NANAIMO, B.C. - A tiny therapeutic horse on Vancouver Island faces extensive surgery and a long recovery after it was attacked by dogs.
The horse's owner, Eileen Stevens, says the 76-centimetre tall animal was attacked in its hobby farm corral on Monday when two pit bulls broke out of a well-fenced, neighbouring property in the rural suburb of Cassidy, south of Nanaimo.
The horse, named Hali Berry, suffered a completely severed left ear and deep bite wounds to its back legs.
Stevens says she used her walker and her brother used a broom to beat the attackers back, but the dogs worked as a team when one of them held the humans at bay while the other one continued biting.
Hali Berry was rushed to equine veterinarian Colin Scruton, who says the animal will need round-the-clock care and surgery to create a new ear canal.
Stevens says the dogs' devastated owner has given the canines up to be euthanized and is paying all vet bills for the horse's care. (CTV)