Man suffers heart attack while trying to protect his horse from dogs

A man suffered a heart attack last week while trying to scare off two dogs that were attacking his horse.

Police officers attended a call on Tuesday (1 February) about two loose pitbull-type dogs. On arrival they saw Mr Williamson on the ground and revived him with a portable defibrillator.

Bill Williamson, from Mint Hill in North Carolina, America, was reportedly trying to protect his horse, Joker, when he had a heart attack.

Police said the dogs had also gone for Joker in his field 10 days earlier. The horse has suffered facial wounds in the first attack but was not seriously injured in the second.

“They had her by the throat, ripped a big hunk out of her nose,” Mr Williamson told local press.

After the first incident the dogs’ owner Michael Roberts was fined and told to keep the animals in a metal pen. But he told press that as soon as he left the dogs in the pen alone they escaped.

The dogs are currently being held by animal control. A hearing in the next few days will determine whether Mr Roberts keeps the dogs.

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