BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

DEBORD — What began as a report of dogs attacking a horse near the industrial park on New Route 3 has laid bare a much larger and unresolved crisis in Martin County, where free-roaming horses, aggressive dogs and busy highways are colliding.

A series of dog attacks on horses roaming near the industrial park in Debord has renewed long-standing concerns about public safety, animal welfare and the county’s inability to manage a growing herd that authorities say has been left feral for years. Sheriff John Kirk warns that the situation is such that it is only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed.

Kirk responded to a dog attack on the horses recently and found three dogs — a black dog that appeared to be a pit bull mix and two pit bulls — surrounding and harassing an injured horse.

“The black dog was attacking the horse,” Kirk said. “It had been attacking it before I got there and was still taunting it.”

The horse had been bitten repeatedly, suffering wounds to its left front leg, right rear leg, neck and face.

“Some of the bites were aggressive, and they tore the meat pretty badly,” said Kirk. “There was bad bleeding on the left front leg.”

The sheriff fired his gun into the air in an attempt to scare the dogs away. Two ran in one direction, while the third fled another way. The dogs briefly moved toward workers at the entrance of the industrial park before circling back toward the horses.

“They kept wanting to go back toward the horses,” Kirk said. “I fired a third shot and they went on down toward the prison.”

The injured horse sustained significant damage and was struggling to walk, Kirk said, possibly due to tendon injuries.

“It really needs vet care, but we have no means to do that,” he said.

Several residents stepped in to help care for the animal. Kirk said Kalynn Preece Howell, Kay Preece, Lauren Froschauer and Megan Jude attempted to assist, with Howell administering a penicillin shot. Walt Ward also helped by putting medication in the horse’s feed. The group discussed loading the horse for further care, but limited resources prevented that.

Long-standing problem

The dog attack is only the latest incident highlighting what Kirk described as an increasingly dangerous situation involving the horses, which roam freely around the industrial park, Airport Road and nearby areas.

“These horses need to be taken up,” Kirk said, noting that he has raised the issue repeatedly with the Martin County Fiscal Court over the years.

“They’re pretty as long as they are roaming back there. Even my grandkids go back there and feed them,” he said. “However, when 50 people a day come in there and feed these horses apples, peanut butter and crackers, which the horses love, they’re doing the horses more damage than good.”

Kirk pointed out that the horses need consistent winter feeding and a reliable water source. While some individuals help regularly — including an employee at Consolidated Pipe & Supply and Johnson County residents Mary Metan and her husband, who check on the horses daily — the situation remains unmanaged.

According to Kirk, the horses are feral.

“They were turned out years ago,” he said. “People didn’t want to feed them, so they turned them loose on the strip. The horses have multiplied and they keep multiplying.”

Traffic hazards and deadly crashes

Beyond animal welfare concerns, Kirk said the horses pose a serious risk to motorists. He said law enforcement has responded to countless calls over the years about horses wandering onto New Route 3 and surrounding roads.

“There are times when we get two to five calls a day to get the horses off the road,” he said.

Kirk recounted a crash from several years ago in which a man struck three horses and totaled his vehicle.

“He could have been seriously hurt,” Kirk said. “I believe there were 11 horses on the road that night. He could not avoid them. Two of the horses died on the scene, and one had to be put down.”

In another incident, a vehicle struck a pregnant mare just weeks before she was due to give birth.

“It killed the mare and the foal, knocked the foal out of the mare,” Kirk said. “He hit it with a Geo Tracker, and it could have been a lot worse. He could have been killed.”

Kirk said similar dangers persist today. On Monday, both Martin County Dispatch and the sheriff received multiple calls about horses on New Route 3.

“We were able to get them back on Airport Road,” he said. “One of them has a pretty bad cut on its leg.”

That same day, Kirk said there were 11 horses together in one herd, with five already inside the industrial park and another five roaming near the regional airport.

“Something has got to be done about these horses,” he said. “They’re going to get someone killed.”

Calls for action

Kirk said he urged the fiscal court last month to take decisive action and reiterated his willingness to help.

“I’m willing to do anything that I can do,” he told magistrates. “It’s up to you guys to make the move. I have trailers to haul them in, but I have to have help to corral them.”

Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty agreed that the situation has reached a critical point.

“I love horses, but I love people more,” Lafferty said. “And people here love horses — and I get it — but not up to the point of a child getting killed or some of our family.”

Deputy Judge Carolea Mills said she previously contacted the Kentucky Humane Society, which removed about 19 horses from the area. However, she said a local resident later claimed ownership of the horses on New Route 3, preventing the Humane Society from taking further action.

Kirk asked the fiscal court to provide the name of the man claiming ownership.

“If they’re his horses, he needs to take care of them,” Kirk said. “We can get him for animal abuse if he doesn’t. Don’t own an animal if you can’t take care of it.”

Lafferty said his office would provide the information to the sheriff.

Dogs and responsibility

No one has stepped forward to claim ownership of the dogs involved in the recent attack. The sheriff noted that the black dog was wearing a collar, indicating it had an owner, and that residents had reported the dogs being aggressive around homes.

“A dog is an animal and they do this type of thing; they don’t know any better,” said Kirk. “But their owners are humans and they know better. If you have an aggressive dog, you need to do something with it.”

He emphasized that any breed can be unpredictable.

“I love the dogs. I love the horses,” Kirk added. “But we can’t have the dogs attacking the horses.”

No shelter, no solution

Kirk said the county lacks even the most basic infrastructure to manage the herd. He described horses foraging for food during recent snowstorms, eating tree branches and searching for grass.

“A lady reached out and asked whether any property owner would let them build a shed back there,” Kirk said. “I don’t know that any would allow that for dropping salt blocks and hay for the horses.”

According to Kirk, volunteers are willing to help, but without land, shelter or official backing, efforts remain piecemeal.

“As human beings, we have the means to do it,” he said. “We have people willing to volunteer and help, and we need to take advantage of that and get these horses taken up.”

A long-term solution could include securing land, Kirk said, building a barn and fencing the horses in a safe area — possibly even using them as a tourist attraction, given the number of people who already visit the area to see them.

“What they might see now are some horses crippled and barely walking,” he said, mentioning one injured horse from months earlier that has since separated from the herd.

“We’ve been fortunate so far that no one has been killed,” the sheriff said. “But that luck is not going to last forever if nothing is done.”