard on the leash without somebody's vicious dogs being let free to roam the whole neighborhood," said Russell.
She said one of her dogs, Rosco, was killed a few weeks before Christmas by big dogs in the neighborhood. She said she has an idea of the ones who did it but she can't prove it.
In the meantime, the owner of the pit bull that was running free said the animal is never allowed to run free but sometimes escapes through a hole in a fence.
There is a vicious dog ordinance in the county. Neighbors would have to fill out an affidavit for the county to pick up the dog.
