A MOTHER has shared graphic images of her horse after it was “savagely” attacked by a dog .
The mare was attacked by the animals in its field in Ashburnham, East Sussex on 10 June and was found the next day dying a “slow and painful” death.
The grim discovery was made by mum Georgia Ashley-Smith, 29, who was with her young daughter Milania, five, at the time.
The sight of 9-year-old pony Lolita covered in blood and bite marks has left Milania “traumatised” and prompted Georgia to issue a stark warning to dog owners.
The gruesome photos show Lolita lying lifelessly on the ground.
He lip has been completely split open and her coat is matted with blood.
Another shows her with bite marks on the top of her front leg and with bone on her hind leg displaced and being held together by the skin.
A particularly tragic snap shows Georgia’s other horses, three of whom were also attacked, “mourning” the body of Lolita.
Vets put Lolita out of her misery once they arrived on the scene on 11 June.
The gruesome images were uploaded to Facebook by Georgia, who offered a reward for information leading to the culprits.
She wrote: “I turned my ponies out for the night, nothing out of the ordinary.
“So imagine at 9am on Thursday when I was faced with the gruesome and heartbreaking sight of my poor mare standing shaking in the field covered in bites and blood with a broken leg.
“Between the hours of 4am and 9am someone’s dog or dogs entered my field and attacked my horses.
“Resulting in the slow and painful death of one of my beloved mares who was also in foal.
“She has stood for an unknown period of time with a clean fracture of the leg below the hock and blood weeping from various punctures wound over her front end and a ripped lip.”
Georgia then appeals for witnesses asking to contact her and that the police are dealing with it.
She then adds: “If you have a dog who is uncontrollable keep it on a f****** lead, if you have a dog that is dangerous muzzle it.
“Not only has a poor pony had to suffer, we’ve lost her foal, and my daughter has lost her pony.”
Her post, which has racked up more than 26,000 likes, prompted outrage among social media users.
Gillian Margaret Newton wrote under the post: “These murderers need to be caught and put into chains!”
Diane Booth said: “I hope they are found and brought to justice, how terrible, poor baby.”
Speaking today Georgia said: “My daughter is traumatised, she’s five, not a sight any child should see.
“The whole herd has suffered as a result of this attack.
“They are all subdued, and grieving- just like us as owners. My horses are grazed on private property, and have been for 25 years. There is no right of way or footpath across my property.
“I have three other injured horses that have sustained bite wounds, one of the other horses that was attacked was also pregnant and we fear she may have lost her foal too due to the stress of the attack, only time will tell.
“Police are investigating and following leads that they have been given.
“They were too slow on the uptake of it and didn’t swab for DNA samples which I’m most disappointed about.”
PC Giancarlo Leone from the Rural Crime Team said: “This is a truly distressing incident for the victim and family. We recognise the impact this has on them as well as the wider community.
“We urge anyone with information that could assist our enquiries to come forward.
“With our combined passion for protecting rural communities and animals we are determined to help prevent further incidents and assist in bringing offenders to justice.”
Anyone who witnessed what happened is urged to report online or call 101, quoting serial 358 of 11/06.
